Istaka: Tile Rummy Puzzle

Istaka is a single-player table-rearranging puzzle played with okey tiles. Runs and sets are laid out on the table and a few tiles wait on your rack; the goal is to empty the rack in as few moves as possible.

What is Istaka?

Istaka is a single-player puzzle game played with okey tiles, the numbered tiles used in rummy games. The player splits groups, merges groups and moves tiles until every tile from the rack sits in a valid group on the table. A puzzle takes between 30 seconds and 4 minutes and can be left and resumed at any time.

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How do you play Istaka?

Istaka has three moves: moving a tile, splitting a group and merging two groups. Each counts as one move. A puzzle is solved when every tile from the rack is on the table and every group on the table is a valid run or set.

1. Move a tile. Drag a tile from the rack or the table onto another group, or onto “+ New group”.
2. Split a group. Tap between two tiles in a group; scissors appear and the group splits at that point.
3. Merge groups. Drag one group’s handle onto another group.
4. Undo and Restart. Both are unlimited and never count as moves.
5. Hint. Two stages: first it shows which tile to touch, then the whole move. Showing the whole move caps that attempt at 2 stars.
6. Why is a group invalid? Long-press a tile in a red-outlined group to see why the group is not valid yet.

Which groups are valid?

There are two valid groups: runs and sets. Tiles come in four colours (red, yellow, blue, black) numbered 1 to 13, with two copies of each tile and two Fake Okeys. The Fake Okey — and, in indicator levels, the okey tile — is wild and stands in for any tile.

How are stars earned?

Every puzzle has a par: the fewest moves the solver found. Solving at or under par earns 3 stars, up to 2 moves over par earns 2 stars, and any other solve earns 1 star. If a hint shows the whole move, that attempt earns at most 2 stars.

What is in the chapters?

The level path has 7 chapters and 350 levels. Each chapter has 50 levels; the first six introduce a new mechanic, and the seventh adds no new rule — everything is mixed and the solutions run deeper. The first level of every chapter is a hand-designed tutorial level, and four tutorial levels at the very start walk through the rules step by step. A new chapter opens once you solve level 15 of the previous one.

What are exam levels, Master levels and the Puzzle of the Week?

Some puzzles are harder on purpose. Exam levels make you break up the table and rebuild it, and carry a corner badge on the map. Every chapter has 5 Master levels — 35 in total — that open once you have 30 three-star results in that chapter. The Puzzle of the Week is a hard puzzle that changes every Monday; 104 weeks of them ship inside the app.

Titles, medals and achievements

Collected stars build a title path: Rookie, Apprentice, Journeyman, Master and Grandmaster. Each chapter has bronze, silver and gold medals (25, 40 and 50 three-star results in the chapter), and there are 20 achievements. Table cloths (navy, green, burgundy) and tile backs (classic, Iznik, gold) unlock as you progress.

How does the Daily Puzzle work?

The Daily Puzzle gives everyone the same puzzle each day. Two years — 730 days — of puzzles ship inside the app, so no connection is needed to get today’s puzzle. Difficulty follows the week: Monday is the easiest day and Sunday the hardest. Every solved day extends your streak.

• Save your streak. Solve a missed day’s puzzle the next day and the streak survives.
• Milestones. Streaks of 7, 30 and 100 days are celebrated.
• Sharing. The result is shared as text: puzzle number, moves, par, streak and a row of coloured squares.
• Archive. The free version opens today’s and yesterday’s puzzles; Premium opens the full archive.

Which accessibility options are there?

Istaka has a colour-blind mode, three text sizes (100%, 115%, 130%) and a reduced-motion option. In colour-blind mode every colour is also marked with a symbol (●▲■◆), so tiles never have to be told apart by colour alone.

• Sound effects and vibration; the game has no music.
• Optional reminder notifications: at 09:00 for the daily puzzle and your streak, at 20:00 when today’s puzzle is still waiting. Notifications are scheduled on the device.
• Guided first levels, one-time tips and a “How to play” screen — opened on first launch, from the main menu and with the “?” icon in a puzzle — teach the rules inside the game.

Is Istaka free?

Istaka is free and every level is open to everyone; new chapters open as you progress through the previous one. The game is supported by ads. A one-time Premium purchase removes ads between levels, gives unlimited hints and opens the full daily archive. There are no subscriptions, no in-game currency and no loot boxes.

• Interstitial ads. Shown only on the level path, when you tap “Next”. None in the first 15 levels; after that at most once every 3 levels and at least 120 seconds apart.
• Rewarded ads. Optional: once your free daily hint is used, you can watch one for a hint, up to 10 times a day.
• Where there are no ads. No banners anywhere. No ads in the Daily Puzzle, in the tutorial or in the middle of a puzzle.

What data does Istaka use?

Istaka has no accounts, sign-in or cloud saves; progress is stored only on the device. Ads are served by Google AdMob, which uses the advertising ID, IP address, ad interactions and diagnostics. The Premium purchase is verified with RevenueCat using an anonymous ID.

Full details: Istaka Privacy Policy.

Frequently asked questions

Can I play Istaka offline?

Yes. All levels and 730 days of Daily Puzzles ship inside the app, so you can play without a connection. The internet is used only to load ads and to verify the Premium purchase.

Does my progress move to a new phone?

Istaka has no account or cloud save. If Android’s automatic backup is on, progress is backed up to your Google account; on iPhone, if device backup is on, it goes to iCloud (or your computer). It can be restored on a new device set up with the same account. Premium comes back through “Restore purchases” with the same Google account on Google Play, or the same Apple account on the App Store.

Support and contact

Bug reports, suggestions and privacy requests go to kefukar@gmail.com. Including the game name (Istaka), your device model and operating system version (Android or iOS) helps find the problem faster. For a purchase record deletion request, please also include your store order number.

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Last updated: October 10, 2026