Skat

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Skat is a free online version of the German national card game, played three-handed against the computer with a 32-card deck. One player bids their way into being the declarer and plays alone against the other two. They pick up the two-card skat, throw two cards back — the points on them still count — and name their game: a trump suit, Grand, where only the four jacks are trumps, or Null, where there are no trumps at all and the declarer must lose every single trick. The thing that makes Skat Skat is the jacks: in a suit game and in Grand all four of them are trumps, ranked clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds, above every card of the trump suit. So a suit game has eleven trumps, not eight, and a jack led asks for trumps whatever suit it is printed in. The declarer needs 61 of the 120 card points to make their game, and if they miss it they lose twice its value — which is why the auction stops where it does rather than climbing forever. Picking up the skat can even lower a hand's value, and a bid that can no longer be met is lost before a card is played. A match is twelve deals, so every seat gets four turns in forehand.

How to play Skat

1. Press Play. Everyone gets ten cards and two go face down as the skat. Lena and Otto are your opponents — but only for this deal, because whoever wins the auction plays alone against the other two.
2. The auction climbs a ladder of numbers starting at 18. On your turn you either say the next number or pass. The last player left takes the game.
3. The number you end on is a promise: your game must be worth at least that much, or you lose the hand before a card is played.
4. If everybody passes, the player in front takes the game at 18 rather than the deal being thrown in.
5. Win the auction and the skat comes into your hand. Pick two cards to throw back — their points still count for you at the end, so throw away cards, not points.
6. Then name your game. A suit game makes that suit trumps; Grand makes only the four jacks trumps; Null means no trumps at all and you must lose every trick.
7. The four jacks are trumps in a suit game and in Grand, ranked clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds, above every card of the trump suit. Trumps are ringed in gold in your hand.
8. A jack led is a call for trumps, not for the suit it is printed in — that catches everybody once.
9. Follow the group that was led if you can; if you cannot, play anything. There is no obligation to trump in Skat.
10. Card points are ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2, and nothing for nine, eight and seven. That is 120 in the pack, and the declarer needs 61.
11. Make your game and you score its value. Miss it and you lose twice that. A match is twelve deals, and the highest score at the end wins.

Tips

• Count your jacks before anything else. Two jacks and five trumps is a suit game; four jacks and two aces is a Grand; neither is a hand to bid 40 on.
• Trump length beats trump quality. Five small trumps will take more tricks than three big ones, because the extra two stop the defenders cashing their aces.
• As declarer, lead your highest trump and keep leading trumps until both defenders are out. Every trump you draw is a ten of yours they can no longer steal.
• Throw points into the skat, not out of it. The two cards you put back score for you, so a bare ten of a suit you cannot protect belongs there.
• Do not bid past what you can make. Going off costs twice the game value, so a hand that is worth 33 and makes 24 is a hand that should have stopped at 24.
• As a defender, play your ace on the trick your partner is already winning. Eleven points are only safe when your own side takes them.
• Null is a real option on a hand full of sevens and eights. It is worth 23 whatever the suits are, and it needs no trumps to work.
• Watch which suits the declarer is void in. Once they have drawn trumps, the suit they never led is usually the one they cannot win.

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