Spades is a classic four-player partnership game using one standard deck of 52 cards.

The aim of the game is to be the first partnership to reach 500 points.

At the end of each round, points are scored by the number of tricks each partnership has collected. 10 points are awarded for every trick collected if the partnership bid is matched or bettered, and 10 points are deducted for every trick bid if the partnership bid is not matched.

The dealer is initially chosen at random, and then moves clockwise round the table for subsequent rounds.

13 cards are dealt to each player.

Before each hand commences, every player must say how many tricks they will win, between zero (or nil) and 13.

Whoever is left of the dealer leads a card to start. Each player must play one card in a clockwise order, following suit where they can.

The winner of each trick is the player who plays the highest card matching the suit of the first player to play, unless a Trump (Spade) is played, in which case the highest Spade will win the trick.

If you cannot follow suit you may play any other card from your hand.

No player may lead with a Spade until the first Spade is played ('Spades are broken').

At the end of each hand, the tricks each partnership collects are totalled and compared to the combined bid.

10 points are awarded for every trick bid if the bid is successful. 10 points are deducted for each trick bid if not.

Successful nil bids are awarded 100 points, unsuccessful nil bids are deducted 100 points.

Every trick a partnership wins over the total bid is awarded one point and a bag is added to the team’s total bags. When the team reaches 10 bags, a bag penalty is applied, and 100 points are deducted from their score.

Tricks won by a nil bidder are not counted towards their partnership total tricks won, but still count for the bag score.

The Mercy Rule ends the game if a team's score falls below -200 points, instantly declaring the other team as the winner. This rule adds a unique twist and can accelerate the game, ensuring a swift conclusion if one team is struggling.

Choose from the following settings (defaults shown in italics):

Sound: On, off.

Speed: Normal, fast.

Orientation: Portrait, landscape left, landscape right or landscape free.

Single click play: On, off.

AI level: Easy, medium or hard.

Game type: Partnership or solo. When playing in a partnership, you are paired with North for the whole game against East and West. In Solo mode, it's every player for themselves.

Blind Nil Bids: On - pass one card, on - pass two cards, on - no card passing or off. When on, players may bid 'blind nil' before revealing their cards. They may exchange two, one or no cards with their partner depending on the setting to help the bid

Bag penalty: On, off. When on, if a team reaches 10 bags, a bag penalty is applied, and 100 points are deducted from their score.

10-for-200: On, off. When on, if a team bids 10 or more, they receive 100 bonus points for making the bid.

Jokers: On, off. When on, the big and little jokers are added to the deck, becoming the highest Spades. The two of diamonds and the two of clubs are removed from the deck.

Mercy Rule: On, off. When on, the Mercy Rule ends the game if a team's score falls below -200 points, instantly declaring the other team as the winner.

Win target: 500, 300. The score a partnership much reach to win the game

Cards: Classic, coppercod or modern.

Deck: Choose from 18 different deck designs for coppercod, 16 for modern.

Mobile Cards: Off or on. Only available on phones.

Theme: Green, merlot, dark red, light blue, black, purple, teal, pink, orange or blue.

Home screen:

From the home screen you can access the following options:

• Start new game
• Continue game: if there is a game in progress it can be continued
• Settings (cog icon, bottom left). Once open you can close it by tapping close or tapping > at the top right.
• Information (question mark icon, bottom right). Once open you can close it by tapping close or tapping > at the top right.
• Stats (trophy icon, top left)
• Sound: Tap the speaker icon at the top right of the home screen to toggle between sound on and off

Your cards are displayed face up at the bottom of the screen, your partners are face down at the top of the screen, and your opponents’ cards are face down at the left and right. Your cards are ordered first by suit, then low to high from left to right. Your partners and opponents’ cards are ordered at random.

During play, each player’s score for the game is shown in front of their hand. A green or red light is displayed next to your score to display green when it is your turn to act, or red when it is not. A bid panel is shown each round when it is your turn to bid.

When it is your turn to act, tap on a card from your hand that you want to select, and then tap it again to play the card (or tap it just once if the 'single click play' setting is turned on). Alternatively, you can drag the card into position. You can change which cards are selected before playing by tapping on other cards.

At the end of the hand the scores each player partnership receives are displayed, as well as the total bags and total score for each partnership for the game.

Thank you for playing Spades!