# Spades > Spades are trump. Bid your tricks, then take them. Two against two at the café, and spades are always trump. Bid what you can take, cover your partner's nil, keep the bags down and set the other team. Climb from the Sidewalk Table to Flo's Table, where nobody bids carelessly. - Play: https://sidekickarcade.com/play/spades/ (in the browser, phone or computer, free, no sign-up needed) - Neighborhood: [Card Café](https://sidekickarcade.com/category/card/index.md) - Controls: Tap, drag, mouse or keys - Best on: portrait screens - Coins for goals: 2 per 1 stars, up to 12 a run ## How to play 1. You and your partner across the table play the two regulars at your sides. Each hand, everyone bids how many of the 13 tricks they will take; your bid and your partner's make your team's contract. 2. Follow the suit that was led if you can, or else play anything. The highest spade wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led. Spades can't be led until one has been played. 3. Make your contract for 10 a trick, plus 1 for each extra trick (a bag); fall short and lose 10 a trick. Every 10 bags cost 100. Bid nil to take no tricks at all, for 100. First team to 300 or 500 wins. 4. Tap a number, then tap it again to bid. Tap a card to lift it and again to play it, or drag it. Keys: the arrows pick, Enter bids or plays, X shows the last trick and Z the scores. Esc pauses. ## Tips - Count your sure tricks before you bid: aces, a guarded king of spades and long spades. A void in a side suit is worth a trick when you have spades to spare. - Your partner's bid is information. A big bid usually means spades; a small one means you carry the hand. - Once your team has its tricks, stop taking them. Every extra trick is a bag, and ten bags cost 100. - Bid nil with low cards and few spades. When your partner bids nil, win the tricks they can't duck. - When the other team bids nil, lead low cards in suits they still hold, and let them win. ## Questions ### Is it free? Yes. Spades is free in your browser, with no download and no sign-up needed. Coins you earn are for fun and can never be bought. ### Can I talk to my partner? No. As at a real table, your partner's bid and the cards they play are the only signals, and the regulars read yours the same way. ### What are bags? Tricks your team takes beyond its bid. Each one is worth a point, but every 10 bags cost your team 100. ### How does nil work? Bid nil to promise you'll take no tricks. Make it and your team scores 100; take a trick and your team loses 100. Your partner's bid is scored on its own. ### Can I play a shorter game? Yes. Pick To 300 or To 500 on the start card, and your choice is saved for next time. ### Is there a daily deal? Yes. One hand a day with the same cards for everyone, and a par to beat. ## Achievements - **Pull up a chair** (bronze, 10 coins): Play a hand. - **Good partners** (bronze, 10 coins): Win a game. - **Today's deal** (bronze, 10 coins): Play the daily hand. - **Nothing doing** (bronze, 10 coins): Bid nil and make it. - **Better seats** (silver, 25 coins): Win at the Bookshelf Nook or a tougher table, making your own bid in four hands out of five. - **Cold hands** (silver, 25 coins): Make five nils. - **Thin ice** (silver, 25 coins): Make a nil at the Bookshelf Nook or a tougher table. - **Seat warmer** (silver, 25 coins): Play 100 hands. - **Flo's Table** (gold, 60 coins): Win at Flo's Table, making your own bid in four hands out of five. - **Good read** (gold, 60 coins): Reach a rating of 1050. - **Quiet hands** (gold, 60 coins): Make 25 nils. - **Nerve** (gold, 60 coins): Make a nil at Flo's Table. - **Flo's match** (diamond, 150 coins): Earn 30 table wins at Flo's Table, each with your own bid made in four hands out of five. Earns the title "Table Captain". - **A hundred deals** (diamond, 150 coins): Play 100 daily hands. Earns the title "Spades Regular". ## More to play - [Hearts](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/hearts/index.md): Dodge the hearts and the queen of spades. (Card Café) - [Crazy Eights](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/crazy-eights/index.md): Match the suit or the number, and save your eights. (Card Café) - [Rummy](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/rummy/index.md): Collect sets and runs before the regulars do. (Card Café)