Jcbarr: Rules summary for the Draft Cribbage game page (private alpha)

2026-10-24T15:53:34Z

Rules summary for the Draft Cribbage game page (private alpha)

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'''Draft Cribbage''' is "Cribbage meets Gin" for 2–4 players. There is no deal: you '''draft''' cards Gin-Rummy-style from the deck and two face-up discard piles, trying to assemble the best '''4-card Cribbage hand'''. One player '''knocks''' to end the round, and everyone scores their hand against a shared up-card. First to '''121 points''' wins (or 61, as a table option).

== Components and setup ==

* One standard 52-card deck. The Cribbage board is just the score track.
* Each round, the dealer shuffles and turns the top two cards face up, one onto '''each of the two discard piles'''. If those two cards '''add to 15 or form a pair''', the dealer scores '''2 points''' at once.
* '''Every player starts with an empty hand.''' Play begins with the player to the dealer's left and goes clockwise. The dealer rotates each round.

Card values for '''fifteens''': Ace = 1, 2–9 face value, 10/J/Q/K = 10. For '''runs''' the order is A-2-3 … 10-J-Q-K, with the Ace '''low only''' (no K-A-2).

== Your turn: the draft ==

You '''must''' act on your turn; there is no pass. What you may do depends on your hand size.

=== Fewer than 4 cards ===

Either:

* '''Draw 2 from the deck''', then '''discard any one card''' from your hand onto a discard pile; or
* '''Take the top card of either discard pile''', and discard nothing.

Either way your hand grows by one card, so it takes four turns to build a hand from nothing.

=== Exactly 4 cards ===

Either:

* '''Draw 1 from the deck''', then discard any card (the one you just drew is allowed); or
* '''Take the top card of either discard pile''', then discard a '''different''' card (you may not put back the card you just took); or
* '''Knock''' (see below), once '''every''' player holds 4 cards.

You stay at 4 cards.

=== Discarding ===

* Discards go face up on top of one of the '''two''' discard piles.
* '''If a discard pile is empty, you must discard onto it.'''
* '''Discard bonus:''' after you discard, if the '''top cards of the two piles''' add to 15 or form a pair, you score '''2 points'''. Only the two visible tops count, and only when you ''add'' a card: uncovering a match by drawing from a pile scores nothing.

If the deck runs low, deck draws that need more cards than remain become unavailable; drawing from the piles is always possible.

== Knocking ==

Once '''all''' players hold 4 cards, you may knock on your turn: '''draw as usual''' (from the deck or a pile), then discard your card '''face down''' onto one of the two piles. The round ends immediately.

* The face-down card '''covers''' that pile. The top card of the '''other''' pile becomes the shared '''up-card'''.
* So the knocker '''chooses which pile supplies the up-card''', seeing both tops. This is the game's central decision. The empty-pile rule still applies: if a pile is empty, the knock must cover it.
* The knock discard earns no discard bonus.

On BGA, every move has a button in the action bar: pick a card on the table, then confirm. By default knocking asks you to confirm first; you can turn that off in your preferences.

== The show ==

Scoring is '''sequential''', starting with the player to the '''knocker's left''' and going clockwise, so '''the knocker scores last'''.

* '''His heels:''' if the up-card is a '''Jack''', the knocker, and only the knocker, scores '''2 points''' before the show begins.
* Each player then scores their 4 hand cards plus the up-card as a 5-card Cribbage hand.
* '''The game ends the instant a player reaches the target.''' Players later in the order '''do not score at all'''. That is the whole risk of knocking: you score last, so knocking while an opponent is close to the finish can lose you the game outright. Knock responsibly.

By default BGA walks through each hand's scoring in turn; a preference shows everything at once.

== Hand scoring (standard Cribbage) ==

Score every distinct combination; one card may count in many.

{| class="wikitable"
! Combination !! Points
|-
| Each distinct set of cards totalling '''15''' || 2
|-
| Each '''pair''' (three of a kind is 3 pairs, 6; four of a kind is 6 pairs, 12) || 2
|-
| '''Run''' of 3, 4 or 5 consecutive ranks || 1 per card
|-
| '''Flush''': all four '''hand''' cards one suit || 4
|-
| … and the up-card matches that suit too || 5
|-
| '''Nobs''': a Jack '''in hand''' of the up-card's suit || 1
|-
| '''His heels''': the up-card is a Jack (knocker only) || 2
|}

* Runs count only at their '''longest''': 2-3-4-5-6 is one run of 5, not every shorter run inside it. A duplicated rank multiplies the run: A-2-2-3 is two runs of 3 plus a pair, 8 points.
* The flush is '''hand-anchored''': three hand cards plus the up-card never make a flush.
* The best possible hand is '''29''': J-5-5-5 with the fourth 5 as the up-card, matching the Jack's suit.

BGA scores every hand automatically and shows the breakdown, so there is no Muggins.

== End of the game ==

The first player to reach '''121''' (or '''61''' in a short game) wins on the spot. If a round ends with nobody there, the dealer passes left and a new round is set up from a fresh shuffle.

== Tips ==

* Build toward 15s and pairs: 5s go with every ten-card, and a pair in hand pairs with any matching up-card.
* Watch both discard tops. A card that makes 15 or a pair with the other pile's top is 2 points for whoever discards it.
* Before you knock, look at both tops: covering one pile picks the other as everyone's up-card, including your opponents'.
* Count the score. If an opponent is a hand away from the finish, knocking hands them the first turn at the show.

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Jcbarr: Rules summary for the Draft Cribbage game page (private alpha)