3+ Player Games

Fun Fact: Games like poker, rummy, or spades require strategy, memory, and quick thinking, which help improve cognitive function and may even reduce the risk of dementia as you age.

3 Player Gin Rummy

The classic two player Gin Rummy gets modified to accommodate three players!

Start by removing the JOKERS from the tile set.

Shuffle the tiles face down and deal 7 tiles to each player. Arrange the remaining 31 tiles into 3 stacks of 10 to create the draw pile. Place the leftover tile face up separately from the draw pile to start the discard pile. Each player can view their deal privately and starting with the first player to the left of the dealer, each person will start their turn by drawing a tile from either the "top" of the draw pile (right-most tile from the perspective of the dealer) or the "top" of the discard pile (left-most tile from the perspective of the dealer). The player adds their drawn tile to their hand and reviews their deal for any "melds." There are two types of melds, a "run," which is 3 or more consecutive tiles of the same suit, and a "set," which is 3 or more tiles of the same number. Any tiles in their hand that are not part of a meld are called deadwood. Players should keep a mental note of their deadwood score; Ace is 1 point, 2 is 2 points, etc., and face tiles are 10 points.

The player ends their turn by discarding one tile from their hand, feeding into the discard pile from the left. Players can knock, which literally means knocking on the table, when their deadwood sums 10 or less points. Knockings ends the round and starts the scoring process before the next round. An important rule is that players can only knock after they've ended their turn or in exceptional cases when they've drawn a tile that fits in with a meld (referred to as, "Big Gin"). You cannot knock before drawing a tile.

Once a player knocks, everyone lays out their melds and adds up their deadwood. The knocker earns points by subtracting their deadwood from the sum of their opponents' deadwood. No other player earns points for the round except the knocker unless there's an "undercut," which is when someone had a lower deadwood score than the knocker. In that case, the player with the undercut gets the points for the round plus an additional 20 points.

Win by being the first player to earn 100 points. Get their faster by undercutting, winning "Gin," or winning "Big Gin." Gin happens when after discarding to end their turn, a player has all 7 tiles in a meld and knocks to end the round. They get 25 bonus points on top of the sum of their opponents' deadwood. Big Gin happens when the player has all 8 tiles in melds after drawing - this is the only time a player can knock before discarding to end their turn. They get 50 bonus points on top of the sum of their opponents' deadwood.

Here are some clarifying examples for scorekeeping:

Player 1 knocks at a deadwood score of 9. Player 2's deadwood is 12 and Player 3's deadwood is 17.
- 12+17 = 29.
- 29 - 9 = 20. Player 1 earns 20 points for the round.
Undercut Example: Player 1 knocks at a deadwood score of 9. Player 2's deadwood is 6 and Player 3's deadwood is 17.
- 9 + 17 = 26.
- 26 - 6 = 20.
- 20 + 20 bonus points = 40. Player 2 earns 40 points for the round.
Gin Example: Player 1 discards a tile, then knocks. They have all 7 of their tiles in a meld and hence a deadwood score of 0. Player 2's deadwood is 12 and Player 3's deadwood is 17.
- 12+17 = 29.
- 29 + 25 = 54. Player 1 earns 54 points for the round
Big Gin Example: Player 1 draws a tile, then knocks. They have all 8 of the tiles in their hand in melds and hence a deadwood score of 0. Player 2's deadwood is 12 and Player 3's deadwood is 17.
- 12+17 = 29.
- 29 + 50 = 79. Player 1 earns 79 points for the round

Feel free to adjust the winning score for players to achieve!

Spades

Spades is a 4-player game where two teams of two face off against each other; teammates sit across from each other.

Start by removing the JOKERS from your tile set.

Shuffle the tiles face down and deal 13 tiles to each player. The game starts with each player - starting to the left of the dealer - placing a "bid," meaning they share how many "tricks" or rounds of gameplay they think they will win. Privately view your deal and take into consideration that each player will place a tile on the tableau starting with the trick lead; in order to win the trick, you have to play the highest tile of the same suit as the lead's. Two is the lowest, Ace is the highest. If you have a tile the same suit as the lead's, you must play it; if you don't, you can break the trick by playing a tile from any other suit. The name of the game is Spades because the spades trump all other suits; if you can't match the suit of the lead or play a spade, then your tile will lose the trick no matter high it is. The winner of the trick sets the four tiles on the tableau off to the side face down and leads the next trick; the first trick is led by the player to the left of the dealer. An important rule is that someone has to break a trick with a spade before anyone can lead a trick with a spade.

Fun Fact: If you place a bid of 13, meaning you believe you'll win all 13 rounds, it's called "shooting the moon."

You may also choose to place a nil bid, meaning you believe you'll win no tricks. If you end up losing all 13 rounds, you'll win 100 points for your team, but if you win even one trick, you'll lose 100 points for your team!

A team bid is the sum of both teammates' bids. If by the end of the 13 tricks your team makes your team bid, you win 10 points for each bid and 1 point for any additional tricks won, referred to as "bags." The accuracy of your bidding is important for two reasons, a) if your team makes 10 bags, you actually lose 100 points, and b) if your team doesn't make your team bid, you actually lose 10 points for each bid placed, referred to as "sandbags."

First team to reach 500 points wins.

Here are some clarifying examples for scorekeeping:

Teammate A bids 2 and Teammate B bids 3; the team bid is 5. If Teammate A only wins 1 trick but Teammate B wins 4 tricks, their team still met their team bid and gets 10 points for each bid. In other words, the team still wins 50 points.
If the team bid is 6 but the team only wins 5 or less tricks, then the team has 6 sandbags (they lose 60 points).
Teammate A bids nil and Teammate B bids 3. If teammate B wins 3 or more tricks, they earn 30+ points for their team regardless of whether Teammate A wins their nil bid or not. In other words, depending on how Teammate A plays, the team could gain 130+ points or lose 70 points.

Use your Playing Tile Deck to play classic gambling games like Poker, Blackjack, and Texas Hold'em!

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