IDK Spades

Multiplayer Spades: How to Play with Friends Online

Getting a Game Going With Your People

Getting started on BooksMade Spades is as simple as it gets. Sign up with your email address, or log in instantly with your Google or Apple ID. That's it — your account is created and you're ready to play. No lengthy onboarding. No hoops to jump through.

Every user gets assigned a default username you can update in your profile to whatever fits you. You also get a unique public ID — your identity across the platform. Other players use your public ID to add you as a friend, and you use theirs to add them back.

Once your friends list is built, getting a game going is simple:

  • Open a casual match
  • Set your custom rules
  • Invite your friends directly into the lobby
  • Start playing

No searching. No waiting in queues. No hoping a random matchmaking system pairs you with the right people. Your friends are right there and the game starts when you're all ready.

Wherever you are, wherever they are, the table is always one invitation away.

Your Rules, Your Game

One of the things we're most proud of in BooksMade Spades is the level of customization available when setting up a game. JJDD means different things to different people — different house rules, different thresholds, different traditions. We wanted to get you as close to the way you actually play as possible.

Here's a snapshot of what you can customize:

  • Score limit — set the target score for the game
  • Board bid — set the minimum combined team bid or turn it off entirely
  • Bags — configure how many bags trigger a penalty
  • Wheels / 10-for-200 — turn it on or off
  • Set loss penalty — configure what happens when a team gets set
  • Free bid round — choose whether the opening round is a free bid or not
  • Nil — enable or disable Nil bidding
  • Nil and board interaction — set whether Nil bids ignore the board requirement
  • Busted Nil — configure the penalty for a failed Nil
  • Blind bids — enable or disable blind bidding
  • Blind deficit threshold — set how far down a team needs to be before they can go blind

And that's just naming a few.

This flexibility is what makes leagues on BooksMade Spades so special. When you create a league with your friends and family — a one-time $9.99 fee per league, no recurring charges — you're competing under the rules your circle actually plays by. The game feels familiar because it is familiar. And joining a league someone else created is always free.

Your rules. Your game. Your league.