Skat: game rules
Skat
♠ Goal: The German card classic for three: bid, bury the skat, declare a game and win tricks.
🗣 How it works: One plays solo against the other two. Players bid for the right to play; then tricks are played, the higher or trump card wins.
🏆 Winner: The soloist wins with at least 61 of the 120 card points; at 60 : 60 the defenders win. A soloist who has overbid or misses an announcement loses anyway. In a Null game the soloist wins only by taking not a single trick.
🙅 Passing and announcing: If middlehand and rearhand do not bid, forehand may play for 18 or pass as well. If everyone passes, the game is passed in: no game, the next player deals. In a Hand game the soloist may announce Schneider, Schwarz or Ouvert – every announcement counts one level more; if missed, the game is lost.
👥 Two players (Officers' Skat): With exactly 2 players the mode automatically plays Officers' Skat: no bidding, no skat — each player lays out their 16 cards in 8 stacks (face-down under face-up; nobody knows the face-down cards). After the first row the forehand declares a suit, grand or ramsch, then the dealer may say kontra (answer: re). 16 tricks are played using only the face-up cards; freed face-down cards are flipped after each trick. 61 points win (at 60:60 the non-declarer wins); in ramsch the fewest points win.
Settings & scoring
📖 Quick reference: Trumps: the four jacks are the highest trumps (clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds), followed by the trump suit; in Grand only the jacks are trumps, in a Null game there are none. Rank in every suit: ace, 10, king, queen, 9, 8, 7 – in a Null game ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7. Card points: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2. You must follow suit; if you can't, you may trump or discard. Base values: diamonds 9, hearts 10, spades 11, clubs 12, Grand 24. Game value = base value × (Matadors + 1, plus 1 each for Hand, Schneider, Schneider announced, Schwarz, Schwarz announced and Ouvert). Null always counts 23, Null Hand 35, Null Ouvert 46, Null Ouvert Hand 59.
⏩ “Automatically up to”: the table bids and holds for you up to this value and passes above it. The others do not see your limit.
🔁 Match: The host sets how long a match is: one game, a number of rounds, or up to a point target. In a round everyone deals once. Once the point target is reached, the round is played to its end; whoever then has the most points wins. Length: one game, one to three rounds or a target of 250, 500 or 1000 points; with a target, whoever leads after the round wins – jointly on a tie. Presets: “Official rules” (default), “Pub Skat” (Ramsch, Kontra up to Hirsch, bock rounds, match to 500 points) or “Officers' Skat” (the lobby then has exactly two seats). Between games you see the result and the standings for 20 seconds; after the last game for 10 seconds, then the final standings follow.
🍺 House rules: The host can switch on house rules; which ones apply is shown in the settings (gear). Ramsch: if everyone passes, everyone plays alone and only the Jacks are trump; whoever takes the most card points scores them as minus points – double if someone stays without a trick (Jungfrau); whoever takes all tricks (Durchmarsch) wins 120. Schieberamsch: first the Skat goes round and is taken up or pushed on unseen, every push doubles. Kontra: a defender who bid doubles before their first card; Re follows and, depending on the setting, Bock and Hirsch. Bockrunde: after a game lost with Kontra, a 60 : 60 or a won Grand Hand one round counts double. Spitze: the last trick is announced with the lowest trump – one level more. Tournament scoring: 50 points on top of every won game, 50 off every lost one, and then 40 for each opponent (30 at a table of four).
🪑 Good to know: With four players the dealer sits out each time. The first dealer is drawn by lot, then the deal moves one seat on with every game. The final standings show the sum as on a Skat pad (“with 2 · game 3 · hand 4 × 12 = 48”); in Schieberamsch they show what each player discarded. In statistics and achievements every game counts on its own.
🚪 If someone who is playing leaves the table, the current game ends at once and is not scored. In a match of several games the next one is then dealt to the others; a single game ends on the final standings. If fewer players remain than the game needs, the match is called off – games already scored stay in the statistics and the game history.
⚙ Which rules apply is shown to everyone behind the cog – in the lobby and in the game. The “?” next to the game's name shows the block “At this table” above it: preset, match length and every rule that differs from the rulebook. Matches with house rules carry the note “House rules” in the game history.