Shanghai Rummy is a free browser version of the seven-round contract rummy game, with a set of guides covering the rules, the contracts, scoring and strategy. There is nothing to install, no account to create and no charge.

The game

You play against three computer opponents across seven rounds. Each round names a contract you must build before you can put anything on the table, and the contract gets harder every round, from two sets of three up to three runs played as your whole hand.

The game follows one consistent rule set rather than mixing versions: two decks plus four jokers, eleven cards dealt each round, aces high, one joker per meld, two buys per round, the Shanghai call, and scoring of 5, 10, 20 and 50. Those rules are documented in full in the rules guide, and the game enforces every one of them, so an illegal meld is simply refused.

The daily challenge

The daily challenge deals the same hand to everyone. The deal is derived from the date itself, so two people opening the page on the same day get identical cards, and the only variable is how well each of them plays it.

The guides

The written guides exist because Shanghai Rummy has no official rulebook. It spread from household to household, and published descriptions disagree with each other, often for good reasons: there are two distinct lineages, one of seven rounds and one of ten.

Rather than blur them together, the guides describe one version completely and say so. Where a rule commonly varies, that is stated instead of glossed over. Where the playable game here differs from the wider table game, that is stated too.

Privacy and cost

There are no adverts, no tracking cookies and no account. Your game progress stays in your own browser. The privacy notice sets out exactly what is stored and what leaves your device.

Found a mistake in a rule, or disagree with how a variation is described? Get in touch.