Skat: game rules

♠ Goal: The German card classic for three: bid, bury the skat, declare a game and win tricks.

🗣 How it works: One plays solo against the other two. Players bid for the right to play; then tricks are played, the higher or trump card wins.

🏆 Winner: The soloist wins with at least 61 of the 120 card points; at 60 : 60 the defenders win. A soloist who has overbid or misses an announcement loses anyway. In a Null game the soloist wins only by taking not a single trick.

📖 Quick reference: Trumps: the four jacks are the highest trumps (clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds), followed by the trump suit; in Grand only the jacks are trumps, in a Null game there are none. Rank in every suit: ace, 10, king, queen, 9, 8, 7 – in a Null game ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7. Card points: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2. You must follow suit; if you can't, you may trump or discard. Base values: diamonds 9, hearts 10, spades 11, clubs 12, Grand 24. Game value = base value × (Matadors + 1, plus 1 each for Hand, Schneider, Schneider announced, Schwarz, Schwarz announced and Ouvert). Null always counts 23, Null Hand 35, Null Ouvert 46, Null Ouvert Hand 59.

🙅 Passing and announcing: If middlehand and rearhand do not bid, forehand may play for 18 or pass as well. If everyone passes, the game is passed in: no game, the next player deals. In a Hand game the soloist may announce Schneider, Schwarz or Ouvert – every announcement counts one level more; if missed, the game is lost.

⏩ “Automatically up to”: the table bids and holds for you up to this value and passes above it. The others do not see your limit.

🔁 Match: The host sets how long a match is: one game, a number of rounds, or up to a point target. In a round everyone deals once. Once the point target is reached, the round is played to its end; whoever then has the most points wins.

🍺 House rules: The host can switch on house rules; which ones apply is shown in the settings (gear). Ramsch: if everyone passes, everyone plays alone and only the Jacks are trump; whoever takes the most card points scores them as minus points – double if someone stays without a trick (Jungfrau); whoever takes all tricks (Durchmarsch) wins 120. Schieberamsch: first the Skat goes round and is taken up or pushed on unseen, every push doubles. Kontra: a defender who bid doubles before their first card; Re follows and, depending on the setting, Bock and Hirsch. Bockrunde: after a game lost with Kontra, a 60 : 60 or a won Grand Hand one round counts double. Spitze: the last trick is announced with the lowest trump – one level more. Tournament scoring: 50 points on top of every won game, 50 off every lost one, and then 40 for each opponent (30 at a table of four).

👥 Two players (Officers' Skat): With exactly 2 players the mode automatically plays Officers' Skat: no bidding, no skat — each player lays out their 16 cards in 8 stacks (face-down under face-up; nobody knows the face-down cards). After the first row the forehand declares a suit, grand or ramsch, then the dealer may say kontra (answer: re). 16 tricks are played using only the face-up cards; freed face-down cards are flipped after each trick. 61 points win (at 60:60 the non-declarer wins); in ramsch the fewest points win.