1 · The cards
29 uses 32 cards — the 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace of every suit. The jack, not the ace, is the strongest card, and only four ranks carry points:
Seven points in each suit, 28 in the deck — the game is named for the variant that adds one more. Card order, highest first: J · 9 · A · 10 · K · Q · 8 · 7.
2 · Seats & teams
Four players, two teams, partners facing each other: you and North are Peacock, East and West are Clay. Play moves anti-clockwise — the seat on your right goes next, exactly like the physical table.
Each player gets four cards, bids happen, then four more cards. Eight tricks per round.
3 · The auction
Holding your first four cards, you bid the points your team promises to win — from 16 up to 28. Bidding starts on the dealer’s right and runs anti-clockwise; each bid must beat the last, and passing is always allowed. If all four players pass, the cards are thrown in and redealt.
The winner of the auction is the bidder. They choose the trump suit — and keep it secret.
4 · The hidden trump
The bidder slides one card of the trump suit face-down under their hand. Nobody else knows the suit. Until it is revealed, a trump played is just a plain card — the hiding matters.
A player who cannot follow the led suit may ask the bidder to reveal the trump. From that moment trumps beat plain cards. And if the bidder themselves ruffs, the trump is revealed automatically — no pretending.
under the hand
now it rules
5 · Marriage — the king and queen
Hold both the king and queen of the trump suit after the reveal and you may declare a marriage: the bidder’s target moves 4 in your favour — down to the floor of 16, up to the cap of 28. Declared with a word at the table; in the app, one quiet tap.
6 · Play a trick — slowly
You sit South, partnered with North — team Peacock. East and West are Clay. You won the auction at 17 and tucked away hearts as the hidden trump. Step through the first two tricks.
7 · Scoring a round
When the eighth trick is done, count the points in the tricks your team took. The bidder’s team needed to reach the bid:
One oddity worth knowing: if any player is dealt all four jacks, the hand is thrown in and redealt.
8 · The six counter
The score is kept the way real tables keep it: a red six stands upright for a plus score, a black six for minus, and a face-down card slants 22° across it, hiding pips. The pips still showing are the score.
The app draws exactly this — no digits, no progress bar. First sight of it and any 29 player knows the score.
9 · Winning the match
Rounds repeat, the counters move. The first team to reach +6 wins the match — and a team dragged to −6 loses it on the spot.
−6 loses on the spot ← start at 0 → +6 wins the match
10 · Variants the app honours
- Seventh-card Trump
- The bidder’s seventh dealt card becomes the trump, sight unseen.
- Last-trick Point
- The final trick carries one extra point — 29 in all, the game’s name.
- No Trump
- The bidder may declare the round has no trump at all.
- Double & Redouble
- Opponents may double the stakes; the bidding side may answer back.
- Single Hand
- A confident bidder plays the round alone, partner’s cards face down.
Every table picks its variants before the first deal, and the app states them plainly in the room — nobody discovers a house rule mid-hand.