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How does a hand of cribbage work?
Two players, one standard deck, a pegboard, and the first to 121 points wins (or 61 in a short game).
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The deal. The dealer gives each player six cards. In Pegwood the first dealer is decided by a fair coin toss drawn from the sealed seed and the first cut; after that the deal alternates.
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The crib. Each player puts two cards face down into the crib. The crib belongs to the dealer and is counted at the end of the hand.
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The starter. The non-dealer cuts the deck and the dealer turns up the top card – the starter. If it is a jack, the dealer pegs 2 (“his heels”).
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The play. Starting with the non-dealer, you take turns laying cards face up and saying the running total, never going past 31. Face cards count 10 and aces count 1. You score for:
- bringing the total to 15: 2 points;
- bringing it to exactly 31: 2 points;
- a pair with the card just played: 2; three of a kind: 6; four of a kind: 12;
- a run of three or more cards among the last cards played, in any order (3-5-4 is a run): 1 point per card;
- “go”: when neither player can lay a card without passing 31, whoever played the last card scores 1. If that card made exactly 31, it scores the 2 for 31 instead – never both. The count then starts again from zero;
- the last card of the whole play: 1 point (again, not on top of the 2 for 31).
If you have a card that fits under 31, you must play it. When you have none, Pegwood says “go” for you automatically, so you never have to tap a button that does nothing.
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The show. The non-dealer counts first, then the dealer’s hand, then the dealer’s crib. Every hand counts together with the starter:
- each combination of cards adding to 15: 2 points;
- each pair: 2 points;
- each run of three or more: 1 point per card (a card can be part of more than one run – “double runs”);
- a flush: four cards of one suit in your hand: 4 points, 5 if the starter matches too. The crib only counts a flush when all five cards are one suit;
- “his nobs”: the jack of the same suit as the starter, in your hand or crib: 1 point.
The best possible hand is 29: three fives and the jack of the fourth suit, with the fourth five as the starter. A few totals, such as 19, can’t be made at all – which is why “nineteen” is cribbage slang for a hand worth nothing.
When does the game end?
The moment someone reaches 121 (or 61), even in the middle of the play or the count – which is why the non-dealer counts first. The final score stops at 121.
- Skunk: the loser finishes with 90 or fewer points.
- Double skunk: the loser finishes with 60 or fewer.
- In a game to 61, it’s a skunk if the loser has 30 or fewer.
Which rules does Pegwood use?
The standard rules for two-player six-card cribbage used in tournament play. Muggins is the one optional rule, and it’s off unless you turn it on.
Can Pegwood count for me?
Yes – by default Pegwood counts every hand and shows the breakdown (“fifteen two, fifteen four, and a pair is six”). If you’d rather count yourself, turn on manual counting in Settings → Game.
What is muggins?
An old optional rule for sharp-eyed players: if you count your hand and miss points, your opponent can call “muggins” and take the points you missed.
In Pegwood, muggins is only for games against the computer – never against the Tutor – and only when manual counting is on:
- If you claim more than your hand is worth, Pegwood asks you to count again – no penalty.
- If you claim less, you score what you claimed, and with muggins on, the computer takes the points you missed.
- If you claim exactly right, you score it.
Friend games always count automatically, so no one waits a day for a muggins call.
Can I play three or four players, or five-card cribbage?
Not yet. Pegwood 1.0 is classic two-player cribbage.
Is the computer cheating?
No. The computer only knows what you would know in its seat: its own cards, the cards already shown and the score. It never sees your hand, the crib before the show, or the deck, and it has no way to change the deal. Every deal is sealed before you play, and you can check it yourself (see below).
The three levels – Casual, Standard and Expert – differ only in how well they choose cards. Expert wins more because it thinks harder, not because it gets better cards. The Tutor plays exactly like Casual.
Streaks happen in any card game. The Luck of the Deal screen (on the Statistics screen, with Pegwood Pro) compares the points both of you were dealt with what an average player can expect, over all your games, so you can see how luck really evens out.
I’m new to cribbage. Can Pegwood teach me?
Yes. On New Game, choose the Tutor. It plays like Casual and explains as you go, always about your own cards:
- In your first games, the cards that would score if you played them now are marked – 15, Pair, Run 3 – and VoiceOver says the points.
- With two cards picked for the crib, tap Check beside Throw to see how they compare with the other ways to throw your hand. It needs Confirm discard (Settings → Cards), which is on unless you turned it off.
- When Pegwood counts your hand or crib, a line under the count points out what is easy to miss, like a pair inside a run.
- Now and then, in the pause before the next cut, a short note looks back at one of your plays, with Show me for the cards.
Notes use only what you could see – never the Tutor’s cards. You can turn notes off and hide the marks from the game menu. The Tutor is free, and muggins is always off against it. Play a game against the Tutor to the end, and you earn the Tutor’s Graduate trophy.
Why did the computer discard those cards?
After the show, open “Why the AI threw these” to see the computer’s six cards and what it kept. With Pegwood Pro it also explains the reasoning and shows the points the computer expected from its best throws. In games against the Tutor it appears only with Pegwood Pro. During your own discard, the hint button – free for everyone – shows the best throws for your cards.
Can I take a move back?
Yes, in games against the computer: tap Undo. Friend games can’t be undone, because your friend may already have seen the move.
What does “every deal is sealed” mean?
Before the first cut, Pegwood creates a secret random number (the seed) that decides every shuffle in the game, and shows you its seal – a short code that fixes the seed without revealing it. The seed can’t be changed later without the seal changing too.
Before each deal the deck is cut – by you against the computer, and by whoever isn’t dealing in a friend game. You choose where to cut: tap the edge of the deck, then Cut Here. The seed is sealed before anyone cuts, so it can’t be changed to suit the cards, and every cut changes the deal.
How do I check a game?
- Look at the seal shown before the first cut (it stays visible in the game’s details).
- After the game, tap Check This Game.
- Pegwood reveals the seed, checks that it matches the seal, and replays every deal with the cuts. It then shows “This game was fair”, or that the game did not check out and why.
In a friend game, our server creates the seal before the game starts and reveals the seed when the game ends. Both players see the same seal and can both check the whole game.
For the technically minded: the seed is 256 bits, the seal is its SHA-256 hash, and each deck is a Fisher–Yates shuffle driven by HMAC-SHA256 of the seed, the deal number and the cut (where the deck was cut, plus 8 random bytes kept in the game record).
How do I invite someone?
- Tap Play a Friend, then Invite a Friend. The game uses your game length from Settings – 121, or 61 for a short game.
- Pick the name your friend will see (a first name or a nickname is perfect).
- Send the invite link with Messages, WhatsApp, email – whatever you both use.
That’s it: no accounts, no usernames, no passwords.
What does my friend need to do?
Tap the link. If Pegwood is on their iPhone, the game opens. If it isn’t, the link opens a page with an App Store button and the invite code; after installing, they can tap the link again, or open Pegwood, tap Play a Friend → Join with a Code and enter the code.
Games with friends are free for both of you. Your friend doesn’t need Pegwood Pro.
How do turns work? Is there a timer?
There is no turn timer. Take your turn when it suits you – in the morning, at lunch, before bed. Pegwood sends a “your turn” notification when your friend has played, so allow notifications when Pegwood asks. When you are both in the game at the same time, moves appear right away.
To save you taps, Pegwood plays forced moves for you (like “go”), counts hands automatically, and lets you choose your next discard while it’s your friend’s turn.
If nobody moves in a game for a long time, it may be closed.
What is my friend code?
Your friend code is your name and four numbers, like Joan#4821. You’ll find it at the top of Play a Friend and on the Friends screen, with Copy and Share buttons. It’s easy to read out over the phone: “Joan, number four eight two one”. Capital letters, the # sign and spaces don’t matter – “joan 4821” works too.
Pegwood asks for your name the first time you add a friend or send a challenge, and adds the four numbers itself. If you change your name, your code changes with it and your friends stay. Want different numbers – say, a stranger got hold of your code? Tap Get New Numbers on the Friends screen: your old code stops working at once.
How do I add a friend?
Two ways:
- Play a game together. Whoever joins your game from your invite link becomes your friend automatically, and so do you when you join theirs.
- Use their code. Open Play a Friend → Friends → Add a Friend, type your friend’s whole code and tap Find, then Send Friend Request. Your friend sees the request the next time they open Pegwood and taps Accept.
Only the whole code finds someone: there is no list of players and no searching by part of a name.
How do I challenge a friend?
On the Friends screen, tap Challenge next to your friend (or tap their name, then Challenge to 121). They get a notification, and the game starts when they accept – they cut the cards first. The length comes from your Settings.
After a game with a friend, Play Again on the result challenges the same friend to the same length of game. If you both tap it, you get one game, not two.
A challenge nobody answers is closed after 7 days.
Someone I don’t know sent me a request.
Just tap Decline – they aren’t told. To make sure they can’t reach you again, tap Block or Report… instead. If your code is going around, tap Get New Numbers on the Friends screen so the old code stops working.
How do I block or report someone?
Tap the player on the Friends screen (or open their request or challenge), then Block or Report. A blocked player can’t find you, send you requests or challenge you, and you stop being friends; games already under way go on until one of you finishes or resigns. A report asks you to pick a reason from a short list and blocks the player too. We read every report.
To unblock someone, open Settings → Blocked players and tap Unblock.
Can I have more than one game going?
Yes. The games list shows whose turn it is in each one.
The link opened a website instead of the game.
Make sure Pegwood is installed, then press and hold the link and choose “Open in Pegwood”. If you pasted the link into a browser, tap it from Messages or Mail instead.
Someone else joined my game.
An invite link works for the first person who taps it. Start a new game and send the new link only to the person you want to play. You can leave a game at any time from its menu.
Can I play strangers online?
Not in this version: Pegwood is for games with people you know. There are no public lobbies.
Can I play someone who has an Android phone?
Not yet. Pegwood is on iPhone first; Android is planned.
I got a new iPhone. Are my games still there?
Your name, friend code, friends and games with friends can come with you:
- Same Apple Account, iCloud Keychain on: open Pegwood on the new iPhone and tap Play a Friend. Pegwood offers to continue as you – tap Continue as … with your name.
- Any other phone: on the old phone, open Settings → Move to a new phone and tap Get a Transfer Code. On the new phone, open Settings → I have a transfer code and type it in. The code works once, for 24 hours. Never share it with anyone – it moves your friend games to whoever types it.
Games against the computer and your statistics stay on the old phone. Your trophies come back by themselves (see Will my trophies come with me?), and Pegwood Pro comes back with Restore Purchases.
Where are my trophies?
Tap Trophies on the home screen (it is in Settings too). All 22 are there: the ones you’ve earned in color, with the date, and the rest with what it takes and, where it counts, how far along you are – like “37 of 100”. Tap a trophy to see it up close. Trophies are free.
How do I earn trophies?
Just play. Your first win, a skunk, a hand of 29, ten games with friends, checking a game with Check This Game – each has a trophy. Most can be earned against the computer or a friend; a few, like Expert Win, only against the computer. When a game earns one, the result screen tells you.
What does Game Center do?
Game Center is Apple’s, and it’s optional. If you sign in, your trophies also show in Apple’s Games app. Pegwood never asks in your first session; later, after a finished game, Apple may offer to sign you in on the home screen. You can also sign in at any time in Settings → Game Center, or at the bottom of Trophies, and tap Open there to see them in Game Center. Pegwood 1.0 has no leaderboards, and your Game Center name never comes to us.
Will my trophies come with me?
Yes. If your iPhone is signed in to iCloud, Pegwood keeps a small copy of your trophies in your own iCloud, so they come back by themselves after you reinstall Pegwood, or on a new iPhone with the same Apple Account. If you use Game Center, they come back from there too.
What does Pegwood Pro include?
A one-time purchase – not a subscription – that adds the Nordic and Lodge tables, the reasoning behind the computer’s discards (“Why the AI threw these”), the Luck of the Deal and detailed statistics: your record by level, skunks, averages, best hand and longest game. Hints, the Tutor, trophies, games with friends and your games, wins and streaks stay free. Family Sharing is on.
How do I restore Pegwood Pro?
- Make sure you are signed in with the same Apple Account you bought it with (iOS Settings → your name → Media & Purchases).
- In Pegwood, open Settings → Pegwood Pro and tap Restore Purchases.
For Family Sharing, the person who bought Pro needs Purchase Sharing turned on in Family Sharing settings; family members then tap Restore Purchases too.
Still not working? Write to [email protected] – we can’t see your Apple Account, but we can help you check.
Can I get a refund?
Refunds are handled by Apple. Ask at reportaproblem.apple.com.
Are there ads?
Not today: Pegwood shows no ads, and no advertising software is built into the app. If a later version adds them to the free game, an ad will appear only after a finished game – never during a game, never in your first session, never right after you lose, and a few times a day at most. Pegwood will never ask to track you.
What does Pegwood know about me?
Very little, on purpose. There is no account and no email. Games against the computer and your trophies stay on your iPhone; a copy of your trophies goes to your own iCloud, where we can’t read it. For friend games, our server keeps a random ID, the name you chose, a notification token and your games together. It also keeps your friend code, your friends, requests and the players you blocked. Usage statistics and crash reports use random IDs, never your name. The full story is in the Privacy Policy.
How do I delete my data?
- Friend games: open Settings → Privacy → Delete my data and confirm. Our server deletes your random ID, your name and your notification token. Invites nobody has accepted are cancelled, a game in progress ends as a resignation (your friend is told you left), and finished games stay in your friend’s history with your name replaced by “Former player”. It can’t be undone. No longer have the app? Write to [email protected] with the name you used in friend games and, if you have one, an invite code from one of your games.
- Usage statistics and crash reports are tied only to random IDs, so we can’t tell which records are yours. Turning off Settings → Privacy → Share anonymous usage data stops them at once.
- On your iPhone: deleting the app removes games against the computer, your statistics and your trophies. The copy of your trophies in your iCloud stays with your Apple Account, so they come back if you install Pegwood again.
Do “Delete my data” before deleting the app – once the app is gone, we can’t tell which friend games were yours.
Can I stop usage statistics or crash reports?
Yes: turn off Settings → Privacy → Share anonymous usage data. That one switch stops both usage statistics and crash reports.
The cards are too small.
Turn on Large cards in Settings → Cards. The corners and suits grow, and the table makes room for them.
I mix up the suits.
Turn on the four-color deck in Settings → Cards, so every suit has its own color. Suits also always differ by shape, so color is never the only clue.
Can I make the text bigger?
Yes. Pegwood follows your iPhone’s text size, up to the largest accessibility sizes: iOS Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Larger Text.
Can I play with VoiceOver?
Yes, the whole game – against the computer and with friends.
- Swipe right and left to move between cards; each card is read out, for example “Five of hearts”.
- Double-tap a card to play it. To discard, double-tap two cards, then double-tap Throw to your crib (or Throw to their crib). No dragging is ever needed.
- After your opponent plays, Pegwood announces the card, the running total and any points.
- During the show, the count is read out step by step (“fifteen two, fifteen four, a pair is six”).
- Pegwood also tells you whose turn it is and the score after each hand.
To turn VoiceOver on: iOS Settings → Accessibility → VoiceOver, or ask Siri.
The animations make me dizzy.
Turn on Reduce Motion in iOS Settings → Accessibility → Motion; Pegwood follows it (Settings → Table → Motion shows whether it is on). Pegwood then skips the dealing and card-flight animations.
Can I turn off sounds and vibration?
Yes, separately, in Settings → Sound & haptics (Sound and Haptics).
Other tips
- Dark mode: Pegwood follows your iPhone’s appearance.
- Hints: tap the hint button during your discard or the play to see the best options.
- Take your time: games against the computer have no timer either, and you can leave mid-game and come back later.
Write to [email protected]. Tell us what happened and, if you can, add a screenshot. We read every message.
Arman Malkhasyan, Armenia · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use