The variations presented here are simply suggestions for making the game even more enjoyable for you. Try one, combine several, modify anything you like less, or add your own personal touch. Have a great game!
Please share your comments, experiences, or house rules with me. I’d love to improve this list with your contributions.
1
When setting up the game, instead of dealing a Hand and a Foot to each player, you deal one Hand and two Foot piles. Therefore each player has three sets of thirteen cards to play instead of the regular two. Players must play their Hand before getting to their first Foot, and play all cards in their first Foot before getting to their second Foot. And, you guessed it, the player that finishes their second Foot first wins that round.
Another big difference is that you also have to complete three black canastas and three red canastas instead of the regular two of each. All other rules remain unchanged.
When playing this version one-on-one you should be ok with only five decks of cards but we recommend adding decks when playing this version in teams.
2
In this version we allow wildcards to be used in runs, but doing so should reduce the value of the completed run: for instance, it could be considered a black canasta worth only 300 points. Cards in this meld (wildcards excluded) must still be of the same suit. And the regular pure run (no wildcards) remains an option and is still a red canasta worth 1,500 points.
3
If there are six of you, you can still play by splitting into three teams of two. Add one or two extra decks on top of the regular five, because six players will burn through the cards faster and need a larger draw pile.
You still try to alternate teams around the table so that no two teammates sit side by side. For teams A, B, and C it would look like this: A1 – B1 – C1 – A2 – B2 – C2
All other rules remain unchanged.
4
Same as The Half Dozen adaptation (#3) except you play 3 against 3. Seating around the table could look like this for teams A and B: A1 – B1 – A2 – B2 – A3 – B3
5
In this variation, you can force the next player to skip a turn by discarding a wildcard — 2 or joker — at the end of your own turn. The skipped player does not draw, lay cards down in their building area, or discard. Play simply moves to the following player. The discarded wildcard is burned. It remains on top of the discard pile, but nobody may pick it up.
This effect also applies at the very beginning of the round, when a wildcard is flipped over to start the discard pile. In such a situation, the first person who was supposed to play must therefore skip their turn.
6
In the regular version, the first person or team to reach 20,000 points wins the game. In this variant, you can simply decide to increase that limit to extend the game. For example, you could play to 25,000 points, 30,000 points, or even more if you want a true marathon game.
In keeping with these new goals, you could also increase the point thresholds required to open. For example, you could continue the progression beyond 150 points for score ranges above 20,000 points. Another option would be to raise all opening thresholds in order to make opening a little more demanding at each stage.
The idea is not to impose a whole new structure, but rather to allow players to adapt the length and difficulty level according to the type of game they want to play.
7
Once the cards have been thoroughly shuffled, the person who shuffled does not deal the Hands and Feet. Instead, each player takes a stack of cards from the top of the draw pile, one at a time, trying to pick up exactly 26 cards.
Without looking at the faces of the cards, the player counts how many they picked up. If they have exactly 26 cards, they earn a 100-point bonus. If they picked up too many, they return the extra cards to the draw pile. If they do not have enough, they draw the number of cards needed to reach 26. The bonus is awarded only when the original stack contains exactly 26 cards, before any adjustment.
Each player then divides their 26 cards into two piles of 13: one for their Hand and one for their Foot.
No one may look at their cards until every player has finished. Once any 100-point bonuses have been awarded, each player sets their Foot aside, face down and without looking at it, then picks up their Hand to begin the round.
In team play, any bonus earned is added to the team’s score. All other rules remain unchanged.
8
Under the regular rules, a player begins their turn by drawing either two cards from the draw pile, or one card from the draw pile and one from the discard pile.
In this variation, players have a third option: they may draw the top two cards from the discard pile.
However, this option is not allowed if either card is a red or black 3. It is also not allowed if either card is a wildcard and Variation #5, The Wildcard Damnation, is being used, since those cards are supposed to be burned.
All other rules remain unchanged.
9
Instead of using one of the regular drawing options, a player may take the entire discard pile if they hold two non-wild cards matching the top card of the pile.
The player must first lay down those two cards from their hand, together with the top discard, as a new meld. Once the meld has been made, the player takes all the remaining cards from the discard pile into their hand and continues their turn normally.
If the player or team has not yet opened, the new meld may count toward the opening requirement. However, only the top discard and cards that were already in the player’s hand may be used to reach the required number of points to open.
The discard pile cannot be taken if its top card is a red or black 3. It also cannot be taken if the top card is a wildcard and Variation #5, The Wildcard Damnation, is in force.
Taking the entire pile can provide a major advantage, but it also carries considerable risk. The player may acquire several useful cards, but also multiple 3s and other unwanted cards that can only be discarded one at a time.
10
Under the regular rules, each player keeps the Foot dealt or prepared for them at the beginning of the round. In this variation, the Feet may change owners in one of three ways.
Before the round begins, each player passes their Foot, still face down, to the player on their right. Nobody may look at a Foot before it is passed.
Each player therefore begins with their original Hand but later plays the Foot received from another player.
When a player finishes their Hand, they may either keep their own Foot to continue playing or trade it with the available Foot of another player.
The other player cannot refuse the exchange and receives that player’s Foot.
At the beginning of the round, all Feet are placed face down in the middle of the table, beside the draw and discard piles. The Feet should be mixed so that nobody knows which one originally belonged to whom.
When a player finishes their Hand, they choose one of the remaining Feet and continue playing with it. Obviously, the choice must be made without looking at any of the Feet.
