Fewer than 3 players? Empty seats are filled with bots.
Your bid:
Scorecard
Game over!
♠ Blackout — How to Play ♥
Blackout is a trick-taking card game where the goal is not to win the
most tricks — it's to win exactly the number
of tricks you bid. No more, no less.
Players & Setup
3 to 5 players. Empty seats are filled with bots when a game starts.
A standard 52-card deck is used. Aces are high.
The first hand deals 10 cards to each player. Each
following hand deals one fewer card (9, 8, 7 …) down to a final
1-card hand, then the game ends.
After each deal, the next card is turned face up — its suit is
trump for that hand. It is shown at the top of the
table.
The deal rotates clockwise each hand.
Bidding
After all cards are dealt, each player bids the number of tricks
they think they will win — anywhere from 0 up to the hand size.
Bidding starts with the player to the dealer's left
and moves clockwise. The dealer bids last.
The hook: the dealer may not bid a number that
would make the total of all bids equal the number of tricks in the
hand. Someone is always guaranteed to miss.
Example: 5 cards are dealt and the other players' bids total 5. The
dealer cannot bid 0 — that would make the total exactly 5.
Playing a Hand
The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick. Play moves
clockwise.
You must follow suit if you hold a card of the suit
that was led.
If you have no cards of the led suit, you may play anything —
including a trump card. Playing a trump this way is called
trumping in.
You may not lead trump until someone has trumped in
earlier in the hand ("trump must be broken") — unless trump cards
are all you have left.
The trick is won by the highest trump played, or if no trump was
played, by the highest card of the led suit.
The trick winner leads the next trick.
Scoring
If you win exactly your bid, you score
10 + your bid — written with a leading "1" on the
scorecard. Making a bid of 9 scores 19.
If you win more or fewer tricks than you bid, you score
nothing for the hand — you are
blacked out, shown as b/o on the
scorecard.
Bidding 0 and taking 0 tricks scores 10.
The player with the highest total after the final 1-card hand wins
the game.
Tip: the scorecard marks you b/o the moment your bid
becomes impossible — either you've taken too many tricks, or too few
tricks remain for you to reach your bid. The 😢 means the same thing.
Table Guide
TRUMP card (top bar) — the trump suit this hand.
LED chip (beside the trick) — the suit led for the
current trick.
Gold stacks at each seat — tricks won so far
(×N count beside the pile).
Flashing card — someone trumped in (shown when it's
your turn to play).