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Gin Rummymelds, ten cards

Ten cards, two players, and a decision that comes back every turn: knock now, or wait for gin? The whole game comes down to that trade-off.

Goal of the game

Arrange your hand into melds, then end the hand at the right moment to score more points than your opponent.

Games are played to 100 points; hands follow one another until then.

A set — three or four cards of the same rank: three Queens, four 7s.
A run — at least three consecutive cards of the same suit: 5-6-7 of hearts.
A card can only be used in one meld at a time.
Unmatched cards are your deadwood. Their total decides everything.
Values: face cards are worth 10, the Ace 1, the others their number.

Each player gets ten cards; the next card starts the discard pile.
On your turn: draw, either the top card of the stock or the top of the discard pile — which is face up, so your opponent knows what you take.
Then discard one card. Your hand is back to ten.
You may then end the hand, if your deadwood allows it.

Knock — you end the hand when your deadwood totals 10 points or less. You lay down your hand; your opponent can then lay off their unmatched cards on your melds. You score the difference between the two deadwood totals.
Gin — all ten of your cards are melded, zero deadwood. You score a 25-point bonus plus all your opponent’s deadwood, and they cannot lay anything off on your melds.
Undercut — if, after laying off on your melds, your opponent ends up with deadwood lower than or equal to yours, they score instead: the difference plus a 25-point bonus. That is the risk of knocking too early.
The hand also ends if the stock runs out: nobody scores.

Early, with little deadwood, if your opponent draws a lot from the discard pile: their hand is coming together fast, and waiting for gin becomes dangerous.
Late, aiming for gin, if they mostly draw from the stock: they are still searching, you have time.
Knocking with 8 or 10 deadwood is almost always worse than waiting one more turn to get down to 3 or 4 — the undercut punishes exactly those soft knocks.
A simple rule to start with: do not knock with more than 5 points of deadwood before the tenth turn.

Discard face cards first. Ten loose points cost far more than a loose 3.
Keep cards with two uses. A 7 of hearts that can go into a set of 7s and a run of hearts is worth two ordinary cards.
Watch what they discard. A suit they keep throwing away is a suit they are not building.
Only take from the discard pile what really helps you. Every pick tells them something about your hand.

Click the stock or the discard pile, then the card to throw away.
The game groups your melds automatically and shows your deadwood in real time.
The Knock button only activates at 10 points of deadwood or less; Gin activates at zero.

Ten. You draw one card and discard one every turn, so your hand always stays at ten.

The sum of the cards that are not part of any meld. Face cards 10, Ace 1, the others their value. That total drives the whole score.

As soon as your deadwood is 10 points or less, after discarding. You are never forced to.

A fully melded hand, with no unmatched card at all. It earns a 25-point bonus and stops your opponent from laying off their cards on your melds.

That is an undercut: they score the difference plus 25 points. It is exactly why knocking with high deadwood is dangerous.