Partner up with AI, bid your tricks, and outscore the opponents in this classic team card game
Spades is a classic four-player partnership trick-taking card game where spades are always trump. Teams of two compete to win the number of tricks they bid at the start of each round. Spades was invented by college students in Cincinnati in the 1930s and spread through the military during World War II, becoming one of the most popular card games in America.
Each round, all 52 cards are dealt evenly (13 per player). Players examine their hand and bid how many tricks they expect to win. Bids from partners are combined into a team contract. Play proceeds clockwise: you must follow the suit led if possible, otherwise you may play any card including a spade (trump). The highest card of the led suit wins the trick, unless a spade was played — the highest spade wins instead. Spades cannot be led until they are "broken" by trumping another suit. Teams that meet their bid score 10 points per trick bid, with overtricks (bags) worth 1 point each. Accumulate 10 bags and your team loses 100 points!
Before each round, every player looks at their 13 cards and bids how many tricks they think they can win (1 through 13, or Nil for zero). Partners' bids are combined into a team bid. Your team must win at least that many tricks to score points. Bidding too high risks failing your contract (losing 10 points per bid trick), while bidding too low means you miss out on points and risk accumulating bags.
A Nil bid means you predict you will win zero tricks in the round. If successful, your team earns 100 bonus points. If you take even one trick, your team loses 100 points instead. Your partner still bids and plays normally. Nil is a high-risk, high-reward strategy that works best when you have a very weak hand with no high cards or spades.
Bags are overtricks — tricks won beyond your team's bid. Each bag is worth just 1 point, but they accumulate across rounds. When your team reaches 10 total bags, you lose 100 points and the bag counter resets to zero. This sandbag penalty prevents teams from consistently underbidding to guarantee making their contract. Strategic bidding that closely matches your actual trick-taking ability is key to winning.