Most card games involve your standard deck of playing cards, but that’s not enough for Five Crowns. This card game goes one step further by adding a fifth suit, throwing even more chaos into the clash of the royals. Five Crowns is played similar to the card game Rummy, although it’s a lot simpler and comes with beautifully designed cards. If you’re looking for a card game that’s fun for the whole family, then Five Crowns is the game for you.

Books, Straights, and Melds

In each hand, your goal is to make a set of cards (which is called a meld). However, the thing that sets this card game apart from Rummy is that the number of cards it takes to make a meld changes each hand. The number of cards you’re allowed to hold each round is equal to the number of cards you need to make a meld.

While on the first hand you need only three cards for your set, the number of cards increases by one each round all the way to thirteen in the last and eleventh hand. In order to make a valid meld, you need either a book or a straight. While a book is three or more cards of the same value, a straight is three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order.

Throughout each hand, players will draw and discard one card at a time in order to try to make their meld. Once a player has successfully made a meld, the rest of the players have one final turn before the hand ends. Any cards that don’t get used to make a meld work against you, earning you points based on the face value of the card. Whichever player has the lowest score after the end of the eleventh hand wins the overall game.

Wild Cards

One of the twists of Five Crowns is that it comes with a number of wild cards that can help you make your meld. There are two joker cards that can be used however you please in any round. In addition to these joker cards, each round has a different wild card based on the number of cards you hold in your deck during the round. So, for example, the first round requires three cards in a meld, which means that threes are wild.

Another thing that sets Five Crowns apart from Rummy is that Five Crowns comes with an additional fifth suit, which is stars. There’s also no ace or deuce in the deck like you’d find in a normal deck of cards. The beautiful illustration of the cards is definitely one of the most alluring aspects of the game, as they go above and beyond a simple deck of cards you would use to play a game like Rummy.

Five Crowns Spinoffs

Five Crowns comes with several spinoff card games. Five Crowns Junior simplifies the game into only five hands, making it easier for younger players to learn. Instead of scoring points at the end of each hand and adding them up at the end, players will earn a treasure chest for winning each hand. The player with the most treasure chests at the end of the game wins.

Five Crowns Mini Round also simplifies the game by using fewer cards, although its biggest trait is the fact that it comes with tiny cards in a little tin. This makes the card game easy to travel with and play on the go.

Five Crowns: Rummy with a Twist

Five Crowns is playable by 1-7 players, so it’s just as good to play on your own as it is for the whole family. This card game is suitable for ages 8 and up, which makes it a good game to use to teach younger players how to collect sets and manage their hands. Playing time lasts around 30 minutes, so you can easily play a game or two on a weeknight or before dinner.

Five Crowns is perfect for fans of Rummy who are looking for something a bit simpler for the kids. Buy Five Crowns today and join the clash of the kings!