Five Crowns Card Game: Rules, Scoring and How to Play

Five crowns the card game is a version of the popular card game Rummy with one key difference – it uses five suits rather than the traditional four.

This gives players a fresh and unique spin on Rummy as adding in the additional suit makes it easier for kids to score points whilst playing.

The game crowns the winner to be the player who has scored the least amount of points and games lasts for eleven rounds.

And just like other versions of Rummy, understanding and forming sets and runs is vital for gameplay.

These concepts among other key rules and gameplay tips will be covered in our guide on Five Crowns card game below.

What is the Five Crowns card game?

Five Crowns is one of the many variations of ‘Rummy’ with a slightly different variation of the rules.

Number of Players Required: 2-7 players generally work best.

Who Can Play It: 8 years and up.

Difficulty: Easy to Medium. Rummy games can be slightly complicated to pick up and will require plenty of practice. This one is slightly easier than other versions, however.

Main Objective: Get the lowest score possible after completing 11 rounds by turning your hand of cards into sets and/or runs.

Why we love it: Rummy games are great fun and don’t require too much set up to enjoy. Five Crowns, in particular, gives a unique spin on a classic game. It doesn’t take too long to play but does go on long enough to keep things interesting with participants. 

What do I need to play Five Crowns?

Five Crowns require you to have a particular set of cards. Game developers SET has got you covered with this official Five Crowns game set.

Alternatively, if you like to play on vacation consider this Five Crowns set that comes in a handy travel tin.

How to set up your game

If you have purchased the set and have all of the participants then you are ready to go. 

The included decks are different from a standard deck of cards as they have an additional suit – stars.

Make sure you have a pen and paper handy or an app on your phone so that you can keep score whilst playing the game.

Five Crowns Rules and Gameplay

Pick a player at random to be the dealer before you start playing.

Starting the game

The number of cards that players deal is dependent on which number hand you are on.

For example, on the first-hand players receive three cards each, the second hand four and so on.

This continues in the same way up to the eleventh hand where players should have thirteen cards.

Place all cards that aren’t dealt to players in the middle. This is the draw pile.

The dealer will need to overturn the card on top of the draw pile and create a separate pile known as the discard pile.

This concept is the same for every hand played.

Sets and Runs

Players win by scoring the least amount of points. Being able to score minimal points depends on your ability to be able to create sets and runs with the cards in your hand.

A run is a sequence of three or more cards of the same suit, such as 6♠ 7♠ 8♠.

A set is three or more cards of the same value and can be of any suit, an example being 2♣ 2♦ 2♠.

Wild cards are also used in the game. Use these to substitute any card to complete a sequence or a set.

The wild card does vary depending on which round out of the eleven is being played. It is equal to the amount of cards players are initially dealt.

Therefore if players start with 5 cards then the wildcard for that round would be 5, and so on.

How to play Five Crown Cards

• The player to the left of the dealer starts the game.
• At the beginning of each player’s turn, they can choose to add the card on top of the draw or discard pile to their hand.
• Player’s need to use the cards in their hand to create sets or runs.
• Play continues until one of the players is able to create a set or run with all the cards in their hand.
• Once this has happened, play will go round one more time as the remaining participants try to create a set or run with their cards.
• Review the points and tally up, once everyone is happy with the results the next game can begin.
• Remember that every time a new round begins, players should have one additional card than what they had in the last round.

Keeping Score in Five Crowns

The winner of each round is the person who got rid of their cards in a set or run first and will receive 0 points for that round.

Give all remaining players points based on what is still in their hand.

• Jokers are worth 50 points.
• Wild Cards are worth 20 points.
• Kings are worth 13 points.
• Queens are worth 12 points.
• Jacks are worth 11 points.
• All other cards are worth face value, i.e 10’s are worth 10 points.

It’s important to remember that the goal is to be the player who scores the least amount of points.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do Five Crowns have five suits as opposed to the traditional 4?

Simply put Five Crowns contains the fifth suit so that it is easier and more approachable for younger card players.

Rummy games can occasionally be difficult so adding in the fifth suit gives players more opportunities to create sets and runs.

On the recommended Five Crowns set why does it say you can play with only one player?

Like all decks of cards, you can play solitaire using the five suits included within the set.

In fact, using another suit can also increase the difficulty of playing if you did want to give solitaire a try.

Alternative Games to Five Crowns

As the game is one of many variations of the card game Rummy, there are plenty more games that follow similar rules.

A popular one that we recommend is a Spanish version ‘Conquian’ which is the next step up in difficulty.

If you’re looking for more card games to play with your kids, consider giving ‘Pitty Pat’ a try. It’s quick to play and simple to learn so could fit the bill nicely.