Play with BOTs
Ask the BOT
Detailed match logs & replays
Private groups
Any device
About 56
56 is a popular card game played in India, especially in the southern state of Kerala, and wherever people from there have settled. Two teams bid for the right to name trumps, then play eight tricks a hand; the game takes its name from the 56 points on the table. It rewards strategy, memory, teamwork — and a little luck.
This site is the new home of 56cardgameonline.com: free to play, with tables for 4, 6 or 8 players, private groups for your own circle, BOTs that take the empty seats and can explain their bids, written match logs and board replays of every finished match, and tables you can watch live.
New here? Create a free account in a minute, or sign in with Google. Players from the old site sign in with the same email address and password.
How a game of 56 works
Players sit in two teams, alternately around the table: two against two, three against three — the most common game — or four against four. Two decks are used, but only the high cards. The Jack is the strongest card and worth 3 points, the Nine is next and worth 2, the Ace and the Ten are worth 1 each, and the King and Queen win tricks but score nothing. Together they make the 56 points the game is named after.
Each game starts with the bidding. In turn, every player bids or passes; a bid names a number from 28 to 56 — the points the bidding team promises to capture — and usually a trump suit. Every bid is public, and the way it is written tells your partners what you hold: 28♥ says "the heart Jack and three more hearts", ♥28 says "four hearts but no Jack". The highest bid becomes the contract.
Then comes the card play: one card each per trick, following the suit led when you can. A trump wins the trick; otherwise the highest card of the suit led wins, and when two identical cards meet, the first one played wins. The game ends as soon as the bidding team reaches its target, or can no longer reach it. Games are played in a match, and bigger contracts earn more match points — while a failed contract pays the other team even more, so every bid is a judgement. The other team may Double a bid it expects to fail.
Playing here
Open a table for 4, 6 or 8 players and choose International or Kerala bidding and the number of games. Invite friends from your group, and let trained BOT players take any seat that is still empty — they bid and play by the same conventions people use, and you can ask them what a bid means or what they would play. Private groups keep your own circle together, with their own tables and chat.
Every finished match keeps a written log of every bid, trick and hand, and a replay on the board that you can watch from any player's chair. Tables that are being played can be watched live. Everything runs in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to install, and it is free.
Read more
- The game of 56 — where it is played, how a game and a match run, and the International and Kerala styles.
- Rules — the cards, every bidding format and the scoreboard.
- Bidding guide — reading and making bids, with a worked auction.
- Play tips — counting, drawing trumps, feeding your partner and defending.
- How to get started — the site step by step, in pictures.
- Questions and answers — tables, BOTs, groups, chat and your account.