Rules

Samba is a team-based card game inspired by Canasta, played by four players divided into teams of two. Similar to Canasta, players work with their partner to create Melds of three or more cards of the same rank and build them into seven-card Canastas. Samba differs from Canasta because it also requires teams to form seven-card runs in the same suit called Sambas, and eleven-card runs in the same suit called Super Sambas. The addition of Samba and Super Samba is what makes our game strategically elevated and incredibly fun to play.

Complete Canastas, Sambas and Super Sambas throughout each round to earn points, outplay your opponents, and work towards the highest overall score.

The objective of Samba is to outscore the opposing team over the course of the game. Each round, you and your partner work together to build melds, close Books, and earn points, while blocking your opponents whenever possible.

Games can be played over one to four rounds, selected during setup. At the end of each round, your team’s score is added to its cumulative total. After the final round, the team with the highest overall score wins. If the final scores are tied, the game ends in a draw.

Points from every round count toward the final score, so each round matters. A strong performance in a later round can make up for an earlier loss and change the outcome of the game. The main objective of Samba is to improve your game, exercise your brain, and have fun.

Each player is dealt 30 cards, divided into two 15-card piles. The first 15 cards make up your Hand, which is displayed in your rack and available to play immediately. The remaining 15 cards make up your Foot, which is displayed separately to the right of your rack and remains locked at the start of the round.

To unlock your Foot, you must complete your team’s Initial Meld (Open) or add at least one card to your partner’s Initial Meld. Your Foot becomes available once you have discarded and ended your turn. Then the Foot will automatically be placed into your Rack, making those cards available for play at your next turn.

At the beginning of the game, tap the card stack to cut and deal all 30 cards to each player simultaneously. If your cut is exactly 30 cards, it is a Perfect Cut and earns your team 100 bonus points.

Player One begins Round One by drawing the required number of cards (2 / 3 / 5, determined in game setup). Play proceeds clockwise. At the beginning of each of the following rounds, the starting player rotates one seat to the left, so Round Two begins with Player Two drawing the required cards, and so on.

Every turn begins with a required draw. Tap either or both Decks to draw the selected number of cards.

Once your team has Opened, you may have the option to Pick the Pack instead of drawing from the deck. (See Picking the Pack below for the requirements and instructions.)

Instead of drawing from the deck, you may Pick the Pack if:

• Your team has already opened its initial meld
• The Pack contains at least seven cards
• The Pack has not been frozen by a Black 3. (See Red & Black 3s for additional rules and instructions)

To Pick the Pack, the top card must be played immediately with at least two matching cards from your Hand. Highlight the matching cards, then tap the Pack. The highlighted cards and the top card from the pile will move to the correct meld area on your game board.

To Pick the Pack for a Canasta:

If the top card is Wild, you must have two Wild Cards in your Hand to Pick the Pack; they do not need to match. If the top card is a Samba or Super Samba card, you must highlight the two or more consecutive or adjacent cards from your Hand and then tap the Pack, so that the run has no breaks when you pick the Pack.

The six remaining cards from picking the Pack stay face down beside your rack and are added to your Hand only after you discard and your turn has ended.

Discarding ends your turn. To discard, drag one card from your Hand to the pack.

• Red 3s can never be discarded
• 7s cannot be discarded onto an empty pack
• Wild Cards may only be discarded if your Hand consists of only Wild Cards. Please note that if you started with any other cards in your Hand and laid them on the table, you will not be able to discard a Wild Card. The last card laid on the table will become your discard. If you laid three cards on the table for a new Canasta or Samba, or to extend a Canasta or Samba, two will go back to your Hand and one will be discarded. If you have several other cards that are not wilds, you must discard one of those cards instead of a wild.
• A Wild Card can be discarded if it’s your final card and you are going out to end the round
• Three Black 3s can be discarded to end the Round (see Red & Black 3s to learn more about this)

To begin playing cards on the table, one player on your team must complete the Initial Meld by meeting the Round’s required point value:

Each meld in the Initial Meld must contain at least three cards, known as the Base of Three. After your team meets the Initial Meld requirements, you and your partner may then add cards to your team’s existing melds.

If you try to discard before meeting the required point value, the system will tell you that you do not have enough points to meld, and all of the cards played will bounce back to your Rack. There is no penalty – you can try to make your Initial Meld again or simply choose a discard.

• Samba – Any same-suit run of seven cards between 4 through Ace
  • 2,000 points
  • Ideally 8 → Ace, but others are 7 → King, 6 → Queen, 5 → Jack, and 4 → 10
• Super Samba – A same-suit run of the following 11 cards, 4 → Ace
  • 3,000 points
  • Super Samba Rounds are never played in Round 1

A Canasta is a completed meld of seven cards of the same rank.

• Clean Canastas – (sometimes called a Natural Canasta) have seven cards of the same rank and contain no Wild Cards
  • 500 points
• Dirty Canastas – contain one to three Wild Cards combined with natural cards. There must always be more natural cards than Wild Cards in a Dirty Canasta
  • 300 points
• 7s Canasta – Always clean, cannot have Wild Cards
  • 2,000 points
• Wild Canastas – seven Jokers, Deuces, or a combination of the two cards
  • 2,000 points

Red 3s – Cannot be melded. When a Red 3 is drawn, it is placed on the table for 100 points and a replacement card is automatically drawn for you. Bots exchange Red 3s automatically, while live players must exchange them manually. If any Red 3s remain in your Hand when the Round ends, each one initiates a deduction of 100 points from your team’s score.

Black 3s – can be used in different ways throughout the game:

• When discarded, a Black 3 freezes the pack for the next player, preventing them from Picking the Pack
• Three Black 3s may be used as a final discard at the end of the Round
  • To do this, the player must select all three Black 3s and then drag them together to the discard pile
• Black 3s remaining in your Hand at the end of the Round have a negative value of 5 points

Black 3s cannot be used to:

• Create Sambas or Super Sambas
• Make a Canasta

Jokers and Deuces are Wild Cards and may be used in place of almost any ranked card, except for 3s and 7s.

Wild Cards cannot normally be discarded. You may discard a Wild Card if your Hand contains nothing but Wild Cards at the start of your turn, after you have drawn your cards, or if it is your final discard when going out at the end of the round.

7s have special rules:

• In a 7s Canasta
  • A Wild Card can never be used as a substitute for a 7
  • 7s may be used to build a 7s Canasta, which must always be clean and contain no Wild Cards – 2,000 points
• A 7 may also be used as part of a Samba in its matching suit
• A 7 must be used to create a Super Samba in its matching suit
  • Super Samba runs are always a single suit, 4 → Ace
• A 7 may never be discarded onto an empty discard pile

To go out and end the Round, your team must have completed and closed the following books:

• 5 Clean Canastas
• 1 Dirty Canasta
• 1 7s Canasta
• 1 Wild Canasta
• 1 Samba
• 1 Super Samba (when playing a Super Samba Round)

At the start of your turn, you must first draw your cards and decide whether you are able and ready to go out before making any moves on the board, not including an exchange of Red 3s. If you want to go out, tap the “May I Go Out?” button and wait for your partner to answer. If they say “Yes”, you may make your final plays and finish the Round with no discard, one discard, or three Black 3s as your final discard (process explained in Red & Black 3s).

If you asked to go out but were unable to play all your cards during that turn, all cards played during that turn are returned to your Rack except your discard, and the Round continues.

If you play all your cards on the table and/or your final card or three Black 3s without first asking your partner if you can go out – by tapping the “May I Go Out?” button and receiving a “Yes” reply – the “May I Go Out” rule has been violated: all the cards you laid on the table will come back to your Rack, and the last card played will become your discard.

At the end of each Round, your team’s score is calculated by adding the bonus points for all your team’s closed books plus the face value of the cards played on the table, minus the face value of the cards remaining in your team’s racks.

If a Samba or Super Samba has not been closed at the end of the Round, its bonus points are forfeited; the cards are still counted at their face value. In the Super Samba Round, if you fail to close the Super Samba, no bonus points count for any of your closed Sambas.

Scores are carried over from round to round, and the team with the highest cumulative score at the end of the game wins (a tie results in a draw).

Base of Three

The 3-card minimum every meld must meet the moment it’s laid down.

Books

• Open Books are Canastas, Sambas and Super Sambas that are not closed.
• Closed Books are completed Canastas, Sambas and Super Sambas.

Clean Canasta

7 cards of one rank – all natural.

Close / Closing

Pressing the Close button to remove a finished Samba or Super Samba and claim its bonus – canastas close on their own.

Deck

The two sets of face-down cards in the middle of the game board from which you draw your cards each turn.

Dirty Canasta

7 cards of one rank – made of natural cards and wilds.

Down

The state a team reaches once its initial meld is complete – required to pick the pack or add freely to melds.

Frozen Pack

When a Black 3 is discarded, the next player can’t pick the pack.

Going Out

Legally emptying your Rack once your team’s requirements are all met and your partner has approved.

Hand / Foot

Your 15 active cards (Hand) and your 15 locked reserve cards (Foot), unlocked by melding + discarding once.

Meld

Playing your cards on the table.

Pack

The discard pile.

Perfect Cut

The bonus for a 30-card deal cut that lands exactly on a 30-card boundary.

Open

Successfully playing your team’s initial meld at the beginning of the round.