Rules
Twenty-Nine rules for two players
Twenty-Nine is the Indian point-trick game. You bid on four cards for the right to choose trumps, hide your trump face down, and try to take at least as many card points as you bid.
Setup
- A 32-card pack: 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace in each suit.
- In every suit the cards rank, high to low: J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7.
- Card points: jack 3, nine 2, ace 1, ten 1. Everything else is worth nothing, so there are 28 points in the pack.
- Each of you gets four cards to bid on.
How a round works
- The non-dealer bids first. Bids run from 16 to 28, and each bid must be higher than the last. Pass and the other player wins the bid. If the non-dealer passes straight away, the dealer must bid. A bid of 28 ends the auction.
- Whoever wins the bid picks one of their four cards and lays it face down. Its suit is trumps, but only they know which suit that is.
- Each of you gets twelve more cards, and the non-dealer leads. You must follow suit if you can; the higher card of the suit led wins.
- Until trumps are revealed, no suit counts as trumps. If you can't follow suit, you can ask for trumps: the hidden card is turned up and goes back into the bidder's hand, and you must then play a trump if you have one. From then on, trumps beat every other suit.
- If nobody asks, the hidden card is turned up for the last trick.
Scoring and winning
- After all sixteen tricks, the bidder counts the card points in the tricks they won.
- Make the bid and the bidder gains 1 game point. Fall short and they lose 1. The other player's score doesn't move that deal.
- Reach +6 and you win the match. Drop to −6 and you lose it. The dealer changes every deal.
Play it with your partner on Twine
Twine deals, keeps score and enforces every rule above. Play live on a call, or with Play Anytime: take your turn now and your partner takes theirs whenever suits them, wherever they are.
Questions
Why is it called Twenty-Nine when there are 28 points?
The name is the traditional one. Twine counts the 28 card points in the pack and nothing else: there is no bonus for the last trick.
What is the card order in Twenty-Nine?
Jack, nine, ace, ten, king, queen, eight, seven — in every suit, trumps included.
When can I ask for trumps?
When a card has been led, you have none of that suit, and the trump card is still face down.
How do you win?
By making your bids. Each bid made is +1 and each bid missed is −1; reach +6 to win, or the other player wins if you fall to −6.