Feral Worlds: Tabletop Games · Card Games · Classic rules

Canasta

Meld. Build. Make a canasta.

Setup

Players: four: you and North against West and East.
Cards: two packs and four jokers, 108 cards. Eleven each.
Wild cards: twos and jokers.
The pile: one card is turned up to start the discard pile.

How to play

1Draw or take. Draw the top card of the stock, or take the whole discard pile if you can meld its top card.
2Meld. Lay down three or more cards of one rank, with two natural cards and at most three wilds. Your team’s first meld has to reach a minimum.
3Make a canasta. Seven cards in a meld make a canasta: 500 if natural and 300 if mixed.
4Discard. End your turn by throwing one card on the pile. A wild card freezes it.
5Go out. With a canasta on your team’s table, use your last card to go out. That scores 100.
6Count the hand. Each team adds up its melds and bonuses, and takes away the cards left in its hands.

Winning

The first team to reach the target score wins: 5,000 in the Full game and 1,500 in our Quick game.

Scoring

In a hand of Canasta	Points
Natural canasta (seven cards, no wilds)	500
Mixed canasta (with wild cards)	300
Each red three (all four: 800)	100
Going out (concealed: 200)	100
Joker, 2 or Ace in a meld	50, 20, 20
K to 8 in a meld, and 7 to 4	10, 5
Black three (it blocks the pile)	5
Your first meld must be worth, by your score	50 · 90 · 120

Our Classic rules: red threes are 100 each and 800 for all four, and count against a team that has not melded. Some tables go to two decks of different bonuses, or need two canastas to go out; those are house rules.

Key terms

Canasta:: A meld of seven or more cards.
Meld:: Three or more cards of one rank laid on the table.
Wild card:: A 2 or a joker, standing in for any rank.
Frozen pile:: A pile that can only be taken with two natural cards.
Red three:: A bonus card laid down at once, worth 100.
Black three:: A discard that blocks the pile. It can never be melded.