Spades

Partnership trick-taking: bid your tricks, spades are trump.

How to play

Four players in partnerships (seats 1&3 vs 2&4). Spades are always trump.

Each player bids the tricks they expect to win, or bids Nil (win none). Spades cannot be led until broken.

Making your team's combined bid scores 10 points per trick plus 1 per extra trick (bag); missing it loses 10 per bid trick.

Nil succeeds for +100, fails for -100. Ten bags cost 100 points. First side to the target wins.

About Spades

Spades is a partnership trick-taking game for four players in which spades are always trump. Each player bids the tricks they expect to take, or bids Nil to take none, and a team scores when it makes its combined bid. Extra tricks are bags, and collecting ten bags costs you 100 points.

Spades at a glance

Players	4 players
Type	Table game: play online with friends, or with bots in any seat
Family	Trick-taking
Bot levels	Easy, medium and hard
Options	Play to: 250 or 500
Turn timer (online)	30 seconds
Cost	Free, no download

Tips for Spades

Bid with discipline: count Aces, Kings in side suits and your spades, and do not bid on hope.
Watch your bags. A few extra tricks are fine, but every ten cost a hundred points.
Cover your partner's Nil bid by winning tricks they might otherwise be forced to take.

Questions about Spades

How many people can play Spades?

Spades is played by exactly 4 players. Real players and bots can share a table, so a game can always start even if you do not have enough people.

Can I play Spades against the computer?

Yes. Pick easy, medium or hard bots and start straight away. Bots only use what a player in their seat could see, so they cannot peek at your cards.

Can I play Spades online with friends?

Yes. Create a private room and share its code, or join a quick match. If someone drops out mid-game, a bot takes over their seat.

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