Rules for Olsen

Olsen is a Norwegian take on the classic shedding game Crazy Eights. It is played with a standard 52-card deck and works with two to six players. A round usually takes 10 to 15 minutes. The goal is to be the first player to play all your cards.

Each player starts with five cards. The rest of the deck goes face down in the center of the table as the draw pile. The top card is flipped over next to it to start the discard pile. If the first card turned up is an eight, shuffle it back into the deck and flip a new one.

Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, players take turns playing one card onto the discard pile. The card must match either the suit or the rank of the top card. If a player cannot or does not want to play a card, they must draw from the draw pile (see the Pass section below).

Eights are wild cards and can be played on any card, regardless of suit or rank. When an eight is played, the player must declare a new suit. The next player must then play a card of that suit or another eight.

If a player cannot or does not want to play a card, they must draw a card from the draw pile. If the drawn card can be played, the player may choose to play it immediately or keep it and pass.

The first player to play all their cards wins the round. Play continues until everyone has gone out. The last player still holding cards loses.

Scoring variant: Some play with point scoring. When a player goes out, the remaining players count the point value of the cards left in their hands:

• Eights: 50 points each
• Face cards (K, Q, J): 10 points each
• Aces: 1 point each
• Number cards (2-10): Face value

Points are recorded for each round. The game continues until someone reaches a set total, for example 200 points. The player with the lowest score wins.