Rules
Wizard in 3 minutes
One card game, one goal: win exactly as many tricks as you bid. No more, no less. Here is everything for your first round, with cards to play with.
3-minute read
The goal
Wizard is played in rounds. At the start of each round you look at your cards and bid how many tricks you will win.
Points only come for a perfect landing. Too many tricks miss just as much as too few.
After the last round, whoever has the most points wins.
| Name | Bid | Tricks | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lena | 2 | 2 | hit:+40 |
| Tom | 1 | 3 | missed:−20 |
| Mia | 0 | 0 | hit:+20 |
Bidding zero and winning zero is a hit too.
The cards
The game has 60 cards. Most are number cards from 1 to 13 in four suits: yellow, red, green and blue.
On top come 4 Wizards and 4 Jesters. They have no suit and follow rules of their own.
The Wizard is the strongest card in the game, the Jester the weakest. More on that under tricks.
Tap the cards to turn them over.
Four suits times 13 numbers, plus 4 Wizards and 4 Jesters: 60 cards.
Every suit has its symbol
- Yellow
- Red
- Green
- Blue
That keeps red and green easy to tell apart, even for color-blind players.
Dealing and rounds
In round 1 everyone gets one card, in round 2 two, in round 3 three. It goes on like this until the deck no longer goes around.
How many rounds that is depends on the number of players: 20 with three, 15 with four, 12 with five, 10 with six.
The dealer moves on clockwise after every round.
Try it
How long is your game?
15 rounds
In the last round everyone holds 15 cards. All 60 are dealt, and there is no trump.
Too long for one evening? In the app you can also pick a shorter game.
Trump
After dealing, the top card of the remaining deck is turned up. Its suit is trump for this round.
Trump beats every other suit. Even the smallest trump takes the trick against a 13 of another suit.
If it is a Wizard, the dealer picks the trump suit. If it is a Jester, there is no trump.
In the last round every card is dealt. Nothing is left to turn up, so there is no trump.
Try it
Turn up trump
Tap the deck.
Bidding
Once everyone knows their cards, it is time to bid: in turn, starting left of the dealer. Everyone says how many tricks they want to win. Zero is a bid too.
The dealer bids last and knows every other bid. A small advantage that moves around with the deal.
Whether the bids may add up is decided by the bidding rule. The app knows three:
FreeBasic rule
The sum of the bids does not matter.
Bids must not matchOfficial variant
The sum must not equal the number of cards, so at least one player misses. Optionally the first round is free.
Bids match tricksHouse rule
The sum must equal the number of cards exactly.
Try it
What may the dealer bid?
Round 3, everyone holds three cards. Lena bids 1, Tom 0, Mia 1. You deal and bid last.
- Lena1
- Tom0
- Mia1
- You?
Your bid
- 0 allowed
- 1 locked
- 2 allowed
- 3 allowed
Bids must not match: 1 is locked, otherwise the bids would add up to exactly 3.
Following suit
The player left of the dealer leads the first card. Its suit must be followed: whoever has that suit has to play it.
If you do not have the suit, you may play any card, trump included.
Wizards and Jesters may always be played, even when you could follow.
If a Wizard is led, anything goes. If a Jester is led, the next number card sets the suit.
Try it
May I play this card?
Situation 1 of 4
Blue was led.
In the trick
Your hand · Tap a card in your hand.
Who wins the trick?
A trick is one card from everyone. Who takes it is decided in this order, from top to bottom:
The first Wizard
If there is a Wizard in the trick, the first one wins. Later Wizards are too late.
Trump Green: Blue 9, Wizard, Green 13, Wizard. The trick goes to card 2, the Wizard. The highest trump
No Wizard? Then the highest trump takes the trick.
Trump Red: Blue 13, Red 2, Blue 9. The trick goes to card 2, the Red 2. The highest card of the suit led
No trump either? Then the highest card of the suit that came first wins. Other suits go away empty-handed.
Trump Blue: Yellow 7, Yellow 11, Red 13. The trick goes to card 2, the Yellow 11. The first Jester
If there are only Jesters in the trick, the first one takes it. The Jester's one moment of glory.
Trump Yellow: Jester, Jester, Jester. The trick goes to card 1, the Jester.
Whoever wins the trick leads the next card.
Test yourself in the trick quizPoints
Hit: 20 points plus 10 for every trick. Bidding zero and winning zero earns 20 too.
Missed: minus 10 points for every trick you are off. Too many or too few, it makes no difference.
After the last round, whoever has the most points wins. A tie means several winners.
Try it
Points calculator
Bid 2, Won 2: +40 points. 20 for the right bid + 2 × 10 per trick.
With a bid of 2
In the app
Prefer to learn with puzzles?
The app has an introduction in 8 steps: turn up cards, set trump, read tricks. Small tasks instead of a rule book.
- Trick checker for every argument at the table
- Points calculator for settling up
- Every topic to look up, offline too
This page explains the rules in our own words. When in doubt, AMIGO's rule book applies.
