Blindside
A trick-taking game of bluffs.
Every round, one card goes face down at the start and its suit is trump. Nobody is told what it is. Until it comes up, a trump played face up is just another card, so the only way to use trump early is to spend a chip, play face down and say so. If nobody calls you out, you win the trick and the card is never shown. It goes into your pile face down, and the table finds out what it was when the round is scored. Two to eight players, against the computer, around one phone, or on a phone each.
What you're doing at the table
Say Blindside
If you can't follow the suit that was led, you can spend a Blindside chip, play a card face down and claim it is trump. While trump is still hidden, an unchallenged claim beats everything on the table. Once trump is up, it still beats every card that isn't trump. A two of diamonds can take a trick off an ace, and nobody ever has to find out it was a two.
Or call somebody out
A Call Out chip turns the claim over, and the hidden trump card with it. Catch a bluff and the trick is yours, whatever you played, and the bluffer is marked for the rest of the match. Call out an honest claim and it plays as trump, and you have spent a chip for nothing. You get about a third as many of these as you get Blindside chips, so you spend them on the tricks worth the most.
Chips that last the match
Both kinds are dealt once, at the start of the match, scaled to how many tricks the whole match will have. Every seat's chips sit face up beside its name, so you can see who has run out and who is still holding one back. If nobody has called anybody out by trick six, trump comes up anyway, a trick earlier at seven or eight players.
The whole scoring system
Jack 1, Queen 2, King 3, Ace 4. Everything else is worth nothing, and every card prints its own value in the corner so nobody has to remember. There is no bidding and there are no bonuses. Most points at the end of the last round wins, and a match runs one, three, four or five rounds.
Gamble the trick
When you win a trick you can throw the whole thing away and turn over a card from the Blind pile instead. Some of those let you take a card from somebody's hand or pick one out of their captured pile. Others let your neighbour do the same to you. Every one of them moves cards and none of them touches the score directly, so the total is always something you can count off the table.
One phone, or one each
Play Solo against one to seven computer opponents at three levels. They play from the same view you have, so they can't see trump or your hand, and they remember who has been caught lying. Pass and Play puts two to eight people on one iPhone or iPad, with a screen between turns that names the next player. Or one device hosts and up to eight join over local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, with a QR code or a six-character code. Tables of four, six or eight can play in teams of two.
- Platform
- iPhone in portrait, iPad either way up
- Requires
- iOS 17 or later
- Price
- Free
- Players
- Two to eight, alone or in teams of two at four, six or eight
- Ways to play
- Solo against the computer, Pass and Play on one device, or a device each nearby
- Nearby play
- Over local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, joined with a QR code or a six-character code
- Offline
- Plays with no connection, no account and no sign-up
- Ads
- None
- Purchases
- A tip jar in Settings, and nothing else. The game is free and fully functional; leaving a tip is completely optional and unlocks nothing