Twenty-Nine Card Game: Play Online for Free [Single + Multiplayer]
Twenty-Nine is a lively game played with a unique 32-card deck. It's a team-based game played by 4 players and features powerful trump cards and the all-important Jack of Trump. Unlike games like Hearts, which is a trick-avoidance game, Twenty-Nine is a trick-taking game.
You can play the game online for free, both as singleplayer and multiplayer. Play against our intelligent bots for an exciting challenge, and once you feel ready for it, you can join a public table to play with some of the friendly people on the site. You can even create a table just for your friends and family, so you can play alone as a group. So get ready to bid and outsmart your opponents with an exciting game of Twenty-Nine!
Rules
Unlike other trick-taking games, Twenty-Nine is played with a deck consisting only of Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8 and 7 of each suit. We've summarized the rules below for people who need a brush-up on the game's rules. If you're new to the game, we highly suggest going through our thorough tutorial on how to play Twenty-Nine, which contains both the rules of the game and an interactive tutorial that'll lead you through a full game.
The game's objective is to be the first team to reach 6 points. At the start of the game, each player is dealt 4 cards from the deck, followed by 4 more cards after the bidding phase. Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, players bid with a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 28. The highest bidder chooses the trump suit, which remains hidden.
After the second deal, the player to the left of the dealer starts, and the other players must follow suit. The highest card of either the lead suit or the highest trump card wins the trick. Points are awarded for specific cards. To earn a point, the declaring team must make at least the number of points of the bid they made. The defending team doesn't score. The game ends when a team either reaches 6 points or -6 points.
Strategy
The strategy of Twenty Nine revolves around bidding effectively based on your hand's strength and using your trump cards wisely. We've summarized the most important strategic points below. Reading through and understanding them should elevate your gameplay to the next level.
Selecting Trump Suit:
- You must bid with only partial knowledge of your full hand.
- In general, it is risky to bid unless you have at least two Jacks or a Jack and 9 of the same suit.
- If you are forced to choose a trump suit, pick a suit in which you have the most cards.
Playing:
- If possible, lead with a Jack.
- If you chose the trump suit, it is generally good to lead with your highest trump. This will force your opponents to play their trump cards.
- If your partner played a high card that is likely to win, you might want to slough your point cards so that they take as many points as possible, assuming that they win the trick.
- Try to keep track of which cards are played, especially the high cards (Jack, 9, Ace). Remember that there are only 8 cards of each suit at the table. If a single trick contains 4 cards of a suit, then there are only 4 cards left on the table. The next time that suit leads, it is more likely that someone will be able to trump.
