Spades The free Spades card game with a partner bot
Play Spades with a smart partner bot against two opponents: bid, go nil, avoid bags and try the daily deal that is the same for everyone.
About Spades
Spades is the classic partnership trick-taking card game, free to play in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer. There is nothing to install and no account to make: open the page and the cards are dealt. You and your partner Sage sit across from each other, against the opponents Rook and Pip, and every hand begins with a bid.
Look at your thirteen cards and bid how many tricks you expect to win. Your team's bids add up to its contract. Make the contract and you score ten points for each trick you bid plus one point for every extra trick, which is called a bag. Miss it and you lose ten points for each trick you bid. Collect ten bags and you lose a hundred points, so overbidding and underbidding both cost you. Spades are always trump: a spade beats every other suit, and you cannot lead a spade until one has been played.
Nil is the daring bid. Bid nil and you promise to take no tricks at all: you win a hundred points if you manage it and lose a hundred if you win even one trick. Your partner bot knows when you bid nil and plays to cover you, winning the tricks you would have to take. You can also turn on blind nil in the options, a bid made before you look at your cards that is worth two hundred points either way.
Rook is bold and bids high, Sage is your honest partner, and Pip is careful and hates bags. Pick Easy, Normal or Hard bots. Hard bots count the cards that have been played, trump with their lowest spade, lead sure winners and duck when their contract is made and the bags are piling up.
On a small screen, tap a number to bid, then tap a card once to raise it and again to play it, or drag it up onto the table. Cards you cannot play are dimmed, and if you tap one anyway it tells you why. The Hint button suggests a bid or a play and explains the reason in one line. Undo takes back your last card in practice games, and Last trick shows the previous trick again.
Every day there is a new daily deal: four hands from one shared deck of shuffled cards against Normal bots, the same for every player. It has no undo, and your daily score compares your team's points with theirs. Your best score of the day is kept, you build a daily streak, and the score goes to the leaderboard. Win games to unlock new card backs, and keep stats for games, wins, hands and nils.
Tips: count your sure tricks (aces, kings and long spades) and bid a little under what you hope for. Nil works best with low cards in every suit. When your partner bids nil, play high to win the tricks they might otherwise take. When your bid is already made, play low and keep the bags down. A game to 300 takes about 20 minutes and is saved automatically.
How to play
Tap a number to bid how many tricks you will win (Nil means none). Then tap a card to raise it and tap it again to play it, or drag it up onto the table. Follow the suit that was led if you can; spades are trump and beat every other suit, and spades cannot be led until one has been played. Make your team's bid for 10 points per trick plus 1 per extra trick; miss it and lose 10 per trick. Ten bags cost 100 points. Nil is +100 or −100. Hint explains a bid or a play, Undo takes back your last card (not in the daily), and Last trick shows the previous trick. On a keyboard use the number keys and arrows to bid, Enter or Space to play, H, U and L; P or Esc pauses and M mutes.
Controls and devices
- Controls: Touch, Mouse, Keyboard
- Works on: phones, tablets and computers
- Screen: portrait orientation
- Price: free, no download or sign-up
FAQ
- What is nil?
- A nil bid says you will take no tricks in the hand. If you succeed your team gets 100 points; if you win any trick it loses 100. Your partner's bid is scored on its own, and tricks you take still count towards your partner's bid.
- What are bags?
- Bags are the extra tricks your team takes above its contract. Each one is worth 1 point, but every ten bags cost 100 points, so it pays to bid close to what you will win.
- What is blind nil?
- An optional bid (off by default, turn it on in Options) made before you look at your cards. It scores 200 points if you take no tricks and loses 200 if you do.
- Is the daily deal the same for everyone?
- Yes. Each day's four hands are dealt from the date, so every player gets the same cards against the same Normal bots. Undo is off in the daily and each hint costs 5 points of score.
- Does my game save?
- Yes. The game in progress, even in the middle of bidding, your stats, daily results and unlocked card backs are saved on this device, and to your account when you are signed in.
Credits
- Game design, code, card art and sound: Playora Games
- Table, card back and portrait art: Codex image generation (Generated for Playora; see CREDITS.md)