Game instructions
How to play
- 4 players
- ranked
Goal and setup
Four players form opposite partnerships. The 80-card deck contains four identical copies of A, 10, K, Q and J in each suit. Each player receives 20 cards. Score from melds, which are combinations in your hand, and cards captured in tricks. Cards rank A, 10, K, Q, J.
Bidding and trump
Bidding starts at 50. Bids up to 60 may increase by one or more; above 60 they must be multiples of five. Passing withdraws you from the auction. Three opening passes force the dealer to take 50. The winner chooses trump only from suits in which they hold both king and queen. With no such marriage, their partnership immediately loses the bid. The bidding partnership promises to score at least its bid.
Melds
The engine displays and scores melds automatically. One trump run of A, 10, K, Q, J scores 15; an additional trump marriage scores 4 and another suit's marriage 2. Jack of diamonds with queen of spades scores 4. Aces in all four suits score 10, kings 8, queens 6 and jacks 4. Cards may contribute to different types of meld. A king and queen counted in a trump run do not also score for that same marriage.
Multiple melds
Two, three or four complete trump runs score 150, 225 or 300. Double, triple or quadruple jack-of-diamonds/queen-of-spades combinations score 30, 60 or 90. Two, three or four complete arounds score: aces 100/150/200, kings 80/120/160, queens 60/90/120 and jacks 40/60/80. The interface calculates the total for you.
Tricks and victory
The bidder leads first. Follow suit; if void, play trump if possible. Among the permitted cards, you must beat the current winner whenever you can. Identical cards are won by the one played earlier. Captured aces, tens and kings score 1 each, with 2 extra for the last trick. The bidding partnership scores its actual meld and trick total if it meets the bid, or loses the full bid otherwise. The other partnership scores its own points. The first partnership reaching 250, 500 or 1000 wins; if both cross the target in one deal, the bidding partnership wins.
You know the rules — time for a game.
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