Concan Rules

Concan is played over five rounds, either individually or in teams. Individual games support two to five players, while team games are played by four players.

Your goal is to get rid of the cards in your hand by laying down melds or adding cards to melds already on the table. The player or team with the lowest score at the end wins. A player can also win by completing a Concan in the final round.

Cards and Dealing

Concan uses two standard decks and two jokers, for a total of 106 cards. Each player receives 14 cards at the beginning of the game, while the player to the dealer’s right receives one additional card. The remaining cards are placed face-down in the middle of the table to form the stock pile.

How to Play

1. The player holding 15 cards begins by discarding one card into the discard pile.
2. Play continues in turn. Each player may draw either from the stock pile or take the top card from the discard pile. Every turn must end with one card being discarded.
3. If a player takes a card from the discard pile, they must lay down at least one meld before ending their turn.
4. A round ends when one player gets rid of all the cards in their hand. The game ends after five rounds.

Laying Down and Adding to Melds

• A meld may be a run of consecutive cards from the same suit or a set of cards with the same rank in different suits. A meld must contain at least three cards. A joker may replace any missing card.
• The first time a player lays down cards, the total value of their melds must be at least 51 points. After opening, the player may lay down new melds and add cards to existing melds without a minimum value.
• Once a player has opened, they may add any suitable cards from their hand to melds already on the table.
• If a meld contains a joker and a player holds the card it replaces, that player may take the joker by placing the matching card in its position. If the joker is used in a set containing two matching ranks of different suits, both missing cards must be placed before the joker can be taken.

Scoring

When a player gets rid of all their cards, they receive −30 points. The value of the cards remaining in every other player’s hand is added to their score, provided they have already laid down at least one meld.

• Cards from 2 to 10 are worth their face value.
• Each A is worth 11 points.
• Each face card is worth 10 points.
• Each joker is worth 15 points.
• A player who has not laid down any melds receives 100 points.

If a player lays down their entire hand at once without adding to another player’s melds, this is called a Hand. All scores above are doubled: the player who completes the Hand receives −60 points instead of −30, while players who have not laid down any melds receive 200 points instead of 100.

The Concan

• To make a Concan, collect either a 10-card run with a four-card pair group, or an 11-card run with a three-card pair group.
• If a Concan is completed during one of the earlier rounds, it is counted as 200 points, like a Hand, even if an opponent has already laid down cards.
• A player may commit to collecting a Concan only during the final round, which is the fifth round.
• After committing, the player may only lay down once their Concan is complete.
• A player who has committed to a Concan may draw from the discard pile without laying down during that turn.
• Completing a Concan in the final round wins the game, regardless of the scores from previous rounds.
• Unlike a Hand, a Concan must contain at least one run.
• The minimum opening value is 51 points.
• When creating a new game, you may select Concan 71 to raise the minimum opening value to 71 points.