Phase 10 scoring rules
Phase 10 is a race through ten set collections, in order. You cannot skip one and you cannot jump ahead: complete your current phase to advance, fail it and you attempt the same phase again next hand.
Points here are a penalty, not a reward. The winner is the first to finish phase 10 — and if several do so in the same hand, the lowest penalty total breaks the tie.
Keep score while you read
The ten phases
- 1. Two sets of three.
- 2. One set of three and one run of four.
- 3. One set of four and one run of four.
- 4. One run of seven.
- 5. One run of eight.
- 6. One run of nine.
- 7. Two sets of four.
- 8. Seven cards of one colour.
- 9. One set of five and one set of two.
- 10. One set of five and one set of three.
Card points at the end of a hand
When someone goes out, everyone else adds up the cards left in their hand.
- Cards 1 to 9: 5 points each.
- Cards 10 to 12: 10 points each.
- Skip cards: 15 points each.
- Wild cards: 25 points each.
Laying down and hitting
You may only lay down once your phase is complete, and you must lay the whole phase at once. After that you can hit — add single cards to any laid-down phase on the table, your own or someone else's — to empty your hand and end the round.
Holding a wild card to complete a phase is tempting, but being caught with it costs 25 points.
Frequently asked questions
Be the first to complete phase 10 and go out. If more than one player finishes phase 10 in the same hand, the one with the fewest penalty points wins.
You stay on it and try again in the next hand, while players who completed theirs move on. You also take penalty points for the cards left in your hand, so a failed hand costs twice.
25 points against you if you are still holding it when the hand ends — the most expensive card in the deck. A skip is 15.
No. The phases must be completed in order, one per hand at most, which is what keeps a trailing player in the game: nobody can run away with more than one phase a hand.