Take a seat.
Win the bidding. Name a suit, Grand or Null. Twelve deals a match.
HAND COMPLETE
Waiting for the host to deal.
FREE ONLINE CARD GAME
Bid for the skat.
Name your game.
Play Germany's national card game free in English against two computer opponents, with no download or sign-up. Bid up the official ladder, take the skat or play hand, announce a suit, Grand or Null, and let the table work out every game value and explain it after the deal. Three computer levels, twelve deals a match.
Official Skat rules · 3 seats · 12 deals
Updated
New to Skat? Learn the rulesHOW TO PLAY
Three players use 32 cards, seven through ace. Each gets ten; two cards form the skat. Your opponents can become your partners on the next deal.
Try a practice deal ↑Suit games rank J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦, then A 10 K Q 9 8 7 of the chosen suit. Those eleven cards are one effective suit. In Grand only the four jacks are trump. Plain suits rank A 10 K Q 9 8 7. In Null there is no trump and cards rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7.
In suit and Grand, a jack follows trump, not its printed suit.
Win the auction to become declarer. Take the two skat cards into your hand, then select any two to put back face down. Their points count for you. Or choose Play hand: the skat stays hidden, still counts for you, and adds a value multiplier.
Declare clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds, Grand or Null. Hand suit/Grand games can promise Schneider, Schwarz or ouvert. Null ouvert can be played with or without taking the skat.
Forehand always leads first. Play clockwise, following the effective suit when able; otherwise any card is legal. There is no must-trump rule. Highest trump wins, otherwise highest of the suit led; the winner leads next.
Suit and Grand need 61 of 120 card points, including the skat. An announced Schneider promises at least 90; Schwarz and suit/Grand ouvert promise every trick. Null promises no tricks and ends immediately if declarer takes one. Unplayed hidden cards stay hidden after a failed Null.
Null reverses the objective: lose every trick.
THE RIGHT TO DECLARE
The player after the dealer is Forehand; next is Middlehand; the dealer is Rearhand. Middlehand bids to Forehand, who holds with Yes or passes. A hold sends the turn back to Middlehand to raise or pass. Rearhand then challenges the survivor, starting above the current bid. If both challengers pass without bidding, Forehand can take 18 or pass.
The ladder starts 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33, 35, 36, 40, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50, 54, 55, 59, 60. The table offers only the next possible value. Every bid is a promise that your contract’s game value will cover it.
Middlehand speaks; Forehand answers.
Official default: the next dealer redeals, without counting a scored deal. Optional Ramsch: everyone plays alone with Grand ranking, trying to avoid card points. The last-trick winner receives the skat. The highest total loses that many game points; tied highest players each lose that total. Taking all ten tricks earns 120. No Jungfrau doubling, passing the skat or Bock rounds.
TWO KINDS OF POINTS
A 11, 10 10, K 4, Q 3, J 2; nine, eight and seven zero. Total 120. The skat belongs to declarer for card points and matadors, including an unseen skat in a hand game.
Diamonds base 9; hearts 10; spades 11; clubs 12; Grand 24. Count the consecutive top trumps held from J♣ (with N), or missing before the first held (without N). Add one for game, then one each for hand, Schneider, Schneider announced, Schwarz, Schwarz announced and ouvert. Announcing Schwarz also promises Schneider; ouvert promises both.
Clubs with two, ordinary game: (2 + 1) × 12 = 36. Spades without one, hand and announced Schneider, 92 points: (1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1) × 11 = 55. A zero-point trick still prevents Schwarz: it counts tricks, not points.
Base and multiplier are shown separately at settlement.
Win and cover your bid: add the game value. Lose or miss a promise: subtract twice the value, counting the promised multipliers. Schneider also applies when declarer gets 30 or fewer; Schwarz also applies when declarer takes no tricks.
If the achieved suit/Grand value is below the bid, lose twice the smallest multiple of that game’s base which covers the bid. A hand thought to be without two can become with one when J♣ turns up in the skat. The picker marks hand estimates provisional. A fixed-value Null contract must cover your bid to be declared.
Null 23; Null hand 35; Null ouvert 46; Null ouvert hand 59. Wins add the fixed value; losses subtract twice it. In ouvert, declarer’s current hand is visible before the first lead.
Optional Kontra/Re is a hobby rule: each defender may challenge before the first lead, regardless of bidding. Kontra doubles the final score, Re quadruples it; two defenders saying Kontra do not stack. Doubling never changes bid coverage. The default has no Kontra.
Play 12 scored deals, or choose 24 or 36 in Options. Only the declarer scores in a normal contract. Highest cumulative total wins; equal highest totals share the win. This is simple game-value scoring, without tournament 50-point bonuses.
READ YOUR ROLE
A high game value is not a strong hand. Count usable trumps and side winners. The skat can change both your chances and your with/without count.
A void lets you trump a plain suit. Keep enough trump control and protect tens with aces; discarded points still count for declarer.
When the other defender safely wins a trick, give them a ten or ace. When declarer can still act, remember that a later trump may steal those points.
Easy bids from jacks and length and often plays high. Standard evaluates suit, Grand and Null, discards for voids and works with a defender. Expert compares 20 possible unseen deals per card for the contract objective. Bidding is heuristic; it is not a perfect-information solver. Only a player’s own view and public cards enter a decision.
QUICK ANSWERS
Middlehand offers the next game value to Forehand, who says Yes or passes. Rearhand then challenges the survivor. The table enforces the ladder from 18 upward.
Count consecutive top trumps held or missing from J♣, including the skat. Add game and applicable bonuses, then multiply by the suit or Grand base. Clubs with two is 3 × 12 = 36.
Grand has only jack trumps. Null has no trump and declarer must avoid every trick. Hand keeps the skat unseen and raises the game value.
Schneider means one side takes at least 90 points; Schwarz means every trick. Announcing either in a hand game increases the value and makes it a promise.
Three actively play. A traditional four-person table rotates a sitting-out dealer; this implementation supports exactly three seats. Two-player Scat or Thirty-One is a different game.
An optional all-pass game where everyone avoids card points, jacks are trump and the highest total loses. It is off by default.
An optional defender challenge doubling the final score. Declarer may answer Re for four times. It is off under the official default.
No. Skat is the German bidding game with ten cards each. Thirty-One is a separate three-card draw game.
Yes. Practice needs no download, account or money. Every term is explained here.
They form the top four trumps in suit and Grand games: clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds. In Null they return to ordinary suit rank.
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