How to Play Trumple
Trumple is a card game for 4 players. You bet on how many tricks you think you’ll win — then try to win exactly that many. Not more, not less.
Quick version: Pick cards to make a number. That number is your target. Play 13 tricks and try to win exactly that many.
What You Need to Know First
- Uses a normal 52-card deck
- Each player gets 13 cards
- The game has two parts: Bidding (making your bet) then Playing (winning tricks)
Which Card is Stronger?
Cards go from weakest to strongest like this:
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
J
Q
K
A
Suits also have an order (weakest to strongest): Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts, Spades.
Part 1: Bidding (Making Your Bet)
At the start, you pick one or more cards from your hand as your “bid.” These cards are shown to everyone, but here’s the important part — you keep them in your hand to play with later. You’re not giving them away.
How much is your bid worth?
Add up the values of the cards you picked:
- Number cards (2–10) = their face value (a 7 is worth 7)
- Ace = worth 1
- Jack, Queen, King = worth 0
Example: You pick these cards as your bid:
3
Your bid = 5 + 3 = 8 tricks. You’re betting you’ll win exactly 8 out of 13 tricks.
What is Trump?
“Trump” means one suit gets a superpower — it beats every other suit.
How trump gets decided:
- If all your bid cards are the same suit → that suit becomes trump
- If your bid cards are mixed suits → there’s no trump this game
Example — trump set:
3
Both cards are Hearts → Hearts is trump! (bid = 8)
Example — no trump:
3
Mixed suits → no trump this game (bid = 8)
Who goes first?
The player who bid the highest number goes first. If there’s a tie, the tiebreakers are:
- A player with trump beats one without
- Higher suit wins
- Fewer bid cards wins
The 13 Rule
If everyone’s bids add up to exactly 13, the highest bidder gets a bonus choice — push everyone’s target UP by 1 or DOWN by 1. This lets them mess with other players’ plans.
Part 2: Playing Tricks
A “trick” is one round where everyone plays a card. The strongest card wins, and whoever played it collects the pile. There are exactly 13 tricks.
How each trick works
- Someone leads — they play any card they want
- Everyone else follows suit — you must play a card of the same suit if you have one
- Can’t follow suit? — play any card from your hand
- Trump cards are face-down — if you play a trump card when you can’t follow suit, it goes face-down. Nobody sees it until the trick is done!
Who wins the trick?
← plays trump (face-down!)
- If anyone played trump → highest trump wins
- If nobody played trump → highest card of the led suit wins
The winner leads the next trick.
Scoring
After all 13 tricks:
| What happened | Points |
|---|---|
| Won exactly your bid | +bid value (nailed it!) |
| Won fewer than your bid | -1 for each trick you missed |
| Won more than your bid | -2 for each extra trick |
Bid 0 (the bold move):
| What happened | Points |
|---|---|
| Won 0 tricks | +5 |
| Won 1 trick | -5 |
| Won 2+ tricks | -5, then -2 more for each trick after the first |
Remember: Getting your bid exactly right is everything. Going over is punished more (-2 each) than going under (-1 each). When in doubt, play it safe.
Playing Multiple Games
Scores add up across games. Whoever has the highest total score at the end wins.
Tips for Beginners
- Start safe — Bid a middle number (like 3–5) while you’re learning
- Spy on other bids — When everyone’s bid cards are revealed, you can see what suits they’re strong in
- Trump is a big deal — Setting a trump suit gives you power, but it also tells everyone your strong suit
- Zero bids are risky — +5 for winning nothing sounds great, but other players can force cards on you
- Going over hurts more — Winning too many tricks costs -2 each, while too few only costs -1 each