What Is a Trick-Taking Game? Explained Without the Jargon
The One Thing That Makes Trick-Taking Games Different
If you’ve ever played UNO, you know the goal: get rid of your cards first. But in a trick-taking game, it’s not about who gets rid of their cards fastest — it’s about who wins the most *rounds*.
A trick is just a single round of play. Everyone plays one card. The highest card wins the trick. Then the winner collects all the cards and leads the next trick. It sounds simple, but the rules around *what* counts as high — and how you’re allowed to play — make it way more interesting.
The Rules in Plain English
Let’s break it down with a real example. Imagine you’re playing Spades with three others. The dealer deals 13 cards to each player.
- The trick starts when someone leads a card. Say, someone plays the 7 of hearts.
- Everyone must follow suit if they can. That means if you have a heart, you must play a heart — no exceptions.
- If you can’t follow suit, you can play any card — even a trump.
- Trump cards beat everything else. In Spades, all spades are trump. So if someone plays the Ace of spades, it beats any heart, diamond, or club.
- The highest card wins the trick. So if the lead is a 7 of hearts, and someone plays the Ace of hearts, they win the trick — unless someone plays a spade, which beats it.
That’s the core loop: lead, follow suit, win the trick.
Why UNO Is the Opposite
UNO is the *anti*-trick-taking game. In UNO, you’re not trying to win a round — you’re trying to get rid of your cards. And you can play any card you want, as long as it matches the color or number.
There’s no concept of a trick. No leading. No following suit. No trumps. You don’t even have to play a card that matches the lead — you can play a Wild card anytime.
In trick-taking games, that would be chaos. In UNO, it’s the point.
The Hidden Power of Bidding
One of the coolest parts of trick-taking games is bidding. Before the game starts, each player guesses how many tricks they think they’ll win.
Say you’re playing Spades. You might say, "I’ll take 5 tricks." If you’re right, you get points. If you’re wrong — especially if you take too few — you lose points.
Bidding adds strategy. You’re not just playing cards — you’re guessing what your hand can do, and how the others will play.
In our house, we’ve had games where one of my kids says, "I’m going nil," meaning they’re betting they’ll take zero tricks. If they’re right, they get 100 points. If they’re wrong, they lose 100. It’s wild — and it only works because of the trick-taking structure.
The One Rule That Changes Everything: Trumps
Trumps are the secret weapon. In most trick-taking games, one suit is designated as trump — usually spades in Spades, hearts in Hearts, or clubs in Euchre.
Trump cards beat *everything*. Even the Ace of a non-trump suit can’t beat a 2 of spades if spades are trump.
This means: if you have a trump card, you can win a trick even if you’re playing the lowest card — as long as no one else plays a higher trump.
It’s a game-changer. One of my kids once played a 2 of spades on a lead of Ace of hearts. The other players laughed — until the 2 of spades won the trick.
"I didn’t even know you had a spade," one said. "I thought you were out of cards."
"I was," my kid said. "But I had a trump."
The Real Win: Playing Together
I built Family Time so my kids could play with me, even when we’re not in the same house. And trick-taking games are the heart of it — because they’re not just about winning. They’re about reading the table, guessing what others have, and making split-second decisions.
It’s not just a game. It’s a conversation.
So if you’ve played UNO and thought, "This is fun, but it’s not deep," try a trick-taking game. It’s not harder — it’s just different. And once you get the hang of tricks, trumps, and following suit, you’ll see why families keep coming back.