Spades
Past dailiesYou and North are partners against West and East. Bid how many tricks you will take, then make it. Spades always win over the other suits.
How to play Spades
How to play
Everyone gets 13 cards and bids how many tricks they expect to win. Your bid and North's bid add up to your side's contract. Follow the suit that was led if you can; if you can't, you may play a spade (trump) or any other card. The highest spade wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led.
Spades and nil
You can't lead a spade until spades are broken (a spade has been played on another suit), unless you hold only spades. Bid nil if you think you can avoid winning any trick at all: it scores 100 if it works and costs 100 if it doesn't.
Scoring
Make your contract and score 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 per extra trick. Fall short and lose 10 per trick bid. Extra tricks are bags: every 10 bags costs your side 100 points. The first side to 250 wins.
Controls
Tap a bid when it is your turn. Tap a card to lift it and tap it again to play, or drag it to the middle; with a mouse, a click plays it. Cards you can't play are dimmed. With a keyboard, use the arrow keys and Enter, and type a number to bid.
Questions
What are bags in Spades?
Bags (also called sandbags) are the tricks your side wins beyond its bid. Each one is worth a point, but every time your side collects 10 of them you lose 100 points, so overshooting your bid by a lot is costly.
How does a nil bid work?
A nil bid means you will not win a single trick. If you succeed your side scores 100 on top of your partner's contract; if you take even one trick it costs 100. Tricks taken by a failed nil count as bags, not toward your partner's bid.
Can you lead spades at any time?
No. Spades can be led only after a spade has been played on a trick of another suit, or when you have nothing but spades left.
Who is my partner, and do the computer players cheat?
North, across the table, is your computer partner. No player cheats: each one decides using only its own cards, the bids and what has been played. The Hard players think ahead by trying out many possible layouts of the cards they can't see.
How long does a game take?
A game to 250 points usually takes three to five hands, about ten minutes.