Spades

How to play Spades

Spades is a card game for four players in two teams. You play with Ben, who sits across the table, against Anne and Carol, who sit on your left and right. All three are computer players. Before each hand, every player says how many tricks they expect to win. Then you try to win exactly that many, together with your partner. Spades are always the strongest suit.

Bidding

Each player gets 13 cards and makes one bid, from 1 to 13: the number of tricks they think they'll win. Your bid and Ben's are added together to make your team's target. Use the − and + buttons in the middle of the table, then tap Bid. Your bid starts at the number the hint would suggest for your cards, so you can simply accept it while you learn. The first bid and the first lead move one seat to the left with each new hand.

A bid of zero is called nil: you promise to win no tricks at all. Get it right and your team scores 100; win even one trick and your team loses 100.

Playing a trick

• The player who bid first leads any card to start. Going round to the left, everyone plays one card, and you must follow suit if you can.
• If you have no cards of the suit that was led, you can play any card, including a spade. Spades are trumps: any spade beats any heart, club or diamond.
• The highest spade wins the trick. If no spades were played, the highest card of the suit led wins. Aces are high, and the winner leads the next trick.
• Spades can't be led until they're “broken”: until someone has played a spade on another suit. If spades are all you have left, you may lead one.

Keeping score

• If your team wins at least as many tricks as it bid, it scores 10 points for each trick it bid, plus 1 point for each extra trick.
• If your team wins fewer tricks than it bid, it loses 10 points for each trick it bid.
• Extra tricks are called bags. Every time a team collects 10 bags, it loses 100 points, so bidding too low is risky too.
• A successful nil scores 100 and a failed one loses 100. A nil bidder's tricks don't count towards their partner's bid, but they do count as bags.

The scores at the top of the game show “We” (you and Ben) and “They” (Anne and Carol), the way partners have long kept score. After every hand you'll see what each team bid and won, and the points. The first team to reach 500 wins. If both teams pass 500 in the same hand, the higher score wins. In Settings you can choose a shorter game to 250.

Tips

• Count your sure winners. Aces, the King of spades with another spade to protect it, and every spade after your third are good bets. A side suit you have none of can be worth a trick too, if you have spades to trump with.
• Don't beat your partner. If Ben is already winning a trick, play a low card and save your high ones.
• Lead your Aces early, before other players run out of that suit and can trump them.
• Once your team has made its bid, stop winning tricks. Play cards that lose and throw away high ones, so you don't pile up bags.
• Look after a partner who bid nil. Win tricks yourself so Ben doesn't have to, by playing your high cards.

Questions

Do the computer players cheat?

No. Each one knows only its own cards and the cards that have been played, and follows exactly the same rules as you. Your partner Ben plays to help your team, and in our own tests the two teams win about equally often.

Is any money involved?

No. Spades here is played just for fun: there's no betting, no prizes and no real money, and nothing to buy.

What does the Hint button do?

When it's time to bid, it suggests a bid and lists the cards it counted as likely winners. During play it suggests a card and explains why, for example that Ben is already winning the trick or that a spade will trump it. A team following the hints made its bid about 86 times in 100 in our tests.

How long does a game take?

A game to 500 usually lasts about 9 hands, around 15 to 20 minutes at a relaxed pace. The game to 250 is about half as long. Your game saves itself after every card, so you can stop at any time and carry on later on the same device.

Can I take back a card or a bid?

Yes. Undo takes back your last card, or your bid, during the current hand. It's a good way to learn what works.

What is the game number?

Every game has a number, and the same number always deals the same cards in every hand. Share the link to play the same game as a friend, or try today's game, which is the same for everyone.