How many cards are in the deck — and how many do you deal?
Updated September 28, 2026
The classic store-bought colour card game comes with 108 cards, and each player starts with 7. That's the short answer. The longer answer matters when you're checking a deck for missing cards, building a deck from spares, or deciding how many to deal for a big table.
This page breaks the classic deck down card by card, explains the dealing rules (and when to deal fewer or more), and shows how Prism Riot's own 126-card deck and its rule packs are built — every one of which you can play free in your browser.
The classic 108-card deck, card by card
Decks printed in recent years often add a few special wild cards (blank cards you write your own rule on, and a shuffle-hands wild), which takes the box to 112. Themed and 'no mercy' style editions are larger still. If you're counting a deck, check the rules sheet in your box for the exact list.
- Four colours, 25 cards each (100 in total): one 0, two each of 1–9, and two each of three action cards — Skip, Reverse and Draw Two.
- Number cards: 4 colours × 19 = 76.
- Action cards: 4 colours × 6 = 24 (8 Skip, 8 Reverse, 8 Draw Two).
- Wild cards: 4 Wild and 4 Wild Draw Four = 8.
- 76 + 24 + 8 = 108.
How many cards do you deal?
Prism Riot follows the same idea: most modes deal 7, Micro Riot deals 4 for 90-second rounds, and Big Deal and Purge Party deal 10. In Riot Lab you can pick any hand size from 3 to 12.
- 7 cards to each player is the standard deal for 2–10 players.
- Turn the next card face up to start the discard pile; the rest is the draw pile.
- With 7 players or more, one 108-card deck runs thin — shuffle two decks together or deal 5 each.
- For a quick game with young children, deal 5; for a long, swingy game, deal 10.
How many of each card? Quick reference
- Each number 1–9: 8 in the deck (2 per colour). Each colour's 0: 1 (4 in the deck).
- Each action card: 8 (2 per colour).
- Wilds: 4 plain, 4 draw-four.
- Chance the top card of a fresh shuffle is a wild: 8 in 108, about 7%.
Prism Riot's deck: 126 cards
Prism Riot is an original game with its own deck. It has four energies instead of colours — Flare ▲, Surge ●, Volt ◆ and Void ■ — and every card shows its symbol as well as its colour, so it's playable with any kind of colour blindness.
Per energy: one 0, two each of 1–9, and two each of five action cards — FLIP (reverse), FREEZE (skip), +2, SHIELD (blocks the next attack aimed at you) and SWAP (trade hands). That's 29 × 4 = 116, plus 6 PRISM wilds and 4 +4 wilds: 126 cards.
The Crazy Eights tables use a plain 76-card number deck (one 0 and two each of 1–9 per energy), where every 8 is wild and a 2 makes the next player draw two. Rule packs add cards: Merciless brings +6, +10, PURGE, FREEZE ALL, REV +4 and ROULETTE; Eruption adds BLAST and ALL BLAST; Eclipse adds the ECLIPSE card that flips every action to its dark twin.
Missing a card?
A deck missing one or two number cards plays fine — nobody will notice. A missing wild or draw card changes the odds noticeably; replace it with a blank or a card from a second deck marked with a pen. Or play online, where the deck is always complete: every Prism Riot table is dealt from a full, freshly shuffled deck.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards are in a classic colour card game deck?
108: 76 number cards, 24 action cards (Skip, Reverse, Draw Two in each colour) and 8 wilds. Recent printings often add special wilds for 112.
How many cards does each player start with?
Seven in the standard rules. Prism Riot deals seven in most modes, four in Micro Riot and ten in Big Deal and Purge Party.
How many wild cards are there?
Eight in the classic deck: four Wild and four Wild Draw Four. Prism Riot's deck has six PRISM wilds and four +4 wilds.
How many 0s are in the deck?
Four — one per colour. Every other number appears twice per colour.
How many cards are in the Prism Riot deck?
126 in the standard deck, 76 in the Crazy Eights deck, more with the Merciless, Eruption or Eclipse packs.