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1952 picture of 4 player Canasta game taken at the height of the "Canasta-craze" in the US
"Natural" Canasta: 7 Card Meld, No Wild Cards - worth 500 points
A closeup photo showing the historic tax stamp on one of the vintage Whitman Canasta decks.
Canasta played at a game event, March 2015
A vintage photo of a family playing Canasta
A Canasta scoring board similar to a Cribbage board.
Box (Garage Sale)
Canasta (Duratone) front box
Canasta according to Hoyle, with creative artwork by Alissa Duke
Canasta - The Argentine Rummy Game - box

Canasta (1939)

Players
2–6
Best: 4
Playing time
45–45 min
Age
12+
6.45
Average rating
1,668
Ratings
2.13/5
Weight
#4307
BGG rank
Top 5,000
Alternate names:Barden Canasta Set +14 more
Designer:Segundo Santos
Artist:Alphonse Mucha, 別府さい (Sai Beppu)
Publisher:Piatnik +32 more
Average rating, ratings count, weight and rank are sourced from BoardGameGeek (BGG).
Game DNA
  • This game: Strategy 5, Luck 5, Interaction 5, Complexity 4.3, Theme 5
Strategy5.0
Luck5.0
Interaction5.0
Complexity4.3
Theme5.0

This game's strategy, luck, interaction, complexity and theme.

Card GameSet CollectionHand ManagementMelding and Splaying

Overview

The game of Canasta is said to have originated in Montevideo, Uruguay, around 1940. From there it spread to Argentina, the USA and throughout the world. It was extremely fashionable in the 1950's, threatening for a while to displace Contract Bridge as the premier card game.

The rules were standardized in North America around 1950 and it was this version of the game that gained worldwide popularity. In many countries, Canasta is still played in more or less its original form, sometimes alongside a number of variations. In North America, however, the game of Canasta has continued to develop, and the version now favored by many American players, called Modern American Canasta, is very different from the classic game.

Canasta is generally agreed to be best for four players, playing in partnerships. However, there are playable versions for two, three or six players.

Canasta is a standard deck playing card game modified by adding two decks together and adding all four Jokers.

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Player reviews, retailers/pricing and rules videos have no real data source for this game yet.

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