Jack's, 2's & 8's

A quiet hand across the table.

Jacks, Twos & Eights is a shedding card game the way it's actually played at the kitchen table — house rules, held grudges and all. Match the pile by suit or rank, shed every card in your hand before anyone else, and time your trick cards for maximum outrage.

Easy to learn in one hand. Dangerous to play with family.

Pip's House Rules

• Twos bite — the next player picks up two… unless they stack a 2 of their own. Watch it snowball to four, six, eight.

• Sevens skip — the next player misses a go. Deliciously petty.

• Eights press on — take another turn, but you must follow your own 8 or draw.

• The magical Jack — play it on anything, any time, and call the suit the whole table must follow.

Three Ways to Play

• Against the computer — take on Pip, Mabel and Otto, three opponents who shed high, hoard their Jacks, and save their 2s for the exact moment you're down to your last card.

• Around one screen — classic pass-the-mouse for 2–4 players on the same device.

• Online with friends of public — host a table, make it private, or public for all, and deal in up to four players

A Table Worth Sitting At

• A hand-drawn deck — mirrored court cards, ornate aces, traditional pip layouts — on a lamplit green felt table.

• Every card is really dealt: riffle-shuffled from the stock, flipped mid-air, slid into your fan.

• Drag your card onto the pile, or just click it home.

• A soft, papery soundscape — shuffles, snaps and felt thumps — with not a single beep in it.

• Quick hands. A game takes minutes; the rematch takes seconds.

For the Uninitiated

A beautifully illustrated in-game guide teaches the rules in under a minute — because the fastest way to learn Jacks, Twos & Eights is to lose your first hand to someone's grandmother.