Rummikub (pronounced: Rummy-Cube) is a tile-based game for two, three or four players. The game is played with 106 tiles. The first player with no remaining tiles is the winner. Rummikub won the 1980 Spiel Des Jahres award.


Equipment
Rummikub's main component is a set of 106 tiles: 104 number tiles and two joker tiles. Number tiles range in value from one to thirteen. There are four different colors of number tiles. Each combination of color and number is represented twice. Each player needs a rack to store tiles without revealing their identity to the other players.

Although it is possible to play Rummikub with two decks of playing cards with two jokers removed, the movement of the cards would be more awkward than the movement of the tiles.


Play
Each player begins with fourteen tiles randomly selected from the pool. Each player draws tiles until they can play tiles with a total value of at least thirty without building on previously played tiles. That done, a player must either play tiles or pick a random tile from the pool each turn.


Sets
All tiles in play must be arranged in sets with at least three tiles. The two valid set types are called runs and groups. Runs are composed of at least three, same-color tiles in contiguous number order. Groups are three or four same-value tiles in distinct colors.


Examples of valid sets:
blue 1, blue 2, blue 3, and blue 4 
blue 1, red 1, orange 1 

Examples of invalid sets:
blue 1, blue 2, blue 4 (numbers in a run must be contiguous) 
blue 1, blue 2, red 3 (numbers in a run must all be the same color) 
blue 1, blue 1, red 1 (colors may not repeat in a group) 

Amending sets
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.


Manipulation of played tiles
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.

Shifting a run 
Players may add the appropriate tile to either end of a run and remove a tile from the other end for use elsewhere. If red 3, 4, and 5 have already been played, a player may add the red 6 to the end and remove the 3 for use elsewhere. 
Splitting a run 
Players may split long runs and insert the corresponding tiles in the middle. Thus, if blue 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are already a run, the player may insert his own 8 to make two runs: 6, 7, 8 and 8, 9, 10. 
Substituting in a group 
Players may replace any of the tiles in a three-tile group with a tile of the fourth color and the same value. If blue 6, red 6, and orange 6 are already a group, the player may add the black 6 and remove any of the other three for use elsewhere. 
Removing tiles 
So long as the remaining tiles form a valid run, tiles can be removed from the ends of runs. Any one tile may be removed from a four-tile group. 
Joker substitution 
A player with a tile matching the color and value of a joker may replace the joker with that tile. The joker must be played that same turn in a set with at least two other tiles from the player's rack. The color and the value of the joker may both change when this happens. Thus, if blue 3, blue 4, joker is an existing run, a player holding a blue 5, a red 7 and an orange 7 may replace the joker with his blue 5 and play the joker with the two sevens as a new group.