Overview
Spades in Cardems is a four-player partnership trick-taking game. North and South are partners, as are East and West. Every round has 13 tricks; teams bid their contract before play and score together.
Spades and Hearts use the same follow-suit rhythm but pull in opposite directions: in Spades you bid for tricks and try to take what you promised, while in Hearts you try to avoid the point cards. The trick-taking games guide compares both with Tarneeb.
Objective
Reach 250 points with a uniquely higher team score. If both partnerships are tied at or above 250 after a round, play continues until one team leads.
Setup
Cardems deals one 52-card deck one card at a time, beginning with the player left of the dealer, until each player has 13 cards. Bidding begins with that same player and continues clockwise. Each player chooses Nil or a bid from 1 through 13; there is no zero trick-number bid other than Nil.
After all four bids, the first bidder leads the first trick. The dealer advances one seat clockwise for the next round.
How to Play
- Add your bid to your partner's ordinary bid to make the partnership contract. Nil contributes 0 tricks to that contract.
- On each trick, follow the suit led whenever you can.
- If you are void in the led suit, you may discard another suit or play a Spade to trump the trick.
- The highest Spade wins a trick containing Spades; otherwise the highest card in the suit led wins. The trick winner leads next.
- Spades may not be led until a Spade has been played, unless the leader has only Spades left.
Nil, Blind Nil, and Double Nil
What does Nil mean in Spades?
A Nil bid is a promise to win no tricks at all during the round. It replaces a numbered bid: instead of naming how many tricks you expect to take, you commit to taking none. You are still dealt 13 cards, you still follow suit, and you still play every trick. You simply have to lose all of them.
A successful Nil adds 100 points to the partnership. A Nil bidder who wins even one trick costs the partnership 100 points. Either result is scored separately from the team contract.
How a Nil bid affects the contract
Nil adds 0 to the contract number, so a team bidding Nil and 5 needs five tricks in total to make its contract while the Nil player must personally take none.
Tricks the Nil bidder actually wins still count toward the partnership's trick total. A failed Nil can therefore help the team reach its contract and can also create bags, even while it costs 100 points.
Blind Nil
Blind Nil is a widely played variation in which a player commits to Nil before looking at their hand, usually for a larger bonus. Cardems does not implement Blind Nil. The bid menu offers Nil or a number from 1 through 13, and there is no way to bid before seeing your cards.
Double Nil
Cardems does allow both partners to bid Nil in the same round, which players often call Double Nil. The partnership contract becomes 0, so the contract counts as made however the tricks fall, and every trick the partnership wins becomes a bag.
| Both partners bid Nil | Round result |
|---|---|
| The partnership takes 0 tricks | +200. Both Nils succeed and no bags are earned. |
| One partner takes 3 tricks, the other takes 0 | +3. Three contract points and three bags, then +100 and -100 for the two Nils. |
| The partners take 2 tricks each | -196. Four contract points and four bags, then -100 for each failed Nil. |
Double Nil is a high-variance choice. It can swing 200 points in a single round, and the bags it creates can trigger a 100-point penalty later.
Important Rules
- You must follow suit if you hold the led suit. You cannot discard or trump while a card of the led suit remains in your hand.
- Before Spades are broken, leading a Spade is illegal unless your entire hand is Spades. Playing a Spade while void in the led suit breaks Spades.
- There is no special forced opening card. The first bidder leads after bidding completes.
- Each round always plays all 13 tricks, then the app scores both teams and either begins another round or completes the match.
- Bids are submitted in turn and cannot be changed after acceptance.
Scoring and Winning
If a partnership takes at least its combined ordinary contract, it scores 10 points per bid trick plus 1 point per overtrick. Each overtrick is a bag. If it falls short, it loses 10 points per bid trick. Nil success or failure adds its separate +100 or -100.
Every ten accumulated bags deducts 100 points, and the bag count keeps the remainder. The bag penalty applies in the round that reaches ten.
| Example | Result |
|---|---|
| Bid 6, take 8 | +62 points and 2 bags |
| Bid 6, take 5 | -60 points and no new bags |
| Bid Nil + 5, take 5, Nil takes 0 | +150 points: +50 contract and +100 Nil |
| Team enters with 9 bags, makes bid 4 with 5 tricks | +41 contract points, then -100 bag penalty; 0 bags remain |
The first team with a unique highest score of at least 250 wins the Cardems match.
Strategy
Nil is a team decision: a safe-looking Nil can still fail when the bidder is forced to win a trick. Track which high cards remain and use leads that give a Nil partner safe discards when possible. Also watch the bag count; an unnecessary overtrick can turn a made contract into a sharp net loss when it completes ten bags.
FAQ
What bids can I make?
Cardems accepts Nil or 1 through 13 tricks. It does not implement Blind Nil or an ordinary zero bid.
Can I lead a Spade on the first trick?
Only if your hand contains only Spades. Otherwise, Spades cannot be led until they have been broken on a later trick.
What are bags?
They are overtricks taken after making the team contract. Each is worth 1 point, but every ten cumulative bags trigger a 100-point penalty.
Does a successful Nil help make the contract?
No. Nil contributes zero to the ordinary contract and is scored separately. The Nil bidder's partner's numbered bid supplies the team’s contract in a Nil partnership.
What happens if a Nil bidder wins a trick?
The Nil fails and the partnership loses 100 points. The trick still counts toward the team's trick total, so a failed Nil can still help the partnership make its contract or add a bag.
Can both partners bid Nil in the same round?
Yes. Cardems permits Double Nil. The contract drops to 0, which counts as made, so every trick the partnership wins becomes a bag while each Nil is scored at +100 or -100 on its own.
Can I bid Blind Nil?
No. Cardems implements Nil and numbered bids from 1 through 13 only. Blind Nil, where a player bids before seeing their hand, is a common variation that this version does not offer.
What happens if both teams reach 250 tied?
The match continues. Cardems completes only when one partnership has the unique highest score at or above 250.
