Overview
At a glance
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ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Cribbage is a card game invented in the early 17th century, based on the earlier game Noddy. It is played with a deck of standard playing cards and a signature piece of equipment called the cribbage board.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
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Cribbage is a card game invented in the early 17th century, based on the earlier game Noddy. It is played with a deck of standard playing cards and a signature piece of equipment called the cribbage board. Cribbage is traditionally played as a 2 player game. In the version usually played today, each player is dealt a hand of 6 cards, from which they discard 2 into a special pile called the Crib. One card is then cut from the draw pile and turned face up - it is considered part of each player's hand and of the Crib. The players then play cards in turn, scoring points for hitting certain totals, or for making sets or sequences. Score is kept by moving pegs along tracks on the cribbage board. This is repeated until both players have exhausted their hand of cards. Next, each player picks up their hand and determines all possible scoring combinations, pegging points again on the cribbage board. The dealer then picks up the Crib and scores it for all possible points. Then the cards are shuffled and the deal alternates. The winner is the first to reach 121 points. The origin date listed for this game is approximate.