Canasta is a traditional card game that is played with two decks of cards (108 cards total), including four Jokers. The game is usually played with two to six players.
Here are the basic steps to play Canasta:
Dealing: Each player is dealt an initial hand of 11 cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in a draw pile, and the top card is turned over to start the discard pile.
Object of the game: The objective of the game is to score points by forming melds, which are sets of three or more cards of the same rank.
Melding: A player can form a meld by laying down cards from their hand onto the table. A meld must contain at least three cards of the same rank. If a player is able to form a meld, they can lay down the meld in front of them on the table.
Drawing: On their turn, a player must draw either the top card from the draw pile or the top card from the discard pile. If the player draws a card from the discard pile, they must use it in a meld if possible.
Discarding: After drawing a card, the player must end their turn by discarding one card face up onto the discard pile.
Going out: A player can end the game by "going out" by laying down all of their cards in melds, as long as they have at least one Canasta, which is a meld of seven cards of the same rank.
Scoring: Points are scored for the melds laid down by each player, with bonuses for creating Canastas. The game continues until one player reaches a predetermined number of points, such as 5,000 points.
These are the basic rules for playing Canasta. There are many variations of the game, so it's a good idea to agree on the specific rules before starting to play.