Review

This app presents a classic recreation of the card game Crazy 8s. Users play against the computer, taking turns picking up and discarding cards to earn points. The display shows the player’s full hand clearly, making it easy for the user to see and select which card they want to play. A useful feature of the game is the ability to choose the control method. Users can drag and drop card onto the pile or use a double tap feature to select and discard an individual card from their hand .

Additional customizable options include different backgrounds and card decks, allowing the user to modify the game to match their preferences and therefore improve accessibility. The app provides three difficulty setting options, allowing users to modify the game to meet their abilities. Multiple setting options allow users to customize the game rules and therefore accommodates users who are familiar with slightly different variants of the traditional Crazy Eights game rules.

We recommend that users have prior knowledge of the game prior to playing, as there is no tutorial within the app. There is currently no option to play against another human player (pass & play mode) and all games must be against the computer. The free version contains a full screen advert after each game (not after each round). Due to its infrequent appearance, we do not consider it to be much of a distraction. Unfortunately, there is currently no option to purchase upgrades within the app to remove adverts.

Recommended settings

Settings can be found by tapping the Settings menu button from the main screen. The settings menu can also be accessed during game play by tapping the stacked lines icon along the top right-hand corner of the game screen and then selecting Yes and then Settings. The default settings are suitable for most users. Additionally, the card designs provide a good contrast and are easy to identify. We recommend the following settings for accurate Crazy Eight’s game rules or when introducing the game (in bold):

Settings

• Game Speed (slow/ normal/ quick)

• Difficulty (easy/ normal/ hard)

• Your name (user preference)

  • Users can also rename the players controlled by the computer

• Card (user preference; use arrow to cycle through options)

• Card back (user preference; use arrow to cycle through options)

• Board background (user preference; use arrow to cycle through options)

Basic Rules

• Player wins if got (user preference)

  • 2 players: 100 points

  • 3 players 150 points

  • 4 players: 200 points

• Number of players (2/ 3/ 4)

• Each player is dealt (3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8)

• Deck (32/ 36/ 52/ 2x32/ 2x36/ 2x52)

• Jokers (checked/unchecked)

• On the first move the discard pile receives (the top card of the stockpile/ last card of dealer/ any card at choice of dealer)

• If the player cannot make a move (draws a card/ draws cards until move is available/ draws card & skips a turn)

• If the deck has run out, the discard pile is shuffled and reused (checked/ unchecked)

Special Cards

• Change suit (8)

• Next player draws card & skips a turn (2 cards; 2)

• Next player draws card & skips a turn (5 cards; Q♠)

• Next player skips turn (J)

• Reverse direction of play (9)

Special Rules

• Instead of passing, you can lay our another J (checked/ unchecked)

• Stack penalty of 2/Q♠ card by laying out an identical card. Then the penalty gets summed and passes over to next player (checked/ unchecked)

• To discard cards of same rank in one turn (checked/ unchecked)

• Drop the king and queen of the same suit in one turn (checked/ unchecked)

• 8 cards cannot be laid on top of each other (the suit cannot be reset) (checked/ unchecked)

Scoring

• Ace (1)

• King (10)

• Queen (10)

• Jack (10)

• Double points if player finished the game with an 8 card (checked/ unchecked)

• Card’s score (8; 50)