Belote & Coinche: Card Game

Belote as it is played at the café in France: four players, two partners, thirty-two cards, and the jack and nine of trump on top. Take the trump or bid your contract, say Belote and Rebelote, and chalk the score on the slate.

TWO GAMES

Classic Belote: five cards each and one turned up — take it or pass, then a second round to name another suit. Coinche (also called Contrée): eight cards each and an auction from 80 to 160 and capot; coinche the other side's contract for double, surcoinche for four times.

THE REAL RULES

Card points, not tricks: 162 in a deal with the ten for the last trick. Follow suit, go over in trump even on your partner, no need to trump when your partner holds the trick. Tierce, fifty, hundred and four of a kind; belote-rebelote; dedans, capot and litige. The house rules French tables argue about are yours to set: announcements, the obligation to under-trump, the 81–81 tie, rounding, no trump and all trump.

THE PARIS DECK

The court cards every French player knows — Charles with his sword, David with his harp, the queens with their flowers — with R, D and V in the corners.

A CAFÉ TABLE, NOT A CASINO

The game is drawn as a café table: a zinc top, the score chalked on a slate in two columns, us and them, the total rubbed out and written again after each deal, a failed contract struck through in red chalk. No coins, no chips, no timers, nothing flashing. Dark mode is the café after closing.

PARTNERS WHO CAN PLAY

Three levels. The hard bot plays out hundreds of possible deals before each card and measures its take before it bids; it loads your trick with points when you hold it and draws trumps when it took. Your partner bids a simple, readable way, written down on the rules page.

PLAY YOUR WAY

Classic to 501, 1000 or 1500 points, Coinche to 1000 or 2000. Three game speeds, three card sizes, the last trick one tap away, a hint when taking or bidding, the rules one tap from the home screen, and your record of games, contracts, capots and belotes.

A FAIR MODEL

Both games and every rule are free. An advert appears only between deals, never during play, and there are no rewarded videos or banners. One purchase, Belote Premium, removes the adverts and adds the Paris deck in its original colors and in two inks, and the awning card back. Nothing that wins a trick is for sale.

YOUR DATA

Everything stays on your phone: settings and record. No account, no sign-in. The advertising SDK uses the Android advertising ID; the privacy policy says exactly what and why.

Plays offline, in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Turkish.