How many tricks can you take? This is a fun game where the number of cards dealt to each player changes each round, increasing or decreasing by one depending on whether you are going "Up the River" or "Down the River". The number of cards dealt either increases each round if the game being played is "Up the River", or it decreases each round if the game being played is "Down the River". The host can even choose to go "Up and Down the River" or "Down and Up the River". The number of cards dealt in the highest "Up" round is a preset maximum number of cards set by the host. A single card is dealt to each player in the lowest "Down" round. The game uses a single deck with no jokers. Each player receives the same number of cards. Any excess cards are ignored.
At the beginning of each round, cards are dealt to each player. Each player bids how many tricks they plan to take. Players take turns being the first to bid, and the first bidder gets to play the first card of the first trick. Whoever wins the trick gets to play the next first card. After all cards have been played the round ends and people receive points based on such things as whether or not they made their bid, how many tricks they took, etc. The winner of the game is the player with the highest score.
TRUMP
At the beginning of each round trump will be set for that round. Trump will normally be Spades, Diamonds, Clubs, or Hearts. The host may have chosen the "No trump" option in which case no trump may be set for that round. The host chooses whether the choice of trump for each round will be random, or whether the choice of trump for each round will be in a fixed order: Spades, Diamonds, No Trump (if that option chosen by host), Clubs, and then Hearts. Trump for each round will be shown at the top of the screen just above the area where a player's cards are displayed.
If you haven't made a play in the last 10 minutes then the game will automatically log you off. You can log back in and you will see the current game status.
BIDDING
To bid how many tricks you plan to take that round, tap the button that matches your choice. You can bid zero or higher. The maximum number of tricks you can bid is the number of cards that were dealt for that round. The host may have chosen the "someone has to lose" option. If that option has been chosen, then the total number of tricks bid by all players must be less than or more than the number of cards each player was dealt. The last player to bid is the one who has this restriction. If the host did not choose that option, then the last player to bid can make any bid they want. If the total number of tricks bid exactly matches the number of cards dealt to each player then it is possible for each player to make their bid. If the "someone has to lose" option has been selected then "Somebody has to lose" will be listed under House Rules found in the Game Information Area. If you make a mistake an error message will be displayed on your screen. Only the active player will see the error message.
PLAYING TRICKS
The lead player taps the card they want to play. The selected card will be slightly elevated. The lead player can tap it again to unselect it. If they are satisfied with their choice, then they tap the red/blue card at the top of the screen. The other players will then see the card that has been played. The next player will then choose which card they want to play from their hand, tap it, and then tap the red/blue card at the top of the screen. The other players will then see which card was played. The card played by the lead player for that trick will always be the first card on the left at the top of the screen, and subsequent cards played will be shown in order played. Rules for choosing which cards to play will be listed under House Rules found in the Game Information Area. The house rules cover such things as whether you must follow suit (of lead card) if possible; whether you must play a trump card if you are unable to follow suit; and whether you must win the trick if possible. If you make a mistake an error message will be displayed on your screen. Only the active player will see the error message.
TRICK RESULTS
After the last player has played their card, they will see the TRICK RESULTS page which shows which cards were played, and who won the trick. Other players will also see the TRICK RESULTS page. When everyone has seen the TRICKS RESULTS page then players can tap the CONTINUE GAME button to start the next trick. If this was the last trick for this round, then players will see the SCORING PAGE.
SCORING PAGE
The scoring page shows the previous player scores, bonuses and penalties from the round that just finished, and the new cumulative scores for each player. When everyone has seen the SCORING PAGE then players can tap the CONTINUE GAME button to start the next round. If this was the last round, then the game is over.
SCORING
Scoring is set by the host, and players can review the scoring rules by tapping the SHOW/HIDE SCORING RULES button found at the bottom of their screen. The host sets the number of bonus points awarded for making bid, the number of points awarded per trick taken, the penalty points subtracted for missing bid, and the penalty points per trick short or over the number of tricks bid. The host can set these to values to zero if they don't want that bonus or penalty to be applied to scoring. Different points can be set based on whether or not the bid was zero or greater than zero. Host choices are shown in the SHOW/HIDE SCORING RULES area.
GAME INFORMATION AREA
Several items of interest will be shown in the Game Information Area, which is found in the game information box at the bottom of the screen just below the player's cards:
- The current round being played, and the game being played
- The number of tricks bid by each player
- The number of tricks taken so far that round
- The cumulative score at the end of the previous round
- The house rules cover such things as whether you must follow suit (of lead card) if possible; whether you must play a trump card if you are unable to follow suit; and whether you must win the trick if possible.
- If the "Somebody has to lose" option was chosen by the host, then this will be indicated here.
There are two ways to play the game.
FIRST, you can turn AUTO CHECK on, and the game will automatically check to see if the game status has changed. You will be able to play when it is your turn, and you will be able to see the results of what other players did during their turns.
SECOND, you can leave the AUTO CHECK off. In this case YOU will need to tap the CHECK ONCE to check for game changes. You will need to do this whenever another player tells you that they have finished their turn.
You can turn the AUTO CHECK feature on (or off) whenever you see the buttons on your screen. The buttons are displayed when it is someone else's turn.
If you have problems scrolling down the screen or viewing information, then tap the STOP CHECK button. When you are finished and ready to resume game, tap the AUTO CHECK button to start the auto check back up, or you can manually check the game status yourself by tapping the CHECK ONCE button periodically.
If you have any problem with AUTO CHECK, try tapping the STOP CHECK button and then tap the AUTO CHECK button again. If that doesn't solve the problem then you will need to either try another browser, or tap the STOP CHECK button, and then periodically tap the CHECK ONCE button whenever other players have finished their turns.
If you notice a problem with your device screen flickering, then you may want to tap the STOP CHECK button and use the CHECK ONCE button as needed. Some device browswers flicker every time the Auto Check runs. Players who notice this problem may prefer to not use the AUTO CHECK feature and only use the CHECK ONCE button whenever the other players have finished their moves.
If you haven't made a play in the last 10 minutes then the game will automatically log you off. You can log back in and you will see the current game status.