Rummy

How to play Rummy

1. With 2 players, each player gets 10 cards. With 3 or 4 players, each gets 7. The next card is turned face up to start the discard pile, and the rest form the deck.
2. On your turn, draw one card: the top card of the deck, or the face-up card on top of the discard pile.
3. Then, if you can, lay down melds in front of everyone. A set is 3 or 4 cards of the same rank, such as three 9s. A run is 3 or more cards in a row in the same suit, such as the 4, 5 and 6 of hearts. The ace is low: A, 2, 3 is a run, but Q, K, A is not. You may lay down as many melds as you like in one turn.
4. You may also lay off cards on any meld on the table, your own or anyone else's. A run grows at either end, so the 7 of hearts fits on 4, 5, 6 of hearts. A set of three takes the fourth card of its rank.
5. End your turn by discarding one card face up on the pile. You can't throw away the card you just took from the pile on the same turn, but you can keep it and use it later.
6. The first player to get rid of their last card goes out and wins the hand. You can go out by melding, laying off or discarding your last card; you don't need a card left to discard.
7. If the deck runs out, the discard pile is turned over, without shuffling, to make a new deck. If the deck runs out a second time, the hand ends.

Scoring

The player who goes out scores the cards left in the other players' hands, including any melds they were still holding:

• Rummy: if you go out in one turn without having laid down or laid off any cards on an earlier turn, that's going rummy, and your score is doubled.
• If the deck runs out a second time, nobody went out, so everyone counts their cards. The player with the fewest points wins the hand and scores the difference between their count and each other player's. For example, with 6, 15, 7 and 21 points left, the player with 6 scores 9 + 1 + 15 = 25. Players who tie for the fewest share those points.
• A game is 3 or 5 hands. Whoever has the most points after the last hand wins. If two players tie for the lead, they play one more hand. The first player moves one seat to the left every hand.

Controls

• Draw: tap the deck, or tap the face-up card on the discard pile to take it. When the deck is empty, tap its space to turn the discard pile over.
• Pick cards: tap cards in your hand to pick them up, and tap again to put one back.
• Meld: pick 3 or more cards that make a set or a run, then press Meld.
• Lay off: pick one card. The melds it fits glow; tap one to add your card, or press Lay off.
• Discard: pick one card, then press Discard or tap the discard pile.
• Lay down all: when nothing is picked, this button lays down every meld and lay-off the game can find in your hand, one after another. When that would use every card, it says Go out!
• The game keeps your hand sorted. Cards that make a meld have a green edge, cards that fit a meld on the table a blue one, and the card you just took from the pile a red one. The number of points in your hand is shown below it.
• Keyboard: ← and → or Tab to move between cards and Enter to pick one; D draws from the deck, P takes from the pile, M melds, L lays off, X discards and A lays down all.

With 2–4 Players, choose how many people are playing. A cover screen hides the cards whenever the device passes to the next player, and a short line tells them what the player before them did. At the end of each hand, everyone's cards are shown face up so you can check the score together.

Computer levels

The computer never looks at your cards or the order of the deck. It only knows its own cards, the melds on the table, the discard pile and what everyone did in the open: which cards each player took from the pile and which they threw away. Playing alone, choose 2, 3 or 4 players to take on 1, 2 or 3 computer players, all at the level you pick.

Tips to win

• Lay down melds early. Cards still in your hand count against you if someone else goes out, even when they make a meld.
• Throw high cards first. A king that isn't part of a meld costs 10 points if you're caught with it. Low cards are cheap to hold while you wait.
• Keep cards that work two ways. A 7 of hearts next to the 6 of hearts and the 7 of clubs can become a run or a set.
• Look at the table. Every meld laid down is a place to get rid of cards. Before you throw a card away, check whether it fits a run or a set on the table.
• Watch the next player. They're the only one who can take your discard. If they picked up the 9 of clubs, don't hand them the 8 or 10 of clubs, or another 9.
• Count what's gone. If two 5s are already on the discard pile and the third is in a meld, a pair of 5s will never become a set.
• Going rummy is a gamble. Holding melds back for a double score can pay off, but if someone else goes out first, every card you're holding counts against you.

About Rummy

Rummy is the name of a whole family of games about collecting sets and runs, and the game here is its simplest member, often called Basic Rummy, Straight Rummy or Rum. Gin Rummy, Rummy 500 and Canasta grew from the same idea, and many people say "rummy" when they mean Rummy 500. The rules here follow the common descriptions in card game books, with these choices made clear: the ace is low, you can lay off on anyone's melds from your first turn, you can go out without a final discard, going rummy scores double, and the discard pile is reused once. Some families play that you must keep a card to discard when you go out, that you can't lay off until you've laid down a meld of your own, that the ace can also be high (Q, K, A), or that the old pile is shuffled when the deck runs out. Rummy has no fixed winning score: players agree a number of hands or a target before they start, which is why you choose 3 or 5 hands here.

Questions

Updated 9 November 2026