CRAZY RUMMY

OBJECT OF CRAZY RUMMY: The object of Crazy Rummy is to go out as often as possible and win by scoring the least amount of points. 

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 to 6 players

MATERIALS: One traditional 52-card deck, a way to keep score, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Rummy Card Game

AUDIENCE: Any Age 

OVERVIEW OF CRAZY RUMMY

Crazy rummy is a rummy style card game for 3 to 6 players. The goal of the game is to score the least amount of points at the end. Players can do this by going out or keeping their hand points low at the end of rounds. 

The game is played over 13 rounds. What makes it crazy? Well, every round the wild cards change. 

SETUP 

The first dealer is chosen at random. They will shuffle the deck and deal each player 7 cards. Then the player to their left will receive an additional 8th card. The remainder of the deck is placed central to all players as a stockpile. 

Cards Ranking and Melds

The ranking for the game Crazy Rummy is King (high), Queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and Ace (low). Ace is always low and cannot be used as a higher card in runs over a king. 

There are two types of melds: sets and runs. Sets contain three to four cards of the same rank. Runs consist of three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order. Sets can never contain more than 4 cards, as even when using a wild there are only 4 cards of that rank to represent. 

There’s always a wild card, but it changes every round. It starts in the first round as Aces and progresses through the ranking until the 13th round’s wild card is kings. Wild cards can be used to represent any other card needed for a set or run. Multiple wild cards can be used in a set or run, but if there is ambiguity for what suit or rank the card represents or what the meld is, the player must state what the cards are meant to represent. 

GAMEPLAY

The game starts with the player to the dealer’s left. They may begin the game by placing any melds if they want and discarding a card to end their turn. In future turns, players start by drawing the top card of either the stockpile or discard pile. Then they may place any melds they wish. Once a player has melded their first meld, and in future turns, they may also add cards to their melds and other players melds. Players end their turn by discarding a card. 

Once a player has played a meld, they may now pick up wild cards from the table to use or hold in their hand by replacing the card it represents with the actual card. for example, if a player has a set of kings, with the king of hearts represented by a wild card, that player or any other player may replace the wild with the king of hearts and take the wild card for themselves. 

To go out, meaning to end the game by holding no cards in hand. You must discard your final card. if playing a meld would leave you with no cards, you cannot play that meld. 

Players with only a single card in hand have restrictions they must follow. They can only draw from the stockpile, and if they cannot go out, they must discard the card they previously held and keep the card just drawn. 

The round ends either when a player successfully goes out or if the stockpile is emptied.

SCORING

After each round, players will score the points in their hands, and add that to a cumulative score. Scoring points is bad! A player who goes out scores no points for that round. 

Each wild card is worth 25 points. Aces are worth 1 point each. Numbered cards from 2 through 10 are worth their numeric values. Jacks, Queens, and Kings are all worth 10 points each. 

END OF GAME

The game ends after the 13th round is scored. The player with the lowest score wins the game. 

Amber Crook
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