Partnership bidding card game — bid accurately and outplay your opponents
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The sharper, more strategic sibling of Hearts, Spades rewards partnerships that communicate through careful bidding. Best suited to players who enjoy the bidding and trump mechanics of Euchre or Bridge but want a faster, more accessible game.
A nil bid means you declare you will take zero tricks this hand. If you succeed, your team scores 100 bonus points. If you fail and take even one trick, your team loses 100 points. A blind nil (bidding nil without looking at your cards) doubles those stakes to +/- 200 points.
Every trick taken beyond your bid adds one sandbag. Once your team accumulates 10 sandbags, you immediately lose 100 points and the sandbag count resets to zero. This penalty prevents teams from consistently overbidding for safety.
You cannot lead a Spade until Spades have been broken — meaning at least one Spade has been played as a discard when a player couldn't follow the led suit. The exception: if your only remaining cards are all Spades, you may lead them regardless.