Spades

Spadesisatrick-takingcardgamedevisedintheUnitedStatesinthe1930s,howeverthegametrulytookoffafterreleaseasapartofMicrosoftWindowsin1992.Asanyothersuccessfulgame,millionsofcloneshavebeencreatedonallpossibleplatforms.Sowhyshouldyougiveourversionatry?Wetriedtorecreateallthefunoforiginalgameinatinydownloadpackage.


Theobjectistotakeatleastthenumberoftricksthatwerebidbeforeplayofthehandbegan.Thebidsandtrickstakenarecombinedforapartnership.SpadesisadescendantoftheWhistfamilyofcardgames,whichalsoincludesBridge,Hearts,andOh,Hell.ItsmajordifferenceascomparedtootherWhistvariantsisthat,insteadoftrumpbeingdecidedbythehighestbidderoratrandom,theSpadesuitisalwaystrump,hencethename.

Spadesoverview
Astandardpackof52cardsisusedrankedfromhighesttolowest:
A,K,Q,J,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2.
Thefourplayersareinfixedpartnerships,withpartnerssittingoppositeeachother.Thefirstdealerischosenatrandom,andtheturntodealrotatesclockwise.Thecardsareshuffledanddealtclockwise.

Allfourplayersbidanumberoftricks.Eachteamaddstogetherthebids-numberoftricksthatteammusttrytowininordertogetapositivescore.Everyonemustbidanumber.Playersarenotallowedtopassandbidsoncemadecannotbealtered.Abidof0tricksisknownasNil.ThisisadeclarationthatthattheplayerwhobidNilwillnotwinanytricksduringtheplay.Thereisanextrabonusforthisifitsucceedsandapenaltyifitfails.ThepartnershipalsohastheobjectiveofwinningthenumberoftricksbidbytheNil'spartner.

Theplayertodealer'sleftleadsanycard(exceptaspade).Eachplayer,inturn,clockwise,mustfollowsuitifable;ifunabletofollowsuit,theplayermayplayanycard.
Atrickcontainingaspadeiswonbythehighestspadeplayed;ifnospadeisplayed,thetrickiswonbythehighestcardofthesuitled.Thewinnerofeachtrickleadstothenext.Spadesmaynotbeleduntileithersomeplayerhasplayedaspade,ortheleaderhasnothingbutspadesleftinhand.

Asidethattakesatleastasmanytricksasitsbidcallsforreceivesascoreequalto10timesitsbid.Additionaltricks(bags)areworthanextraonepointeach.Asidewhich(overseveraldeals)accumulates10ormorebagshas100pointsdeductedfromitsscore.Anybagsbeyond10arecarriedovertothenextcycle.Ifasidedoesnotmakeitsbid,theylose10pointsforeachtricktheybid.Ifabidofnilissuccessful,thenilbidder'ssidereceives100pointsadditiontothescorewon(orlost)bythepartnerofthenilbidderfortricksmade.Ifabidofnilfails-thatis,thebiddertakesatleastonetrick-thebidder'ssideloses100points,butstillreceivesanyamountscoredforthepartner'sbid.
Theusualruleisthatwhenanilfails,thetrickswonbythenilbidderdonotcounttowardsmakingthepartner'sbid,butdocountasbagsfortheteam.Thesidewhichreaches500pointsfirstwinsthegame.
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