The basics

• Spades is played by 4 people in two partnerships. You and North are on one team; West and East are on the other.
• The full 52-card deck is dealt out — 13 cards each.
• Each hand has three steps: bid, play 13 tricks, score. The first team to reach the target score (default 500) wins.
• Spades are always trump — they beat any card of any other suit.

Card ranking

Within a suit, cards rank from low to high: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A. The Ace is highest.

Bidding

• Starting with the player to the dealer's left, each player bids the number of tricks they think they will win this hand (1–13).
• Your team's bid is the sum of both partners' bids. The team must take at least that many tricks together.
• Nil is a bid of zero tricks. If the Nil bidder wins no tricks, their team gets +100. If they win any trick, they're set for −100. (Nil is optional — can be turned off in settings.)
• The Nil bidder's tricks still count toward the team's regular bid (so a failed Nil might still help the partner make their contract).

Playing the hand

• The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick. Going clockwise, each other player plays one card.
• You must follow the led suit if you can. If you have no cards in that suit, you may play any card — including a trump.
• Spades cannot be led until they have been "broken." Spades become broken the first time someone plays a spade not as the lead (usually because they couldn't follow the led suit). The exception: if your hand contains only spades, you may lead one.
• The trick is won by the highest spade played. If no spades were played, the highest card of the led suit wins. The winner of a trick leads the next one.

Scoring

• Bid made: +10 points per bid trick. Each extra trick (an "overtrick", or "bag") is +1 point.
• Bid missed: −10 points per bid trick. (No partial credit.)
• Bag penalty: bags accumulate across hands. Every 10 bags → −100 points, and the bag count drops by 10. Don't sandbag!
• Nil made: +100. Nil failed: −100. Applied separately from the regular bid.

Example

Your team bids 4 (you) + Nil (partner). You win 5 tricks; partner wins 0. Result: +40 for the bid, +1 for one overtrick, +100 for the made Nil = +141, with 1 bag added to the team total.

Winning the game

• The first team to reach the target score wins.
• If both teams cross the target on the same hand, the higher score wins. A tie plays one more hand.

Tips

• Don't bid every Ace and King — opponents may trump high side-suit cards. Spade Aces and Kings are far more reliable.
• Watch what's been played. If all the higher cards of a suit are gone, your low cards might win.
• Avoid taking extra tricks you didn't bid — bags are quiet but they cost games.
• If your partner went Nil, win every trick you can to protect them.