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Taki: card game rules

Taki is an Israeli classic that plays a lot like Uno: match the color, number or symbol and race to empty your hand. Its signature twist is the Taki card, which lets you dump a whole color at once.

👥 2-8 players🎂 Ages 6+⏱️ 15-20 minutes🃏 A Taki deck (a store-bought game with colored number cards and action cards)

How to play Taki

Goal: Be the first to get rid of every card in your hand.

Setting up

  1. Deal 8 cards to each player.
  2. The rest of the cards form the draw pile. Turn the top card face up to start the play pile.

How to play

  1. On your turn, play a card that matches the top card by color, number or symbol.
  2. If you can't match, take one card from the draw pile and the turn passes on.
  3. Action cards: Stop skips the next player, Change Direction reverses the order of play, and Plus lets you play another card.
  4. Plus 2 makes the next player take two cards, unless they play a Plus 2 of their own and pass the bigger penalty along.
  5. Change Color can go on any card, and the player who puts it down picks the next color.
  6. The Taki card lets you play all the cards of that color in your hand in one go.
  7. When you are down to one card, you must announce it before the turn passes.

Who wins

The first player to get rid of all their cards wins.

Tips

  • Save a Change Color card for the moment you have nothing else that matches.
  • These are the basic rules only. The deck has a few more special cards and the rules vary a little between editions, so when in doubt, follow the booklet in the box.

Variations

  • For little kids: play with only number cards and Change Color cards, then add the other action cards one at a time.

More card games

Frequently asked questions

Is Taki the same as Uno?

They're very similar: both are color-matching games where you race to empty your hand. Taki has its own action cards, including the Taki card that lets you play a whole color at once.

How many cards do you deal in Taki?

Each player starts with 8 cards.