Euchre is a fast four-player trick-taking game played in two teams. Here you partner with the computer player across the table against two computer opponents, and the first team to 10 points wins.
The deck and the deal
Euchre uses 24 cards: the 9, 10, J, Q, K and A of each suit. Everyone gets five cards, and one more card is turned face up in the middle. That card is the upcard, and it suggests a trump suit.
You sit at the bottom of the table and your partner sits at the top. The deal moves one seat to the left each hand.
Choosing trump
Round one: starting left of the dealer, each player can order up the upcard, making its suit trump, or pass. If someone orders it up, the dealer adds the upcard to their hand and discards a card.
Round two: if all four pass, the upcard is turned down. Each player can now name any other suit as trump, or pass.
With Stick the dealer on (the default), the dealer must name trump if everyone passes again. With Redeal, the hand is thrown in and the next player deals.
The team that chose trump are the makers. They need at least three of the five tricks.
Bowers and card ranks
The jack of trump, the right bower, is the highest card. Next comes the other jack of the same color, the left bower, then A, K, Q, 10 and 9 of trump. The left bower counts as a trump: with hearts trump, the jack of diamonds is a heart for following suit.
In the other suits cards rank A, K, Q, J, 10, 9. You must follow the suit led if you can. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.
Going alone
When you order up or name trump you can choose to go alone. Your partner sits out and you play three against two. Taking all five tricks alone scores 4 points. If your computer partner goes alone, you sit out that hand.
Scoring and tips
Makers who take 3 or 4 tricks score 1 point. All five tricks (a march) scores 2, or 4 when alone.
Makers who take fewer than 3 tricks are euchred, and the defenders score 2.
A sound call usually means two or three trumps including a bower, plus an off-suit ace. Ordering up gives the upcard to the dealer, so think twice before handing an opponent a bower.
Pick Easy, Normal or Hard to set how well the opponents play. Your partner always plays well, and Undo takes back your last bid or card.