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BACK TO THE GAMES

This article contains everything you need to know about Arkadium’s Canasta Game.

Use the list below to navigate specific topics about Canasta. 

The Game

Canasta is an exciting card game that combines strategic thinking, teamwork, and careful hand management. Like Pinochle, this 4-player game pairs you with a partner to compete against another team, but instead of trick-taking and melding simultaneously, you'll focus on building melds and completing canastas while preventing your opponents from doing the same. It's an engaging social game that rewards skillful play and good partnership.

Here is how the game looks on a typical match. The player is in the bottom, with all of the available cards ready to play.

You can see the username of the player on the left, and the Meld Score on the right. The center is the player's in-game avatar, which can be changed in the options menu.

NOTE: As the game functions on a different system than standard Arkadium accounts, your username in-game will always be displayed as a variation of "Guest".

Your score, limit and meld score are located on the top right, with a color set for each of the teams. The teams have the same color as represented in their game icons, blue and red.

You can see all of the options available to you on the bottom of the table. Here is what each of them represents.

The Table option allows you to see the game's stats, as seen here.

The Pause option allows you to pause the game. This is not allowed in multiplayer games.

The Chat option allows you to type a message to chat with other players.

Using Game will let you quit the table or join a brand new one, with bots or real players. It will also allow you to use the Multiplayer menu.

The Multiplayer Menu gives you more options, to browse the different available tables, host your own, or join a private table with other players you know.

Using Help and Rules allows you to check guides for the game's options and rules, if you need a quick refresher.

The Profile allows you to check a variety of options to do with your chat and player interactions. You can also change the deck you play with, the game's wallpaper, the avatar you use and check your stats.

Main Menu

The main menu of the game will give you a wide range of options to choose from. Canasta can be played in both singleplayer against the computer, and multiplayer against real people. You can see how many players are active at the time next to Play.

The New Game option will allow you to play against the computer, while Join Table will match you up with existing players. Browse Tables lets you check from a variety of tables hosted by different players, each with their own options. You can choose to your liking.

HOST TABLE: Some of the options regarding hosting a game connected to a registry are locked out, due to the game using a different account system that is incompatible with the Arkadium system. Due to this, these options will not be available in our version of the game.

There are many options to choose from.

To learn how to play the game, you can use the interactive Tutorial. This will teach you all of the game's rules. You can also read the game's rules directly.

You can also customize your account and game settings on the bottom.

How To Play

The Cards

Canasta uses two complete decks of standard playing cards plus Jokers, for a total of 108 cards. Cards have different roles and values:

Objective

The first team to reach 5,000 points wins the game. Points are earned primarily by creating melds and completing canastas, with bonus points awarded for going out and collecting red 3s.

Deal

A random player is chosen as the dealer. Each player receives 11 cards. The remaining cards form the stock pile. After dealing, one card is turned face up to start the discard pile. If this card is a wild card or red 3, additional cards are turned up until a natural card appears.

Gameplay

Players take turns clockwise around the table. On your turn, you first draw either one card from the stock pile or the entire discard pile (if you meet specific conditions). Then you may form new melds or add to existing ones. Finally, you must discard one card unless you are going out.

Melding

A meld consists of at least three cards of the same rank, such as three Kings or four 7s. Melds can include wild cards, but must always contain more natural cards than wild cards, with a maximum of three wild cards per meld.

Your team's first meld in each hand must meet a minimum point requirement based on your current score:

Canastas

A canasta is a meld of seven or more cards. There are two types of canastas: Natural canastas consist of seven or more cards of the same rank with no wild cards and score 500 points. Mixed canastas include wild cards and score 300 points. You must complete at least one canasta to go out.

The Discard Pile

The discard pile is central to strategy in Canasta. To pick it up, you must be able to use the top card in a meld - either by combining it with two matching natural cards from your hand or by adding it to an existing meld.

The discard pile can become frozen when it contains a wild card, in which case you need two matching natural cards to pick it up. It can also become blocked when topped by a black 3, preventing the next player from picking it up.

Going Out

To end a round ("go out"), your team must have completed at least one canasta, and you must play or discard all cards from your hand. While optional, it's recommended to ask for and receive permission from your partner before going out.

Scoring

After each round, teams score points for:

Subtract the value of any cards remaining in hand from your team's score.

Game End

The game ends immediately when one team reaches 5,000 points or more. If both teams exceed 5,000 points in the same round, the team with the higher score wins.

A team can also lose if their score falls below -5,000 points. In this case, their opponents win regardless of score.