FAQ
Home / FAQ Frequently asked questions Rules, scoring and mode questions, answered with the exact numbers the game uses. Still stuck? The strategy guides go deeper on bidding, bags, Nil and every mode. Or just open a table and play a hand — Play Spades .
Frequently asked questions
What is Spedes?
Spedes is an online Spades card game — the classic four-player trick-taking game where spades are permanent trump, first popularised in the United States during the 1930s. This site offers a self-contained single-player table against three AI opponents, a browsable collection of six live game modes, and 18 strategy guides that cover everything from beginner bidding to advanced card counting. The entire experience runs in your browser with no installation required.
Is it free and do I need to install anything?
Completely free, and no installation is needed. Every feature on this site — the playable table, the mode reference pages, and the full strategy guide library — runs as a static web page in any modern browser. There is no client to download, no account required to play, and no paywall. The single-player game engine executes entirely in your browser using JavaScript, so the deal, the bidding and the scoring for every hand are worked out on your own device. Signing in is optional and exists only to keep a record of your games; if you do, those results are the one thing that leaves your browser. See the Privacy Policy for exactly what that includes and how to delete it.
Is Spades the same as Bridge, Hearts or Euchre?
Spades shares its trick-taking and bidding structure with Bridge, but the two games diverge quickly. In Spades, spades are always trump — there is no suit selection or auction phase. The bidding is simpler: each player names a number of tricks they expect to win, and the combined team total becomes the contract. Unlike Hearts, there is no "shooting the moon" or penalty-card avoidance. Unlike Euchre, the full 52-card deck is used and partnerships are fixed (seats 0+2 vs 1+3), not rotating.
Which mode should a beginner play first?
Partnership is the ideal starting point. It uses the standard ruleset that every other mode modifies, so the bidding, trick-play, and scoring fundamentals you learn transfer directly. The 2v2 team structure softens the learning curve because your partner covers half your shortfall. Once you are comfortable with accurate bidding and basic trump management, Solo modes introduce individual competition, and Mirror or Whiz test your precision under different reward structures.
Do I have to follow suit?
Yes — following suit is mandatory whenever you hold at least one card of the led suit. If the lead is a heart and you have hearts, you must play a heart. However, if you are void in the led suit, you may play any card you choose, including a spade. Playing a spade when you could have followed suit is called trumping, and it is the primary mechanism for winning tricks you would otherwise lose. Being strategic about when to trump — rather than doing it reflexively — is one of the first signs of an experienced Spades player.
What does "spades are broken" mean?
Spades cannot be led until they are "broken" — a term that means the spade suit has been opened up for free play. This happens in one of two ways: either a player who was forced to trump (because they were void in the led suit) plays a spade, or the leading player holds nothing but spades and must lead one. The break rule prevents players from immediately racing through their trump suit at the start of a hand, which would make the high spades useless as endgame control cards.
Can I bid Nil and my partner bid normally?
Yes, and this is actually a strong strategic combination. When you bid Nil, you are declaring that you will take zero tricks — and you score separately from your partner (+75 if successful, −75 if you take even one). Your partner should then bid their hand as if playing solo, because they receive no penalty if they fall short and no bonus from your hand. The combined team bid is simply the sum of both individual bids. A well-timed Nil can be worth more than a small conservative bid, making it a valuable weapon in the right situation.
What happens if nobody makes their bid?
When a player or team fails to make their contract, they lose bid × 10 points — regardless of how close they came. In Partnership, both teams settle their own contracts independently: if your team misses but the opposition makes theirs, you lose your penalty and they gain their reward. A common cause of widespread misses is the table bidding too aggressively overall — when combined team bids exceed 12 (out of a possible 13 tricks), the math guarantees that somebody will go down. Smart bidders watch the running total and adjust accordingly.
Who leads the first trick?
The player seated immediately to the dealer's left leads the first trick of each hand. After that initial lead, the winner of each trick leads the next one — so if you win a trick, you get to choose which suit to lead next. This gives winning players significant control over the flow of the hand. The dealer role rotates clockwise after every completed hand, meaning each player takes turns being the last to bid (which is an informational advantage) and the first to lead a trick.
How many points is a made bid worth?
A successfully made bid earns bid × 10 points. For example, a bid of 4 that is exactly made scores 40 points for that player (or team, in Partnership). On top of that, every trick taken beyond the bid number scores 1 additional point — these are called "bags." So a bid of 4 where you actually win 6 tricks earns 40 + 2 = 42 points. However, bags accumulate and every 10 bags triggers a −50 penalty, meaning overtricks are not freely profitable over a long match. Missing the bid entirely costs bid × 10 with no partial credit.
What are bags and why do they matter?
Bags are overtricks — tricks you win beyond the number you bid. Each individual bag earns +1 point, but the penalty structure makes them far from free: every 10 bags accumulated by your team triggers a −50 point penalty. This means the first 9 bags are worth 9 points total, but the 10th bag effectively wipes out the entire accumulated bonus. Over a match to 150 points, bag management can be the difference between winning and losing. Experienced players track the bag count as carefully as they track their bid accuracy. See the Bags guide for detailed strategy.
What is the target score?
The target score is derived from your stake, and it follows the same shape in every mode: a bigger stake buys a longer match, but with sharply diminishing returns, and each mode caps it at its own maximum. On a Standard-stake table the targets are Partnership 150, Solo 3 200, Solo 4 150, Mirror 200, Joker 200 and Whiz 150 — and the /play lobby shows the exact number for the stake you have picked. The first side to reach it wins. In the two-versus-two modes a team that falls to the negative of the target (for example, −150 in a 150-point game) also loses immediately. In the free-for-all Solo modes that rule does not apply: one player going bankrupt is their own business and the match continues until somebody reaches the target.
Is Blind Nil worth it?
Blind Nil is a high-variance play: you declare Nil before looking at your hand, and it pays +150 (double a normal Nil) if you genuinely take zero tricks — but costs −150 if you win even one. Statistically, it is roughly break-even in expected value, making it neither a wise habit nor a foolish one. The smart approach is to treat Blind Nil as a comeback weapon: when you are significantly behind on score and need a swing, declaring Blind Nil gives you a chance to recover quickly. Using it routinely on every hand will erase your score. See the Nil guide for the full mathematical breakdown.
How many modes are there?
Six modes are live and playable today: Partnership (the standard 2v2 ruleset), Solo 3 (three players, 17 cards each), Solo 4 (four players, no partnerships), Mirror (precision scoring with overtrick penalties), Joker (two jokers join the deck as super-trumps), and Whiz (forced bids based on your spade count). Four additional modes — Duel, Blind Bidding, Auction and Speed — are in development. They are listed by name on the modes page but get no page of their own until they are playable, because we would rather publish six complete pages than ten half-finished ones. Each live mode has its own dedicated rules page with full scoring tables and strategy tips.
Which mode can I play on this site right now?
All six live modes are playable in the browser through the Play page . You sit South against three AI opponents, and you can switch between any mode instantly using the mode picker at the top of the table. The AI opponents adjust their bidding and play style based on which mode is active — for example, a Whiz AI will only bid its spade count or Nil, and a Mirror AI will bid one lower than it normally would. For the full rules of each mode, visit the Modes page .
What is Whiz mode?
Whiz is a hardcore variant where your bid is not a choice — it must be exactly the number of spades in your hand, or Nil. Hold four spades? You must bid 4. Hold zero spades? You must bid Nil. This removes the bidding decision entirely and replaces it with a pure play challenge: given a known contract forced on you, how do you make exactly that number of tricks? Because your spade count is revealed by your bid, the entire table knows how many trumps each player holds, making the endgame brutally calculable. Whiz has no Blind Nil option.
What is Mirror mode?
Mirror is a precision variant that inverts the standard reward structure. There is no bag system at all — instead, every trick you win beyond your bid costs you 5 points immediately. This turns the game into an exercise in exact hand evaluation: winning 5 tricks when you bid 3 is not a bonus, it is a 10-point penalty. The optimal strategy is to bid one lower than you normally would, then actively dump your sure winners on tricks you cannot avoid losing anyway. Mirror has no Blind Nil and a higher target score of 200 (Standard tier).
Where do the numbers on this site come from?
Every scoring value, target score, Nil bonus, and bag penalty shown on this site comes from a single JavaScript data file ( src/data/modes.js ) that mirrors the live game server's rule presets. Pages never hardcode numbers inline — they read from this shared source. Two automated test scripts run the game engine across thousands of simulated hands to verify that bidding, trick play, and scoring remain consistent with the published documentation. This means what you read on any mode page is exactly what the game engine will score.
Is the single-player game the same as the online game?
The rules, bidding system, trick-play mechanics, and scoring formulas are identical between the single-player browser table and the online multiplayer client. Both use the same engine logic and the same preset values. The only difference is the opponent: in single-player mode, three AI opponents run entirely in your browser using a heuristic decision engine, while the online version connects you to real human opponents through a WebSocket server. The single-player version is useful for learning rules and practicing bidding before joining a competitive match.
Will multiplayer be added to this site?
Yes. The plan is to embed the full game client — built with Cocos Creator and sharing the same rules engine as the single-player table — into the Play page via an iframe. Once integrated, all six live modes will be playable online against real opponents without leaving the browser. This will also enable per-mode leaderboards, persistent player profiles, and tournament-style play with fixed hand counts. No timeline has been announced, but the rules engine and mode data are already structured to support the transition.
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