Skat
Germany's great card game: bid, pick up the Skat and play alone against two.
About the game
The classic three-player game with 32 cards. Bid for the right to choose the game, pick up the two cards of the Skat or play hand, then win with 61 of the 120 card points against the other two, who play together. Suit games, grand and null, the jacks as the highest trumps, matadors and Schneider, scored after the international rules with clear buttons for every step. Three levels of opponents; play 3, 9 or 18 deals.
Rules
Three players, 32 cards (7 to Ace). Everyone gets ten cards; two lie face down as the Skat. The player left of the dealer is forehand, then middlehand; the dealer is rearhand.
Bidding: middlehand bids values to forehand: 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30 and so on (the values a game can have). Forehand says yes to hold the value, or passes. Then rearhand bids against whoever is left. The last one in is the declarer and plays alone against the other two. If nobody bids, forehand may play for 18; if not, the cards are dealt again.
The declarer may pick up the Skat and put any two cards back (they count for the declarer), or play hand without looking at it. Then the declarer announces the game: a suit game (diamonds, hearts, spades or clubs as trumps), grand (only the jacks are trumps) or null (no trumps, no trick allowed).
Order in suit games and grand: the jacks are the highest trumps, clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds; in a suit game the trump suit follows: Ace, 10, King, Queen, 9, 8, 7. The other suits rank Ace, 10, King, Queen, 9, 8, 7. In null: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, no trumps. Forehand leads; everyone must follow suit (a jack follows trump); the highest trump or else the highest card of the led suit takes the trick.
Card points: Ace 11, 10 10, King 4, Queen 3, Jack 2, the rest 0; 120 in all. The declarer wins a suit game or grand with at least 61 (the Skat counts); 90 or more is Schneider, all ten tricks Schwarz. A null game is won without a single trick.
Game value: the base value (diamonds 9, hearts 10, spades 11, clubs 12, grand 24) times the multiplier: the matadors, "with" or "without" (how many of the top trumps from the jack of clubs down the declarer holds, or misses, in a row, Skat included) plus 1, plus 1 each for hand, Schneider and Schwarz. Null is worth 23, null hand 35. The declarer must reach the bid; a game worth less is lost as overbid, at the smallest multiple of its base value that reaches the bid.
A won game adds its value to the declarer's score, a lost one takes off twice the value (the international scoring, without the tournament bonus). Simplified: no open (ouvert) games, no announced Schneider or Schwarz, no Ramsch. After the chosen number of deals the highest score wins.
How to play
- Bid: say the next value or pass; whoever bids highest plays alone against the other two.
- As declarer, pick up the Skat and put two cards back, or play hand, then choose the game.
- Tap a card to play it; follow suit if you can. The jacks are the highest trumps.
- The declarer needs 61 of the 120 card points; in null, no trick at all.
- Languages
- EN · DE
- Works on
- Phone, tablet, computer
- Players
- 3