The program requires three basic actions from you during a game: selecting a card, scoring a play, and continuing after a pause. With a mouse, you take these actions by clicking on a card, dragging and dropping your back peg, and clicking on the Continue button. If Hints are enabled, you may also score by simply clicking on the target hole -- the mouse icon looks something like an upside down peg over the target.
For those who prefer keyboard navigation, a Keyboard Menu is provided. The menu is really only there to remind you of its shortcut keys. These are not typical of Windows shortcuts, but instead are the same as the keys used by the earlier DOS version of the program. The keyboard controls are particularly useful if you have disabled Autoplay and Autoscore (e.g., in a tournament-style game).
| Card Selection | Use the Left Arrow or Right Arrow to highlight a desired card, then press Enter to select it. |
| Peg Movement | Use the Up Arrow or Down Arrow to move your back peg, then press Enter to anchor it. You always have the green pegs. At game start, the inside (upper) peg is the back peg. |
| Continue | Just press Enter. |
Two special keys are also recognized: | |
| Automatic | Pressing the F10 key is the same as clicking on the game button. The button makes automatic plays for you and its caption changes according to game context. When the button is disabled (see Options Menu), the key is also disabled. |
| Minimize | If the menu bar has focus, pressing the Escape key eventually takes you back to the game area. In the game area, the same key then minimizes the program to an icon or to the taskbar. |
Standing on the F10 key is a way to generate computer vs. computer games quickly. You might find the statistics from this interesting if you are a real cribbage diehard. Standing on Escape is a quick way to hide the program. Basically, treat this as the "boss is comin'" key.