8 Americain is the French name for Crazy Eights — a fast shedding card game played with a standard 52-card deck. 2 to 7 players each get 7 cards. On your turn, play one card matching the top of the discard pile by suit or rank, or draw one card from the deck. First to empty their hand wins.
Four ranks have effects: 7 forces the next player to draw 2 cards (and is cumulative — see below). 8 is a wild card; the player who plays it picks a new suit. Jack (V) skips the next player's turn. Ace (A) reverses the direction of play. All other ranks have no effect.
When a 7 is played, the next player must either draw 2 cards (and lose their turn) or play another 7 to pass the penalty along, doubling it to +4. A third 7 makes it +6, and so on. The chain ends as soon as a player can't or won't play a 7 — they pick up the cumulative total.
An 8 can be played on any card regardless of suit or rank. As soon as you play it, a small dialog asks you to choose a new suit (spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs). The discard pile then continues based on your chosen suit — the rank of the 8 itself is ignored.
You draw 1 card from the deck. If it is playable, you can choose to play it immediately; otherwise your turn ends and play passes to the next player.
If the draw pile is empty, all the cards in the discard pile (except the very top one) are shuffled back to form a new draw pile, and play continues.
2 to 7 players. The host creates a room, shares the 6-letter code, and starts the game once everyone is in. Each player gets 7 cards and the first to discard them all wins.