Trick-Taking Card Games: How to Play and the Best of the Best

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Trick-taking may be one of the oldest board game mechanics around. When we think of it, we often think of older card games, in any case. But what is trick-taking? This post will discuss how trick-taking works as a board game mechanic and trick-taking games.

What are Trick-Taking Games?

Although we include it in board game mechanics, trick-taking is really a card game mechanic. It requires cards with suits and numbers. More often than not, a game with trick-taking involves a standard 52 card deck or a deck that looks quite similar to one.

When playing a trick-taking game, each player will have a hand that contains several numbers and suits. When a player plays a card — and therefore starting the “trick” — each player must then follow suit if they can. Then, whichever player plays the highest card in the leading suit will take the trick.

For example, say Mary plays a Seven of  Spades. The suit for this trick that everyone else must follow if possible is spades. John then follows with a Ten of Spades. Emily does not have a spade, so she plays a Queen of Hearts. Finally, Tom plays a Three of Spades. John wins the trick since he played the highest spade. Even though Emily played a Queen, it does not matter because it was not a Spade, which led the trick.

Trump Suits

In many (but not all) trick-taking games, there is also what’s called a “trump” suit. A card is flipped up from the top of the deck, and the suit of that card is considered “trump” or the highest suit. While all the rules of tricks still apply, if a certain player cannot follow the original suit of the trick, they may play a card of the trump suit to win the trick.

For example, John, having won the last trick, would now lead. He leads a Jack of Clubs. Emily follows suit with a Three of Clubs. Tom, having no clubs to play, decides to “trump” the trick instead by playing a Seven of Diamonds. At the beginning of the round, a Two of Diamonds was flipped up from the deck. This means Diamonds are trump. Mary plays a Four of Clubs as her final card. Even though Clubs started the trick and John played the highest Club, Tom wins the trick because he played the highest card in the trump suit.

Too Long; Didn’t Read

In short, trick-taking games work like this: a player leads by playing a card. All other players take turns playing a card. Each player must follow the suit of the leading card if they can. Whoever plays the highest card of that suit wins the trick and leads the next one.

If anyone played a trump card, the person who played the highest trump card wins the trick. The round continues until all the cards in each player’s hand are gone.

How to Win Trick-Taking Games

In most trick-taking games, players want to win as many tricks as possible. The tricks will earn them points and players (or teams) with the most points will win. However, in some trick-taking games, players want to avoid taking tricks, such as in the game Hearts. Finally, some trick-taking games call for a balance of taking tricks and avoiding them.

Taking a Trick

To take a trick, a good strategy is to use your high-numbered cards or your high trump cards. It is also important to remember that lower-numbered trump cards can have a lot of power, too, when played at the right time. For example, a two of the trump suit can often take a trick when played on a trick of a different suit. So, if you are low in clubs and have a Two of Hearts, which is trump, there’s a good chance that you could play that Two of Hearts on a club trick.

Avoiding a Trick

To avoid a trick, you can use a similar but opposite strategy. Low cards and cards that are not trump are likely to not take tricks. If you are low or empty in a certain suit, you can use the opportunity to play a high card of a different suit (that is not trump). For example, if you have no spades, when spades are lead, you can use the opportunity to play your King of a suit that is not spades and not trump. You will not take the trick but get rid of a high card. This is known as “throwing off.”

Classic Card Games That Use Trick-Taking

Again, trick-taking is a fairly old mechanic. Most games that use it are classic card games. Some of the most classic trick-taking card games include:

• Hearts
• Spades
• Bridge
• Euchre
• Pinochle
• Rook

Many of these board games can be played online for free if you’d like to get a sense of how to play. Hearts is a great place to start for a competitive trick-taking game, while Euchre is a great choice for a team trick-taking game.

Modern Trick-Taking Games

Many of these trick-taking games require a unique deck to play, and each one is definitely worth it.

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine

The top-ranked trick-taking game on Board Game Geek, this 3-5 player trick-taking game is a must. First, it’s incredibly unique in that it is both a cooperative game and has a storyline to go with gameplay. Second, it is challenging and addicting at the same time.

Each round will consist of a unique trick-taking goal that must be completed before moving on to the next round. That means each round can take several tries depending on the difficulty. For example, one round might require a trick to be taken with a 1. Another might require a player to take a card in a suit they don’t have. Only a little communication can be communicated each round, though. If your crew can complete all 50 rounds, you win the game.

Diamonds

Diamonds doesn’t refer just to the suit. In the game, players can actually earn small diamond pieces when they win certain tricks. Their diamonds have greater value in their vault then outside of it. So, playing tricks with some suits will allow you to earn the diamonds, while others will allow you to place diamonds in your vault. Rather than winning with the most tricks, the player with the highest value in diamond pieces wins.

Indulgence

In Indulgence, players will place bets on whether or not they think they can take tricks based on the rules proposed for that round. For example, a player can bet that they will not take any twos as the rules suggest. But if you want to “indulge” yourself, you can bet that you will take all of them instead. This trick-taking game offers a nice mix of skill and luck.

Fox in the Forest

Fox in the Forest is a two-player only trick-taking game. There are three suits with cards numbered one through eleven. Each hand, players are dealt out cards, and rounds are played through tricks. Every odd-numbered card, however, has unique abilities that players can use to their advantage.

It might be an old mechanic, but it’s lasted a long time for a reason. Trick-taking games allow you the opportunity to make smart choices that can be thwarted at any moment. Try it out with one of these games, and tell us about your favorite trick-taking games in the comments.