Phase 10

...trying to complete the first Phase of the 10 Phases. Each player can make only one Phase during the play of a hand. Phases are made of sets, run, cards all of one colour, or a combination of sets and runs. The 10 Phases are:

1) 2 Sets of 3
2) 1 set of 3 plus 1 run of 4
3) 1 set of 4 plus 1 run of 4
4) 1 run of 7
5) 1 run of 8
6) 1 run of 9
7) 2 sets of 4
8) 7 cards of 1 colour
...
...be made in order from phase 1-10 you cannot jump to phase 4 then return to do phase 1. Cards can be added to the phases to try and get rid of your cards, once all cards are discarded by a player, then it is that round over and all players cards are added up and wrote down on the score sheet, the player with the lowest score at the end of all 10 phases wins. The scores are as follows:

1) 5 points for each card numbered 1-9
2) 10 ... more

This is a family game for 2-6 players, it is very similar to playing rummy, but with a twist. So here is how to play.

One player is either chosen to be the dealer, or you can do it as I do and deal one card each, the lowest card will be the dealer. They shuffle the deck and deal out a hand of 10 cards, one at a time and face down, to each player. The remaining deck is placed face down in the centre of the play area, to become the draw pile. The top card of the draw pile is turned over and placed next to the draw pile, to become the discard pile.

Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer. In turn, a player draws one card-either the top card from the draw pile or the top card from the discard pile-and adds it to their hand. The player then discards one card of their choice from their hand onto the discard pile.

Play of the first hand begins, with each player trying to complete the first Phase of the 10 Phases. Each player can make only one Phase during the play of a hand. Phases are made of sets, run, cards all of one colour, or a combination of sets and runs. The 10 Phases are:

1) 2 Sets of 3
2) 1 set of 3 plus 1 run of 4
3) 1 set of 4 plus 1 run of 4
4) 1 run of 7
5) 1 run of 8
6) 1 run of 9
7) 2 sets of 4
8) 7 cards of 1 colour
9) 1 set of 5 plus 1 set of 2
10) 1 set of 5 plus 1 set of 3

Sets - these are cards of the same number I.E. 7,7,7 or 8,8,8,8.
Runs- these are cards that go up in numbers, I.E. A, 2,3,4,5 or 9,10,J, Q, K
Same colour- these are any cards that are all the same colour, these could be 7 red, 7 blue, 7 green, or 7 yellow.

The pack also consists of wild cards, which can be used to make up any of the phases, these cannot later be moved and replaced with the proper card that it should be, to be used elsewhere.

The pack also has skip cards, when picked up the player can either chose to save it or discard it straight away, when used the skip card makes the next player miss their next turn.

When a player makes a phase, then they lay their cards face upon the table for everyone to see, the phases must be made in order from phase 1-10 you cannot jump to phase 4 then return to do phase 1. Cards can be added to the phases to try and get rid of your cards, once all cards are discarded by a player, then it is that round over and all players cards are added up and wrote down on the score sheet, the player with the lowest score at the end of all 10 phases wins. The scores are as follows:

1) 5 points for each card numbered 1-9
2) 10 points for each card numbered 10-15
3) 15 points for skip cards
4) 25 points for wild cards

These are based on what you have left in your hand, so the best thing is to play all your skip cards and wild cards as soon as you can.

That's the basic rules of the game, sounds complicated right. I thought that too, and I will not lie it does take a lot of learning how to play. It is very similar to rummy, except for all the different phases that you must make in order.

I bought this for a mere £5 which is not a lot, but as for all the rules and having to do all the phases, I very rarely played it, I would rather have a proper pack of cards and play normal rummy, them rules are a lot simpler to follow.

The pack does come with instructions on how to play the game, I had to read through them several times before I understood how to play, and when I have wrote it in this review it has seemed even more complicated, but I can only explain it how it is in the rules. There is no other easy way to explain it, so you may still be none the wiser. I have played a similar game on the Internet. It's a free download site called rummy royal, if you want to practise first I would try on there, they do have similar rules.

It can be an entertaining game, and it says age 8 up to adult, but to be honest if I have trouble playing then what chance would an 8-year-old child have. That is one of the reasons i would not recommend this game, especially not as a family game. 

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