Contents
What is Spar?
Spar is a fun card game that focuses on winning the last trick in each round to earn points or claim the stakes. It’s an exciting game that can be played by 2 to 4 players.
What You’ll Need
To play Spar, you’ll need a modified 52-card deck, a way to keep score or money for betting, and a flat surface to play on.
The Basics of Spar
Spar is a type of trick-taking card game. The main objective is to win the final trick in each round. If you’re playing for points, winning the last trick will earn you some points. If you’re playing for money, winning the last trick means you get to claim the stakes.
Before you start the game, make sure all players agree on the stakes if you’re playing for money.
Setting Up the Game
So, here’s the deal: in order to play this game, we have to tweak the deck a little bit. We take out all the cards that are 5 or lower, as well as the ace of spades. That leaves us with a 35-card deck that we can use.
Now, let’s talk about how the game is set up. The dealer is chosen randomly, and it’s usually the person who won the last round. They shuffle the deck, and each player gets dealt 5 cards. You can do this in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, whichever you prefer.
Card Ranking
Okay, enough about the setup. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how the cards are ranked. In this game, the ace is the highest-ranked card, followed by the king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, and 6. However, in the spades suit, the king takes the top spot since we removed the ace from the game.
By the way, there’s no trump suit in this game. Every suit is equal, so you don’t have to worry about one suit having the upper hand.
GAMEPLAY
When I start playing the game, I can choose to either sit to the right of the dealer (if we’re playing counterclockwise) or to the left (if we’re playing clockwise). To begin the first trick, I can play any card from my hand. The other players will then have to follow suit if they can, but if they don’t have the same suit, they can play any card. Once everyone has played a card, we determine the winner of the trick. This is the player who played the highest-ranking card of the suit that was led. The cards used in the trick remain in the center of the play area, and the winner gets to lead the next trick.
Once we finish playing the fifth trick, it’s time to start scoring.
SCORING
The scoring is based on who won the last trick. Only the player who won the last trick gets to score points or win stakes, and the amount of points or stakes they can win depends on the card they used to win.
If you win the last trick with a 6, you get 3 points. If it’s a 7, you get 2 points. And if it’s an 8 or higher card, you score 1 point. When playing for money, each player has to pay the number of stakes determined by these points. If you’re playing based on score, these points are added to your cumulative score.
THE END OF THE GAME
There’s no official end to the game. Before starting, players can decide how long the game should last or how many rounds they’ll play. The winner is the player who has earned the most money or accumulated the most points.
I’m Amber (They/Them), an Austin writer and gaming enthusiast. I consider myself a master gamer and have a deep affection for dogs, plants, and D&D.