Goal of the Game
Okey is a game of the Rummy family, played with a set of 106 wooden tiles. The faces of the tiles are numbered from 1 to 13. There are eight tiles of each number: two red, two yellow, two blue and two black. In addition there are two special tiles with a shamrock, the so-called “false jokers”.
Set of Tiles
During the game each player receives a hand of 14 tiles. The objective of the game is to form a hand that consists entirely of sets of equal numbered tiles and runs of consecutive tiles of the same color. This can be achieved by drawing and discarding tiles. The first player to complete their hand wins the game.
How to Play
The whole game is played counterclockwise. Okey is played by up to four people of which one is determined to be the dealer. The player to the dealer’s right begins the play by discarding one tile face up. After this, each player in turn may either take the tile just discarded by the previous player or draw the next tile from the supply in the centre of the table. Finally, they must discard one unwanted tile. This continues in counterclockwise rotation until a player forms a winning hand and exposes it, ending the play.
Discarded tiles are placed to the right of the player who discarded them, in a stack, so that only the most recent discard in the stack is visible. Exception: When a player’s collection is complete the last tile is discarded on the pile in the middle of the table, ending the game.
Game Setup
Winning the Game
The objective of the game is to collect sets and runs.
A set consists of three or four tiles of the same number and different colors. For example, a black 7 – blue 7 – red 7 would form a valid set. However, a black 7 plus two red 7s would not form a valid set.
A run consists of three or more consecutive tiles of the same color. The 1 can be used as the lowest tile, below the 2, or as the highest tile, above the 13, but not both at once. Hence, blue 1-2-3 or yellow 12-13-1 would be valid runs, but black 13-1-2 would not be valid.
Set and Run
A winning hand consists of 14 tiles formed entirely into sets and runs, for instance, two sets of 3 and two runs of 4, or a run of 6 plus a run of 4 plus a set of 4. No tile can be used as part of more than one combination (set or run) at the same time.
Winning Hand
You can arrange your tiles by pressing the “Sort Sets” button to order them in a row or “Sort Runs” button to arrange them in sets. You can also enable/disable auto-arrange in the settings.
Another type of winning hand can be composed of seven pairs. Each pair must consist of two identical tiles, such as two black 9s. Two tiles of the same number and different colors do not make a pair – the colors must be the same as well.
Seven Pairs Winning Hand
If you have a winning hand, you can end the play by exposing all 14 of your tiles after discarding your last tile on the pile in the middle of the table. Apart from the discards and the face up tile in the middle, no tiles are exposed until a player shows a winning hand: no sets or runs are exposed during the game.
Jokers
At the beginning of each new round the (real) jokers are determined. The two tiles that are the same color as the face up tile and one greater in number are the jokers. These tiles can be used to represent any tile the holder desires in order to complete a set or run. For example, if the red 4 is face up, the red 5s are jokers. Blue 6 – red 5 – red 5 – blue 9 would count as a run, using jokers for the blue 7 and 8. Alternatively, yellow 10 – black 10 – red 5 would be a set, using the red 5 to represent the blue or red 10. When collecting a hand of seven pairs, a joker can be used with any tile to form a pair.
Real Jokers
The two false jokers – the tiles with the shamrock on it – are used only to represent the joker tiles. Therefore, when red 5s are jokers, the false jokers are played as red 5s. In this case, for instance, a red 4 – false joker – red 6 count as a run and a black 5 – blue 5 – yellow 5 – false joker count as a set.
False Jokers
If you have a winning hand of sets and runs using at least one joker, you do not have to expose it immediately. If you wish, you can continue playing in the hope of forming a winning hand plus a joker as the last discard tile.
If you are able to end the game by discarding a joker and exposing your remaining 14 tiles as a winning hand, your win is worth twice as much as an ordinary win. Note that by continuing to play instead of exposing your ordinary win, you run the risk that another player may complete a winning hand and expose it before you can achieve your double win, in which case you gain nothing for your concealed winning hand.
Tournament Scoring
Each player begins the game with 20 points and loses points each time another player wins a game, as follows:
When a player wins an ordinary game, each of the other players loses 2 points.
When a player wins by discarding a joker, each of the other players loses 4 points.
When a player wins with seven pairs, each of the other players loses 4 points.
If the game ends without any player exposing a winning hand (because there are no tiles left to draw, and the player whose turn it is cannot win by taking the previous discard), then there is no score.
Play continues until any player’s score reaches zero or less. The player with the highest score at that time is the winner and all other players are the losers.
You can download our mobile version of Okey here: Okey by LITE Games