Cribbage is a two-player card game where you score points twice each hand, once while playing your cards and once when you count them, and peg them on a board. The first to 121 wins.
The deal and the crib
You and the computer cut the deck, and the lower card deals first (aces are low). After that the deal alternates every hand.
Each player gets six cards and throws two into the crib, a bonus hand that scores for the dealer. When it is your crib, throw cards that work well together; when it is the computer’s, keep the crib lean. The top card of the deck is then turned up as the starter, and a jack there gives the dealer 2 points for his heels.
The play: pegging to 31
The non-dealer leads. Players take turns laying a card and adding to a running count, which can never go past 31. Court cards count 10 and aces 1.
Making the count exactly 15 or 31 scores 2. Matching the previous card’s rank scores 2 for a pair, 6 for three of a kind and 12 for four.
A run of three or more ranks in a row, in any order, scores 1 per card.
If you cannot play without passing 31, that is a go: the other player keeps playing if they can, and whoever played the last card scores 1. The count then starts again from zero.
The very last card of the play scores 1.
The show: counting your hand
After the play, each hand is counted together with the starter: first the non-dealer’s hand, then the dealer’s, then the crib for the dealer. Our game counts every hand for you and reads it out, like “Fifteen 2, fifteen 4, and a pair is 6”.
Fifteens: 2 for every combination of cards adding up to 15.
Pairs: 2 for each pair. Runs: 1 per card, counted again for every duplicate (a double run of three is 6 plus the pair).
Flush: 4 for four hand cards of one suit, 5 if the starter matches. A crib flush needs all five cards.
His nobs: 1 for holding the jack of the starter’s suit. The best possible hand is 29.
The board and winning
Points are pegged on the board, with your red pegs on the bottom track and the computer’s blue pegs on top. Each time you score, your back peg jumps ahead of the front one, so you can always see the last score.
The game ends the moment someone reaches 121, even in the middle of a hand, so the non-dealer, who counts first, can win before the dealer counts. If the loser has not passed the 91 line, they have been skunked.
Playing against the computer
Tap two cards and send them to the crib, then tap a card (or drag it up) to play it. Cards you cannot play on the current count are dimmed.
Easy makes loose throws and plays, Normal discards for value and avoids setting you up, and Hard weighs every possible starter and thinks the pegging through.
Undo takes back your last move and the computer’s reply. Your game is saved, so you can come back to it later.
Tip: when leading, a card under 5 can’t be answered with a fifteen, and avoid leaving the count on 21, where a ten makes 31.