Play Shanghai online
with everyone at once

The seven-round rummy game your family plays at the kitchen table — for up to twenty people, in a browser. No account. No download. Just a link.

You'll get a link to send to everyone else.

The card game your family already knows, at a table everyone can reach

Shanghai is the rummy game people play round a kitchen table at Christmas — seven rounds, each asking for a harder combination than the last. This is that game, online, for up to twenty people at once. Nobody makes an account. Nobody installs anything. You send a link, everyone types their name, and you are playing.

How it works

  1. Make a table

    Give it a name — thanksgiving, sunday, whatever you like. You get a link.

  2. Send the link

    WhatsApp, email, a text message. Anyone who opens it sits down.

  3. Type your name and play

    No password, no sign-up, no app. Works on a phone and on a computer.

Built for the whole family — including the part of it that hates apps

  • Cards you can actually read. The ordinary red-and-blue deck you already know, but with oversized corner numbers — legible at arm's length on a phone, without pretending a spade is a new colour.
  • You can see the table. Everyone's cards, the pile, what has been laid down — from above, the way it looks when you are sitting there.
  • It tells you whose turn it is. The seat lights up. The pile you can take from glows. You are never guessing.
  • Talk while you play. Voice chat at the table, so it sounds like a card night instead of a website.
  • Nobody is left behind. Drop off the wifi and come straight back to your seat and your hand.

What you are trying to do

Every round has a contract — the combination you have to put down on the table before you can do anything else. Round one wants two sets. Round seven wants three runs. Get rid of all your cards and the round ends; everyone else counts what is still in their hand against them. The lowest score after seven rounds wins.

Nine of heartsNine of spadesNine of clubs
A set — three of the same number, any suits.
Five of clubsSix of clubsSeven of clubsEight of clubs
A run — four or more in a row, all one suit.

Read the full rules →

Questions people ask

Is it free?
Yes. There is no charge, no account, and no money in the game — no betting, no chips, nothing to buy.
How many people can play?
Up to twenty at one table.
Do we need to download anything?
No. It runs in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
Is Shanghai the same as gin rummy?
No — they are cousins. Here is the difference.
What if my mother has never played a game online?
She types her name and taps a card. There is a refresher on every screen if she forgets what the round wants.