Canastra

How to play Canastra

Canastra is Brazil's hugely popular form of Canasta — a rich melding game of building runs of the same rank into big seven-card "canastas". It is a cousin of Buraco, but where Buraco melds sequences, Canastra melds sets of the same rank. Here you play head-to-head against a bot, racing to 1500 points — or play online against a friend: press Play online to be matched, or share a private link to play together.

Play Canastra online with a friend

Prefer a real opponent to the bot? Choose Play online to be matched with another player, or share a private invite link and play a two-player game right in your browser — no account, no app. The server deals every hand and enforces the rules, keeping both sides in sync.

The cards

Two full 52-card decks plus four jokers — 108 cards. The wild cards are the jokers (50 points) and every 2 (20 points). Card values: jokers 50; 2s and Aces 20; Kings down to 8 are 10; 7 down to 4 are 5. The red 3s (♥ ♦) are special bonus cards; the black 3s (♠ ♣) are dead weight.

Melding

• A meld is three or more cards of the same rank, with at least two natural cards and no more than three wilds.
• Seven or more of a rank is a canasta: a clean one (no wild) is worth 500, a dirty one (with a wild) 300.
• Red 3s are laid aside automatically for a 100-point bonus each; you draw a replacement. Black 3s cannot be melded.

A turn

First draw: take the top card of the stock, or take the whole discard pile — but only if its top card matches two naturals in your hand or a meld you already own. Then lay new sets and extend your melds. Finally, discard one card. You may only go out (empty your hand) once your side holds at least one canasta, which is worth a 100-point bonus.

Scoring

When someone goes out, both players total their melded card points plus bonuses — 500 or 300 per canasta, 100 per red 3, 100 for going out — and subtract the value of the cards still in hand. Add it to your running score; the first to 1500 wins.

Strategy

Chase a canasta early — those 300–500-point bonuses dwarf the card points. Hoard wild cards to complete the ranks you are short in, but don't bury them where they can't reach seven. Watch the discard pile: a big pile is a treasure if its top card matches your melds, so build toward taking it. And don't go out the moment you can — squeeze out a second canasta first if the bot is still light. Tap cards to select them, then lay a set, auto-lay everything, or discard. N starts a new game. (This is a streamlined Canastra — no minimum-meld threshold or pile freezing.)