Spades Plus Modes: Classic, VIP, Solo, Mirror and Whiz
What each Spades Plus mode changes — Classic, VIP, Solo, Mirror and Whiz — plus tournaments and Knock-Out, and which mode suits which player.
Spades Plus offers five ways to play, and the difference between them is entirely in who you bid with and what you are allowed to bid. The deal, the trick play and the scoring framework stay the same across all of them. Once you know which constraint each mode applies, choosing the right table becomes a five-second decision. This page is unofficial: we are players documenting the app, not the developer, and mode names and rules can change with an update.
The default mode and the one to learn on. Four players in two partnerships, 13 cards each, free bidding from 0 to 13, Nil and Blind Nil both available. Your two bids form a single team contract.
- Best for: new players, and anyone who wants to practise partnership signalling.
- Key skill: combining two hands into one accurate contract.
- Common error: bidding your partner's shortfall. If your partner bids 2 and you can only see 3 winners, bid 3 — covering them turns a +20 hand into a −50 hand.
VIP is the same partnership game played at player-created tables. The host chooses the mode, the coin entry, the final point target, and whether Nil, Blind Nil and chat are enabled. Set a table to invite-only and it becomes a private game.
Two settings matter more than the entry: the final point target and whether Blind Nil is on. A 300-point table rewards aggression; a 500-point table rewards patience. Blind Nil enabled adds huge variance to every hand.
Four players, no partnerships, 13 cards each. You bid for yourself and score for yourself, so there is nobody to cover a shortfall and nobody to share a bag with. It is also known as cutthroat Spades.
- Best for: players who are comfortable counting cards and want higher variance.
- Key skill: table awareness — spotting who is short in a suit and forcing them to trump early.
- Common error: bidding as if a partner exists. Bids of 2–4 are the norm because 13 tricks are split four ways.
The strategic flip is that hurting a specific opponent is worth as much as making your own bid. If one player has bid high, taking tricks from them costs them 10 points per contracted trick — the same rate you earn them.
Mirror removes the bidding decision entirely: you must bid exactly the number of spades in your hand. Hold four spades and your bid is four. Hold none and you bid Nil. Scoring follows the standard Spades Plus rules — only the bid is constrained.
- Best for: improving hand evaluation. There is nowhere to hide a bad assessment.
- Key skill: converting a known trump count into tricks, mainly by trumping side suits where you are void.
- Common error: playing spades early. The order in which you play them tells the table when you are out of trump.
Whiz gives you exactly two legal bids: the number of spades in your hand, or Nil. Nothing else. It sounds like a small restriction and plays like a completely different game, because a hand with five spades forces a bid of five whether or not the rest of the hand supports it.
- Best for: confident pairs who can read each other's bids — everyone at the table knows your spade count.
- Key skill: deciding when Nil is the safer of only two options.
- Common error: refusing Nil on a hand with two or three low spades and no honours. Nil is often the correct escape.
In Whiz your bid is public information: it announces your exact spade count. Play your spades so that the order reveals as little as possible beyond what the bid already gave away.
Beyond the standard tables, Spades Plus runs a 16-player tournament with qualifying, semi-final and final rounds, and a Knock-Out challenge that unlocks at level 5. Both are structured events rather than continuous play: you pay an entry in coins, play a fixed bracket, and the finish reward depends on where you finish. Coins are virtual and have no cash value. They reward consistency over a short run rather than a single good hand.
Classic: 2 vs 2: Free, 0–13: You are learning, or want steady partnership play. VIP: 2 vs 2: Free, host's rules: You want a specific target score or a private table. Solo: None: Free, 0–13: You want variance and pure individual play. Mirror: 2 vs 2: Fixed to spade count: You want to train hand evaluation. Whiz: 2 vs 2: Nil or spade count: You want the hardest bidding puzzle
If you only have time to add one mode, add Mirror . Because the bid is dictated, you spend every hand on execution rather than estimation — and execution is what transfers back to Classic.
Spedes runs the same ideas as playable tables: Partnership , Solo , Mirror , Whiz and Joker — all free, all against AI, with no coins and no waiting for a seat.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Classic and VIP in Spades Plus?
The game is identical — partnership Spades with free bidding. VIP tables are player-created, so the host sets the coin entry, the final point target, and whether Nil, Blind Nil and chat are enabled, and can make the table invite-only.
How does Mirror mode bidding work?
You must bid exactly the number of spades in your hand. Four spades means a bid of four; no spades means Nil. Scoring follows the standard rules — only the bid is constrained.
What is Whiz mode in Spades Plus?
Whiz restricts you to two legal bids: the number of spades in your hand, or Nil. It makes your spade count public information and forces a decision between a dictated contract and an escape.
Is Solo mode the same as cutthroat Spades?
Yes. Four players with no partnerships, each bidding and scoring individually. Bids run lower than in Classic because 13 tricks are split four ways instead of two.
Do the modes use different scoring?
No. All modes use the standard Spades Plus scoring: bid × 10 for a made contract, −(bid × 10) if set, Nil at 100, Blind Nil at 200, and 100 points lost per ten bags. What changes between modes is the bidding constraint and whether you have a partner.
Which Spades Plus mode is best for beginners?
Classic. It has the fewest constraints, a partner to share the contract with, and it teaches the bidding and signalling skills that every other mode assumes you already have.
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