Pesten Rules and Scoring: The Dutch Crazy Eights
Pesten is the card game Dutch children learn first and Dutch adults never stop playing. The name translates roughly as "to tease", which is the entire design brief: the game is built around cards whose only job is to make the next player's turn worse.
It belongs to the Crazy Eights family, but the Dutch version has its own set of penalty cards and its own etiquette, and it is played across the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname with small regional differences at almost every table.
The basic play
Deal seven cards each from a standard 52 card deck. Turn one card face up to start the discard pile. The rest is the stock.
On your turn you play one card that matches the top card by suit or by rank. If you cannot, you draw one and, depending on your house rules, either play it or pass.
The round ends when somebody plays their last card. That is the part everyone agrees on. The pestkaarten are the part that varies.
The pestkaarten
These are the standard Dutch set:
| Card | Effect |
|---|---|
| 2 | Next player draws two, unless they can stack another 2 |
| 7 | Play again, take another turn |
| 8 | Next player misses a turn |
| Jack | Choose the suit to continue in |
| Ace | Reverse the direction of play |
| Joker | Next player draws five |
The stacking rule is where households diverge most. At many tables a 2 can be answered with a 2, passing an ever growing draw down the line, and some tables let a joker be answered with a joker for a ten card penalty. Agree this before you deal, not after somebody plays the fourth two.
The other universal rule: when you are down to your last card, you say so. Fail to announce it and you draw a penalty.
How Pesten is scored
Single rounds are fine for children. Adults play a series, and that needs a score.
The usual method is a penalty count of the cards left in each player's hand when the round ends. Card values are typically face value for pips, ten for court cards, and a heavier value for the pestkaarten, with the joker heaviest of all. Lowest total across the series wins.
The alternative, simpler and more common at family tables, is to score rounds won: the player who goes out takes the round, and you play to an agreed number.
Braggster keeps score for a series either way. The reason to use a scorecard at all for a game this simple is not the arithmetic, it is the record: a Pesten evening is ten or fifteen rounds, and the question at the end is who actually won the evening.
Regional variants worth knowing
- Some tables play that a drawn card must be played immediately if it is legal.
- Some allow a card to be played on a matching rank even out of turn.
- The Belgian variant often adds a "pass on the draw" rule where the penalty skips past anyone
holding the matching card.
None of these change the scoring. Agree them at the start of the evening and they stay agreed.
Related games in the same family
Pesten is one of several shedding games in Braggster:
- Uno and Uno Flip are the commercial cousins. Each has a rules screen spelling out what
every action card does, which settles the recurring argument about whether a Wild Draw Four can be stacked.
- Burro is the elimination version: every round you lose adds a letter of BURRO, five letters
puts you out, and the last player standing wins. Fewest letters leads, so this one ranks lowest wins.
- Toepen is the Dutch bluffing game that plays at the same tables but works completely
differently: trick taking with a raise mechanic.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards do you deal in Pesten? Seven each is standard. Some tables deal five for larger groups.
Can you stack twos in Pesten? At most tables, yes: the penalty accumulates until somebody cannot answer. It is a house rule, so agree it before the first hand.
What does the joker do in Pesten? The next player draws five. Some tables allow a joker to be answered with another joker.
What is the difference between Pesten and Crazy Eights? Same family, different penalty cards. Crazy Eights centres on the eight as the wild card. Pesten spreads the effects across 2, 7, 8, jack, ace and joker.
Do I need to keep score to play Pesten? No, but a series of rounds is far more fun with a running total, and the score is the only way to settle who had the better evening.
More: browse every card game at braggster.com/games, or read the overview of card game scoring.