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Gamehelpthreethirteen
3-13 is a rummy-style card game played over 11 rounds. The goal is to accumulate the lowest score by going out with a fully melded hand or minimizing unmelded cards when another player goes out.
Players
2-5 players
Equipment
- 2 standard 52-card decks shuffled together
- 4 jokers (2 from each deck)
- Total: 108 cards
Round Structure
| Round | Cards Dealt | Wild Card |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3s |
| 2 | 4 | 4s |
| 3 | 5 | 5s |
| 4 | 6 | 6s |
| 5 | 7 | 7s |
| 6 | 8 | 8s |
| 7 | 9 | 9s |
| 8 | 10 | 10s |
| 9 | 11 | Jacks |
| 10 | 12 | Queens |
| 11 | 13 | Kings |
Jokers are always wild in addition to the round's wild card.
Setup Each Round
- Shuffle and deal cards equal to the round number + 2
- Place remaining deck face-down as the draw pile
- Flip top card face-up to start the discard pile
- Starting player rotates left each round (first round is random)
Turn Sequence
- Draw one card from either the draw pile or discard pile
- Go Out (optional) — lay down your entire hand if fully melded
- Discard one card face-up to the discard pile
Melds
Minimum 3 cards per meld:
- Set: 3+ cards of the same rank (e.g., 7♠ 7♥ 7♦)
- Run: 3+ consecutive cards of the same suit (e.g., 4♣ 5♣ 6♣)
Wild cards (jokers + round wild) substitute for any card.
Aces are high or low in runs (A-2-3 or Q-K-A) but not both (K-A-2 is invalid).
Going Out
- You must meld your entire hand in valid combinations
- You must have a card to discard after drawing
- No partial melds — you cannot lay down melds until you can go out completely
- Once a player goes out, all other players get one final turn
Scoring
After someone goes out, remaining players score unmelded cards in hand:
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| 2-10 | Face value |
| Jack | 11 |
| Queen | 12 |
| King | 13 |
| Ace | 15 |
| Unusable Wild | 50 |
A wild card (joker or round wild) that cannot be used in a meld counts as 50 points. This creates risk/reward tension in early rounds when holding wilds without meld opportunities.
The player who goes out scores 0 for the round.
Winning
After 11 rounds, the player with the lowest total score wins.
Summary
- No laying partial melds — only complete hands
- Wilds: Jokers (always) + rank matching the round number
- Aces: Flexible in runs, but costly (15 points) if stuck
- Unusable wilds: 50-point penalty
- One final turn for all players after someone goes out