Players are required to place sets valued at least 30 points in the first move. Points are calculated by adding up set numbers. The first move is also called the ‘initial meld’ (during the initial meld sets on the table cannot be built upon or manipulated using players’ racked tiles). If a player cannot make an initial meld, or if the player decides to delay it, he must take a tile from the table and add it to his rack, which concludes the player’s turn.

Each player has one minute to make his turn. If after one minute has passed the player failed to manipulate tiles on the table, all tiles are returned to their first positions, and the player is penalized by taking 3 tiles from the tile pool. Leftover tiles (if players don’t remember their original positions) are randomly placed in the pool.

Manipulation
Manipulation is what Rummikub is all about. . This is done by rearranging or adding that are already placed on the table. Sets can be manipulated in quite a few ways, but only legal sets can remain, and there mustn’t be any loose tiles leftovers.

An example of manipulation:

1. Player’s tiles on the rack: Blue 4, 6, 7

Tiles on the table: 5, 5, 5, 5 (blue, red, black, orange)

1. The player removes the blue 5 tile from the group, and creates a run with blue tiles 4, 5, 6, 7. Now there are two sets: a run of 4 tiles (4, 5, 6, 7) and a group of 3 tiles: 5, 5, 5.

The Joker can be taken from a set on the table by a player, if he can replace it, during his turn, with a tile of the same value and color it should represent. This tile can come from the table or from the player’s rack. In a group of three tiles, the joker can be replaced by either of the missing colored tile.
The joker cannot be retrieved before the initial meld, and a joker that was replaced has to be used during the player’s turn, and be part of a new set. There’s a 30 points penalty if the joker is left on the player’s rack at the end of the game.

Scoring and the Winner
A player wins when he empties his rack and calls ‘Rummikub’. At that point the other players add up their tiles values that they still have on their racks. The winner’s score equals the total points of all the losing players. Each losing player’s score is counted as a minus score. At the end of a game session each player sums up his or her total minus and plus scores, and the player with the highest score is the overall winner.

If the pool runs out of tiles, each player ‘plays the table’ in turn, and places at least one tile from his rack on the table, until a player finishes. In case no player can proceed, the game ends. At that point the player with the lowest count on his rack is the winner.