Playing Crazy eights online with other people, step by step: the code, the seats, the table rules, and what happens when somebody drops out.
The host opens the table, which needs a free account, and shares the six-character code or the link from "Copy link". Everyone who follows it chooses a name and sits down as a guest, without an account.
Crazy eights seats two to seven. Two players are dealt seven cards each and larger tables five each. Get everybody into the lobby before the deal, since a game in progress cannot be joined — the host can seat bots in any empty chairs.
The host makes two choices, and everyone sees them in their own lobby. The first is the target: 100, 200 or 300 points. The second is what happens when the draw pile runs out: turn the discards over and carry on, or play on with players passing when they cannot play.
Playing on without turning the pile over ends hands much sooner, and a blocked hand goes to the player holding least. Turning the discards over is the longer, more usual game.
Play goes round in the order people sat down. Everyone sees the top of the pile, the suit to follow, and how many cards each player holds; only your own hand is sent to you. When you cannot play, you keep drawing until you can.
When somebody plays an eight, they name the suit, and the table shows it to everyone. The table also says when somebody has to take cards, and how many.
When a player goes out, the table shows what everyone was left holding and what the hand paid. The next hand is dealt once everyone has pressed "Ready for the next hand", and the first to the target wins.
There is no chat at the table; groups who like to groan at an eight do it on a call.
A player whose connection drops is shown as away for twenty-five seconds; after that a bot plays their hand until they open the table again and take the seat back. Somebody who presses Leave is replaced by a bot for the rest of the game.
If the host leaves, hosting passes to whoever has been sitting longest. A table with no activity for six hours is cleared away.