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.