Schnapsen▶Play

While the stock still has cards you may play whatever you like; there is no obligation to follow suit. The winner of each trick draws first, then the loser. If you hold the king and queen of one suit, tap either of them on your own lead to declare a marriage worth 20 points, or 40 if it is the trump suit — the card you tapped is led as part of the declaration. Marriage points are held back until you have won at least one trick. If you hold the jack of trumps, the Swap J button trades it for the face-up trump card underneath the stock.

Tap Close to shut the stock. From that moment nobody draws again, you must follow suit, and you must beat the led card whenever you can. If you close and then fail to reach 66, you lose the deal outright — so close only when you can count your way home. Once the stock runs out naturally, those same obligations apply to both players, and whoever takes the last trick wins if nobody reached 66.

Win deals back to back to build a streak; one loss sends it back to zero.

Tips & strategy

The most valuable habit in Schnapsen is counting to 66 rather than playing by feel. There are 120 card points in the deck plus whatever marriages are declared, so 66 is barely more than half — which means a single marriage plus two decent tricks can end a deal before it looks close. Keep a rough tally of what you have taken and what is still out there, and you will spot the moment the deal becomes winnable.

Lead your cheap cards while the stock is open. It is tempting to cash an ace early, but with no obligation to follow suit your opponent can simply discard a jack, take nothing, and let you draw a replacement they will later beat. Aces and tens are worth far more later, when the stock has closed and your opponent is forced to follow suit into them. Measurement backs this up: an AI that led its high cards lost to one that led low.

Closing is the sharpest tool in the game and the easiest to misuse. Closing freezes both hands, so it converts an advantage you already have into a win — it does not create one. The right moment is when you can count 66 out of your own hand plus your current pile, not when you merely feel ahead. Getting it wrong hands the deal straight to your opponent, which is why a failed close costs more than simply playing on.

The trump jack swap is nearly free value, so take it whenever it is offered. You trade a two-point card for whatever is face up, and the face-up card is often a genuine winner. Similarly, declare a marriage the instant you can: the twenty or forty points arrive immediately once you have taken a trick, and holding the pair back to look for a better moment usually just means the stock closes with the points still stranded in your hand.