A solver and playable game for my favourite card game Makiaveli.

In memoriam of my beloved Γιαγια, who taught me this game and was the undisputed champion of figuring out complex plays.

Makiaveli is a Greek card game- a rummy variant where you can rearrange existing plays on the table to make room for your own cards.

• Decks: 2 standard decks (104 cards total)
• Players: 2+ players (typically 4+)
• Initial Deal: Each player receives 5 cards (visible only to them)
• The Cross: 4 cards are laid face-up around the remaining deck in a cross formation:
  • One card above the deck
  • One card to the right
  • One card below
  • One card to the left

Be the first player to have no cards remaining in your hand.

Players take turns sequentially. On your turn, you must choose one of two options:

1. Take a card from the deck — this ends your turn immediately (you can only draw from the deck, never from the floor)
2. Make an action by playing cards

When making an action, you must:

• Lay down at least one card from your hand (you can play more if desired)
• You may rearrange any cards already on the table (the "floor")
• The final configuration must be valid

All card combinations on the table must follow these rules:

• Every play must contain at least 3 cards

Cards can be combined in two ways:

1. Sets (Same Value): Cards of the same rank but different suits

   • Example: 7♠, 7♥, 7♦ (three 7s of different suits)

2. Runs (Straight Flush): Cards of the same suit in consecutive order, no duplicates

   • Example: 5♣, 6♣, 7♣, 8♣
   • Aces are not circular: an Ace can come before a 2 OR after a King, but never both in the same run
   • Valid: A♠, 2♠, 3♠ or Q♠, K♠, A♠
   • Invalid: K♠, A♠, 2♠ (wrapping not allowed)

Cross cards start as single face-up cards around the deck. Once you incorporate a cross card into a valid combination (by adding cards from your hand), that combination is treated like any other play on the floor from that point on — it cannot be reverted to its single-card state. Topologically, the cross stays anchored around the deck (one of the resulting combinations occupies each cross position), but from a solver's perspective this distinction is irrelevant.

• Example: If the cross contains 2♠ and you hold 3♠ and 4♠, you can add both cards to form the run 2♠, 3♠, 4♠. From now on, this run follows the same rules as any other play.

You may rearrange existing plays on the table, but only as part of an action where you play at least one card from your hand. There is no point rearranging without playing a card, since the alternative is taking a card from the deck.

• Take cards from existing combinations to use in new combinations
• Split combinations that have more than 3 cards
• Critical rule: The final state must have all valid combinations (each with 3+ cards minimum)
• You cannot leave 1 or 2 cards "hanging" without a valid combination
• Cards on the floor stay on the floor — you can never take a card from the floor back into your hand

Initial state:

• Cross: 2♠
• Floor: 7♥, 7♦, 7♣ (a set)
• Your hand: 3♠, 4♠, 5♠

Valid action:

• Add 3♠, 4♠, 5♠ to the cross card 2♠ to form: 2♠, 3♠, 4♠, 5♠
• The set of 7s remains unchanged
• All combinations have 3+ cards ✓

The solver determines whether a player can empty their hand from a given game state. You feed it a hand, the floor groups, and the cross cards, and it tells you if there's a valid play that gets rid of everything.

There's a web UI for it at /solver — click cards onto the grid, hit solve.

Play against a heuristic bot in the browser at /game. The bot uses the solver internally to decide its moves, trying the largest possible play first and falling back to drawing.

uv run python server.py 

Then open http://localhost:8000 for the landing page.

Pet project to settle debates about whether someone could have won from a particular game state. Contributions welcome!