Spades is a 52-card trick-taking game that is both enjoyable and strategic. It’s usually played in pairs, but it can also be played single. The fundamental rule of spades is that each player is dealt 13 cards. Then he bids a number of tricks ranging from 0 to 13 that he believes he will win. When you play with a partner, your individual bids are added combined to produce a team bid. To acquire a good score, you’ll need to work together to win.

Everyone is always distracted by their smartphone, and no matter how much we love them, many of our friends and relatives can’t be trusted to see a card game night as anything more than an excuse to get sloppy drunk.

Making savvy bids and counterplays against Aunt Susan while she’s half in the bag isn’t much fun. When you play online, however, you’re up against people who care about the game enough to seek out other real humans (rather than robots) to pit your abilities against.

And, fortunately, there is enough luck in the Spades card game that, even if you’re playing against cardsharps who are tenfold better gamblers than you, you can have a shot at any level of skill with a few good bids and a little luck.

Whist-type card games, such as Spades online and Hearts, are wistful games, as their name suggests and as the etymological origin suggests. Bidding and bags offer lots of strategy, but the game itself moves forwards smoothly, unlike stutter-start games like Poker or the mental drudgery of Solitaire and Shanghai. You can also play free Spades games to get a feel for the game before deciding whether or not you need to start paying attention to your bets.

Whist-type games require players to keep playing cards until the deck is exhausted, which is why many people find playing Spades online to be a breath of fresh air compared to other competitive card games.