Welcome to Banakil!

Hey there! I’m here to introduce you to Banakil, a super fun card game that’s similar to Rummy. Whether you’re playing with your friends or family, this game is perfect for 2 to 4 players. If there are 4 players, you even have the option to play in partnerships! But don’t worry, if you’re playing individually, it’s just as exciting. The ultimate goal of Banakil is to meld cards from your hand in order to score points by the end of each round. And guess what? The first player to reach a predetermined number of points wins the game!

Let’s Get Set Up!

So, to start things off, we need to randomly choose a dealer. Once we have our dealer, they’ll shuffle all the decks and Jokers together to form a single deck. To add a bit of randomness, the deck is then cut by the player sitting to the left of the dealer. Now it’s time to deal the cards! The dealer can choose to deal them 2 or 3 at a time, whatever they prefer. Each player should end up with a shiny new hand of 18 cards.

Now that everyone has their cards, it’s time to create the stockpile. Take the remaining cards and place them face down in the center of the table. Oh, and don’t forget to flip the top card to start the discard pile. Now we’re ready to dive into the game!

Now, let’s get started with the game of Banakil. First, each player will take their cards into their hands, and then we can begin.

Understanding the Card Rankings

The ranking system for Banakil is pretty traditional, but with a twist. We leave out the 2s in this game. So, the ranking goes like this: Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3 (low). It’s important to remember that Aces cannot be used as low cards because there is no 2 to lead to them. We also have wild cards in this game – the 2s and the Jokers. These wild cards don’t have a rank in the system. They add a whole new level of excitement to the game!

How to Play

Playing Banakil is quite similar to other Rummy games. We start with the player on the right of the dealer, and then go counterclockwise. Each player will have three parts to their turn: drawing cards, playing melds, and discarding a card.

First Part: Drawing Cards

When it’s my turn, the first thing I do is draw cards. I have two options for this: I can either draw one card from the top of the stockpile or I can draw one or multiple cards from the discard pile.

If I choose to draw from the stockpile, there are no restrictions. I simply draw my card, add it to my hand, and keep on playing.

However, if I decide to draw cards from the discard pile, there are some rules to follow. If I only take the top card from the discard pile, there are no restrictions on drawing the card. But I have to remember that I can’t discard that same card at the end of my turn. If I want to draw more than one card from the discard pile, I have to take all the cards on top of the lowest card and add them to my hand. Then, I can choose to discard any of these cards at the end of my turn.

You can draw cards from the discard pile at any time during your turn, not just on the draw step. There are no restrictions.

Playing Melds

To score points, you need to play melds from your hand. Melds can be sets or runs.

Sets consist of three or four cards of different suits with the same rank.

Runs are sequences of cards in the same suit, with ranks in consecutive order. For example, you could have a run with the Jack, 10, and 9 of diamonds.

All melds are placed in front of you for scoring purposes later.

Wild Cards

In each round, Jokers and 2s act as wild cards. You can use a wild card in place of any other card in most situations. Let’s say you need the 10 of diamonds but don’t have it. You could use a wild card instead to complete your meld.

When it comes to playing Rummy, there are some important rules to keep in mind. In sets, only Jokers can be used as wild cards, and you can only play one Joker in a set. In runs, you can play one Joker and one 2 in a single run.

Jokers, whether in sets or runs, can be reclaimed by playing a valid card to your own or your partner’s run or set. However, twos cannot be removed but can be moved by playing the card needed to complete a run. If you manage to complete a run, the two remains, making a run of thirteen instead of twelve.

Now let’s talk about playing on melds.

You have the option to play cards to your own melds or your partner’s melds. To do this, simply play the card onto the appropriate meld. You can add valid cards to runs or sets as long as they remain valid.

However, you cannot play cards to melds until you have played a meld in front of yourself. Make sure to keep this rule in mind.

Lastly, let’s discuss discarding cards.

When I finish playing my turn, I discard one card to the discard pile. Just remember that if I draw only one card from the discard, I can’t discard it, but there are no other restrictions on discarding cards.

Here comes the end of the round!

A round can end in three different ways. First, if a player discards their last card, also known as going out. Second, if a player plays the last card in their hand, leaving them with no card to discard. And third, if the last card of the stockpile is drawn, but all players still have at least one card.

If the third option happens, the round ends, but no scores are given. However, if either of the first two options occurs, the round ends and we can start scoring.

Let’s talk about scoring!

When the round ends, I’ll need to calculate my score based on the melds I’ve made. Each card has a specific point value.

Jokers are worth 4 points, twos are worth 2 points, Aces are worth 1 and a half points. Seven through King are worth 1 point each, and three through six are worth half a point each.

I’ll need to add up the points for all the cards I’ve melded, and then subtract the points for the cards that are still in my hand. Depending on the cards I have left, I might end up with a negative score.

If I manage to go out by melding all my cards, I’ll get an extra 20 points. However, if I don’t have any melds at all, my score won’t be calculated using the usual method. Instead, I’ll automatically get a negative 20 points.

Hey there! Did you know that if I manage to meld all the cards in my hand without playing a meld before, I score a solid 40 points? Pretty cool, right? Well, in partnership games, there’s a little twist. To score those 40 points, none of the other players can have played a meld yet. If they have, we’ll score the game as usual.

In individual games, my score is separate from everyone else’s, but in partnership games, my partner’s score and I are scored together, and it’s a bit different.

In partnership games, we use the score of the person who won the round to score. We’ll subtract my partner’s score from the cumulative score of both the opponents we beat.

Now, when it comes to final scores, here’s how it works: if the score ends up being positive, we round up for all the halves of points. But if it’s negative, we just ignore those half points. Easy peasy, right?

END OF GAME

The game will end as soon as someone manages to reach the predetermined score. If multiple players reach it in the same round, the one with the higher total score takes the win. Exciting stuff, isn’t it?