Five crowns English
Jeux
Jeux de Cartes / Card Games

AGES: 8 to adult

PLAYERS: 1 to 7

OBJECT:

To obtain the lowest number of points after playing all eleven hands of the game.

The game consists of two 58-card decks. Each deck has three Jokers and five suits:

stars ★, hearts ♥, clubs ♣, spades ♠ and diamonds ♦.

Each suit has eleven cards: 3 through 10, Jack, Queen and King.

We can also use 2 decks of Tarot (French Tarot, Playing cards), we use the trump cards (atouts) as the 5th suit. We use the cards from 3 to 13 of the trump cards, the cards king, queen, valet, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 of the other colors and 6 cards 1 for the Jokers. Cavalier (Knight; not seen in 52-card decks) are not used.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Tarot

 Example of setup for 4 players

GOAL:
To be the player with the lowest score at the end of the 11th round by making your entire hand into books and/or runs.

WILD CARDS:
Jokers are always wild cards. There are also rotating wild cards that change every round. The rotating wild cards are based on the number of cards dealt that round.

So, when 3 cards are dealt, the 3s are wild, when 4 cards are dealt, the 4s are wild and so on until the last round when the Kings go wild.

BOOKS:
A book consists of three or more cards of the same value regardless of suit.

For example:
8♣ 8★ 8♠ OR K♠ K♦ K♥ K♥

Any card in a book can be replaced by a wild card.

For example, if 8s are wild, a book could be:
8♠ Q♠ Q★ OR 8★ 9♦ 9♦ 9♥

You can have as many wild cards in a book as you wish and they can be adjacent to each other.

RUNS:
A run consists of a sequence of three or more consecutive cards of the same suit.

For example:
5♣ 6♣ 7♣ OR 9★ 10★ J★ Q★
Any card in a run can be replaced by a wild card.

For example, if 7s are wild, a run could be:
9♦ 7♣ J♦ OR 6♦ 7★ 7♠ 9♦

You can have as many wild cards in a run as you wish and they can be adjacent to each other.

DEAL:

1. Shuffle both decks of cards together.

2. In the first round deal 3 cards, one at a time, in a clockwise rotation, to each player.

Each round, the number of cards dealt increases by one. In the second round deal 4 cards, in the third round deal 5 cards and so on until the last round when each player is dealt 13 cards.

3. Place the remaining cards in the center of the table to make the draw pile and ip over the top card to start the discard pile.

PLAY:

1. The player to the dealer’s left goes first and  play continues clockwise.

2. Start your turn by drawing a card from the draw pile OR picking up the top card from the discard pile. You can only take the top card.

3. Keep all of your books and/or runs in your hand until you are able to go out.

4. Complete your turn by discarding one card.

5. Going Out: Start your turn as normal, then lay down your entire hand in books and/or runs on the table in front of you before discarding your last card.

You can only use the number of cards you were dealt to make your books and/or runs.

You must have one card left to discard. Your discard can be a playable card.

6. Once a player has gone out, all other players have one more turn.

Start your last turn as normal, but lay down any books and/or runs you can before discarding.

All unused cards will count toward your score. You are not allowed to play on another player’s books and/or runs.

7. The cards used in books and/or runs are not scored. Players add up only their unused cards. The scorekeeper records and tallies the scores.

8. Card Values: Each number card is worth its face value, Jacks are 11 points, Queens are 12, Kings are 13, Jokers are 50 and the current wild cards are 20 points.

9. The player to the dealer’s left shuffles all of the cards and deals the next round.

Remember to increase the number of cards dealt by one card and keep track of rotating wild cards!

Play continues until the 11th round when each player is dealt 13 cards and the Kings go wild.

10. At the end of the game the player with the lowest score wins!

HINTS:

1. Keep your options open. You can come from behind even in the last round; hence the slogan, The game isn’t over ‘til the Kings go wild!

2. Whenever you are uncertain which card is wild, count the number of cards you were dealt, that number is wild for that round.

3. The rare occasions:

• If you have a wild card in your hand that you can’t use - you are allowed to discard it. This will save you points but may help the next player.

• If all the cards in the draw pile are used, shuffle the discard pile to replenish the draw pile.

• If there’s a tie for the lowest score: have multiple winners OR deal a 6-card tie-breaking round for only the tied players to play.

4. Having a party? Combine two games and play with up to 14 people!

Solitaire Instructions

THE OBJECT:

To close out all 11 hands.

THE DEAL:

Deal out 11 piles with 3 cards in the first pile, 4 in the second, 5 in the third, etc. with the eleventh pile having 13 cards. Each pile is equal to a hand. Lay out each of the 11 hands so you can view all cards. The first pile is the 3 card hand, in which 3s are wild; the second is the 4 card hand in which 4s are wild, etc. You may not move cards between hands.

THE PLAY:

From the cards remaining in the deck, turn over the top card. Looking at all the hands, play the card in whichever hand you feel will benefit most, and discard one card from that hand. The discard can’t be used again.

When a hand is able to go out, (according to the normal Five Crowns rules) turn it over.

Continue to draw cards from the deck, one card at a time, until either all hands are turned over (you win), or the stack is depleted before you close all the hands (you lose).