The game of 56

56 is a trick-taking card game for teams, played above all in Kerala in the south of India and by people from Kerala wherever they have settled — across India, the Gulf, Europe, North America and Australia. It is a game of partnership and memory: two teams bid for the right to name trumps and set a target, then play their cards trick by trick to reach it, or to stop the other team reaching it. The name comes from the total number of card points in play: 56.

The teams and the table

Players sit in two teams, alternately around the table, so every player sits between two opponents. The standard game has six players, three against three. Four players (two against two) and eight players (four against four) are played too. Play moves anticlockwise: the player to the dealer's right speaks first in the bidding and leads the first card.

The cards and their points

Two decks are used, but only the high cards. The Jack is the most powerful card and worth 3 points; the Nine comes next and is worth 2; the Ace and the Ten are worth 1 each; the King and the Queen (used at six and eight players) win tricks over lower cards but score nothing. Eight Jacks, eight Nines, eight Aces and eight Tens make 24 + 16 + 8 + 8 = 56 points. Because there are two decks, every card exists twice — when both copies fall in the same trick, the one played first wins. The rules page has the full table.

How a game runs

Each game has two parts. First comes the bidding: starting from the dealer's right, every player in turn either bids or passes. A bid names a number between 28 and 56 — the points the bidding team promises to capture — and usually a trump suit. Every bid must go higher than the one before, and the way a bid is written tells your partners something about your cards. When everyone else has passed, the highest bid becomes the contract.

Then comes the card play. Each player puts down one card in turn; a full round is a trick. You must follow the suit that was led if you can. The highest trump wins the trick, or, with no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led. The winner's team takes the points in the trick, and the winner leads the next one. The game stops as soon as it is decided: when the bidding team reaches its target, or when the points still out are no longer enough for it.

A match

Games are played in a match — six games is a common length — and each game earns match points for one team. A bigger contract pays more when it is made, and a failed contract pays the other team more than a made one would have earned: a contract of 28 to 39 earns 1 point when made and gives the opponents 2 when it fails. Any player of the other team may Double a bid they believe will fail, and the bidding team may Redouble; these multiply the points at stake by two and by three.

International and Kerala bidding

Two styles of bidding are played. In the International style a bid can be written in many ways — 28♥, ♥28, +1♥, +♥, 32NT, 33NS and more — and the form itself carries the message: 28♥ says "I hold the heart Jack and at least three more hearts", ♥28 says "four or more hearts but not the Jack". The first player must open, with 28-Pass when they have nothing to say. In the Kerala style there are only two kinds of bid, a number with a suit (28♥) or a number with NS (30NS); nobody is forced to open until the last player of the opener's team in the first round; and the highest bidder may raise their own bid once, to 40, 48 or 56. The cards and the card play are the same in both. Every table here chooses its style when it is opened.

Why people love it

Every bid is public, so the bidding is a conversation both teams can hear: partners describe their hands to each other, and the other team listens. A good player remembers who bid what, works out where the Jacks and Nines are, and plays so that their partners' high cards are not wasted. A hand that looks weak can carry a contract when the partners fit together, and a strong hand can fail against a well-timed Double. Luck deals the cards; memory and teamwork decide most games.

Read on: the bidding guide explains how to read and make bids, the play tips cover the card play, and the rules page has every bidding format and the full scoreboard.