Rummikub is a tile-based game for two to four players, combines elements of the card game rummy and mahjong.
The game of Rummikub was first invented by Ephraim Hertzano in the 1940?s. Hertzano based the game on the Traditional Rummy game but changed the standard deck of cards into colorful tiles and added in the option for players to disassemble and reassemble melds making the Rummikub game that much more exciting!
Since its invention, Rummikub has become one of the most popular games in the world. It has been distributes in over 25 different languages and has sold millions of copies worldwide!
The online Rummikub game is designed for 2 – 4 players and is played using game tiles. The game includes 108 tiles. There are two sets of tiles 1 – 13 for each tile color and there are 2 joker tiles.
The main objective of the game is to be the first player to reach the 200 point bar by winning the rounds. Each round the winner is the player to get rid of all of their tiles before their opponent. You get rid of tiles by creating melds and putting them down in the designated melding area or by building tiles from your hand onto existing melds (with or without disassembling them).
Each player can make on of two moves during their turn – draw a tile from the stock pile or the card discarded by the player before them, or they can make a move in the melding area. Once a player has put down their first valid meld they can then build on existing melds in the melding area. As long as by the end of their move all of the melds in the melding area are valid and include at least one new tile that the player added during their turn. If this is the move the player chooses the player is not required to draw a card at the beginning of their turn.
As in most of the Rummy games, the Rummikub game has two types of valid melds – a run, which contains 3 or more tiles in sequential order. The second type is a set – 3-4 tiles of the same numerical value but different colors. Rummikub includes 2 jokers that can be used to change any of the numerical tiles if needed.
A round ends when a player has gotten rid of all of their tiles. At that time points are tabulated for each player. The losers of the round receive penalty points according to the values of the tiles remaining in their hand while the winner receives their opponents’ penalty points in the form of positive bonus points. The game ends when one player reaches at least 200 (positive) points.
