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Rummy
Board · Classics · plays in your browser, no download
Runs and sets, played with numbered tiles instead of cards. And one rule that changes everything: once something is on the table, anybody may pull it apart and rebuild it, as long as everything is still legal when they finish.
Where it comes from
The game of numbered tiles came out of a need: in some places, in some years, playing cards were frowned upon or banned outright, and somebody rebuilt a card game out of pieces of plastic. From there it spread around the world as a family board game.
The rule that makes it unlike any card game is that the table belongs to everybody: runs and sets already laid down can be taken apart and rebuilt, as long as everything is valid again by the end of your turn. It is why a whole game can turn on a single move.
How to play
| The tiles | Numbers 1 to 13 in four colours, two of each, plus jokers. |
|---|---|
| A set | Three or four of the same number, all different colours. |
| A run | Three or more consecutive numbers in one colour. |
| Getting started | Your first move must be worth at least thirty points, using only your own tiles. |
| After that | Rearrange anything on the table, as long as it all ends up legal. |
| Winning | First to play every tile. |
Our version
The table rearranges itself when a move allows it, so you can see what is possible instead of holding the whole board in your head.
Three things that help
Look for the splits. A run of five can become a run of three and a run of three if you own the overlap. Most of the big turns in this game come from taking something apart, not from what you drew.
Do not hoard for the perfect opening. Waiting several turns to make thirty points in one go while your opponent is already playing is how good hands lose.
Keep the joker as long as it is doing nothing. A joker spent to save one turn is a joker not available when it could finish two groups at once.