Call Break Rules

Call Break Card Game is one of those childhood games popularly played during vacations and festivals. It’s a multiplayer game played between four players, in which each player makes moves to reach a target set of 300 points. You can play this trick-taking game in multiple sets, and the player scores points for moving towards the target in each set. 

While the origin of the Call Break multiplayer game is unknown, it is believed to have been derived from the Spades card game and is popularly played in South Asian Countries such as India and Nepal. The call break card game is known by different names across different regions, such as Call Bridge, Lakdi or Lakadi, Ghochi, Spades, Tash game, and Racing. There may be little changes in rules depending on where it is played, but the core idea remains the same across all the game versions.

New to the Call Break game? Get familiar with the call break rules below to play the multiplayer game with real players online.

Call Break Card Game Rules

Call break game rules are quite easy to understand and learn within no time. There are several basic rules of the call break card game that players must learn to play the game:

Spades is the default trump suit in the game. Therefore, a spade card can beat any other card of a different suit, regardless of the rank. For instance, 7♠️ (spade card) can beat A♥️.

The call break card games are generally divided into five rounds. MPL features 1 round, 2 rounds, and 4 rounds versions of the game. The dealer is selected after dealing one card each randomly to all players and whoever receives the lowest card becomes th dealer.

As per the call break game rules, the card rankings from high to low are as follows: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Winning additional tricks in call break than bid at the beginning brings extra points and increases the score.

Failing to win tricks equal to the number bid at the beginning of the game leads to decline in score.

The main objective of the call break game is to win equal to or more tricks than the number of tricks bid at the start if the game.

How to Play Call Break Card Game?

Call Break card game rules and gameplay is pretty easy to understand. Learn the below rules to play call break card games with friends and family.

Call Break Card Game Rules for Set-Up

Call Break is a trick-taking or, in other words, hand winning card game. In the Call Break Game, the objective is to secure as many hands as possible or at least the number that the player bids before the game begins.

The four players are required to start the game without any partnerships. In the call break game, Spade is a predefined trump. The cards’ value is based on their face value, ranking in a high to low order; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. 

After all the four players are seated, the dealer bears the responsibility of distributing 13 cards to each player.

Bidding/Calls

Before the game begins, each player should select the hand values based on their possible winning hands. Each player makes a call or bids the number of tricks that they think they can win based on the cards in hand.

Objective

Once the 13 cards are distributed to the players, the first player to make a move is chosen randomly. The objective is to make minimum hands similar to the bid. The bids are numbers that represent the number of hands that a particular player bids to win. A player can bid between 1-13, with the lowest bid as 1 and the highest remains 13. Every player needs to make at least one bid.

The main objective is to make hands equivalent to the call or more than the call. In case a player doesn’t get even one trump or spade, then the cards will be distributed to all the players again.

Call Break Game Play

The player to the dealer’s right is expected to lead the first hand. After that, the winner of each hand will lead the subsequent hands. Players have to play a card of the same suit that is being played during the current hand. In case they don’t have a card belonging to the suit that is played, they can use a trump card. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean you will win the hand.

For example, the player sitting next to the dealer plays an Ace of Hearts. After that, every player will have to play a card from the same suit unless they don’t have any. In such cases, the player without a card from the same suit can choose to play a trump card. If a player throws an Ace and no player has played a trump card, the player with the Ace card will win the hand.

You must play a higher value card than the cards that have already been played during the hand if you have one. If you don’t have a card with a higher value, you can play any card.

Call Break Rules for Score Keeping

The call break rules for score keeping are based on the number of tricks a player wins.

If a player wins less tricks than they bid at the start, they lose points. For instance, if a player bids 5 tricks and wins only 4 tricks, they will lose 5 points.

If a player wins equal number of tricks as they win, they win points equivalent to the number if tricks. For instance, if a player bids 5 tricks and wins 5 tricks, they will get 5 points.

If a player wins additional number of tricks than the bid, they gain extra points. The points increase by 0.1 for each extra trick won. For instance, if a player bids 5 tricks and wins 7 tricks in the round (2 additional tricks), the players score will be 5.2. That is, 5 points for winning 5 tricks and 0.2 points for winning two extra tricks.

At the end of all the rounds, the final score is evaluated for each player. The player with the highest total score of all the rounds wins the game.

Call Break Card Game Winning Strategies

Set your goal

Before you make a bid at the beginning of the game, make sure to set your goal to win the exact count or even a higher number of tricks or bets. For instance, if you have opted for five calls before the game starts, you must win five or more tricks to win five points. The process seems equal to your first call. In case you end up with less than five or more tricks, you shall have a negative of the points you aimed for or lose it from your total points.

Calculate the risk

You need to calculate the risk while making a bid. You shouldn’t bid on an amount that you are not sure you can win. If you play safe, there are chances that you will have a positive score, and that seems better than opting for high risk. Be mindful of the fact that your bid will decide your score. So you need to make a bid which you can achieve. Any trick can get trapped and trumped at any point. Therefore, you need to be careful and follow the game. 

Focus on the score

The scoring system of the Call Break card game is Points Based. Your score increases with the increase in the number of hands you win. But, it’s also quite dependent on the bid that you place when the game begins. At the end of the game, if you have secured fewer hands than what you bid, you will lose an equivalent number of points. In case you secure the same number of tricks, then your points will increase by the same number. With each extra hand that you win past your bid amount, you earn 0.1 points.