Rummikub

01Discover the game

Rummikub looks like a row of numbers, but the table becomes a common space that everyone can reorganize. A combination already laid can be extended, separated or associated with other tiles, provided that at the end everything is legal. Pleasure often comes from a transformation that was not seen at the first glance.

This chapter follows the Sabra method of the official multilingual booklet of 2019, reference 5040014 V18, with 106 coins and two jokers. Attention to a significant deviation: this booklet gives a penalty of 25 points for each remaining joker, while other editions use 30. Keep the scoring systems separate. Overall difficulty is Medium: organize your rack, plan rearrangements and track the combinations in play. Two to four people can play. Allow 30 to 60 minutes depending on how long players think.

02Equipment

Plan 106 tiles: two copies of each of the numbers from 1 to 13 in four colours, i.e. 104 numbered tiles, plus two jokers. The Classic box has four easels and one ruler. One sheet and one pencil are used to note the rounds; a timer is optional in the version described here.

The colours allow you to check the suites and groups. If they are difficult to distinguish, announce their names and use markers on the easels, without changing the faces of the tiles. The possible large boxes with 160 tiles and six easels correspond to another configuration: they do not add to the 106 pieces in this part.

03The goal

You are looking to put down all the tiles on your easel. You can build complete combinations or use those on the table after you have made your opening. A handle stops as soon as a player gets rid of his last tile.

The values serve two different purposes: to reach the 30 points of opening and calculate the penalties of the remaining hands. Therefore, a great value is not always an advantage: it facilitates opening, but becomes expensive if it remains on the easel.

04Preparing the game

Return all the tiles, mix them and form a common reserve. The booklet offers stacks of seven, but the important thing is that the faces remain unknown. Each pulls a tile to determine the first player to the highest number, and then puts them back in the reserve. In case of equality, redraw this draw between the people concerned; this practical split is announced here.

Each person then takes 14 tiles and puts them on his easel. The others remain hidden in the center. We play in the clockwise direction. Keep a space large enough to form several distinct combinations: no one should believe that a tile belongs to two sets at once.

05Open and then transform combinations

Both authorized families

One Further At least three consecutive numbers of a single colour: 4, 5, 6 red, for example. It can be longer, up to 1–13. The 13 never joins the 1; 12–13–1 is forbidden.

One group three or four tiles of the same number and of all different colors. Three 8, red, blue and black, are suitable. Two 8 reds cannot belong to the same group. The two identical copies of the game are used to build separate combinations, not to double a color in a group.

The opening of 30

Before manipulating the table, place at once one or more combinations from your easel whose numbers total at least 30. A joker is worth the number it represents for this total. You cannot borrow a tile already laid to reach 30.

If you can't open, take a tile and finish your turn. You don't play it immediately. After a successful opening, the chosen booklet also allows you to extend or manipulate during the same round. If you prefer a smoother progression to learn, do exercises out of the game first, without changing this rule during the real run.

The following towers

Once open, you can put up a new combination, add tiles to existing sets and reorganize the common tiles to place those on your easel. You have to bring at least one of your tiles if you play. Otherwise, whether you can't or don't want to pose, pick up a tile and give up your hand.

You can add a fourth color to a group of three, extend a sequel or remove an end of a suite that has become quite long. You can also separate a sequel in two, but each result still has to contain at least three tiles. All pieces of the table must, at the end, belong to valid combinations. No number remains isolated and no one recovers a common tile on its easel.

The jokers

A joker replaces a specific color and number in its combination. It can be recovered by correct replacement or by legal reorganization. In a group of three with joker, the fourth color added can release it since the remaining three actual numbers form a valid group.

The released joker must be reused on the table during the same turn; you don't keep it for later. Its role can change in its new combination. A long suite can also be recomposed to release a joker without providing exactly the tile it represented, if all the final combinations remain valid. This point depends on the editions: it is present in the examples of the chosen leaflet.

Uncompleted reflection and manipulation

The booklet proposes an optional limit of two minutes. If it is used and the manipulation is not completed, it is necessary to restore the table to condition, resume tiles not integrated into valid combinations and pick up three penalty tiles. To begin with, we do not charge a timer. Remember or photograph the table before a large transformation in order to restore the previous state without dispute.

06An example before and after

The table contains 5–6–7–8 blue. You have a red 8 and a black 8 and you have already opened. You can remove the 8 blue from the end to form the group of the three 8. The blue suite 5–6–7 remains valid. You have just placed two tiles of your easel without leaving an incomplete combination.

On the other hand, with only 6–7–8 blues on the table, removing the 8 would leave 6–7, too short. We would have to bring another tile to repair the suite. So we judge the final set, and not only the group we want to create.

For an independent opening, 9–10–11 red give exactly 30. The group of three 9 gives only 27 and is therefore not enough alone. This opening can be completed by a second complete combination, but not by three isolated points.

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07End and points

When one person has set everything up, the others add up the remaining numbers on their easel. Each total is entered in negative; the winner receives their sum in positive. In our edition, a remaining joker is 25. With 7, 9 and a joker, the penalty is 41, not 46.

You can play a round or combine several rounds by changing the first player. Advertise their number before you start. The largest cumulative total wins. The consulted booklet does not completely explain the rare case where the reserve is empty and no one can play anymore: let's not assign it a universal rule. For this table, the family convention is to stop after a complete round without pose. In an isolated round, the smallest sum wins, with shared equality. In a cumulative series, this one is the first time that you can play a round. Blocked round does not bring any positive points or penalties to anyone and is redistributed. These practical choices are not presented as the missing official rules.

08Frequent errors

• Make its opening with tiles borrowed from the table.
• Accept a 12–13–1 suite or a group containing twice the same color.
• Move a joker on his easel instead of replaying it immediately.
• Create a beautiful group leaving a suite of two tiles behind him.
• Play the punctured tile on the same lap.
• Count 30 penalty for the joker while this edition announces 25.

09Tips for starting

Range the colors together, then look for the numbers present in several colors. Before touching the common tiles, imagine the final layout and check each set. Start with the small transformations; the experience then learns to see several possibilities at the same time.

Keeping a tile a few turns can open a great manipulation, but also monitor the big values of your hand. When an opponent has almost more tiles, limiting a future penalty can be more useful than preparing a spectacular shot.