If you like rummy type card games but are looking for a change of pace, Five Crowns might appeal to you. There are three major differences between Five Crowns and normal rummy. First is the addition of a new suit to the four suits we all grew up with: Stars.
Second is the card deck composition. Each suit has eleven cards: 3 through 10, a Jack, Queen and King. The deck has two of each of these cards plus six jokers.
The third difference is the different form of play and changing wild cards. The game consists of eleven rounds. In the first round, three cards are dealt to each player. Each player gets dealt one additional card in each successive round up to thirteen cards for the final round of the game.
Play is conventional rummy style involving drawing the top card or taking the top card from the discard pile and discarding a card. Players try to form books or runs. Books are like conventional rummy: three or more of the same card value regardless of suit. Like rummy, runs can be formed too: A sequence of three or more cards of the same suit.
The new twist are changing wild cards. The jokers are always wild plus the cards equal to the number of cards dealt at the beginning of the round. For example, in the first round, three cards are dealt so all 3 cards are wild. All 5 cards are wild for the fifth round up to the King for the final eleventh round.
A round ends when one player is able to go out by forming enough books and runs and discarding one card. The other players then in turn get to draw one more card or take the top discard and lay down as many books and runs in their hands. Any cards left in a player's hand penalize them. Cards left over are equal to face value with Jacks equal to 11, Queens equal to 12 and Kings equal to 13 penalty points. Jokers are worth 50 points and the current wild card for that round is worth 20. At the end of the game, whoever has the lowest penalty point total wins the game.
If you're looking for a nice family style rummy game with a twist that everybody from ages eight and up can enjoy, Five Crowns is for you. Like the box says, the game isn't over 'til the Kings go wild!