Phase 10

1 Overview

Phase 10 is a rummy-type card game for 2–6 players. Players race to complete 10 sequential phases — specific combinations of cards like sets, runs, and color groups. You must complete your current phase before advancing, and the first player to complete Phase 10 wins.

2 The Deck

Phase 10 uses a special 108-card deck: cards numbered 1–12 in four colors (red, blue, green, yellow) with two copies of each, plus 8 Wild cards and 4 Skip cards.

3 Setup

Deal 10 cards to each player. Place remaining cards as a draw pile; flip the top card to start a discard pile. Each player starts on Phase 1.

4 The 10 Phases

1. 2 sets of 3
2. 1 set of 3 + 1 run of 4
3. 1 set of 4 + 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 one color
9. 1 set of 5 + 1 set of 2
10. 1 set of 5 + 1 set of 3

Set: Cards with the same number (e.g., three 7s). Run: Cards in sequential order (e.g., 3-4-5-6-7). Color doesn't matter for sets or runs unless specified. Color group: All cards the same color (any numbers).

5 Gameplay

On your turn: (1) Draw one card — either the top of the draw pile or the top discard. (2) Optionally lay down your phase and/or add cards to laid-down phases. (3) Discard one card face-up on the discard pile.

Skip cards: Discard a Skip to force any player to lose their next turn. The target places a Skip marker in front of them and draws no cards on their next turn.

Wild cards: Can represent any number or color.

6 Laying Down & Adding

When you have all cards needed for your phase in hand, you may lay them down face-up during your turn (after drawing, before discarding). Once any player has laid down their phase, all other players who have also completed their phase may lay down too.

After laying down, you may also add cards to any completed phase on the table — yours or other players'. Adding cards to a run extends it; adding to a set adds matching numbers.

7 Scoring

When a player goes out (empties their hand), the round ends. All other players score penalty points for cards remaining in hand: 1–9 = 5 pts, 10–12 = 10 pts, Skip = 15 pts, Wild = 25 pts. Players who completed their phase advance to the next phase; those who didn't repeat their current phase.

8 Winning

The first player to complete Phase 10 and go out in the same round wins. If multiple players complete Phase 10 in the same round, the one with the lowest cumulative score wins the tiebreaker.