Idiot Strategy: How to Stay Out of Trouble

Luck plays a real part in Idiot. Nobody can see their face-down cards, and a well-timed 10 from the player before you can undo your best plan. But good players are the Idiot far less often than beginners, and the reasons are simple habits that anyone can learn. Here they are, roughly in the order they come up in a game.

1. Make the Most of the Swap

The swap at the start is the only moment in the game when you get a completely free choice, so use it. The cards you leave face up will be played near the end, when your hand is empty and you can no longer pick and choose. That is exactly when you need cards that fit on almost anything.

A face-up 4 is a weakness that everyone can see. If the player before you notices it, they will try to leave a high card on the pile just when you reach your table cards.

2. Play Low, Keep High

With a full hand, play the lowest card that fits. Each card you play sets the bar for the next player, but it also leaves your higher cards for later, when the pile has climbed. Players who throw a King on a 4 often find themselves holding a 5 and a 6 when the pile reaches Queens, and then they pick up.

The exception is when the next player is about to get out. If they have one or two face-up cards left and you can see they are low, play a card they cannot beat, even if it is a high one.

3. Play Equal Cards Together

Two or three cards of the same rank in one turn are a gift: fewer turns, fewer chances to get stuck. Unless you have a special reason to keep one back, put them all down. And watch the top of the pile: if it shows two 7s and you hold the other two, playing both burns the pile and gives you another turn.

4. Save Your 2s and 10s

Twos and 10s are your get-out-of-jail cards. Spending one when a 6 would do throws away your rescue for later. Keep them until nothing else fits. When you do need one:

5. Know When Picking Up Is Not So Bad

Picking up feels like a disaster, but a small pile is often a small price. Two or three low cards in your hand are easy to play off again. What hurts is a big pile at the very end of the game, when everyone else is down to their table cards. Early in the game, with the stock still full, a modest pickup is nothing to fear.

6. Read the Table

Everyone's face-up cards are on show all game, and those are the cards each player must play once their hand is gone. Look at the player after you:

The computer players on Hard do exactly this: they remember the cards they saw someone pick up, and use the face-up cards to make the next player take the pile. Tap Why? beside their plays and you will see it in action.

7. The Face-Down Cards

There is no skill in choosing a face-down card: nobody knows what they are. But there is skill in arriving at them well placed. Try to reach your face-down cards when the pile is low or empty, for example straight after someone plays a 2 or burns the pile. A blind card on an empty table always fits.

8. Don't Feed the Burn

Leaving three of a kind on top of the pile is an invitation. If the next player has the fourth, they burn the pile and play again. When you can, play a different rank instead, especially if you saw that player pick up a card of that rank.

A Short Checklist

  1. At the swap, strongest cards face up.
  2. Play your lowest card that fits, and equal cards together.
  3. Keep 2s and 10s until nothing else fits; 10s for big piles.
  4. Watch the next player's face-up cards and what they picked up.
  5. Try to reach your face-down cards on a low or empty pile.

Put these into practice in a game of Idiot against the computer, and check the rules or the house rules page if your family plays a little differently. If you like this kind of game, Crazy Eights uses many of the same instincts.

Ready to try it? Play Idiot free against one, two or three computer players, with big cards, a clear prompt on every turn and a Hint button whenever you want one. No sign-up needed.

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