Game Guide
Spades
The classic bidding and trick-taking game
Overview
Spades is a trick-taking card game where spades are always trump. Teams bid the number of tricks they expect to win each round, then play to meet (or beat) their bid.
Quick facts
- Players
- 4 players (2 teams)
- Format
- Team-based
Objective
Be the first team to reach the target score (default 500 points) without exceeding the bag penalty.
How Scorecard tracks Spades
Each trick bid earns 10 points if the team meets their bid. Overtricks (bags) earn 1 point each but accumulate — at the bag threshold, a penalty is deducted. Nil and blind bids have special point values.
Configurable rules
These settings can be adjusted when creating a match or saved as a custom ruleset.
Winning score
The score a team must reach to win (default 500).
Losing score
A score floor — a team that drops to this score immediately loses.
Bags
Toggle bag tracking on or off. When off, overbids just score 10x the bid with no bag accumulation.
Bag penalty
Configure when bags roll over and how many points are deducted.
Nil bids
Bid zero tricks for a +100 bonus or -100 penalty. Toggle on/off.
Double nil
Both partners bid nil together for a high-risk, high-reward play.
Blind bids
Bid before seeing your cards for double points — with configurable restrictions.
10-bids
Bidding 10+ tricks earns configurable bonus points if successful, with configurable penalty for missing. Optionally, a 10-bid on the first hand can decide the game.
Thirteen wins
Winning all 13 tricks automatically wins the game.
Renege penalty
Configure how many books are transferred on a renege, or make renege an automatic loss.
More about Spades
View Spades game page →