Euchre is a classic four-player partnership game using a deck of 24 cards: the 9, 10, J, Q, K and A of each suit.
The aim of the game is to be the first partnership to reach the win target of 10.
At the end of each round, the makers score either one point by taking three or more tricks, or two points if they take a march. If the makers team has gone alone and takes all five tricks, four points are awarded for the march. If the makers are euchred, their opponents receive two points.
The dealer is initially chosen at random, and then moves clockwise round the table for subsequent rounds.
5 cards are dealt to each player, and the top of the remaining cards is turned face up to form the candidate card.
Players, in turn, can choose to order up the candidate card to set the trump as the card's suit, or pass.
If a player orders up, the candidate card is added to the dealer's hand and they must choose a card to discard before play commences.
If all players pass, each player then takes a turn to call a trump suit for the round or pass again.
If all players pass again, the round is declared a misdeal, and a new hand is dealt from the next dealer.
The team that selects trumps is known as the “makers” for the hand, and the opposing team is known as the “defenders”.
A player who chooses the trump suit can then say if they want to “go alone” and defeat the opponents single-handedly, or play with their partner.
When the trump suit is determined, the jack of that suit becomes the “right bower” and is the highest ranking trump. The jack of the same colored suit as the trumps suit becomes the “left bower” (for example, when hearts is the trump suit, the jack of diamonds would become the left bower), the second highest trump.
The card ranking for the trump suit becomes right bower, left bower, A, K, Q, 10 and 9.
The card rankings for the other suits stay A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, with the exception of the suit that loses the jack to be the left bower.
Whoever is left of the dealer leads a card to start. Each player must play one card in a clockwise order, following suit where they can.
The winner of each trick is the player who plays the highest card matching the suit of the first card played, unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump will win the trick.
If you cannot follow suit you may play any other card from your hand.
At the end of each hand, the tricks the makers collects are totalled.
1 point is awarded if the makers take at least three tricks.
2 points are awarded if the makers take all five tricks.
4 points are awarded if the makers chose to go alone and take all five tricks.
2 points are awarded to the defenders if the makers fail to take three tricks and are euchred.
Choose from the following settings (defaults shown in italics):
Sound: On, off.
Speed: Normal, fast.
Orientation: Portrait, landscape left, landscape right or landscape free.
Single click play: On, off.
AI level: Easy, medium or hard.
Number of cards: 5, or 7. This determines how many cards are dealt to each player. When playing with 7 cards, the 7 and 8 of each suit are added to the deck.
Play with joker: Off, or on. This determines whether the joker is added to the deck to form the best bower.
Win target: 5, 7, 10, 11 or 15. This determines the score a team must reach to win the game.
Must win by two: Off or on. Determines whether the winners must have two points more than their opponents to win the game.
Stick the dealer: Off or on. When on, the dealer, who bids last, must set the trump suit on the second bid round and cannot pass.
Dealer's partner must go alone: Off or on. When on, you cannot order up when your partner is the dealer. Instead you must “turn it down” and go alone.
Cards: Classic or coppercod.
Deck: Choose from 20 different deck designs for coppercod, 16 for modern.
Mobile cards: Off or on. Only available on phones.
Theme: Blue, green, merlot, dark red, light blue, black, purple, teal, pink, orange, dark blue, dark green or charcoal.
Home screen:
From the home screen you can access the following options:
- Start new game
- Continue game: if there is a game in progress it can be continued.
- Settings (cog icon, bottom left). Once open you can close it by tapping close or tapping > at the top right.
- Information (question mark icon, bottom right). Once open you can close it by tapping close or tapping > at the top right.
- Stats (chart icon, top left).
- Sound: Tap the speaker icon at the top right of the home screen to toggle between sound on and off.
Your cards are displayed face up at the bottom of the screen, your partner’s are face down at the top of the screen, and your opponents’ cards are face down at the left and right. Your cards are ordered first by suit, then low to high from left to right. Your partner’s and opponents’ cards are ordered at random. The kitty is face down in the middle of the screen.
During play, each partnership’s score for the game is shown in front of their hand. A green light is displayed next to your score to display when it is your turn to act. A bid panel is shown each round when it is your turn to bid.
When it is your turn to act, tap on a card from your hand that you want to select, and then tap it again to play the card (or tap it just once if the “single click play” setting is turned on). You can select a different card by tapping on it.
At the end of the hand, the scores each player partnership receives are displayed, as well as the total score for each partnership for the game.
Thank you for playing Classic Euchre!