Choose a game
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Euchre
The Midwest and Ontario standard. Two partnerships, five tricks a hand, first to ten points — and the jack of the same color as trump quietly becomes a trump too.
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Hearts
Take no points if you can help it. Every heart is one and the queen of spades is thirteen, and the lowest score wins — which is the thing that catches people out.
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Spades
Two partnerships, and a promise made before a card is played: say how many tricks you will take, then take them. Spades are always trump, missing the contract costs the whole bid, and taking too many quietly fills a bag bin that costs a hundred.
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Cribbage
Pegging, fifteens, runs and the crib, scored to 121 on a board you can read as well as see. You count your own hand, the way you would at a table.
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Sheephead
The Wisconsin classic, also called Schafkopf. Queens and jacks are trump, the picker takes the blind, and the jack of diamonds is a secret partner nobody admits to.
iOS versions
You can try an iOS version of these games by downloading The Card Place app from TestFlight. TestFlight is Apple's app for trying apps before they reach the App Store; if you do not have it yet, the link offers it first.
Why these exist
Most card games online cannot be played without sight. These are built the other way round: the state of the game is text first, and the pictures sit on top of it.
- Nothing is shown by sight alone. Every card, score and turn is also text.
- Nothing is marked as an application region, so browse, focus and forms modes work as they normally do.
- Turn your text size up and the layout follows, cards included.
- Every game can be played with the keyboard alone.
Every game runs in your browser and sends nothing anywhere until you open a table with other people. From then on it sends your moves and the name you chose, and nothing else. There are no accounts, and a table is a five-letter code that stops existing when everybody leaves.