Sixty-Six is a free online version of the classic German card game Sechsundsechzig, played head to head against the computer. The pack is just 24 cards — ace, ten, king, queen, jack and nine of each suit — and the cards you capture are worth points: 11 for an ace, 10 for a ten, 4, 3 and 2 for the court cards. Reach 66 and the hand is yours. While the stock lasts you may play any card and both players draw after every trick, so you can hold back and wait. On your lead you can swap the nine of trumps for the turned-up card, declare a marriage of king and queen for 20, or 40 in trumps, or close the stock when you think you can make 66 from the cards in your hand — after which suit must be followed and every trick headed. Win by a lot and you score more game points; first to 7 wins. No download, no sign-up, and it plays on a phone.
How to play Sixty-Six
- Press Play. You and the computer get six cards each from a 24-card pack — ace, ten, king, queen, jack and nine in every suit. The next card is turned up for trumps and laid crosswise under the face-down stock.
- Learn the order and the values before your first trick: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2, nine 0, and that is also the ranking — the ten beats the king. The pack holds 120 card points in all.
- The non-dealer leads. While the stock is open you may play any card — there is no need to follow suit. The higher card of the suit led wins, any trump beats any plain card, and after the trick the winner draws from the stock first, then the loser. The winner leads next.
- On your lead, before you play, the buttons above your hand offer what you may do: swap the nine of trumps for the turned-up trump, declare a marriage — king and queen of one suit — for 20, or 40 in trumps, and close the stock. A marriage is declared by leading its king or queen, and its points only count once you have won a trick.
- Close the stock when you think you can reach 66 from what you hold. Nobody draws again, and from then on — and anyway once the stock is used up — you must follow suit and play higher if you can, and trump if you cannot follow.
- The moment either player reaches 66 card points the hand ends and the game does the counting. The winner scores 1 game point, 2 if the loser has under 33, and 3 if the loser took no trick at all. If the stock was played out, the last trick is worth 10 more.
- Closing is a gamble: if the player who closed does not reach 66, the other player scores 2 game points — or 3 if they had not yet won a trick when the stock was closed. Hands alternate the dealer until someone has 7 game points.
Tips
- An ace and a ten are 21 of the 30 card points in each suit. While the stock is open, throw nines and jacks to tricks you cannot win cheaply, and keep your tens away from the opponent’s aces.
- Declare a marriage the moment you lead with the pair — it costs nothing — but remember the 20 or 40 only counts after you win a trick. A marriage declared before your first trick is a strong reason to win the next one.
- Swap the nine of trumps whenever the turned-up card is better. It is free, it can only help, and the turned-up ace or ten of trumps is often what wins you the hand after a close.
- Close when your trumps are the top ones left and your count is already in the forties. A closed stock means the opponent can no longer draw into trumps, and the strict rules force their high cards out under yours.
- Count the trumps and aces as they fall. Once the stock is used up there are only six tricks left, and knowing which top cards are still out tells you which of yours will win.
FAQ
Is Sixty-Six free to play?
Yes. Sixty-Six is free to play in your browser against the computer, with no download, no account and no in-game purchases.
Does Sixty-Six work on a phone?
Yes. Tap a card to play it and tap a button above your hand to swap the nine, declare a marriage or close the stock; the table fits a phone held upright or sideways. On a computer the arrow keys move between your playable cards and Enter plays one.
Which version of Sixty-Six is this?
The classic two-player game: 24 cards, six-card hands, a turned-up trump, 66 card points to win a hand and 7 game points to win the game. Three house choices are worth knowing. The game counts for you and ends the hand the instant someone reaches 66, so you never have to claim. The nine of trumps can be swapped on your lead while the stock is open and has more than its last two cards. And a hand that ends 65–65 scores nothing.
How many points is a marriage worth?
A king and queen of the same suit is a marriage worth 20, and 40 in the trump suit. You declare it on your lead by playing the king or the queen, but the points only count once you have won at least one trick in the hand — until then the game shows them as waiting.
What does closing the stock mean?
On your lead you can close the stock — the turned-up trump is turned over and nobody draws again. From then on you must follow suit and play a higher card of that suit if you can, and trump if you cannot follow. You are betting that you can reach 66 with the cards in your hand: if you do, you score as normal; if you fail, the opponent scores 2 game points, or 3 if they had not yet won a trick when you closed.
How many game points do you get for winning a hand?
One game point for reaching 66, two if the loser finished under 33 (schneider), and three if the loser did not take a single trick (schwarz). The first player to 7 game points wins the game.
How good is the computer?
It counts the cards, keeps its marriages together, swaps the nine of trumps and closes the stock when its top trumps can carry it to 66. We measured it over 600 games — 300 seeded deals, each played from both seats: it wins about 92% of hands against a player who picks cards at random and about 80% against a player who simply takes every trick it can.
How long does a game take?
A game is first to 7 game points, and a hand lasts at most twelve tricks. In our computer-against-computer test games the median was seven hands, and no game took fewer than three or more than eleven.
How is Sixty-Six different from Schnapsen and Bezique?
Schnapsen is the Austrian form of the same game with only 20 cards — no nines — and five-card hands, so it is tighter and the trump jack takes the nine’s place in the swap. Bezique is a much bigger game: a 64-card pack, eight-card hands, many more melds and a target of 1000 points.