Rummikub is a table game of numbers. It is strategic, compulsive and great fun. It combines elements of Rummy, Dominoes, Mah-jong and Chess, and is highly addictive. Current group members have been playing the game and enjoying the mental stimulation it provides since 2010. A second group has now been formed.

Rummikub was invented by Ephraim Hertzano, a Romanian-born Jew who originally made his living selling toothbrushes and cosmetics. Hertzano started developing the tile game Rummikub in the 1930’s in Romania, when card-playing was outlawed under the Communist regime. He hand-made the first sets with his family in the backyard of his home. The game combines elements of rummy, dominoes, mah-jongg and chess.   Hertzano moved to Israel in the 1940’s after World War II, continuing the development of the game and sold the first sets door-to-door and on a consignment basis at small shops.   He eventually became a professional game developer and, over the years, the family licensed it to other countries and it became Israel’s top export game. In 1977 it became a bestselling game in the United States.

The game can be played by 2-4 players. There are 104 tiles, 2 each of tiles numbered 1-13 in 4 different colours – black, red, blue and orange, 2 Joker tiles and each player chooses 14 tiles from a bag and arranges them on their rack. The remaining tiles form the pool and play proceeds. The aim is to go out first, with the scores of the other 3 players added together to give the winner the highest score. The other players’ scores are put at a minus though if they win a game their scores can change considerably.