While versions of cribbage allow for 2, 3, or more people to compete, the 2-player version is most popular.

With a long history, a unique method for play, and the addition of the particular board for scoring, cribbage is both similar to and different from other traditional games. And the naval tradition continues as contemporary submariners consider cribbage an 'official' pastime. Nineteenth century scrimshaw boards demonstrate the popularity of the game among whalers. Craftsmen made the earliest cribbage boards of wood or any handy material. Players track these points on a cribbage board by means of advancing pegs-one hole for each point scored.

The object of the game is to score a certain number of points through specific card combinations exclusive to this game. A derivation of an earlier card game, cribbage has survived as one of the most popular card games in the English-speaking world. Most game historians agree that the English poet Sir John Suckling invented the card game cribbage, also called 'crib,' in the early 17th century.

Cribbage boards