Play Ninety Nine Trick Taking Online
Play the Ninety Nine trick taking card game at a lavender conservatory table. Set an exact target by putting three cards aside, then decide which tricks to win and which to let go. This version of David Parlett’s game offers a complete nine-deal match against two computers and 20 progressive open-hand studies. Play free online with no ads or download.
How to play Ninety Nine Trick Taking online
- Choose Study challenges or Full CPU match. In a match, select three cards from your twelve-card hand. Their suits determine your bid: diamonds zero, spades one, hearts two and clubs three. Confirm to keep the other nine cards for play.
- Choose an available premium offer, or pass. During play, select a card and press Play card. Follow the led suit when you can; the highest trump wins, or the highest card in the led suit if there is no trump.
- Aim for exactly your bid. Review the points after each complete deal, then continue. A normal match lasts nine deals. Studies ask you to preserve an exact target against every legal reply, with all three hands visible.
Controls
Tap a card to select it, then confirm. While bidding, tap up to three cards; tap a selected card again to remove it. Arrow keys move focus and Enter or Space selects. Keys 1 to 9, 0, minus and equals reach twelve slots. P confirms, H hints, U undoes a study and C continues a completed deal. Help and Score open separate panels.
A tip before you start
Your bid cards do two jobs: they set the number you must take and remove cards you might otherwise play. Before confirming, inspect both your reliable winners and your low cards. Once you have made your target, taking one extra trick is a failure rather than an improvement.
Which Ninety Nine game is this?
This is the three-player trick-taking game designed by David Parlett. It uses a 36-card deck, secret bids and exact trick targets. It is separate from the addition game in which players keep a running total below 100. The related link to Ninety Nine opens that existing addition game; each keeps its own page and local progress.
Three cards that encode a bid
Only the suits of the three cards you set aside count toward your target. A diamond contributes zero, a spade one, a heart two and a club three. For example, a club and two diamonds bid three tricks; so do three spades. The ranks do not change the bid, but discarding an Ace can make your remaining hand much weaker. The selection preview shows the current total before you commit.
Declare or reveal
After the secret bids, each player has one opportunity to pass or offer an available premium. Declare exposes the bid cards; Reveal also exposes the hand. A later Reveal can replace a Declare. Equal offers cannot replace one another, and an earlier player cannot call again. Only the final premium holder exposes cards when offers are complete. Their bid cards appear on the board and in Score; a revealed opponent’s hand appears face up.
Making an exact target
Each trick earns one point. Players who make their bids exactly receive an additional thirty points when only one succeeds, twenty each when two succeed, or ten each when all three succeed. A successful Declare adds thirty; a successful Reveal adds sixty. If that premium fails, each opponent receives its bonus independently of their own result. Successful bids are exposed at the end as proof; other concealed bids stay hidden.
Trump and the nine-deal match
The deck has Ace and six through King in each suit, with Ace high. The first deal has no trump. The previous deal’s number of exact bids then selects the next trump: zero means diamonds, one spades, two hearts and three clubs. The dealer rotates clockwise. After nine complete deals, the highest total wins; equal highest totals share the win at this table. This follows the author’s current basic profile rather than the optional Joker or historical premium counter-raise rules.
Twenty studies with more consequential choices
Each study starts from a position reached through legal match play. All hands and targets are open, so the aim is to finish with your exact target despite any legal opposing reply. Across the sequence, remaining hands grow from two to four cards and necessary meaningful choice depth grows from one to three without decreasing. The number of positions in which your choice changes the outcome increases at every level. Individual difficulty can still vary.
Normal advice and open-hand analysis
Normal computer players and hints use only their own cards, their own bid and public information. They cannot inspect concealed opposing hands or bids. Study opponents instead resist your exact target with full information, allowing the challenge to be checked precisely. Two successful hints are available in each study. Undo restores your whole decision and both automatic replies, but does not refund hints. Normal matches have no Undo.
Progress, restarts and sound
Unlocked studies, best results and your sound setting save locally when storage is available. Unfinished matches restart after a reload. Restart repeats the initial position; New match creates a fresh deal, with confirmation before replacing the board. There is no timer, account, cash stake or remote multiplayer. Rules are credited to David Parlett; the code, studies and illustrated presentation are original MangoFun work.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the 99 addition card game?
No. This game asks three players to bid an exact number of tricks using three discarded cards. Ninety Nine, linked below, is the separate addition game.
Do bid-card ranks matter?
They do not change the bid number. Only suits count. Ranks still matter strategically because those three cards leave your playable hand.
Can I change Declare to Reveal after another player?
Not at this table. Each player has one offer in clockwise order. A later Reveal may overcall an earlier Declare, but nobody gets a second call.
Who gets the bonus when a premium fails?
Both opponents receive the premium: thirty each for a failed Declare or sixty each for a failed Reveal. Their own bids can succeed or fail independently.
Does Ninety Nine always have a trump suit?
The opening deal here has no trump. Each later deal uses the previous deal’s successful-bid count to select diamonds, spades, hearts or clubs.
Why can a study fail after I win extra tricks?
The target is exact. Taking fewer or more tricks than the bid fails it. Study hints preserve the exact total against every legal reply when such a continuation still exists.
About Ninety Nine Trick Taking
Play the Ninety Nine trick taking card game at a lavender conservatory table. Set an exact target by putting three cards aside, then decide which tricks to win and which to let go. This version of David Parlett’s game offers a complete nine-deal match against two computers and 20 progressive open-hand studies. Play free online with no ads or download.
Play this puzzle / casual game in the embedded browser player. No app installation or MangoFun account is required. Follow the instructions shown inside the game; controls and device support depend on the title.
