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How to play The Crew (2026): The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine is a cooperative trick-taking card game for three to five players, with a variant for two. Over 50 missions, the crew must make sure specific players win specific cards, while talking about their hands is forbidden. Each player gets one chance per mission to reveal a single card. Missions start in minutes and grow fiendish. These rules follow the official Thames & Kosmos rulebook.
The box you need: The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine
The box has 40 playing cards (36 color cards in pink, blue, green and yellow numbered 1 to 9, plus four rocket cards numbered 1 to 4), 36 small task cards, task tokens, five radio communication tokens, a distress signal token, a commander token and the logbook of missions.
Price band: $10–$20 (about $15) · Check today’s price on Amazon
Trick-taking basics in The Crew
Deal all 40 cards. The first player leads any card, and every other player must follow suit if they can. If you cannot, play anything. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick unless a rocket was played; rockets are trump, and the highest rocket wins. You never have to win a trick if you can avoid it. Won tricks go face down, and only the most recent trick may be reviewed.
Preparing a mission
- Shuffle the 40 large cards and deal them all. With three players, one person gets an extra card that stays unplayed.
- Each player puts their radio communication token green side up in front of them.
- Place the distress signal token face down and shuffle the task cards into a face-down pile.
- Read the mission in the logbook. Reveal the number of task cards it calls for.
- Whoever holds the 4 rocket is the commander. The commander takes the first task, then players take tasks clockwise until all are claimed.
Tasks: who must win what
A task card names one playing card. The player holding that task must win the trick containing that card. When they do, they flip the task face down. If anyone else wins a card that belongs to another player’s task, the mission fails immediately and you start a fresh attempt with a new deal. When every task is complete, the mission succeeds.
Later missions add task tokens. Numbered tokens mean tasks must be completed first, second, third and so on; arrow tokens set a relative order; the omega token means that task must be completed last.
Communication: one card, one token
Talking about your cards is not allowed. Instead, once per mission, before a trick begins (never during one), you may place one color card face up in front of you and set your radio token on it:
- At the top if it is your highest card of that color.
- In the middle if it is your only card of that color.
- At the bottom if it is your lowest card of that color.
If none of those statements is true, you cannot communicate that card. Rockets can never be communicated. The card stays part of your hand and is played normally, and the token does not move even if the statement later changes.
The distress signal
Before the first trick, the crew may agree to send a distress signal. Everyone passes one card to a neighbor in the same direction (rockets cannot be passed). It makes a mission easier but adds one to the attempt count you record in the logbook.
Five players and two players
The rulebook includes a special rule for five-player games, and a separate two-player variant appears near the end of the book. Both are explained alongside the missions where they first matter, so you can learn the core game with three or four first.
Tips for new crews
- Commanders should take tasks they can control. Holding the 9 of a color makes winning that color’s 1 easy.
- Save communication for when it matters. Using your token on the first trick often wastes it.
- Lead low in colors teammates need. It lets the right player win the trick without wasting a high card.
- Track rockets. There are only four, and knowing where they are prevents nasty surprises.
Finished the 50 missions? Our The Crew vs The Crew: Mission Deep Sea comparison covers the sequel. Fans of silent teamwork should also see games like Hanabi and our best cooperative card games.
The Crew rules questions
Can you talk at all in The Crew?
You can discuss tasks and plans in general, but you may not reveal or hint at the cards in your hand except with the communication token.
Who leads the first trick?
The commander, the player holding the 4 rocket. After that, whoever won the last trick leads.
Do you have to win tricks?
No. You may play a low card even if you could win.
How long is a mission?
Early missions take a few minutes. Later ones take longer and may need many attempts.
