Spades: play online for free (solo & multiplayer)

Play free Spades online against the computer, pair up with other players online or create a private table for you and your friends. Whichever way you play, the bidding and the teamwork with your partner make every hand feel different. If you have a competitive streak, you can join a ranked game to play against more experienced players.

Spades is a trick-taking game played by 4 people who are divided into teams of 2, with team players sitting across from each other. It's a timeless classic with a lot of similarities to Double Deck Pinochle, Hearts, and Bridge. Teamwork, skillful bidding, and strategic cooperation are key to winning the game.

Spades by the numbers

Real totals from every game of Spades played on World of Card Games, updated October 2026.

Rules

Here's enough to play your first hand. For the complete reference and an interactive tutorial that leads you through a real game, see our guide on how to play Spades.

Objective

You and your partner bid on how many tricks you'll take together, then try to make that bid. The game ends when a team reaches 500 points or falls to -200. The team with the higher score wins, even if both teams are at -200 or below. If both teams have the same score at that point, another hand is played.

The deal and the bid

Four players each get 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck, Aces high. Starting left of the dealer, everyone bids the number of tricks they expect to take, from 0 to 13. Partners' bids are added together into one team bid. Bidding 0 is called a "nil". That player promises to take no tricks at all, which earns a 100-point bonus if it holds and a 100-point penalty if it breaks.

The play

The player left of the dealer leads the first trick with any card except a spade. Everyone must follow suit if they can. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick unless someone couldn't follow suit and threw a spade. Spades are the trump suit, so the highest spade on a trick beats everything else. Once a spade has been played this way, spades are "broken" and can be led. A leader who holds nothing but spades may lead one before that, and it breaks spades too. The trick winner leads the next trick.

Scoring

Make your team bid and you score 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 point for each extra trick. Miss it and you lose 10 points per trick bid, which is known as being "set". The extra tricks are called "bags" and they add up. Every 10 bags costs your team 100 points. A successful nil adds 100 points on top of your partner's result. A failed one subtracts 100, with the nil bidder's tricks not counting toward the team bid.

How to win at Spades

These tips come from our Spades strategy guides and from real games on this site. The big themes are bidding on certainties, protecting your partner and making the opponents' bags hurt.

Bidding:

• Count your certain tricks first. The Ace of Spades always wins a trick. The Ace and King of Spades together always win two. Bid on what can't be taken away from you before counting hopes.
• Keep an eye on what has already been bid by the time it gets to you. There are only 13 tricks available. If the total of all bids exceeds 13, one team is guaranteed to miss. Make sure it's not yours.
• A good nil hand has few spades and long, low side suits you can keep ducking under. The real trap is a lone high card in a short suit, especially a high spade with no low spades to hide behind.
• Do not bid nil if your partner has already bid nil.
• If your partner bid nil, bid a little higher than normal. Covering them means you'll take tricks you'd otherwise duck.
• If your opponents have a lot of bags, underbid slightly and force extra tricks onto them.
• If you're close to 500, bid conservatively and make sure the bid lands. Just watch the bags.

Playing:

• If you're last to play and your partner already has the trick, don't take it from them with a higher card or a trump.
• Covering a nil is active work. Lead your high cards so your partner can slip low cards under them. Read what they throw. A 2 on your Ace usually means they're out of that suit.
• When the bids total more than 13, lead spades early. Draining trumps decides who gets set.
• The spades themselves usually aren't what sets a team. The side suits played after the spades are gone do the damage, so hold your side-suit winners for the endgame.
• When the highest card of a suit hits the table, ditch your middle cards (8, 9, 10) on it.

Frequently asked questions

What is a bag and what happens when a team rolls in Spades?

A bag is an extra trick taken above the team's initial bid. If a team collects 10 bags, it leads to a loss of 100 points, which is called rolling. A private table can turn the penalty off by setting "Bag penalty" to "No". That table's info then shows that the penalty is off.

What does nil mean in Spades?

Nil is a bid to take zero tricks. If the nil bidder takes none, their team scores a 100-point bonus on top of the partner's result. If they take even one trick, the team loses 100 points instead. The nil bidder's tricks never count toward the team bid, so their partner has to cover the bid alone.

What does it mean to cover and duck?

Covering is playing a higher-ranking card to protect a partner who bid nil from taking a trick, while ducking is playing a lower-ranking card to avoid taking a trick when you have a higher card of the same suit.

What does it mean to be set and how does it affect the game?

A team is set when they fail to make their bid. Instead of gaining points, the team loses 10 points for every trick they bid. Setting your opponents is one of the biggest swings in the game, since they lose points on a hand where you'd usually expect them to gain.

What do the terms being used by people in the chat mean?

In the chat, "gc" means "good cover", "gcp" or "gc p" means "good cover, partner", "nsp" or "ns p" means "nice set, partner", and "ns" means "nice set". These terms are used to compliment or communicate with partners during the game.

How do I play Spades with friends?

Host a private table and invite your friends. Click the round yellow Play button at the table's top left to open the Play menu. Choose "Host table", turn on "Private table" and type a table name. At your new table, click "Invite players" and copy the link for your friends. Friends can also choose "Join private" in the same menu and type the same name. If only one friend can come, add a bot at each empty seat.

Can I play Spades against the computer?

Yes. This page starts you in a game against three bots right away. Use it to practice before facing live players. For another game, click the round yellow Play button to open the Play menu and choose "New game".

How long does a game of Spades take?

About 27 minutes on average across the millions of games played on this site. Races to 500 points usually run several hands.

Does Spades have ranked play?

Yes. Registered players who've finished 10 games can join ranked tables, where results feed the Spades leaderboard. Our ranked Spades page explains how the ratings work.

Is Spades free to play here?

Yes. Spades is free in your browser with no download and no signup. An account is only needed for long-term stats and ranked games.

What games are similar to Spades?

If you enjoy Spades, try the site's other trick-taking games, such as Euchre, Whist, Bridge, Pinochle and Double Deck Pinochle.