Crisp is a memory and bluffing card game for 2 to 8 players. Everyone has three cards face down, and the lowest total wins.
What you need
- 2 to 8 players.
- A standard 52-card deck, without jokers.
Setting up
- Choose a dealer for the first round. The dealer role passes one seat clockwise each round.
- The dealer deals each player three cards face down, one card at a time, three times round.
- Each player lays their cards in a row: left, middle, right.
- Before play starts, each player may look once at their left and right cards. The middle card stays unknown.
- The remaining cards form the face-down draw pile. Discarded cards go face up onto a discard pile.
- The player to the left of the dealer takes the first turn.
Card values
- Ace: 1
- 2 to 9: their face value
- 10, Jack, Queen, King: 10
A Jack, Queen or King only counts as 10 when it is already one of your three cards, from the deal or a Queen swap.
Your turn
Play goes clockwise. On your turn, draw the top card of the draw pile and look at it. Then do one of the following:
- Swap: replace one of your three cards with the drawn card. The replaced card goes face up onto the discard pile.
- Discard: put the drawn card face up onto the discard pile if it is not useful.
- Play a special card: a Jack, Queen or King, see below.
Special cards
- A Jack, Queen or King drawn from the draw pile can never be swapped into your hand.
- A drawn Jack or Queen may be used for its effect and then discarded, or discarded without using it.
- A drawn King must be used for its effect and then discarded.
Jack
Peek once at your own middle card.
Queen
Swap any one of your cards with any one card of another player. The swap is blind and final.
- If the card you receive lands in your left or right position, you may peek at it once. If it lands in your middle position, you may not.
- The same applies to the other player: they may peek at their new card if it is in their left or right position, not if it is in the middle.
- This holds even for a card its previous owner never saw. Swapping your unknown middle card into an opponent's left position lets that opponent see a card you have never seen.
King
Take two extra draws, each played as a normal draw: swap, discard or special. If an extra draw is another King, its two extra draws are added on.
When the draw pile runs out
If you must draw and the draw pile is empty, first turn the whole discard pile over to form the new draw pile, without shuffling. The discard pile starts empty again.
Calling crisp
- If you believe the total of your three cards is the lowest at the table, call “crisp” right at the end of your turn.
- Nobody announces that their turn is over: the next player simply goes on. You may still call crisp just as the next player starts; their turn then counts as the first of the final turns.
- Every other player then takes one final turn. The caller can still be targeted by Queen swaps during these final turns.
- Only one player may call crisp per round, and no one can call crisp during the final turns.
- After the last final turn, all players reveal their cards and the round ends.
Scoring
- Each player scores the total of their three cards.
- The caller has the strictly lowest total: the caller takes 5 points off.
- The caller does not have the strictly lowest total (tied or higher): the caller adds 5 points.
- Keep a running tally of each player's scores.
Winning the game
The game ends at the end of the round in which any player reaches 100 points or more, or another limit agreed before the game starts. The player with the lowest total wins. If two or more players tie for the lowest total, they share the win.
Playing online
On playcrisp.app the rules are the same. A few things work the way a phone needs them to, and the host can set three options in the lobby.
The crisp window
After your turn you have 3 seconds to call crisp. The next player can start after 2 seconds, and for 1 more second you can still call.
When the game ends
The host chooses the limit before the game starts: 50, 100 or 150 points.
Time per draw
The host can give each draw 30, 45 or 60 seconds, or no limit. A player who runs out of time forfeits the rest of their turn:
- If they have not drawn yet, the top card of the draw pile is drawn and discarded for them.
- Any drawn card not yet resolved is discarded unused. This includes a Jack, Queen or King, and a King in this case gives no extra draws.
- Any King extra draws still pending are forfeited.
- The turn ends without a crisp call.
Drawing from the discard pile
If the host allows it, a player may take the top card of the discard pile instead of drawing from the draw pile:
- This applies to every draw, including each extra draw from a King.
- A card taken from the discard pile must be swapped into your hand; it cannot be discarded straight back.
- A Jack, Queen or King taken from the discard pile has no effect. It counts as a plain 10-point card.
- If the discard pile is empty, you must draw from the draw pile.