How to Play

Open-table Italian rummy in which all melds are shared, so every turn is a puzzle of rearranging sets and runs to shed your cards.

Machiavelli is an Italian open-table rummy in which all melds laid down by any player belong jointly to the table and can be freely rebuilt on every turn. A meld is either a set (three or four cards of the same rank in different suits) or a run (three or more consecutive cards in one suit). On your turn you must play at least one card from your hand, but you may rearrange any combination of the melds already on the table to make that card fit, provided every meld left on the table at the end of your turn is still valid. The first player to empty their hand wins the deal, and because nothing on the table is ever locked, a single well-planned turn can shed five or six cards at once.

Players

Two to five players, each playing for themselves. The game works best with three or four players; with two it becomes a tight puzzle, and with five the table becomes crowded enough that most turns are pure manipulation.

Card Deck

• Two standard 52-card decks shuffled together (104 cards).
• Cards rank low to high inside runs: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K.A♠2♠3♠4♠5♠6♠7♠8♠9♠10♠J♠Q♠K♠
• Aces are low only (the run A, 2, 3 is valid; Q, K, A is not).
• Suits are required for runs (a run must be in one suit) but forbidden within a set (the three or four cards in a set must all be different suits).
• Most tables play without jokers; a variant adding 2 or 4 jokers as wild cards is described under Common Variations.

Objective

Be the first player to get rid of every card in your hand. You do this by melding cards onto the table, either by creating new sets and runs or by inserting cards into existing melds after reshaping them. Remaining cards in other players' hands translate into penalty points at the end of the deal.

Setup and Deal

1. Shuffle the two decks together thoroughly.
2. Deal 13 cards to each player, one at a time, face down.
3. Place the remainder in the centre as a face-down stock. There is no discard pile; cards leave the stock only when a player is forced to draw.
4. The first player is chosen by cutting the deck, with the highest card leading. Play proceeds clockwise.

Gameplay

1. Decide whether to play. On your turn you may either play one or more cards onto the table, or draw one card from the stock and end your turn. You may not voluntarily pass without drawing.
2. Lay down new melds. You may create any number of new sets or runs directly from your hand, each containing at least three cards.
3. Extend existing melds. You may add single cards from your hand to any set or run already on the table (your own or another player's).
4. Rearrange the table. You may take apart and recombine any melds on the table, provided at least one card from your hand is added during the turn and every meld left standing at the end of your turn is a valid set or run of three or more cards.
5. Check legality. Before ending your turn, confirm that every meld on the table is valid. If a rearrangement cannot be finished legally within a reasonable time (tables often set a two-minute limit for complex manipulations), you must restore the table exactly as it was at the start of your turn and take one penalty card from the stock; your turn ends.
6. End of turn. Pass to the next player clockwise.

Melds

• Set: Three or four cards of the same rank, each in a different suit. Because two decks are in play, 8♥, 8♦, 8♣ is valid but 8♥, 8♥, 8♦ is not.8♥8♦8♣
• Run: Three or more consecutive cards in a single suit, for example 4♠ 5♠ 6♠ 7♠.4♠5♠6♠7♠
• Splitting a run: A run of six or more cards can be split into two runs of three or more by using a card from your hand to bridge or extend, but you may not simply divide a run and leave one of the pieces shorter than three cards.
• Merging melds: Two sets of three can be rearranged into a longer combination only if the resulting melds are themselves legal; you cannot move two cards of the same suit into one set.

Winning and Scoring

• The deal ends the moment one player plays their last card; they are declared the winner of the deal.
• Each other player counts the cards still in their hand as penalty points: number cards at face value, Jack, Queen, and King at 10 each, Ace at 1.A♠K♠Q♠J♠
• A session is usually played to 100 or 200 penalty points; the player with the lowest total when someone crosses the threshold is the overall winner. Alternatively, the game can be played as a single deal with the hand-out winner scoring the sum of all opponents' penalty points.
• If the stock runs out before anyone goes out, the player with the fewest points left in hand wins the deal.

Common Variations

• Machiavelli with jokers: Add two jokers as wild cards. A joker substitutes for any missing card in a set or run, but a player holding a card matching what the joker represents may swap the real card for the joker on their turn and keep the joker.
• Initial meld: Some tables require the first meld you place on the table to be worth at least 36 points (face value, with A = 1, J/Q/K = 10). Once you have placed such an initial meld, you may freely manipulate on later turns.
• Timed turns: To prevent analysis paralysis, each turn is limited to two minutes. Failing to finish a rearrangement inside the limit triggers the restore-and-penalty rule.
• Three-deck Machiavelli: For five or six players, use three decks (156 cards) and deal 15 cards each to keep the game from drying up.

Tips and Strategy

• Visualize the whole rearrangement in your head before moving a single card. Once you start touching melds, any mistake can force a full restore.
• Look for chain manipulations: splitting a long run to free a centre card can open space for a new set, which then lets another hand card attach elsewhere.
• Prefer keeping duplicate-rank cards over near-run filler. Duplicates become the pivot of most table rebuilds.
• Track which ranks are already exposed in melds; if three queens are on the table, the fourth queen can always extend a set even if opponents pick up from runs.
• Do not rush to go out. Manipulation rewards patience; waiting one extra turn to prepare a multi-card discharge often beats a timid single-card play.

Glossary

• Meld: Any valid set or run on the table.
• Set: Three or four same-rank cards in different suits.
• Run: Three or more consecutive cards in one suit.
• Manipulation: Breaking apart and recombining existing melds during a single turn.
• Initial meld: The first melds a player lays down; some variants require a minimum point value.
• Restore penalty: The obligation to put the table back as it was and draw a card if a manipulation cannot be completed legally.