Rummikub ("rummy cube"[1]) is a tile-based game for 2 to 4 players, combining elements of the card game rummy and mahjong. There are 106 tiles in the game, including 104 numbered tiles (valued 1 to 13 in four different colors, two copies of each) and two jokers. Players have 14 or 16 tiles initially and take turns putting down tiles from their racks into sets (groups or runs) of at least three, drawing a tile if they cannot play. In the Sabra version (the most common and popular), the first player to use all their tiles scores a positive score based on the total of the other players' hands, while the losers get negative scores. Variations of the game contain four jokers. An important feature of the game is that players can move and reuse the tiles that have already been placed on the table.
Rummikub was invented by Ephraim Hertzano, a Romanian-born Jew, who emigrated to Israel after World War II.[2] He hand-made the first sets with his family in the backyard of his home. Hertzano sold these sets door-to-door and on a consignment basis at small shops. Over the years, the family licensed it to other countries and it became Israel's best-selling export game. In the 1970s it was brought to the United States by Irv and Arline Kossoff to sell in their New York’s Gift, Games, and Luggage store. Arline translated the rules from Hebrew to English and by 1977, it became a bestselling game in the United States.[3] [4] The game was marketed as "Rummikid" during part of the 1970s.[5]
Hertzano's Official Rummikub Book, published in 1978, describes three different versions of the game: American, Sabra, and International. Modern Rummikub sets include only the Sabra version rules, with no mention of the others, and there are variations in the rules between publishers. The game was first made by Lemada Light Industries Ltd, founded by Hertzano in 1978.
Rummikub is similar to several central European card games which are played with two decks of playing cards, including Machiavelli and Vatikan. Vatikan is played with two decks of cards and one joker per player, thus making 106 cards for two players.[6]
In Turkey, the game is known as Okey and is widely played by families at gatherings or at local cafes.
Rummikubs main component is a pool of tiles, consisting of 104 number tiles and two joker tiles. The number tiles range in value from one to thirteen in four colors (blue, red, mango, and black). Each combination of color and number is represented twice. Players each have a rack to store tiles without revealing the face of the tiles to the other player(s).
The following explanation is based on the rules in the 1998 Pressman American edition.
Tiles are shuffled together and either placed into a bag or spread out face down across the table. Each player draws and reveals one tile. The player whose tile has the highest number value will start the game. Tiles are returned to the pool, and players collect 14 random tiles and arrange them on their racks. Play begins with the starting player and proceeds in a clockwise (for modern variants) direction.
For the first player’s move, they must play a set (or sets in some versions) with a value of at least 30 points. The point value of a tile is taken from its face value unless the tile is a joker, in which case it assumes the value of the tile it is replacing. A player may not use other players' tiles to make the "initial meld". If a player cannot make an initial meld, they must pick up a single tile from the pool and add it to their rack. Play then proceeds to the next player.
Once a player has made their initial meld, they can, on a separate turn, play one or more tiles from their rack, making or adding to groups and/or runs. If the player cannot (or chooses not to) play any tiles, they must pick a tile randomly from the pool and add it to their rack.
Players may not make their initial meld and along with that play on groups and runs during the same turn. They can play on runs and groups after the turn of making the initial meld.
Players may play tiles by amending sets already in play. The only limit to the length of a run is the extremes of the tile values. Groups are limited to four because colors may not repeat within a group.
All tiles in play must be arranged in sets of at least three tiles. The two valid set types are called runs and groups.
A run is composed of three or more, same-colored tiles, in consecutive number order. (A 1 may not follow a 13.)
| Example run: |
A group is made from three or four same-value tiles in distinct colors. For example: red 3, blue 3, black 3 and yellow 3.
| Example group: |
| Invalid because numbers are not consecutive: | ||
| Invalid because numbers in a run must all be the same color: | ||
| Invalid because colors may not repeat in a group: |
| Tiles already out: | ||
| Own tiles: | ||
| Recombined result: | and |
During a player's turn, sets of tiles that have already been played may be manipulated to allow more tiles to be played. At the end of the turn, all played tiles must be in valid sets.
Once a winner has been declared, the losing players must add up the values of the tiles remaining in their racks (their score for the game). The joker has a penalty value of 30. A player's score for the game is subtracted from their current cumulative score. Once calculated, each of the losing players' scores for the game is added to the winners current cumulative score.
For example: suppose in a game player A wins, player B has a score of 5, player C has a score of 10 and player D a score of 3. Player A will now have a cumulative score of 18, player B will be −5, player C will be −10 and player D will be −3.
Should the game result in no winner, the player with the lowest number of tiles in their rack is the winner. Scoring is then carried out in the normal manner.
If one person never had the required points to make a meld and the game is over, their points are added to the score of each of the other players. The person with the fewest points is the winner.
Game play continues until a player has used all of the tiles in the rack, at which point they should call out "Rummikub," and are declared the winner. If the pool runs out of tiles, play continues until there is a winner or no player can make a valid play.
| Tiles already out: | |
| Own tiles: | |
| Recombined result: |
Games magazine included the game as Rummy-O II in their "Top 100 Games of 1980", noting the appeal of playing with tiles rather than cards for "the sound of snapping them onto the table when making a strong play".[8]