In Romania and Turkey, and maybe in other countries of south-east Europe and west Asia, there is a tradition of playing games of the Rummy family with a set of 106 numbered and coloured tiles. Similar tiles are also found in Argentina, and equivalent rummy tile sets obtainable in all parts of the world for playing the proprietary game Rummikub®.
In principle the same games could be played with a double pack of standard cards including two jokers. It is not clear why tiles came to be used instead. Maybe it is just that they were found more robust and convenient for certain games, or perhaps, as in some other parts of the world, tiles were used to evade some regulation prohibiting playing with cards.
On this site, there are descriptions of