You (South) and North are partners against West and East. The computer plays the other three seats.
The deal and bidding
- Each player gets 13 cards. The deal rotates clockwise each hand.
- Starting left of the dealer, everyone bids how many tricks they expect to win (1–13). Partners' bids add up to the team's contract.
- Nil is a bid to win no tricks at all: +100 if you succeed, −100 if you don't. The partner's own bid is scored separately.
- Blind nil (if enabled) is bid before looking at your cards and is worth ±200. It's only allowed when your team is behind by 100 or more.
Playing tricks
- The player left of the dealer leads the first trick. The winner of each trick leads the next.
- You must follow the suit that was led if you can. If you can't, play any card, including a spade.
- Spades are trumps: the highest spade wins the trick. If no spade was played, the highest card of the suit led wins.
- Spades can't be led until a spade has been played on another suit ("spades are broken"), unless you hold only spades.
Scoring
- Make your contract: 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 point per extra trick (a bag).
- Fail your contract ("get set"): lose 10 points per trick bid.
- Every 10 bags a team collects costs 100 points.
- Tricks won by a nil bidder don't count toward the partner's bid, but they do count as bags.
- The first team to reach the target score (500 by default) wins. If both teams pass it on the same hand, the higher score wins.
Controls
Tap or click a bid or a highlighted legal card. Keyboard: Tab to a control, then Enter or Space. Hint suggests a bid or highlights a playable card. Games save automatically in this browser.
Tips
- Count aces, kings and high spades when you bid, plus a trick for each spade beyond your third. Bid conservatively: getting set costs far more than a bag.
- Once your contract is safe, stop winning tricks to avoid bags, unless you can set the other team.
- When North bids nil, win tricks early and play high over them. When an opponent bids nil, lead low and play under them.
- Stuck? Press Hint to see what the computer would play.
Source: kjwilder/spades · The Unlicense. Adapted for SkillSafe; no accounts or network services required.