Phase 10 Rules, the Ten Phases and a Score Keeper

The cards

The box holds 110 cards. There are 96 number cards: 1 to 12 in red, blue, green and yellow, twice over. On top of those come 8 Wild cards and 4 Skip cards. The last 2 cards just list the phases.

Two to six people can play. Pick a dealer, who deals 10 cards face down to each player. The rest of the deck is the draw pile; turn its top card face up to start the discard pile. The player to the dealer's left goes first and play moves clockwise.

A turn, step by step

1. Draw. Take the top card of the draw pile or the top card of the discard pile.
2. Lay down your phase, if you can. You need every card of it in your hand first; you cannot build it on the table over several turns. You only lay down one phase per round.
3. Hit, if you can. Once your own phase is down, you may add cards from your hand to any phase on the table, yours or anyone else's, as long as they fit. Another 6 on a set of 6s, a 9 on the end of a 5-6-7-8 run, a green card on a green phase 8.
4. Discard. Put one card face up on the discard pile. Your turn is over.

Example, working on phase 2 (a set of 3 and a run of 4): you hold 4, 4, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 2 and a Skip, and you draw an 8. Now 4-4-4 is your set and 6-7-8-9 is your run, so you lay both down. In the same turn you can hit with the 10 and the 11 on your own run, which leaves the 2 and the Skip. Discard the Skip to make someone miss a turn. You hold one card now; if the card you draw next turn fits any phase on the table, hit with it and discard the 2 to go out.

Wild cards

A Wild stands in for any number or any color. You can use as many as you like in a phase as long as at least one real number card is in it. A Wild played into a phase stays there for the rest of the round. If the first card of the discard pile is a Wild, the first player may take it.

Skip cards

A Skip makes one player of your choice lose their next turn. Playing it is your discard, so it ends your turn. Skips cannot be taken from the discard pile and cannot be part of a phase. If the first card of the discard pile is a Skip, the first player loses their first turn. You may not skip a player who was just skipped; they get a normal turn before they can be skipped again.

Going out

After your phase is down, aim to get rid of every card, by hitting, by discarding your last card, or both. The first player to empty their hand ends the round for everyone. Then everyone scores what is left in their hand.

Phase 10 scoring

The player who went out scores 0. Everyone else counts the cards still in their hand. Lower is better.

Example: you are caught with a 3, a 12, a Skip and a Wild. That is 5 + 10 + 15 + 25 = 55 points. Cards you already laid down on the table never count.

After scoring, the deal moves one seat to the left, every card is shuffled back in, and the next round starts. The keeper above shows the next dealer.

Winning and ties

• The game ends at the end of the round in which someone completes the last phase.
• If only one player completed it, they win, whatever their points.
• If two or more completed it in that round, the one with the fewest total points wins.
• If they are tied on points too, those players play the last phase again, and the first to go out wins.

So points matter less than you might think. They only decide the game when two players finish together, which happens often in close games.

Official variations and house rules

The first two come from the official instructions and are settings in the keeper. The rest are table habits, not official rules, so agree on them first.

• Fixed rounds (official). Play exactly 10 rounds. Everyone tries phase 1 in round 1, phase 2 in round 2 and so on, and moves on whether they made it or not. Lowest total after the last round wins. The sheet gives no tie rule for this version; the keeper shows a shared win.
• Fewer phases (official). Agree before the deal to play to phase 5, 7 or any number. Every other rule stays the same.
• Pick your own order (house rule). Some groups let each player do the phases in any order, crossing them off as they go. The official rules say in order, 1 to 10.
• Draw pile runs out (house habit). The sheet does not cover it. Most tables shuffle the discard pile, except its top card, into a new draw pile.

What the rules mean for play

• Phases 4, 5 and 6 are single long runs of 7, 8 and 9 cards from a 10-card hand. Every Wild can plug a gap in a run, so a Wild is worth more to you in those rounds than a pair is.
• Holding a Wild is a gamble: it costs 25 if someone goes out first. Once your phase is down, hit with Wilds early rather than keep them.
• Since nobody can be skipped twice in a row, a Skip does the most when you save it for the player closest to going out, right after someone else's Skip has worn off.
• Making your phase matters more than going out. Going out saves points; making the phase is what moves you forward.

Phase 10 questions

Do you have to go out to move to the next phase?

No. You move on as soon as your phase is on the table. Going out only ends the round and scores you 0. Anyone who laid down their phase that round, whether or not they went out, works on the next phase in the next round.

Can a run in Phase 10 wrap from 12 back to 1?

No. A run is cards in number order, and the cards only go from 1 to 12, so 11, 12, 1, 2 is not a run. Colors do not matter in a run.

Can you skip the same person twice in a row?

No. Once a player has been skipped, they get a normal turn before anyone can skip them again. With only two players this means a Skip cannot take away two turns in a row from your opponent.

What happens if two players finish phase 10 in the same round?

The one with fewer total points wins. If their totals are also the same, those players play the tenth phase again, and whoever goes out first wins.

How many points is a Wild card worth at the end of a round?

A Wild card left in your hand costs 25 points, a Skip 15, a 10, 11 or 12 costs 10, and any card from 1 to 9 costs 5. Cards already on the table do not count.