The Original Rummikub, also known as Rummikub or Rummy Cube, is an evasion discard game that combines elements of Rummy card and Mahjong tile-matching games. The player's goal is to empty their tile rack first to earn the highest score.
The game features four play options. With Custom Game, the player selects the turn time per player (Infinity, 15s, 30s, 60s or 120s) and the number of players (2P, 3P or 4P). With Single Play, they select the turn time, number of players and difficulty level (Easy or Pro). With Play Now, the game makes random selections. With Private Game, the player selects the turn time and then chooses to play with Facebook friends, invite people with a code, or use a code to join a game.
All play takes place on a gradient-blue tabletop with details about the players on the left side. Each player receives 14 tiles ranging from 1 to 13, with or without duplicates or the game's two wild card jokers. The player discards tiles during each turn or pulls a tile from a tile pool using the plus sign (+). They must evade adding tiles to their rack and get rid of every tile through the creation and manipulation of tile sets. The right side displays 789 and 777 buttons that allow the player to rearrange their tiles more easily into sets based on three or more consecutive numbers of the same color (runs of black, blue, red or yellow) or the same value with different colors per set (groups).
Rummikub requires the player to place at least three tiles that equal 30 points (Initial Meld). They must use any joker, if applicable, during the same turn they acquire it. The player receives a penalty tile if they don't complete their turn in time during timed play or use a joker before the end of the game. If the player wins, they receive a score equal to the sum of the value of all tiles on the racks of the other players. Those players receive negative scores.
