RUMSKI

OBJECTIVE OF RUMSKI:  Be the first player to reach the winning score

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 6 players

NUMBER OF CARDS: 70 card Rumski deck

RANK OF CARDS: (low) 1 – 13 (high)

TYPE OF GAME: Rummy

AUDIENCE: Kids, Adults

INTRODUCTION OF RUMSKI

Rumski is a new commercial Rummy game published by Card Board Gaming in 2020.  In the words of the creators, Rumski plays a lot like Rummikub while mixing in some elements of other Rummy games and UNO.

Players are trying to create melds and get rid of their cards as quickly as possible.  The first player to empty their hand ends the round.  They are awarded points based on the cards remaining in their opponents’ hands.

THE CARDS & THE DEAL

The Rumski deck is composed of five different colored suits with cards ranked 1 – 13.  The deck also comes with five wild cards.  

To determine who will deal first and be the scorekeeper for the entire game, each player should draw a card from the pile.  The player with the lowest card drawn must deal first and keep score. keonhacai

Shuffle the deck, and deal 10 cards to each player one at a time for a 3 – 6 player game.  For a 2 player game, each player is dealt 12 cards.  The rest of the deck is placed in the center of the playing space as the draw pile.  Flip the top card over to begin the discard pile. 

THE PLAY

Each turn is composed of three phases: draw, meld, and discard/pass.

The game begins with the player to the left of the dealer.  They start their turn by drawing.  They may draw one card from the draw pile, the top card from the discard pile, or the entire discard pile.  If a player draws the entire discard pile, they must discard a card at the end of their turn.

Next, a player may create melds and play them to the Community.  There are two types of melds in Rumski: sets and runs.  

A set is three or more cards of the same rank.  For example, purple 3, red 3, blue 3, makes a set.

A run is three or more cards of the same color in sequential order.  For example, 3,4,5,6,7 of the purple suit makes a run.  

Sets and runs are only allowed to have one wild card each.  For example, 3,W,W,3 is an illegal set.

Once a player has finished playing melds to the community, they may end their turn.  There are two ways to end a turn.  Players do not have to discard to end their turn.  If a player does not want to discard, they simply say pass, or they knock on the table to signal they are done.  If a player wants to discard, they must choose a card that matches the color or number of the top card on the discard pile.  For example, if the top card of the discard pile is a red 8, the player must discard a red card or an 8 of any other color.  If a player draws the entire discard pile, they must discard a card at the end of their turn.

Play passes to the left and continues until one of the players at the table plays all of their cards.  Once a player has emptied their hand, the round is over.  A player does not have to discard their last card in order to end the round.

COMMUNITY

Melds are played to the Community.  Once a meld has been played to the Community,  players are able to add cards to it.  A player can only add cards to melds in the Community after they themselves have played a meld.  Cards in the Community can be moved around in any way that the player wishes as long as all of the cards remain in the Community, and all of the melds are legal.  

WILDS

There are five wild cards within the Rumski deck.  Wilds may be used in a number of ways.  Melds may contain one wild in them, and they may be rearranged in the Community to allow for more or bigger melds to be played.  As with other cards in the Community,  wilds can be moved around as needed in order to let players create different melds. 

SCORING

Once a round has ended, it is time to tally up the score.  The player who emptied their hand wins the round, and they are awarded points based on the remaining cards in their opponents’ hands.  

1’s – 9’s are worth 5 points each.

10’s – 13’s are worth 10 points each.

Wilds are worth 25 points each.

WINNING

Games may be played to any desired score, but Card Board Games suggests playing to 100x the number of players.  In a two player game, play to 200.  In a three player game, play to 300 and so on.