Skat

About Skat

Skat is Germany’s national card game and the finest three-player game ever devised: an auction decides who plays alone against the other two, and the four jacks sit above every trump. Bid the value ladder, take the two-card skat or play brave from the hand, and land sixty-one of the hundred twenty points. Play solo against the cast or live at the open tables, free in your browser, no ads, no sign-up.

How to play

Thirty-two cards: ten each and two face down to the skat. The auction climbs the ladder — 18, 20, 22, 23, 24 and on — and the winner becomes the declarer, alone against the other two. The declarer may take the skat and bury two cards, or play from the hand, then names the game: a trump suit (with the four jacks always on top), grand (jacks only), or null (no tricks at all). Aces and tens carry the weight; sixty-one card points win the deal, and the game’s value swings to the declarer’s score — or twice against it. Twelve deals; the richest name takes the table.

Controls

• ButtonsBid, hold, pass · take the skat or play from the hand · name the game
• Tap or click a cardBury it, or play it to the trick

Tips

Never bid past what your hand is worth — winning the deal below your bid still loses it, at double. As declarer, draw the trumps out and count them gone before you cash your tens. As a defender, every point denied starves the sixty-one: throw your fat cards to your partner’s winners, never to the declarer’s.