STEKIUS
Thanasis online at STEKIUS: rummy in the hand
Play nowThanasis is a rummy played entirely in the hand: nothing goes down on the table until someone closes. You make sets of three and four and runs, keep the leftover cards as low as possible, and close at the moment the others do not expect it.
At STEKIUS you play Thanasis online for free, with two to four players, with friends or with AI players. Your hand arranges itself, so that you see your combinations at once. Below you will find all the rules: the wild cards, the combinations, when you close and how the points count.
The cards and the wild cards
Thanasis is played with two decks and two jokers, by two to four players. Each player gets ten cards.
In every hand one card turns up next to the deck. All the cards with the same number are wild in that hand, and so are the two jokers. A small gold star marks them, so that you do not get confused. That way every hand has different wild cards.
Your turn
On your turn you take the top card of the deck and discard one of your cards. One tap on a card discards it. Nothing goes down on the table during the hand: you make all your combinations in your hand.
The combinations
There are two kinds of combinations. Sets of three or four are the same cards in different suits. Runs are three or more cards in order, in the same suit; the Ace goes low, A-2-3, or high, Queen-King-Ace. A wild card takes the place of any card.
Your hand arranges itself: the combinations show with a green line, and the leftover cards with their points. You can also drag the cards and place them as you like; drop one in a gap between groups to start a new group. “Arrange for me” puts them back in order, and at the end of the hand your cards count with the best arrangement anyway.
Closing
You can close when, after the card you discard, the ten cards you have left leave ten points or fewer outside the combinations. You tap “Close!” and discard one of the cards that light up.
If you close with all your cards in combinations, with none left over, that is a “Thanasis”, the best close of the game.
The points
When someone closes, the others count the cards they have left outside combinations, and those points are added to their score. Here points are a bad thing: you want as few as possible.
- The Ace counts 1.
- The number cards count as much as they show.
- The face cards count 10.
- The joker counts 25.
Who wins
Whoever reaches 101 points is burned and leaves the game. The hands go on, and the last player left wins.
Chips and leaving
The winner wins virtual chips and the others lose. When you play only with bots, the win pays according to their level. After the first cards, whoever leaves pays a leave penalty. When there is a winner, you leave freely.
Tips
- Get rid early of face cards that fit nowhere.
- Watch what the others discard: it shows you what they are not collecting.
- Do not always wait for the perfect “Thanasis”; a quick close is often worth more.
- Wild cards are precious, but if they are left outside they count a lot.
Questions
Which cards are wild?
The two jokers and all the cards with the same number as the card that turns up next to the deck in every hand.
When can I close?
When the cards left outside combinations, after the card you discard, make ten points or fewer.
What is a “Thanasis”?
Closing with all your cards in combinations, with none left over.
When does a player leave the game?
When they reach 101 points. The last one left wins.
