A trick-taking game is a type of card or board game where players take turns playing cards into a shared pile, called a “trick,” and the winner of that round is determined by a set of ranking rules.
They’re awesome, but hard to get into. Over the years, the genre has dissolved into jargon, to the point where learning to play often feels like learning a second language.
That’s where this post comes in. We’re going to break down what a trick-taking game is, how you play, the terminology you’ll keep running into, and some standout trick-taking games so you can put it all into practice.
Contents
How to play trick-taking games (Basic Rules)
Trick-taking games are the oldest form of card games, dating back to the 1400s if not earlier. This was a time before inkjet printers and fancy graphics. As such they’re deeply intertwined with the original 52-card deck. In particular the card suits: hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds.
Now, these games revolve around the idea of winning and losing tricks. A trick is a single round where each player plays one card, after which a winner is determined.
Players take turns playing a card from their hand to a central play area. After everyone has a card in the middle, these cards are then ranked against a set of criteria. The card that meets that criteria the most wins the trick.
While not always the case, normally it’s the highest card of a specific suit that wins the round. As such, we’ll be using that as our ranking factor going forward.
Throughout the following sub-sections, we’re going to play through a trick and talk through the different terminology used within the game.
What is a leading suit in a trick-taking game?
The first card played within a trick sets the tone for the rest of the round. This is because its suit becomes the leading suit. This means all other players must play a card matching the same suit as this leading card.
Additionally, at the end of the round, all of the cards are judged based on this leading suit.
What does “Follow Suit” mean?
If you’re not the first player of the round leading the trick. Then you must follow them. This is done by playing a card of the same suit to the play area.
Often you’re forced to play a card you don’t want to play, but must due to these trick-taking game conventions.
What does sluffing a card mean in trick-taking games?
If you don’t have a card matching the leading suit. You are then allowed to play any card from your hand. However, in doing so you’re no longer qualified to win the trick. Even if you play a higher-numbered card in a different suit.
What is a trump suit?
A trump suit is a designated suit of cards that ranks higher than the leading suit when it comes to scoring. Playing a card from the trump suit usually means you will win the trick. The exception is if another player plays a higher-numbered trump suit card than you.
It’s important to note that some trick-taking games don’t allow players to use the trump suit as the leading suit. At least not until another player has played a trump suit card, or you have no other cards in your hand. This is commonly referred to as breaking trump.
How do you score a trick?
With the last player taking their turn, this trick, or round, is finished. Next, all cards are examined with a winner determined by the highest-numbered card of the leading suit.
All of the cards are then collected and given to the player who won. In this way, they have taken the trick.
Just a reminder that if someone plays a trump suit card, then they would have won this trick instead.
Why are trick-taking games interesting to play?
Tricks themselves are straightforward and not especially interesting on their own. What makes trick-taking games compelling is the game happening above and around the trick-taking layer. Usually, you have an alternative goal to aim for.
Most commonly this involves winning a certain amount of tricks. This sounds simple, but means you have to play your hand so that you win some tricks, and lose others. Given your random starting hand of cards, this becomes a fascinating puzzle to solve.
Since trick-taking games are so well-defined, you can use a lot of logic and deduction.
An example of this is in playing a game, you know that there’s a certain amount of cards in each suit. So playing a high card will most likely win you a trick. Except if you don’t want to win, then you need to look for opportunities to sluff that high card throughout the round.
Now you understand the basics, these games show how flexible the trick-taking system can be.
Notable trick-taking games to try
Given the age of the genre, there is an incredible amount of games that use this mechanism. You can see all of them on Board Game Geek. But here is a (very) condensed list of some of the more notable entries into the genre.
Hearts (1850)
While everyone knows of Solitaire and how to play it, Hearts was the other card game that came preinstalled in Windows 3.1, 95, 98 and XP. It was the card game no one knew how to play.
However, it is a trick-taking game that uses a standard 52-card deck. There isn’t a trump suit, and the goal of the game is to avoid capturing heart cards. As they cost you 1 victory point a piece. Worse than these though is the Queen of Spades card that costs you 13 points.
If by awful luck, or exquisite skill, you capture all of the hearts and the Queen of Spades, then you automatically win the game. This maneuver is called “shooting the moon” purely because of how unlikely it is to occur.
The Fox in the Forest (2017)
The Fox in the Forest was one of the first trick-taking games for two players. It also resonated with the board gaming public as it was nominated for almost every award possible in the year it was released.
Unlike other trick-taking games, it has a revolving trump suit that can be changed by the players. Additionally, all odd-numbered cards have different abilities that can drastically change the dynamic of the game.
Another exciting element of The Fox in the Forest is its scoring, where ideally you either win 0-3 tricks or 7-9 tricks. With only two players, this is very hard to do. Missing these two-point brackets leads to fewer points overall, or none if you end up winning every trick.
Brian Boru: High King of Ireland (2021)
Brian Boru takes trick-taking out of the realm of card games and into the realm of area control. Whereby you’re trying to unite Ireland through marriage, religion or defensive prowess as you knock back the Vikings attacking the island nation.
While there’s a lot more to this game than just trick-taking, trick-taking is used for action selection. The winner of the trick gets to use a more powerful action on their turn. Meanwhile, those who lost use a not-so-good power.
These powers are carried out in strength order. So it seems there are advantages to playing a low-ranking card – if only to act first.
It’s an interesting fusion of mechanics that we haven’t seen the last of. Arcs from Leder Games is coming in 2024 and uses a similar system for its area control.
My Recommendation: The Crew Mission: Deep Sea (2021)
No surprises here, The Crew: Mission Deep Sea is the game I recommend every chance I get. It’s a cooperative trick-taking game where you work together to complete increasingly difficult challenge cards. This might have someone win a trick with a blue card, or another player win all number 3 cards, and so on.
This deck of challenges is as expansive as you can imagine, filled with different goals for you to achieve together. Because it’s so big, and balanced so well, every game offers you new problems to solve and you can choose the difficulty of the challenge you face.
It’s an absolutely brilliant board game that builds upon the original The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine.
That’s everything you need to know about trick-taking games! It’s a fantastic game genre and one every board gamer should try. If you found this helpful, or if I missed something and it should be included then leave a comment below.
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