How to win Crazy 8 on iMessage – The Full Guide

Crazy 8 is one of the games accessible from GamePigeon. GamePigeon is an extension available exclusively for the iMessage app, and can be installed using the App Store.

GamePigeon provides many classic activities/sports as video games, such as Archery, Basketball, Filler and Crazy 8.

Crazy 8 is traditionally known as a card game, which is played physically using a basic deck of cards. GamePigeon’s Crazy 8 game is essentially based off of Uno, rather than the original Crazy 8 card game.

Most of the cards and rules the game uses are also used in Uno, which is another popular card game.

How to win Crazy 8 on iMessage

Crazy 8 can be quite a challenging game, and relies a lot on strategy. It’s an excellent multiplayer game to play if you like card games, as there aren’t many iMessage games available for those that like cards.

The game has fairly basic rules, with the objective of being the first player to get rid of all of their cards.

There are tips or methods you can follow to increase your chances of winning the game. We’ll go through some of these tips, as well as how you actually play the game.

How to access Crazy 8

Firstly, we’ll explain how you can actually find and access GamePigeon’s Crazy 8 game.

You need to have GamePigeon installed on your phone in order to access Crazy 8 – you can then download this fast paced game onto your iOS device.

How to download GamePigeon

GamePigeon is an app, and can be found on the iOS App Store. To find the GamePigeon app, simply search ‘gamepigeon’ on the iOS App Store app.

GamePigeon should appear as the first search result. The app has a game controller as its icon, so it’s quite easy to find within the Messages app.

gamepigeon-app-2

Tap ‘install’ to begin downloading the app.

After GamePigeon has been installed, open the iMessage app. You can only access GamePigeon from iMessage.

When you open iMessage, there should be a series of icons at the bottom of the screen. Find the GamePigeon icon, and tap it. This will open GamePigeon’s game collection.

If you can’t see the GamePigeon icon in the initial series of icons, you can scroll through the icons instead.

Press and hold on one of the icons available to maximise them. You now have the ability to scroll through the different icons by swiping left or right.

imessage-icons-maximised-3

Finally, find the top of the GamePigeon window. This should be where the different tabs are displayed, such as ‘games’ and ‘settings’.

Swipe up on the tabs area to expand the window. This should allow you to see all the games available in GamePigeon. Crazy 8 can be found in the second row.

gamepigeon-games-expanded-1

How to play Crazy 8

Crazy 8 is a 3-6 player card game. This means that you can only start this game in an iMessage thread that consists of 3-6 members.

You won’t be able to open the game in a message thread that contains less than 3 members within your Messages app.

When you’ve found, or started, a message thread with 3-6 people (including yourself); press on Crazy 8 in the GamePigeon extension. This will cause the game to appear as part of a message.

crazy-8-message

Send the message, and press the play icon to open the game. The game will first ask you to input your display name.

Tap the input bar to change or type your display name. When you’re done, press ‘connect’.

crazy-8-display-name

Next, tap ‘ready’ to start the game. All players must press ‘ready’ before the game can actually start.

crazy-8-ready-option

The game board consists of a a deck of cards in the middle, a space or side for each player, and a series of cards for each player. There’s also a discard pile for cards that have been played.

The discard pile lies next to the deck of cards. The cards in the discard pile are always placed face-up, whilst the deck of cards are always faced-down.

crazy-8

Crazy 8 cards can appear in 4 different colours, unless they’re wild cards (they’re multi-coloured). The four colours are yellow, red, blue, and green. The game starts with the player to the dealer’s left.

There are several different types of cards that appear in Crazy 8. These include basic number cards, plus cards, wild cards, reverse cards, and skip cards. Basic number cards have no special ability.

Plus cards add cards to the next player’s hand. Wild cards can change colours. Reverse cards make it the previous player’s turn again. Skip cards make the next player skip a turn.

When the game starts, each player is given 7 cards. Each player will only be able to see their own cards, and the cards in the middle of the board.

The game starts with a card in the discard pile. The card is laid face-up. Players will take turns discarding a card that either matches the colour of the face-up card, or the number/symbol.

For instance, if the face-up card is a red 5, the player must play another 5 or another red card. You can also play a ‘wild card’, which are cards that can match any symbol or colour.

They can also choose a colour to change into. Wild cards are initially multi-coloured.

If a player doesn’t possess a card that can match the face-up card, they must draw a card from the main deck, which is made up of the remaining cards.

The objective of the game is to be the first to play all the cards in your hand. The first player to run out of cards wins the game.

Tips For Winning

There are strategies or tips you can utilise in order to better your chances of winning Crazy 8. Here are a few of those tips.

Have multiple cards from each colour

It’s best to try and keep at least one card of each colour in your hand (early to mid-game).

This will prevent or decrease your chances of drawing from the main deck, which increases your hand. It will also ensure that you have something to play when it comes to be your turn.

Playing at least one card per turn, whilst avoiding the main deck, will help quickly decrease your hand size.

Play your wild cards right

Try and keep your wild cards until you have to play them. Don’t play them if you have another card you can use.

Wild cards are great for helping you avoid the main deck, whilst also giving you a chance to change the card colour to better suit your hand.

This can be especially useful late-game, when you have fewer cards left and need more specific colours or symbols to match with.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Crazy 8 is essentially Uno and follows most of the same rules. There a few ways in which you can improve your play style, which can help you win the game.

Your main focus should be decreasing your hand of cards, whilst avoiding increases to your hand. The player that gets rid of all of their cards first wins – it’s that simple.

Photo of author

Connect: Twitter

Author

Jenny

I love reading, writing, drawing, and other creative pursuits. I wish to travel more and do extreme activities, such as bungee-jumping and skydiving. I'm a casual gamer with an affinity for narrative-driven games and unique art styles. I like watching a variety of different media, but I particularly enjoy animations and musicals. My favourite genre, for both books and visual media, is psychological-thriller.

Read more from Jenny

appsuk-symbol-cropped-color-bg-purple@2x

Apps UK
International House
12 Constance Street
London, E16 2DQ