Digu — Maldivian Rummy Online

What is Digu?

Digu (Dhivehi: ދިގު) is a Maldivian draw-and-discard rummy game for four players. The name echoes its kinship with gin rummy — "digu" means "gin" in Dhivehi — and the gameplay shares that family's rhythm: draw one card, discard one, quietly assemble melds in a hidden hand until someone is ready to go out.

Where Digu diverges is its 50-point threshold: a fully melded hand is not enough to declare — the melds must also total at least 50 points. Low-card hands stay in the game longer, forcing players to trade up for higher-value melds before they can call.

A match plays 1, 3, 5, or 7 rounds (chosen at setup). Players choose between free-for-all (four individuals) and 2-v-2 partnerships (partners sit opposite each other and combine their hands for scoring). The highest cumulative score after all rounds wins.

How to play

Setup and deal

Digu uses a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. The starting player receives 11 cards and immediately discards one to seed the face-up discard pile; every other player receives 10 cards. The remaining cards form the face-down stock (draw pile). The starting seat rotates one position to the left each round.

Taking a turn

Each turn has exactly two steps. First, draw one card — either the unknown top of the stock or the visible top of the discard pile. Your hand grows to 11. Then, discard one card onto the discard pile, returning your hand to 10.

Before discarding, if your hand meets the go-out conditions you may declare and end the round. If the stock runs out, the entire discard pile is reshuffled into a new stock and play continues — the round only ends when someone goes out.

Melds — building your hand

Melds stay concealed in your hand the entire round. There is no laying melds on the table and no playing off onto other players' cards — everything is revealed only when someone goes out. Two meld types are valid:

• Set — three or four cards of the same rank (e.g. 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ or Q Q Q Q).
• Run — three or four cards of the same suit in consecutive rank, from 2 up to K (e.g. 4♥ 5♥ 6♥ or 9♠ 10♠ J♠ Q♠). Runs are capped at four cards; the Ace never appears in a run — it belongs only in sets of Aces.

Going out

You may declare and go out only when both conditions are met: all 10 cards are arranged into melds with no leftover cards (the typical shape is 3 + 3 + 4), and the total meld value reaches at least 50 points.

Card point values: numbered cards 2–10 are worth their face value; Jacks, Queens, and Kings are each worth 10; Aces are worth 15. A hand of all low cards can be fully melded yet still fall short of 50 — you must keep playing and swap in higher-value melds before calling.

Scoring

The moment a player goes out, the round is scored:

• The player who goes out earns +100 plus the full point value of their completed hand.
• Anyone holding at least one meld scores their melded value minus their deadwood (unmelded cards). This result can be negative.
• Anyone with no meld at all receives a flat −100 penalty, regardless of hand contents.

In 2-v-2 play, partners who both hold at least one meld combine their cards and form the best melds across all 20; the +100 bonus goes to the team whose member went out. A meldless partner is scored individually at −100 regardless of how well the other partner did.

Winning the match

After all rounds are played, add up every player's (or team's) round scores. The highest cumulative total wins the match.

Ways to play

• Solo vs computer bots — four difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Ultra (a Monte Carlo AI that samples possible worlds and picks the best discard).
• Online with friends — create a room and share the invite link. Up to four human players; bots fill any empty seats. Both free-for-all and 2-v-2 partnership modes are available.
• Daily ranked deal — a seeded round where every player faces the same starting hand that day, played solo against Ultra bots. One attempt per day; scores feed a weekly leaderboard.
• Free-for-all or 2-v-2 partnerships — choose your mode at the setup screen before each match.
• Any device — works in the browser on phone, tablet, or desktop. Installable as a PWA for an app-like experience.
• Free — no cost, no in-game purchases, no ads during play.

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