Schafkopf rules: Rufspiel, Wenz and Solo explained

01Schafkopf in one minute

Schafkopf is a trick-taking game for four players with a 32-card deck. Everyone gets eight cards and play goes clockwise. Before each hand the players decide, in a short round of bidding, who will play which game. The player or pair who wins the bidding is the playing party and needs at least 61 of the 120 card points in the tricks they take. The other side defends and wins with 60.

Three games are the backbone of Schafkopf: the Rufspiel (also called Sauspiel), where you call an Ace and its holder becomes your secret partner; the Wenz, where only the Unter are trumps; and the Farbsolo, where you pick the trump suit and play alone. Everything else, from Tout to Ramsch, builds on these three.

All the rules below are the ones our play Schafkopf online free page uses, so you can read a section and try it straight away against the computer.

02The cards and the 61 rule

Schafkopf is played with the Bavarian German-suited deck. The suits are Eichel (acorns), Gras (leaves, also called Laub or Blatt), Herz (hearts) and Schellen (bells). Each suit has eight cards: 7, 8, 9, 10, Unter, Ober, König (King) and Sau, the Ace. If you grew up with French cards, think of the Unter as a Jack and the Ober as a Queen; our game has a toggle that shows French suits instead.

Only five ranks carry points:

• Sau (Ace): 11
• Ten: 10
• König (King): 4
• Ober: 3
• Unter: 2
• 9, 8 and 7: 0

03Trumps in a normal game

In the Rufspiel and in Ramsch there are fourteen trumps, always in this order: the four Ober, then the four Unter, then the Herz Sau, 10, König, 9, 8 and 7. Among the Ober and the Unter the suits rank Eichel, Gras, Herz, Schellen. So the Eichel Ober is the highest card in the game and the Herz 7 is the lowest trump.

That leaves only six cards in each of the other suits: Sau, 10, König, 9, 8, 7. The key habit to learn is that an Ober or Unter is never a card of its printed suit. If Schellen is led and the only Schellen picture you hold is the Schellen Unter, you do not have a Schellen: the Unter is a trump.

The play rules are short. You must follow the suit that was led, and if a trump was led you must play a trump. If you cannot follow, you may play anything, including a trump. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the led suit, and the winner leads the next trick.

04Bidding: who plays which game

Starting with the player on the dealer's left, each player either says weiter (pass) or names a game. The games rank from lowest to highest:

• Rufspiel (Sauspiel)
• Wenz
• Farbsolo
• Wenz Tout
• Solo Tout

05The Rufspiel: calling an Ace

The Rufspiel (literally the calling game) is the everyday Schafkopf game, and most hands are played this way. You call the Sau of Eichel, Gras or Schellen. You cannot call the Herz Sau, because Herz is trump. Two conditions apply: you must hold at least one card of the suit you call (Ober and Unter don't count) and you must not hold that Ace yourself.

The player who holds the called Ace is now your partner, but stays silent. The other two players defend together. Nobody at the table knows for sure who is with whom until the called Ace appears, and reading the early tricks is a big part of the fun.

Three rules stop the partner from hiding the Ace forever:

• When the called suit is led, the partner must play the called Ace.
• The partner may lead the called suit without the Ace only when holding four or more cards of it. This is called davonlaufen, running away.
• The called Ace cannot be discarded on another suit before the last trick.

06A Rufspiel hand, played through

Say you hold the Eichel Ober, Herz Ober, Gras Unter, Herz Sau, Herz 9, Schellen 8, Gras Sau and Gras 10. You have five trumps and one Schellen card, so you call the Schellen Sau. Your single Schellen 8 is perfect: when Schellen is led, your partner must drop the Sau and win the trick, often with 11 or more points in it.

You lead the Eichel Ober to start drawing trumps. Later you lead your Schellen 8, the partner's Sau lands, and now everyone knows the teams. You keep the Gras Sau and Gras 10 for the end, when the defenders are out of trumps. If your side ends with 61 or more card points, you win.

07The Wenz: only the Unter are trumps

In a Wenz the Ober lose their power. Only the four Unter are trumps, in the order Eichel, Gras, Herz, Schellen. The Ober go back into their suits and rank between the King and the 9, so every suit, Herz included, runs Sau, 10, König, Ober, 9, 8, 7.

You play the Wenz alone against the other three. With only four trumps in the deck, side suits matter much more. A good Wenz hand has two or more Unter, ideally the Eichel Unter, plus Aces and a long suit you can run once the Unter are gone. A Wenz outranks the Rufspiel in the bidding.

08The Farbsolo: you choose the trump suit

In a Farbsolo you play alone against three and name the trump suit: Eichel, Gras, Herz or Schellen. The four Ober and four Unter stay at the top, followed by the Sau, 10, König, 9, 8 and 7 of your suit, fourteen trumps in all. In an Eichel Solo, Herz is just a side suit.

Because three defenders share the points, a Solo needs real strength. Six or more trumps with two Ober among them is a sensible minimum, and a side Ace helps. A Farbsolo outranks both the Rufspiel and the Wenz.

09Tout and Sie: the big hands

Any Wenz or Farbsolo can be announced as a Tout: a promise to win every trick. Wenz Tout and Solo Tout rank above all other games in the bidding and pay double, but the Tout is lost the moment the defenders take one trick.

A Sie is the rarest hand: all four Ober and all four Unter in one hand. It wins at once, without play, and pays double a Tout.

10Counting Laufende

Laufende (runners) are the unbroken top trumps of the playing party, counted down from the highest trump. They count whether the playing party holds them (mit) or the defenders hold them all (ohne). In a Rufspiel or Farbsolo they count from three; in a Wenz, where there are only four trumps, from two.

• Your pair holds the Eichel, Gras and Herz Ober but not the Schellen Ober: 3 Laufende (mit drei).
• The defenders hold the Eichel, Gras, Herz and Schellen Ober and the Eichel Unter: 5 Laufende for the playing party (ohne fünf).
• Your pair holds the Eichel and Gras Ober, then the defenders hold the Herz Ober: only 2, which does not count in a Rufspiel.
• In a Wenz you hold the Eichel and Gras Unter but not the Herz Unter: 2 Laufende, which do count.

11Schneider, Schwarz and the tariff, with payout examples

A Schafkopf result is paid with a tariff. The default in our game is 10/50: a Rufspiel is worth 10 and a Wenz or Farbsolo 50. Each Laufender, a Schneider (the losers took 30 points or fewer) and a Schwarz (the losers took no trick) each add one basic tariff, which is 10 at this setting. In a Rufspiel each player on the losing side pays the value and each winner collects it. In a Wenz or Farbsolo each of the three opponents pays the soloist, or receives that much if the soloist loses.

Some worked examples at 10/50:

• Rufspiel won with 70 points and no Laufende: 10 from each loser.
• Rufspiel won with 3 Laufende and Schneider: 10 + 10 + 30 = 50 from each loser.
• Rufspiel lost by a pair playing ohne drei (the defenders held the top three Ober, the callers the Schellen Ober): 10 + 30 = 40 paid by each of the callers.
• Herz Solo won holding all four Ober but not the Eichel Unter: 50 + 40 = 90 from each opponent, 270 in total.
• Wenz lost by a player holding the Eichel and Gras Unter but not the Herz Unter: 50 + 20 = 70 to each opponent, 210 in total.

12When everyone passes: Ramsch

If all four players say weiter, you either throw the cards in and deal again or, with the Ramsch option on, play a Ramsch. Everyone plays alone with the normal trumps, and this time you want as few points as possible. The player who takes the most card points loses and pays each of the others. A Jungfrau (a player who took no trick) doubles the payment, and a Durchmarsch (one player takes every trick) turns the whole thing around: that player wins, paid like a Solo.

13Schafkopf vs Skat

Skat grew out of Schafkopf and other older games, and the two still share the 32 cards and the card points. The differences are big, though. Skat is a three-player game with ten cards each and two cards in the Skat; the declarer always plays alone; only the four Jacks (Unter) are permanent trumps; and the bidding uses numbers like 18, 20 and 22 instead of game names. Schafkopf has four players, partners in the Rufspiel and Ober above the Unter.

If you want the full Skat picture, read Skat rules: bidding and game value, then play Skat online with the same German or French deck. For more ideas for a games night, see our list of the best free card games to play online with family.

14Play now

The quickest way to learn Schafkopf is to play a few hands with the rules on screen. Play Schafkopf online free against three computer players on Easy, Normal or Hard, or open a room and invite friends with a link. Your hand is sorted with trumps first, legal cards are highlighted, and a breakdown after each hand shows exactly how the payout was counted.