The Complete Guide to Rummy: History, Variations, Strategies, and Community From its inception in the early 19th century, rummy has been a popular card game forrummy 9 centuries. Although the game's exact origins are still somewhat unknown, it is generally accepted that Rummy developed from earlier card games like the Mexican-originated Conquian. Since the mechanics of combining cards to form sets & runs are similar, Conquian is frequently considered the forerunner of modern Rummy.