Spades: Free Online Spades Card Game

Play Classic Spades Cards Game Online

Children and parents can play this virtual spades video game by clicking in the window below.

Alternatively kids and adults can play online playing cards video game for free as a web application .

Spades Card Video Game Play Instructions

• Starting the Game
  • Click the yellow play button at the bottom of the screen.
  • There is also a sound control button in the upper right corner of the welcome screen.
  • Before each hand click on “blind nil” if you want to try to score zero tricks, or click on “bid” to look at your cards then bid on how many tricks you think you will be able to get.
• Game Controls
  • Desktop
    • Bid blind nil if you want to try to score zero tricks, or look at your cards and estimate how many tricks you think you will be able to get. Each deal consists of 13 tricks which are divided among the 4 players.
    • Use your mouse left click to select the card you want to play.
    • You must follow the suit led if you have any of it.
    • You can only lead a Spade if the suit has been broken by someone laying one on another hand.
  • Touchscreen devices
    • Tap the screen to use your finger like a mouse.
  • The upper right corner of the game has 2 buttons to control sound or pause the game. The pause screen offers the following options: resume, new game, game rules, and back to menu.
• Game Play
  • General Game Play Rules
    • Cards are ordered with Ace being the highest, then King, on down to two.
    • Players must follow the suit led unless they are unable to.
    • The Spades suit is trump. Any Spade is higher than any card in any other suit.
    • You may not lead a Spade unless you only have Spades remaining in your hand or the suit has already been broken by being laid on another hand.
  • Scoring
    • Scoring is done as a team with you playing with the person across from you against the other two players.
    • The game is played until a team gets to 500 points.
    • Each trick you bid and make is worth 10 points. If you bid 3 tricks and your partner bids 4 and you guys get exactly 7 tricks between you then you score 70 points.
      • In most games, matching your joint bid with your partner is what matters. If you bid 5 and your partner bids 2 that combines to 7. If you get 3 tricks and your partner gets 4 then that counts as 7 even though you each had a different number of tricks than your original bid.
      • You can get a negative score. If you bid a combined 8 tricks but only get 5 or 6 tricks then you score -10 times your bid, so not getting the 8 tricks would have you score -80.
      • The exception to the team effort is if a player bids “nil” or “blind nil.”
        • When a player bids blind nil they score 200 points if they do not get any tricks and they lose 200 points if they pick up even a single trick. To bid blind nil you must bid it before looking at your cards.
        • If you look at your cards and think you can take no tricks you can bid “nil” and if you do not take any tricks you score 100 points. If you do take any tricks you lose 100 points.
        • There is no card passing in this game, so if you bid blind nil and see the Ace of Spades in your hand you are guaranteed to lose 200 points.
    • Each trick above your joint score is worth an additional point and is called a bag. Bags are worth a point each, but when you accumulate 10 bags you get 100 points deducted from your score.
  • Strategy
    • Playing order
      • The player who lays the first hand can lay any card they wish other than a Spade.
    • When to lay Spades
      • The suit which is led wins the hand unless someone else throws a Spade. Any Spade beats any card from any other suit.
      • You can not lead Spades unless either the suit has already been broken by someone else laying a Spade on another trick or you have nothing but Spades remaining in your hand.
      • If you have many low Spades and a suit you have none of is thrown it can make sense to lay a Spade to try to take the trick. If it looks like you will easily meat your joint trick goal it can make sense to throw off other cards and lay your Spades after someone else leads them.
    • Know the score
      • If your opponent has an insurmountable lead it may make sense to play reckless and bid blind nil.
      • If you have 6 or more bags be careful not to bid too low to where you get to 10 bags and lose 100 points.
      • If your opponent is close to 500 points it can make sense to take multiple bags if it also gives them a negative score on the round.
      • If you have few bags and are close to 500 points then it makes sense to bid conservatively.
    • In this game players play off each other.
      • If your partner bids blind nil you should know not to let them take any tricks and trump a trick they are about to take if you can.
      • If you have rather weak cards and are the fourth player to lay cards on a hand and you do not want the lead you may decide to lay off if you want your partner to take the lead.
      • If you know it is mathematically impossible to reach your combined trick goal you can try to lose as many hands as possible to force the opposing team to eat as many bags as possible.
    • Blind nil
      • Trying to not score any hands is a bit of an art form as you want to get rid of as many of your high cards as soon as you can while leaving your lowest cards for toward the end without scoring any tricks.
      • Knowing how many times a suit has been thrown and what the lowest and highest cards remaining in that suit are is vital for determining which cards you should throw.
      • If you have many of a suit and know you have the lowest 3 or 4 cards remaining you can keep the high cards in that suit in your hand for until after others have exhausted all of that suit, otherwise when there is a suit thrown that you do not have you typically want to get rid of any Ace or King in that suit as soon as possible.
      • The computer is not as clever at blocking blind nil as many people who frequently play this game are.
• Target Audience
  • This game is fun for playing card games fans of all ages.
  • There are no adult themes in this game.

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CardGames.pro published this Card on September 2, 2021