Euchre

How to play Euchre

Four players in two teams; your partner sits across. A 24-card deck (9 through Ace) is dealt, 5 each. The next card is turned face up. First team to 10 wins (or pick 5 or 15).

Calling trump

• Left of the dealer speaks first. In round 1, you may order up the turned card (the dealer picks it up and discards one) or pass. If you are the dealer, you may pick it up yourself or turn it down.
• If everyone passes, the turned card is flipped down. In round 2, each player may name any other suit as trump, or pass.
• Stick the dealer (on by default): if everyone passes in round 2, the dealer must name a suit. Turn this off on the menu and a passed-out hand is redealt.
• The maker may go alone. Their partner sits out. Taking all 5 alone is worth 4 points.

The bowers

The Jack of trump is the Right bower, the highest card. The Jack of the same colour is the Left bower: it counts as trump, second only to the Right. Then Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9 of trump. Follow the suit led; the Left bower follows trump, not its native suit.

Scoring

• Makers take 3 or 4 tricks: +1. All 5 (a march): +2. All 5 alone: +4.
• Makers take fewer than 3 (they are euchred): the defenders score +2.

During the hand

A live score panel is always on screen: each team’s tricks this hand (out of 5), running game score, who named trump, and whether anyone went alone, plus the game target. A large trump suit sits in that panel. Tap Last trick to see only the most recent completed trick. At the end of the hand, the score screen reminds everyone who named trump, whether they MADE it, marched, or were EUCHRED, then shows this hand’s points and the running totals.

Robots and friends

Tommy Bot, Pinky Bot and DJ Shuffle play from skill 1 (beginner) to 100 (near perfect). You can set your robot partner’s skill separately from the opponents. Tap Invite friends to play by link or 6-letter code; robots fill any empty seats. Each person shows their own name and look.

In an invite room, every call, play and trick appears on everyone’s screen automatically (a finished trick stays up about a second and a half). There is no Next button with real players. In solo vs robots, Pause after each robot move (Next button) is off by default — robots play at a readable pace. Turn it on in Settings if you want to step through. The setting is saved on this device and is the same for Spades, Hearts, Euchre and Pinochle. If you leave mid-game, you can rejoin your seat with the same invite.