In Five Crowns Junior, players try to match all five cards in their hand by color or suit. The first player to do so gains a treasure chest, and the player with the most chests wins.

The game lasts five rounds, and one of the suits is wild each round. Each player starts with a hand of five cards, and players play simultaneously, drawing and discarding one card until someone is able to go out. Once a player does so, each other player has one final turn; for each card that a player can't match, she receives a packrat chip. If players tie for treasure chests after five rounds, the player with the fewest packrat chips wins.