Cambio Rummy is played with the 122-card Cambio Unlimited Modified Double Deck.
The deck contains:
72 Number Cards: Numbers 1–9
10 Swap Runes
10 Red Runes
10 Blue Runes
6 Red Kings
6 Blue Kings
4 Chaos Runes
4 Energy Runes
2–6 players.
Be the first player to reach 333 points over multiple rounds.
Points are earned by creating melds, adding cards to melds, and earning bonus points from qualifying melds.
A meld is a legal combination of cards played face up.
Shuffle all 122 cards.
Deal 8 cards to every player.
Place the remaining cards face down to form the Draw Pile.
Turn the top card of the Draw Pile face up beside it to begin the River.
The player to the dealer’s left takes the first turn.
The River
The River holds the discarded cards.
The first River card is placed face up beside the Draw Pile.
Each new discard is placed face up, slightly overlapping the previous card and extending the River farther away from the Draw Pile.
Each card should cover only part of the card before it so that every card in the River remains visible.
4. Turn Order
Each turn has three steps and must be played in this order:
1. Draw
2. Play Cards
3. Discard
Begin your turn by choosing one of the following options.
Draw from the Draw Pile
Draw the top face-down card and add it to your hand.
Take from the River
Choose any card from the River and add it to your hand.
When taking from the River:
The chosen card must be played immediately as part of a legal meld during that turn.
Take the chosen card and every River card discarded after it into your hand.
Aside from the chosen card, these cards may be played or kept.
For example, imagine the River extends away from the Draw Pile in this order:
Draw Pile → 3 → Blue Rune → 7 → 8 → Swap Rune
Taking the 3 means taking the entire River.
Taking the Blue Rune means taking the Blue Rune, 7, 8, and Swap Rune.
Taking the Swap Rune means taking only the Swap Rune.
Only the chosen card—the leftmost card in the group taken—must be played immediately.
Step 2: Play Cards
After drawing, you may play as many legal cards as you wish.
You may:
Create one or more new melds.
Add cards to your own melds.
Add cards to another player’s melds.
You may only add cards to another player’s melds after you have laid down at least one meld of your own during the current round.
You are not required to play any cards unless you took cards from the River.
Step 3: Discard
End your turn by discarding one card face up at the end of the River.
Place the card slightly overlapping the most recently discarded card while keeping every card in the River visible.
Play then passes to the player on your left.
5. Meld Types and Bonus Points
5. Meld Types and Bonus Points
Understanding Melds
A meld is a legal combination of cards played face up in front of you.
To create a new meld, you must play all cards required for that meld together during the same turn.
After a meld has been created, players may add cards to it as long as the added cards continue the established meld type.
Cambio Rummy has the following meld types:
The Kingdom
Flow Hand
High Flow Hand
Hand of Balance
Red Hand
Blue Hand
Number Cards of a Kind
Minimum: 4 cards
The Kingdom contains only Red Kings and Blue Kings.
It must contain at least:
2 Red Kings
2 Blue Kings
Additional Red Kings and Blue Kings may be included in any combination.
Examples:
2 Red Kings + 2 Blue Kings
3 Red Kings + 2 Blue Kings
2 Red Kings + 3 Blue Kings
3 Red Kings + 3 Blue Kings
Minimum: 3 cards
A Flow Hand contains three or more consecutive cards following the official Power Flow Order.
Power Flow Order
1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → Red Rune → Blue Rune → Swap Rune → Red King → Blue King → Chaos Rune → Energy Rune
Flow Hands may be extended from either end as long as the sequence remains consecutive.
Examples:
2–3–4
7–8–9
9–Red Rune–Blue Rune
Red King–Blue King–Chaos Rune
Blue King–Chaos Rune–Energy Rune
High Flow Hand (+15 points)
High Flow Hand (+15 points)
Minimum: 3 cards
A High Flow Hand is a Flow Hand that contains at least two cards from the following group when it is first laid down:
Red King
Blue King
Chaos Rune
Energy Rune
A regular Flow Hand cannot become a High Flow Hand through cards added later.
Hand of Balance (+10 points)
Hand of Balance (+10 points)
Minimum: 3 cards
A Hand of Balance contains equal Red and Blue weight.
Red-aligned cards:
Red Kings
Red Runes
Blue-aligned cards:
Blue Kings
Blue Runes
Red and Blue cards must be matched by card type:
Each Red Rune is balanced by a Blue Rune.
Each Red King is balanced by a Blue King.
Swap Runes are neutral. They count as neither Red nor Blue and do not affect the balance.
Swap Runes may be included when creating a Hand of Balance or added to an existing Hand of Balance.
A Hand of Balance cannot be started using only Swap Runes.
A new Hand of Balance must include at least one matching Red-and-Blue pair.
Examples:
Red Rune + Blue Rune + Swap Rune
Red King + Blue King + Swap Rune
2 Red Runes + 2 Blue Runes
2 Red Kings + 2 Blue Kings + Swap Rune
Red Rune + Blue Rune + 2 Swap Runes
Red Rune + Blue Rune + Red King + Blue King
When adding Red or Blue cards to an existing Hand of Balance meld, the meld must remain balanced.
For example, if you are adding a Red Rune, you must also add a Blue Rune..
Minimum: 3 cards
A Red Hand contains only:
Red Kings
Red Runes
The cards may appear in any combination.
Examples:
3 Red Runes
2 Red Runes + 1 Red King
1 Red Rune + 2 Red Kings
3 Red Kings
Minimum: 3 cards
A Blue Hand contains only:
Blue Kings
Blue Runes
The cards may appear in any combination.
Examples:
3 Blue Runes
2 Blue Runes + 1 Blue King
1 Blue Rune + 2 Blue Kings
3 Blue Kings
Minimum: 3 cards
Number Cards of a Kind contains three or more identical Number Cards.
This meld type applies only to Number Cards.
Red Runes, Blue Runes, Swap Runes, Red Kings, Blue Kings, Chaos Runes, and Energy Runes cannot form this type of meld.
Examples:
Three 5s
Four 8s
Three 2s
Five 9s
Additional matching Number Cards may be added to the meld.
Certain melds award bonus points in addition to their normal card values.
A meld earns its bonus only if it meets all requirements when it is first laid down as that qualifying meld.
Cards added later cannot complete a bonus or award one retroactively.
For example, a Flow Hand containing:
Blue Rune → Swap Rune → Red King
does not qualify as a High Flow Hand.
Adding a Blue King later does not award the High Flow Hand bonus.
Bonus points are awarded only once when the qualifying meld is created.
Meld Bonus
The Kingdom+30
High Flow Hand+15
Hand of Balance+10
Red Hand+5
Blue Hand+5
Number Cards of a Kind and regular Flow Hands do not award bonus points.
6. Energy and Chaos Runes
6. Energy and Chaos Runes
An Energy Rune may be played in either of the following ways:
With a newly created meld.
With a single card being added to an existing meld.
Normally as part of a Flow Hand
Energy Runes double the card values of the card or cards with which they are played.
When used to energize a meld or card, the Energy Rune provides only the doubling effect.
The Energy Rune itself does not add its normal 10-point value.
The Energy Rune is worth 10 points only when played normally as a card within a Flow Hand.
Energy Runes do not double bonus points.
Energizing a New Meld
Play the Energy Rune at the same time as the new meld.
The card values of all cards in that original meld are doubled.
Any bonus points earned by the meld are not doubled.
Cards added to the meld later do not receive double card values from that Energy Rune.
The Energy Rune remains on top of or touching the original meld until the end of the round.
Energizing a Card Added to a Meld
You may play an Energy Rune with a single card that you are adding to an existing meld.
Only the card value of that newly added card is doubled.
The Energy Rune remains on top of or touching that card until the end of the round.
The multiplier does not apply to:
Other cards already in the meld
Cards added later
Any meld bonus
Playing an Energy Rune in a Flow Hand
An Energy Rune may be played normally as part of a Flow Hand.
Its position in the Power Flow Order is:
1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → Red Rune → Blue Rune → Swap Rune → Red King → Blue King → Chaos Rune → Energy Rune
When played as part of the Flow Hand, it does not energize or double the value of anything.
The Chaos Rune is the only card that may be played outside your own turn.
Before the active player discards, another player may play a Chaos Rune against a new meld or card play made during that turn.
The Chaos Rune explodes the targeted play.
Exploding a New Meld
If a Chaos Rune is played against a newly created meld:
The entire new meld is exploded.
Every card in that meld is removed from the playing area.
Any Energy Rune played with that meld is also removed.
The Chaos Rune is removed with those cards.
Exploding Cards Added to a Meld
If a Chaos Rune is played against one or more cards just added to an existing meld:
Only the newly added card or cards are exploded.
The original meld remains in play.
Any Energy Rune played with the exploded card is also removed.
The Chaos Rune is removed with those cards.
All exploded cards, including the Chaos Rune, are set aside and discarded from the round.
The opportunity to play a Chaos Rune remains open until the active player discards.
Once the active player discards, it is too late to play a Chaos Rune against anything played during that turn.
A Chaos Rune played after the discard does not count and must be returned to the player’s hand.
Playing a Chaos Rune in a Flow Hand
A Chaos Rune may be played normally as part of a Flow Hand.
Its position in the Power Flow Order is:
1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → Red Rune → Blue Rune → Swap Rune → Red King → Blue King → Chaos Rune → Energy Rune
When played as part of the Flow Hand, it does not explode anything.
You may add cards to:
Your own melds
Another player’s melds after you have created at least one meld of your own during that round
When adding cards to another player’s meld, keep the cards physically in front of you so it remains clear which cards and points belong to you.
Announce which meld you are extending. The group must keep track of the complete meld across the cards played in front of different players.
Examples:
Add another matching Number Card to Number Cards of a Kind.
Extend either end of a Flow Hand.
Add matching Red and Blue cards to a Hand of Balance.
Add a neutral Swap Rune to a Hand of Balance.
Add additional Kings to The Kingdom.
Add another Red-aligned card to a Red Hand.
Add another Blue-aligned card to a Blue Hand.
You score only the cards that you personally played, even when they extend another player’s meld.
Adding cards to a meld does not award that meld’s bonus points again or complete a bonus that was not earned when the meld was created.
8. End of the Round and Scoring
8. End of the Round and Scoring
The round ends when a player gets rid of every card in their hand.
A player cannot go out by playing their final hand card into a meld.
Their final card must be discarded.
To go out, play all but one card from your hand and then discard your final card face down at the end of the River.
Once a player places their final card face down, play stops immediately and the round is scored.
Scoring Played Cards
Each player earns the point value of every card they personally played onto the table.
This includes cards used to:
Create new melds
Add to their own melds
Add to another player’s melds
Add any bonus points earned from qualifying melds.
Energy Runes double the applicable card values.
Cards Remaining in Hand
Each player subtracts the value of every card remaining in their hand.
Cards exploded by a Chaos Rune do not score from the exploded play because they have been removed from the round.
Card Values
Number Cards: Printed value, 1–9
Red Rune: 10
Blue Rune: 10
Swap Rune: 10
Energy Rune: 10
Chaos Rune: 0
Blue King: 13
Red King: −2
Because a Red King is worth −2 points:
Playing one reduces the value of the cards you have scored.
A Red King remaining in your hand uses the same −2 value when calculating the cards left in your hand.
9. Rebuilding the Draw Pile
9. Rebuilding the Draw Pile
If the Draw Pile runs out during a round:
Leave all active melds on the table.
Leave the current River in place.
Cards removed from the round by Chaos Runes may be reintroduced and shuffled to create a new Draw Pile.
10. Beginning a New Round
After scoring:
Record each player’s cumulative score over multiple rounds.
The player to the left becomes the new dealer.
Shuffle the deck.
Deal 8 cards to every player.
Create a new Draw Pile and River.
11. Winning the Game
The first player to reach 333 points wins.
(Or another agreed-upon total chosen before the game begins.)
