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Cutting for Deal
Tap the deck to cut. Low card deals.
Your turn
Your Games
Starter
Count0
Crib
My hand
Choose 2 cards for the crib
Chat
Counting
Game Over
Game Ended
Cribbage Rules
The Goal
Two players race their pegs around the board. The first to reach 121 points wins — the
instant they get there, even in the middle of the play or the count.
Points come from three places each hand: the play (pegging), counting your hand, and — for the dealer —
counting the crib.
Each player chooses 2 cards to put face down into the crib, keeping 4.
The crib belongs to the dealer and is counted after both hands. So when it's your crib, throw cards that
work well together; when it's your opponent's, throw cards that won't help them.
The non-dealer cuts the deck and the top card is turned up — the starter. It counts as a
fifth card for both hands and the crib during the show, but isn't played.
His heels: if the starter is a jack, the dealer scores 2 right away.
Starting with the non-dealer, players take turns playing one card face up, calling out the running total of
the cards played. Face cards count 10, aces count 1, everything else its number.
The count can never go past 31.
You score during the play for:
Fifteen — bringing the count to exactly 15: 2 points.
Thirty-one — bringing the count to exactly 31: 2 points.
Pair — matching the rank of the card just played: 2. Three of a kind in a row: 6.
Four of a kind: 12.
Run — the last 3 or more cards played form a sequence, in any order (e.g. 4, 6, 5):
1 point per card. Ace is low only, so Q-K-A is not a run.
Go: if you can't play without going past 31, the game calls "Go" for you automatically and
your opponent keeps playing as long as they can. Whoever played the last card before nobody could play
scores 1 for the go, and the count starts over at 0.
The player who did not play the last card leads the next round of the count.
Last card: whoever plays the very last card of the hand scores 1 (unless it made 31,
which already scored 2).
After the play, hands are counted in this order — non-dealer's hand, then dealer's hand, then the crib. Each
uses its 4 cards plus the starter. The game counts for you and shows every item.
Fifteens: every different combination of cards adding up to 15 scores 2.
Pairs: 2 for a pair, 6 for three of a kind, 12 for four of a kind.
Runs: 3 or more cards in sequence score 1 per card. Each different combination counts,
so 4-4-5-6 is a double run of 3 (6 points, plus 2 for the pair).
Flush: all 4 cards in your hand the same suit scores 4, or 5 if the starter matches too.
The crib only scores a flush if all 5 cards match.
Nobs: the jack of the same suit as the starter, in your hand or the crib, scores 1.
The best possible hand is 29: three 5s and the jack of the starter's suit, with the fourth 5 as the
starter.
Choosing crib cards: tap two cards in your hand, then tap "Send to Crib".
Playing a card: on your turn, tap a card in your hand, or drag it to the play area.
Cards that would take the count past 31 can't be played.
Counting: when a hand is counted, a window lists each score. Tap "Continue" to move on
(or turn off the pause in Settings to keep the game moving on its own).
Rearrange your hand: drag a card to a new position within your hand.
"Leave Game" (from the table) or "Cancel" (from the waiting screen) marks the game so your opponent's
screen detects it and freezes — the game doesn't quietly continue without you.
This can't be undone from inside the game — if you want back in, one of you would need to start a new
one.
The ⤢ button at the bottom of the table toggles a distraction-free view: it hides the GameShack menu above
and the scores/turn bar at the top, leaving just the board and the cards.
Tap it again to bring the header and menu back.
This choice is remembered on this device, so the game reopens the same way you last left it.
"Sign in to sync games & stats" on the lobby screen signs you in with just an email address and a
one-time code sent there — no password to create or remember.
It's entirely optional. Everything else in this guide works the same whether or not you sign in.
The main benefit: any game you're actively in becomes visible and resumable from your account on any device
or browser you sign into — not just the one you started it on. Without signing in, a game is only remembered
on the device/browser where you're playing it.
Your Cribbage sign-in is separate from other GameShack games — signing in to Rummy doesn't sign you in
here.
The ⚙ button — on the lobby screen and next to the rules button once you're in a game — opens Settings.
There you can set your default name and emoji, your card back color, whether sounds play, whether chat opens
automatically on a new message, and whether the game pauses on each count.
Changes save automatically and apply on this device across every tab and game.
💡 Hint suggests which 2 cards to send to the crib, and which card to play during the
play.
Sort arranges your hand by rank.
↺ Undo: right after you send cards to the crib or play a card, you have a few seconds to
take it back before your opponent sees it. Once that window passes, the move is final.
Checking "Practice mode" when creating a game gives you a computer opponent and starts the game
immediately — no waiting for anyone to join.
The bot gets a random name and emoji, and only ever sees what a real player would: its own cards, the
starter, and cards already played. It never looks at your hand.
Bot difficulty (Easy / Medium / Hard, chosen when you check Practice mode): Easy keeps the
cards that score best right now and grabs whatever points it can during the play. Medium weighs every
possible starter card and what it's giving to (or keeping from) the crib, and avoids setting you up during
the play. Hard adds looking ahead through the rest of the play and changes its approach when the game is
close to the finish.
Bots always show as online — there's no connection to wait on or lose.
Name-based — no login needed. Practice games against bots aren't included.
By Opponent
Sign In
Sign in to resume your games on any device and keep a real record of your stats. Playing
without signing in still works fine — this is optional.
Enter the code emailed to .
Pick the name that'll show for you in-game (you can change it later in Settings).
Settings
These apply on this device, across every tab and game — and save automatically as
you make each choice, so there's nothing to remember to confirm before closing.
