An app for playing an offline version of marriage-rummy
Session-specific variables:
- x number of players where x <= 10
- number of decks (default: 3, limit: 5)
- value of honor/power (default = 4 points)
- special honor-combination/marriage (default: joker - 1, joker, joker + 1; (joker -1) * 3; (joker + 1) * 3 )
- special honor-combination points: (default: 20)
- number of cards/hand (default: 21)
- direction of play (clockwise/anti-clockwise)
game-specific variables:
- is player active/inactive in a certain game
Game rules:
meta:
- game < round <= session
- round: when all players have dealt once
- game: even deal constitutes a game
- session: number of rounds; occasionally there can be a part round (eg 1 session = 2.4 rounds)
Defined card pattern terms:
- sequence: consists of 3-5 cards which follow a certain pattern
- pure sequence: a sequence differing by 0 or 1 of the same suit
- impure sequence: a sequence which is not pure and aided by 0 or more joker's; (differs by 1 of the same suit) or (differs by 0, but all of different suit’s )
Gameplay:
- The person next to the dealer (against the direction of play) cuts the deck before the dealer can start dealing
- when all cards are dealt by the dealer, the dealer opens a card and places it face-up on the 'play-pile'; this has to be picked by the person next to the dealer (dictated by direction of play)
- The person next to the dealer (against the direction of play) picks the ‘joker’ from the deck
- in every move, a player has to pick a card into his hand; and throw a card from his hand. This constitutes a move
-> picking a card: can be picked from the last face-up open card on the ‘play-pile’ OR from the closed deck
A card should be picked such that it aids in formation of sequence in the hand of the player (preference to be given to making a pure sequence first). Joker & honor
cards have special privileges, so they can be picked up even if they don’t aid in sequence formation -> throwing a card: Discard a card from the pile which does not form a sequence or a potential sequence from the hand. As the person next to you would get a choice to pick a card, discard strategically such that the card doesn’t add value to the next person. Also, it is preferable to discard card’s with bigger face values (eg. A, K, Q, J, 10), as they reduce the overall points in the hand of the person in case that person loses
Card Points(needed at the end of the game): • Js, Qs, Ks and A’s of all the suits carry 10 points each. • All the numbered cards carry points equal to their face value. For example, 4 of Spades carries 4 points and 9 of Clubs carries 9 points. • All Jokers carry zero points each.
finishing a game:
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When a person has at least 3 pure sequences; and is able to compose defined card patterns from the rest of his hand, except for one card, he/she can choose to ‘declare’ to be the winner in the game by choosing to keep that unfitting card face-down on the play area
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When a person has declared a win, points are calculated in a zero-sum fashion. The game score for a person is calculated in two parts, as explained below:
[]powers/honors and special honor/power combination(called marriage): Each person shows how many honors/powers they possess and the score based on honor is computed as follows:
PART_A = power_score * number_of_players - honor_sum
where: honor_sum = sum(honor total of all folks)
[]hand points:
PART_B = -2 * points_in_hand
In case of surrender on 1st move: points_in_hand = 2 In case of surrender after 1st move: points_in_hand = 5 In case a person didn’t get to play and a win was declared by another player: points_in_hand = (points_in_hand/2)
Game_score for player = PART_A + PART_B Also, sum(game_scores) == 0