Rules of play
The dealer deals out seven cards for two players, or five cards for three or more players. When all players have been dealt their hands, one card is laid face-up in the middle of the table to form the discard pile, and the rest of the deck laid face-down beside it forming the stock pile. The Jokers are used.
The player to the dealer's right plays first by following the rank or suit of the first card led, or by playing a wild card. If the players can not follow the lead, they must draw a card from the stock. The players then take turns playing or drawing cards and the first player who plays all his or her cards out wins the game.
Action cards
- King - Take another turn (play another card, or draw a card if none can be played).
- Queen - Reverse the direction of play (in the case of two players, it functions just like a jack).
- Jack - Jump (skip) the next player.
Attack and defense cards
When an attack card is played, the next player must draw one or more cards, or play another attack card.
- 2 - damage level of 2.
- Ace - damage level of 3.
- Joker (black) - damage level of 7.
- Joker (colored) - damage level of 10. “Can only be used with correlation to the color of the Joker”
- Three - "shield", one can block the attack card with any "shape" of three cards.
Damage adds up (2♠ followed by A♠ would have a total damage of 7). After drawing because of attack, it is still that player's turn; they may play one or more of the cards that they have just drawn.
In The Netherlands their version of One-card, called Pesten, is played without shield-cards and often drop some rules to make it easier. The 8 replaces the Jack, Jack replaces the 7, 7 and King have the same function (but one is chosen at the start, mostly 7) and the Aces replaces the Queen. Children usually use rhymes to remember the rules, such as "Acht; wacht. Zeven; kleven." ("Eight; wait. Seven; stick.")
The Finnish variant (Yksi kortti) follows mostly the same rules as the South Korean game with the addition of allowing a player to play as many cards of the same value at once as one wishes, provided that the first card laid down is a valid answer to the card played by the previous player. In Finland the game is also typically played counterclockwise, with the loser of the previous round playing first.
The stockpile
The stockpile is the stack of cards that have not yet gone into play. If this pile gets exhausted, and that frequently happens during the game, a player takes all but the last (top) card from the discard pile, shuffle them, to form a new stock of cards
Play variations
- A player can play more than one card at a time, but the cards must be the same rank (number or letter); in effect the suit is changed.
- Two or more kings can be played, in which case the player can take yet another turn. Two or more queens are played, the effect of the second cancels the first. If two or more jacks are played, one player is skipped for each jack.
- A maximum number of cards to be drawn due to a series of attack cards can be set (usually 20).
- When playing against an attack card, a player must play one of equal or greater value of the top card. If the player plays a card with less damage, they must draw another from the stock, and if they play a Two on an ace, they must still draw a card.
- Other reasons for penalty cards can be added.
- Instead of being a shield, a 3 can be used as a mirror to return the attack to the last attacking player, also reversing the direction of play.
- If a player ends on an attack card, and the attack moves through the whole circle back to them, they must pick up the cards associated with that attack (works best with two players).
500 or Five Hundred is a trick-taking game developed in the United States from Euchre. Euchre was extended to a 10 card game with bidding and a Misere contract similar to Russian Preference, producing a cutthroat three-player game like Preference and a four-player game played in partnerships like Whist which is the most popular modern form, although with special packs it can be played by up to six players.
Gin rummy, or simply gin, is a two-player card game variant of rummy. It has enjoyed widespread popularity as both a social and a gambling game, especially during the mid twentieth century, and remains today one of the most widely-played two-player card games.
Canasta is a card game of the rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 Rum. Although many variations exist for two, three, five or six players, it is most commonly played by four in two partnerships with two standard decks of cards. Players attempt to make melds of seven cards of the same rank and "go out" by playing all cards in their hands. It is "the most recent card game to have achieved worldwide status as a classic".
Crazy Eights is a shedding-type card game for two to seven players and the best known American member of the Eights Group which also includes Pig and Spoons. The object of the game is to be the first player to discard all of their cards. The game is similar to Switch and Mau Mau.
Robbers' rummy is a card game for two or more players. It is a variant of German Rummy dating to the early 20th century. Being derived from normal rummy, it emphasises arrangement of cards based on card matching rules, while abandoning the notions of card discards and scoring entirely.
500 rum, also called pinochle rummy, Michigan rummy, Persian rummy, rummy 500 or 500 rummy, is a popular variant of rummy. The game of canasta and several other games are believed to have developed from this popular form of rummy. The distinctive feature of 500 rum is that each player scores the value of the sets or cards they meld. It may be played by 2 to 8 players, but it is best for 3 to 5.
Paskahousu is a popular Finnish card game for two to six players, but three to five are best. The object of the game is to play higher cards than the previously played cards, first to get replacement cards from the stock pile, and, after the stock pile has exhausted, to get rid of one's cards.
Mau-Mau is a card game for two to five players that is popular in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, the United States, Brazil, Greece, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Israel and the Netherlands. Mau-Mau is a member of the larger Crazy Eights or shedding family, to which the proprietary card game Uno belongs. However, Mau-Mau is played with standard French or German-suited playing cards.
Rummy is a group of games related by the feature of matching cards of the same rank or sequence and same suit. The basic goal in any form of rummy is to build melds which can be either sets or runs and either be first to go out or to amass more points than the opposition.
Macau, also spelled Makaua or Macaua, is a shedding-type card game from Hungary, with similar rules to Crazy Eights or Uno and uses a standard 52 card deck. The object of the game is to be the first player to remove all cards from one's hand. Macau involves bluffing so that the players can save cards for later for a higher point value. Cheating is encouraged to add additional gameplay depth.
Skip-Bo is a commercial version of the card game Spite and Malice, a derivative of Russian Bank, which in turn originates from Double Klondike. In 1967, Minnie Hazel "Skip" Bowman (1915–2001) of Brownfield, Texas, began producing a boxed edition of the game under the name SKIP-BO. In 1980 the game was purchased by International Games, which was subsequently bought by Mattel in 1992. A mobile version of the game for iOS was released by Magmic in September, 2013. There is a new version called "SKIP-BO Mod" that comes in a white and blue case.
Speed is a game for two players of the shedding family of card games, in which players try to get rid of all of their cards first. It is a form of competitive patience similar to Spit.
Liverpool rummy is a multi-player, multi-round card game similar to other variants of rummy that adds features like buying and going out. It is played the same as Contract rummy, except that if a player manages to cut the exact number of cards required to deal the hand and leave a face-up card, then the cutting player's score is reduced by 50 points.
Switch is a shedding-type card game for two or more players that is popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland and as alternative incarnations in other regions. The sole aim of Switch is to discard all of the cards in one's hand; the first player to play their final card, and ergo have no cards left, wins the game. Switch is very similar to the games UNO, Flaps and Mau Mau, both belonging to the larger Crazy Eights or Shedding family of card games.
Contract rummy is a Rummy card game, based on gin rummy played by 3 to 8 players. It appeared in the United States during the Second World War. The game is also known as Combination rummy, Deuces Wild Rummy and Joker rummy, and a proprietary version of the game called Phase 10 was published in 1982.
Three thirteen is a variation of the card game Rummy. It is an eleven-round game played with two or more players. It requires two decks of cards with the jokers removed. Like other Rummy games, once the hands are dealt, the remainder of the cards are placed face down on the table. The top card from the deck is flipped face up and put beside the deck to start the discard pile.
Continental Rummy is a progressive partnership Rummy card game related to Rumino. It is considered the forerunner of the whole family of rummy games using two packs of cards as one. Its name derives from the fact that it is played throughout the continental Europe, the United States, Mexico, Canada, and also in South America. According to Albert Morehead, it was "at one time the most popular form of Rummy in women's afternoon games, until in 1950 it lost out to Canasta."
Kalooki or Kaluki is a card game popularly played in Jamaica,. It is sometimes called Jamaican Rummy for similarities in structure the game bears with Contract Rummy or Gin Rummy. The games are, however, different and not to be confused.
Marriage is a Rummy card game widely played in India. It uses three or more packs of playing cards.
German Rummy or Rommé is the most popular form of the worldwide game, Rummy, played in Austria and Germany. It is a game for 2 to 6 players and is played with two packs of French playing cards, each comprising 52 cards and 3 jokers. There are no partnerships. In Germany, the Germany Rummy Association is the umbrella organisation for local rummy clubs and organises national competitions. The game is often just known as Rommé in Germany and Rummy in Austria.
