How to Play Cribbage
In plain tongue — no knightlese, promise. The game you're playing is ordinary cribbage; only the costumes are medieval. Here's the whole thing in about five minutes.
The point of it
Cribbage is a two-player card game — here, it's you against the House. You score points by making little card combinations, and you race to 121 points. First one there wins. That's the whole goal; everything below is just how you score.
What the cards are worth
A standard 52-card deck. Number cards are worth their number. 10, Jack, Queen, and King are all worth 10. An Ace is worth 1 (it's low — it doesn't count high). Suits only matter for a couple of bonuses, noted below.
One hand, step by step
- Deal. You each get 6 cards. You each choose 2 to throw away into a little side pile called the crib — so you keep 4. The crib is a bonus hand that only the dealer gets to score at the end, so throw generously when it's the House's crib and greedily when it's yours.
- Cut the starter. One more card is flipped face-up — the starter. Nobody holds it; it's shared, and it counts toward everyone's score at the end. (If it's a Jack, the dealer gets 2 points right away — "his heels.")
- The Play. You take turns laying cards face-up, calling out a running total as you go. The total can't go past 31. You peg points during this part — see the first table. When someone can't play without busting 31, they say "Go" and the other player keeps going if they can. When both are stuck (or you hit exactly 31), the count resets to zero and continues until all cards are played.
- The Show. Now everyone counts their 4 cards plus the starter (5 cards total) for combinations — see the second table. Non-dealer counts first, then the dealer counts their hand, then the dealer counts the crib. (Counting order matters only in a close race to 121.)
- Swap and repeat. The deal passes to the other player and you do it all again. The deal alternates every hand, so the crib is shared fairly over time. Keep going until someone reaches 121.
Scoring during the Play
| You do this… | Points |
|---|---|
| Make the running total exactly 15 | 2 |
| Make the running total exactly 31 | 2 |
| Play a card matching the last one — a pair | 2 |
| …a third of the same rank | 6 |
| …a fourth of the same rank | 12 |
| Complete a run of 3+ in a row (any order — e.g. 5, 3, 4) | 1 each |
| Opponent says "Go" and you can't play either — you take the Go | 1 |
| You play the last card of the round (and it isn't 31) | 1 |
Scoring in the Show (your 4 cards + the starter)
| Combination | Points |
|---|---|
| Fifteen — any set of cards adding up to 15 (count every combination separately) | 2 each |
| Pair — two of the same rank (three pairs' worth for trips, six for quads) | 2 each |
| Run — 3 or more in a row | 1 per card |
| Flush — all four cards in your hand the same suit | 4 |
| …and the starter matches that suit too | 5 |
| His Nobs — you hold the Jack of the starter's suit | 1 |
The Tithage decoder ring
Tithage dresses plain cribbage in medieval costume. If a fancy word on the board confuses you, here's what it actually means:
| On the board it says… | It just means… |
|---|---|
| the Tithe | the crib — the throw-away pile that scores for the dealer |
| His Nobs | the 1 point for holding the Jack of the starter's suit (this one's the real cribbage name) |
| the Go | when you can't play without going over 31 |
| Muggins | an optional rule: if your opponent forgets to claim points, you may take them |
| the Court / the face cards | ordinary Kings, Queens, and Jacks in costume — still just worth 10 |
| the starter | the shared cut card that everyone scores with |
| the Wheel of Wares · 121 holes | the cribbage board — the track you race along to 121 |
| the Unveiling / the Masterpiece | reaching 121 first — winning |
| the Discomfiture | getting there second — losing |
That's it. Go take up thy hand — you'll pick up the rest by playing a round or two. Play now ⟶