Ramo is a game that has the best parts from Contract Rummy, Mahjong and Uno combined, hence the name RAMO.

The object of the game is to have the least amount of points after playing the 8th level.

For each hand, each player's object is to complete and lay down his/her current level’s requirement, and then rid their hand of remaining cards by discarding them on laid-down levels, called "expanding". The player who does this first wins the hand and scores minus fifty; all other players earn penalty points according to the value of cards remaining in their hand.

In each round the players reduce the value of the cards held in their hands by laying on the table those cards that fit the requirement of his/her own level which consists of Sets and Runs.

A Set consists of three or four cards, all different colored
A Run consists of three or more cards in sequence, all same colored
The 13th card can be used in the middle when making Runs (eg: 12-13-1)

There are 60 cards in one deck, and two decks are used in a 3 or 5-player game, three decks for more players:

52 numbered cards: each valued from 1 to 13, in four different colors.
two Wild cards
one Skip card
one -1 card
two x2 cards
one +3 card
one ? card

The Deal

The first player (dealer) shuffles the deck and before dealing, the next player “cuts” the deck, the dealer then deals 13 cards to the next player, and 12 cards to the rest of the players, the remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the table to form the Draw Deck, the player with the 13 cards in hand discards one card from his/her hand to start a Discard Pile, then the game continues counter-clockwise.

Gameplay

On each turn, a player:

Draws either the face-up top card of the Discard Pile or one card from the deck.
May lay down their completed round-appropriate collection of Sets and Runs.
May play off other players who have laid down once they have laid down themselves.
May discard one card from their hand onto the discard pile. When a player discards a card that could have been played off on their own or another player's laid cards is a "Ramo". Only players that are LAID DOWN may call out Ramo. The FIRST player to call Ramo must take the discarded one card to make a new Set or Run, or expand any laid down cards in the game even if it’s not his/her turn. The regular counter-clockwise order of turns may be interrupted for Ramo if the player who calls Ramo is not directly after the discarder (in order of play), one or two players will essentially miss their turn as play continues counter-clockwise from the player who calls Ramo. If multiple players call Ramo for a discarded card, priority for the discard goes to the player who calls out Ramo first.

Play continues, in alternating turns, until one player goes out, or has no cards left in their hand. A player goes out when he successfully discards the only remaining card in hand, marking the conclusion of the step for all players.

It is customary to announce other players when there is only one card left in your hand. This alerts other players of closeness to going out. Points are tallied and recorded by a score-keeper. All of the cards are shuffled and the next round of play commences. Whoever has the most amount of scores (penalties), deals the next round (Level).

Level requirements:

two sets
one set and one run
two runs
three sets
two sets and one run
one set and two runs
three runs
four sets or four runs

Scoring:
Five points for each card remaining in hand with value 1-9
Ten points for each card remaining in hand with value 10-13
Twenty points for each Special Card remaining in hand

—description from the designer

Games