OBJECTIVE OF FIVE CROWNS: Be the player with the lowest score when the game ends
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 7 players
MATERIALS: Two 58 card decks
TYPE OF GAME: Rummy
AUDIENCE: Kids, Adults
INTRODUCTION OF FIVE CROWNS
Five Crowns is a five suited Rummy game published by Play Monster.
In this game, players are trying to be the first to meld their entire hand each round. Players will be dealt a progressive hand size each round, and there will also be a different wild card every round.
MATERIALS
Five Crowns includes two 58 card decks. Each deck is made up of five suits that rank from (low) 3’s to Kings (high). The suits include Hearts, Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, and Stars. There are also six Jokers.
SETUP FOR FIVE CROWNS
Shuffle the cards and deal three to each player one card at a time. Each round, one more card will be dealt for the hand until the final round.
In round two, players will be dealt four cards, five cards in round three and so on. In the final round, each player will be dealt thirteen cards.
After the deal, place the rest of the cards face down in a pile. This is the draw pile. Turn over the top card and place it beside the draw pile to form what will be the discard pile.
THE PLAY
BOOKS AND RUNS
Players are trying to be the first to fill their hands with books and runs. A book is three or more cards of the same rank.
A run is three cards or more in sequential order. The cards in a run must be the same suit. Books and runs may have as many wild cards as the player wants to include up to their natural limit.
For example, a book cannot contain more than five cards. Wilds and Jokers cannot be used to create a run that goes beyond the King or less than 3.
PLAY
Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer and continues in that direction. They may draw the top card from the discard pile or the draw pile.
After adding that card to their hand, they will choose one card from their hand to discard. This card goes on top of the discard pile. Discarding ends the turn.
GOING OUT
Play like this continues until a player is able to go out. Going out occurs when every card in a player’s hand is part of a book or run. That player takes their turn like normal. Draw a card, and discard to end the turn. A discard must occur on a player’s final turn.
The player who goes out lays down all of their books and runs for the rest of the players to see. Once a player goes out, the remaining players get one more turn.
Players taking their final turn will draw, lay down all of their books and runs, and discard one final time.
JOKERS & WILDS
During each round, a new card will be wild. For the first round, the threes are wild. For the next round, fours will be wild, and so on. The number of cards players are dealt is the same as the rank of cards that is wild for that round.
SCORING FOR FIVE CROWNS
When the round ends, the player who went out earns zero points. The remaining players earn points based on the cards they have that are not part of a book or a meld.
Each card is worth the rank of the card. 3’s are worth 3 points and so on. Jacks are worth 11 points, Queens are worth 12 points, Kings are worth 13 points, the wild cards for the round are worth 20 points, and Jokers are worth 50 points.
In the picture above, the player will earn 14 points for the round.
WINNING
After the completion of the final round, the player with the lowest score wins.
If you liked Five Crowns be sure to try out Rummy 500 for another fun rummy game.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can you play Five Crowns alone?
There is a variant called Five Crowns Solitaire. In this variation, the player will deal 11 piles. The first will have 3 cards and this will increase until the 11th pile has 13 cards. The piles are then flipped over so all cards are visible in their piles. The extra wild card is determined by the pile being used, So in pile number 1, the wild is three. This increases until the 11th pile’s wild card is King.
To play, the remainder of the cards forms a draw pile. A player will draw the top card of the draw pile and play it on one of the face-up piles. Then one of the cards from the pile must be discarded. Discarded cards are not used again in this game.
This continues until the player either successfully forms each pile into completed books and runs, or the draw pile is exhausted.
What is the number of cards dealt to each player in Five Crowns?
In the first round, each player is dealt 3 cards. Then in each round after one additional card is dealt to each player. This continues until the final round where each player is dealt 13 cards.
What does it means when “kings go wild”?
This just means this round Kings will be the wild card, and it also signifies what round is being played. The first wild card is 3 and it continues to increase in rank every round.
How many points is each card worth?
The numerical cards are all worth their face value in points. Jacks are worth 11, Queens 12, and kings 13 points. Wilds for the round are worth 20 instead of their standard point value and jokers are worth 50 points.
- TRIPLE SNAKES - February 15, 2021
