How to Play Five Crowns: Rules and Strategy Guide

If you’re looking for a new card game that feels like a classic, then Five Crowns is a great choice to play with your friends. In Five Crowns, you’ll try to form sequential runs and sets of cards with the same value in your hand, and whoever has the lowest score after 11 rounds wins. Whether you’re learning for the first time or just need a refresher, we’ll walk you through all the rules, scoring, and winning strategies for Five Crowns, plus a variation so you can play the game by yourself.

Things You Should Know

Player Count: 1–7, ages 8 and up
Required Materials: Five Crowns game
Objective: Score the lowest number of points after playing through 11 hands of cards.

Section 1 of 7:

Setup

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Deal 3 cards to each player. Five Crowns has a special set of 116 cards in 5 suits: stars, hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds. Choose a player to be the first dealer. Shuffle the cards and give each player 3 cards for the first round.^{[1]
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- Each of the 5 suits has cards numbered 3–10, a Jack, a Queen, and a King.
- The 6 Jokers in the deck act as wild cards and count as any suit or value. Additionally, each round has wild cards equal to the number of cards in your hand. For the first round, all 3s are also considered wild.
- If you want to try playing Five Crowns with more than 7 players, just shuffle together 2 Five Crowns decks.^{[2]
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Set the remaining pile of cards face-down in the middle of the table so everyone can easily reach them. Turn over the top card and set it next to the deck to form the discard pile.^{[3]
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Section 2 of 7:

Runs and Books

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Runs A run is 3 or more cards of the same suit in sequential order, such as 5★, 6★, and 7★. You may use any number of Jokers or the round’s wild cards to fill in empty spaces in a run.^{[4]
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- Example: If you’re playing the first round where 3s are wild, then 10♦, 3★, and Q♦ is considered a run.
A book is a set of 3 or more cards that have the same value regardless of their suit, such as 6★, 6♣, and 6♦. You can use any number of Jokers or the round’s wild cards in a book.^{[5]
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Section 3 of 7:

Playing a Round

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Take turns drawing a card and then discarding a card. The player to the left of the dealer takes the first turn of the game. Choose between taking the top card of the discard pile or the top card of the deck to add to your hand. At the end of your turn, choose a card from your hand to put face-up on top of the discard pile.^{[6]
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- After a player takes their turn, the person to their left takes the next turn the same way.
- Before you take a card, look at what you already have in your hand to see what you need to complete a run or book. For example, if you have 6★, 7★, and 9♦, you may take a 5★ to make a run or a 6♦ to try for a book.
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Go out for the round if you can play all your cards to runs or books. After discarding a card, check if all of the remaining cards form runs or books. If they can, then you can go out by laying your cards face-up in front of you.^{[7]
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- During the first round, you’ll either go out with a single run or a single book. In later rounds when you have more cards, you may split your hand into multiple runs or books. For example, in a round where you have 7 cards, you may go out with a book of 3 cards and a run of 4 cards.
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Take 1 more turn to play runs and books after someone goes out. When a player goes out, every other person gets one more chance to draw and discard. If they’re able to form any runs or books, they can immediately lay them face-up. After everyone takes their last turn, the round ends.^{[8]
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- While players normally have to wait until they can use all their cards in runs or books to play them, you can play any runs or books you have available on your last turn, even if you have leftover cards in your hand.
- Strategy Tip: If you have a Joker or wild card in your hand but you’re unable to use it in a run or book (like if you have 6★, 7♣, and a Joker), discard it. Jokers and wild cards make you gain a lot of points at the end of the round, so it’s best to avoid being stuck with one.

Section 4 of 7:

Card Values & Scoring

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Count points for any cards left in a player’s hand. Numbered cards are worth their face value, Jacks are 11 points, Queens are 12 points, Kings are 13 points, and Jokers are 50 points. The wild cards for the current round are worth 20 points instead of their face value. Check the cards that are left in each player’s hand and tally up their total for the round on a piece of paper. ^{[9]
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- Example: In the first round, if a player has a 3★, 7♣, and Q♦, they’ll earn 39 points.
- The player that goes out during the round earns 0 points because they have no cards left in their hand.

Section 5 of 7:

Continuing the Game

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Collect all the cards and have the player to the left of the dealer shuffle them. For the second round, deal out 4 cards to each player and play as normal. Every future round adds 1 more card to your hand. When you reach the 11th and final round, each player has 13 cards.^{[10]
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Section 6 of 7:

Winning

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When you finish the 11th round of the game, add the points together from all the rounds. Whoever has the lowest score is the winner of the game!^{[11]
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Section 7 of 7:

Five Crowns Solitaire Rules

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Start by shuffling the cards and deal out 11 piles of cards in a horizontal row. Place 3 cards in the leftmost pile, 4 cards in the next, and 1 additional card per pile so the rightmost one has 13 cards. Set the deck face-down next to you.^{[12]
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Play the top card of the deck to a pile and discard 1 card from it. Flip over the top card of the deck and look through the available piles. Choose one of the piles to add the card to so you can form runs and books. Then, choose another card from the pile and discard it.^{[13]
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- Cards in the discard pile can not be drawn or used again.
Once all of the cards in a pile are part of a sequential run or book of the same value, flip the cards face-down to “close it out.”^{[14]
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If you’re able to close out all of the piles and still have cards left in the deck, then you win the game! If the deck runs out before you’re able to flip over all the piles, then you lose.^{[15]
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Tips

Pay attention to the cards that players take from the discard pile and what they get rid of from their hands. If you notice a player going for specific cards, you may have a better idea of what book or run they’re trying to make.^{[16]
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