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Rummikub Rules
Rules
The game of Rummikub is designed for two players at least and four players at most. The game consists of 104 tiles, and on each and every tile there is a digit painted in either, yellow, blue, red and black (colors may vary). All digits, 1-13 appear twice in every color. In addition, there are two Joker tiles (marked by a smiling face). The tile marked with the digit 1 can appear either before a "2" or after a "13", however, it cannot be used in both forms in the same Run, therefore, the Run of 13,1,2 is illegal.
| The four suits |
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| The cards and their values |
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1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points
6 points 7 points 8 points 9 points 10 points
10 points 10 points 10 points
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The goal of the game is to be the first player to meld all the tiles in their hand and discard the last tile they have. It is possible to meld tiles by either creating a "Set" or a "Run" or by adding to or reassembling present melds that have been already melded in the "Melding Area".
| A set consists of 3 or more cards of the same rank |
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| A run consists of 3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit |
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Game Play
All players receive 14 tiles. The remaining tiles are stacked in piles of 7. The last tile remaining is placed face up and forms the discard pile. Unlike many other games of Rummy, in which, a player starts his turn by picking up a card and ends it by discarding a card, in Rummikub the game structure is a little different and any of these moves are conditional to certain acts in the game play.
In order to start melding melds in the melding area, a player must meld sets whose total sum is equal to or exceeds 30 points. Once a player melds his first set/run he is able to meld, add and rearrange tiles without any restrictions. In the beginning of every turn a player has two options. If a player has the option to meld a set/run or to make a certain action on the melding area he makes his move and discards a tile to the discard tile. In case a player is unable to meld or add a tile to other melds, he must then pick up a tile from the top of the discard pile or the top of the stock pile. If he can meld after his pick up, he then melds and discards a card to end his turn.
Aside from these differences, Rummikub also has the unique feature of rearranging the melds in the melding area. Every player, in his turn, can rearrange the Sets/Runs on the melding area as he wishes and as long as it all of the sets in the melding area are legal. Here are several examples of rearranging the melds:
- Adding a tile to a Set/Run - this move is also available in most of the other Rummy games. For example, let's say there is a blue set of 4, 5, 6 then a player can either add a blue 3 or a 7 to that set.
- Breaking a 4 tile Set/Run - Let's assume that there is a 4 tile set of eights. In this case a player can take the red 8 tile and use it to form a red 8, 9, 10 run.
- Adding a tile to a meld and removing another for another use. For example, let's assume that we have a red 8, 9, 10 Run. A player may add a red 7 tile and then use the red 10 tile for another Set, to which he will add two tiles of two different color 10's.
- Breaking a Run to build two new ones. For example, a blue Run of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is in the melding area and the player has a blue 4 and a blue 5. The player may separate the Run and Add his two tiles to create new Runs of 4,5,6 and 2,3,4,5.
- Breaking several melds at a time to form a new one. For example, let's assume that there are two Sets in the melding area. One is yellow 5,6,7,8 and the other is a Set of four 5s. The player that has a green 5 in hand can use the yellow 5 and either a red or blue 5 from the 5s' Set and make a new 5s' Set.
Please note, a player is entitled to break Sets/Runs only if the following conditions are fulfilled:
- The player had already made his first meld. It is also possible to rearrange the Melding Area right after making the first meld as long as it is a legal meld with a sum of more than 30, without breaking any other melds on the melding area.
- It is illegal to break any of the melds without adding at least one tile to the melding area.
- At the end of a player's turn, all of the melds in the melding area have to be legal Sets/Runs.
Once a player has finished rearranging the melding area and adding his tiles, he then discards a tile to the discard pile and ends his turn. The fact that players can rearrange the Melding Area to suit them is what makes Rummikub so exciting and dynamic! Click Here to review some of our strategy tips.
Ending a game
The game of Rummikub comes to an end when one of the players melds all the tiles he has in hand and discards the final tile into the discard pile. When a player wins, the value of the remaining tiles that the other losing players have in hand is given penalty points, while the winning player gets the total sum of their opponents' tiles in the form of positive points. For Example, player A won, player B had a total of 25 points, player C a total of 17 points and player D has a total of 18 points. The players ranking will be:
- Player A - 60 positive points.
- Player C - 17 negative points.
- Player D - 18 negative points.
- Player B - 25 negative points.
The game reaches its end when a player accumulates 200 positive points or more.
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