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Phase 10 Variations

This page is part of the Invented Games section of the Card Games web site. It is a collection of variations of the proprietary card game, Phase 10. Phase 10 is a commercial version of the traditional card game Contract Rummy, but while Contract Rummy is played with standard playing-cards, Phase 10 uses special cards and has a somewhat different sequence of contracts.

• Phase 10 + 10
• Super Wild Phase 10
• Mixed Up Masters

Phase 10 + 10

A variation of the commercial game Phase 10, contributed by Justin Huneke

Phase 10 +10 is played with a deck of Phase 10 cards and played the same way as the commercial game Phase 10 except that the 10th phase only marks the half way point! After the 10th phase there are 10 more and here they are:

11. 4 sets of 2
12. 1 set of 4 + 1 run of 5
13. 1 set of 5 + 1 run of 5
14. 1 run of 4 + 4 cards of one color
15. 1 run of 5 + 4 cards of one color
16. 1 run of 10
17. 1 set of 4 + 1 set of 5
18. 9 cards of one color
19. 1 set of 6 + 1 set of 2
20. 1 set of 6 + 1 set of 3

Warning! This game takes a very, very, very long time. Only play if you have absolutely nothing to do in the next 4 to 5 hours.

Enjoy!

Super Wild Phase 10

A variation of the "Masters Edition" of Phase 10, contributed by Jeff Presley

The Masters Edition of Phase 10 includes two additional rules:

• Players can choose which Phase to attempt on each deal, based on the cards they are dealt. 
• Once in each deal, a player can "save" a card by discarding it into a private "save" pile instead of the central discard pile. These cards are stored from deal to deal. At the start of a turn, a player can retrieve any card from their "save" pile into their hand instead of drawing from the stock or discard pile.

Jeff Presley's group has modified these rules by marking one of the existing wild cards as "Super Wild" and one of the existing skip cards as "Super Skip".

• Playing a normal Skip card either skips the next player or reverses the direction of play - the player of the card chooses which.
• Playing the "Super Skip" card skips everyone else and thus give the holder another turn immediately. This card counts 25 points if left in a player's hand at the end.
• The "Super Wild" card counts 50 points and can be used as two wild cards.

The contracts are:

1. 2 sets of 3
2. 1 set of 3 + 1 run of 4
3. 1 set of 4 + 1 run of 4
4. 1 run of 7
5. 1 run of 8
6. 1 run of 9
7. 2 sets of 4  - OR 3 sets of 3 - OR 5 sets of 2
8. 7 cards of one color (skip can be used as a blue card when collecting blues)
9. 1 set of 5 + 1 set of 2
10. 1 set of 5 + 1 set of 3

A game usually lasts 60 - 90 minutes.

Mixed Up Masters

A variation of the "Masters Edition" of Phase 10, contributed by Keith Morris

There are 2-4 players. Take all of the "phase" cards, shuffle them together and deal them out, 10 to each player. You dont get to look through them or choose which one to use: you turn up your first phase card and that is the one you need to complete.

You cannot pick up from the discard pile after you have laid down your phase. Your skips do not count as a color. To win you have to finish all the phases in your pile.

This version takes around 30-60 min. depending on the number of players.

To make a harder 2-player game, shuffle all 40 "phase" cards and deal out 20 to each person.