Table Top Cribbage is a layout game that uses Cribbage scoring. Players take turns placing cards to a 5 by 5 layout. You must try to form rows which score as highly as possible as cribbage hands while your opponent tries to do the same for the columns.
A regular deck of 52 cards is used. At the start of the game, each player receives 12 cards face down in a stack. One card is dealt face up to the middle of the table.
At the start of your turn, the top card of your stack is turned face up. You can now place the card on any empty space on the table that touches a card already on the table. After you have placed the card, it is your opponents turn to do the same.
After all cards are placed, the table is scored using standard Cribbage scoring. You receive the row scores while your opponent receives the column scores:
- 15: Any combination of pips that adds up to 15 is worth 2 points. Picture cards count as 10, aces count as 1.
- Pair: Any pair of cards with the same rank are worth 2 points.
- Runs: Any run of three cards of consecutive rank is worth 3 points. A run of four cards is worth 4 points and a run of five cards is worth 5 points.
- Flush: Five cards of the same suit are worth 5 points (4 card flushes do not count!)
For example: a row containing 4/5/5/6/6 contains four runs of three cards, two pairs,
as well as four fifteens, resulting in 26 points.
The first player to reach 121 points wins the match.