Shanghai

Shanghai is a game played in seven rounds. Each round ends when a player successfully plays all their cards on the table, keeping one back for a final discard. Successfully playing all ones cards is called going out. After a player goes out, other players congratulate the winner of the round by offering a quarter and a compulsory "congratulations". All players count the cards remaining in their hands to determine their points.

Card	Point Value
King through Eight	10
Seven through Two	5
Ace	20
Joker	50

The player with the lowest score at the end of all seven rounds wins the game and the "pot".

Gameplay follows chart below.

flowchart TD
    A([Start turn]) --> B[Pick up a card]
    B -->|Top discard| D{Can your hand of cards meet the round's objective?}
    B -->|Blind draw| D

    D -- Yes --> E{Have you gone down?}
    D -- No  --> Z[Discard to end turn]

    E -- No  --> G[[OPTIONAL: Play cards to satisfy objective]]
    G ----> E
    E -- Yes --> H[[OPTIONAL: Play cards in the community area]]

    G --> Z
    H --> Z

Each round has a unique objective to satisfy. The objective is always a combination of Sets and Runs.

Info

Three or more cards of the same rank. Suits do not matter. Jokers may be included as wilds, but when a set is first laid down, natural (non-wild) cards must make up the majority.

Info

Four or more consecutive cards of the same suit. Jokers may be used as wilds, but the initial four cards forming the run may contain at most one Joker. Aces may be high or low, but cannot be both in the same run (e.g., Q-K-A or A-2-3 is valid; K-A-2 is not).

Round	Objective
One	Two Sets
Two	One Set, One Run
Three	Two Runs
Four	Three Sets
Five	Two Sets, One Run
Six	One Set, Two Runs
Seven	Three Runs

Buying a Discard: When a card is discarded, any player may claim it by saying “I’ll buy it.” If multiple players speak up, priority goes clockwise from the discarding player. Declaring “I’ll buy it” is binding—if you cannot legally purchase (e.g., you’ve used all your buys), you must still pay the cost as a penalty. Each purchased discard costs one quarter.

When a player successfully buys a discard, they must also pick up another blind card. Players can purchase a max of three cards per round.

After a discard is bought, play continues as normal from the player to whom the discard was given.

Ground Rules

• No phones allowed at the table during a round
• No walking away from the table during a round (e.g., to get more snacks or go the bathroom)
• If you need to pause the game for some reason, you must explain yourself to the group and convince them it's worth it