How to play Barbu.

Barbu is a four-player card game where the objective changes between rounds. You might avoid winning tricks, dodge the king of hearts, or race to empty your hand. Barbu Club is free to play in your browser: invite friends, join a public table, or practice against three bots.

The table, the deck, the goal

Every player receives 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck. Aces are high, followed by kings, queens, jacks and numbers down to two. In trick-taking rounds, each player plays one card in turn. Follow the suit of the first card if you can. If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card.

The highest card in the suit led takes the trick, unless a trump wins. That player leads the next trick. Scores accumulate across contracts, and the highest total wins the game. A negative score is normal: avoiding penalties is part of the challenge.

The nine contracts

The Barbu Club format

Play the seven negative contracts once in the order shown above, including No Men and All In. The starting player rotates. Optional Trumps adds four deals, one suit choice per player, followed by one optional Domino deal. With both extras enabled there are 12 rounds; with neither, seven. There is no doubling or contract bidding.

Scoring follows the four-player Kierki format linked by PlayOK: the seven negative deals total −2,600 points across the table. Four Trumps deals award +1,300 and Domino awards +1,300, so a full match balances to zero. Turning off an extra removes its positive points; the highest score still wins. Game points and your ranking rating are separate.

All In adds penalties rather than choosing just one: a trick containing K♥ costs at least 220 points (20 for the trick, 20 for the heart, 30 for the king and 150 for the Barbu). Other penalty cards add more, as do the seventh and last tricks.

Barbu Club keeps two simple house choices: Domino always starts from sevens with aces high, and you choose trumps after seeing your full hand. In Trumps, follow suit if you can; otherwise any card is legal, and trumping or overtaking is optional. The PlayOK/Kurnik rules use the first five cards for choosing trumps and allow a chosen opening rank in Domino. These are different from traditional Barbu’s longer format with contract selection and doubling. Matches already in progress before the scoring update retain their original rules.

Play with friends

Choose “Create game,” enter your player name, and select the optional contracts. Choose “Create account” to keep a Barbu Club profile, or continue as a guest. The host can choose 15, 30, 60 or 120 seconds per action and whether the match is ranked. Public tables appear under “Tables”; private tables require the invitation link or key. Uncheck “Allow guests” to require signed-in accounts. The host also needs an account for these tables. Hosts can tap open seats to add bots, or remove a bot before dealing. Any table with bots is unranked. Once all four seats are filled, the host deals the cards.

Every human player also receives a 3-minute time bank for the whole match. It starts automatically when the normal action timer expires. Only overtime uses the reserve; a new contract does not refill it. When both timers run out, the game plays a legal move for you.

Disconnecting and returning to your game

Each player sees only their own hand. Refreshing or reopening Barbu Club restores your most recently joined unfinished table, including your seat, cards and remaining time bank. Accounts can return on another device by signing in with the same provider. Guests need the same browser and its saved guest cookie.

Your clock keeps running while you are away. If everyone disconnects, the table catches up on elapsed turns when someone returns. Choosing “Leave table” stops automatic return; you can still rejoin an existing seat using the invitation key and the same player identity.

Practice against bots

Choose “Play with bots” for a game with three computer opponents. Solo practice is always unranked, and you can take as long as you need on your turn. Multiplayer tables with bots are also unranked, but keep the host’s chosen action timer. Highlighted cards show your legal moves. The information icon beside the contract name explains the current rules.

How rankings work

Multiplayer players start at 1,000 rating points. Completed ranked games adjust ratings using pairwise Elo, comparing your result with each opponent and accounting for tied scores. Practice games, multiplayer games with bots, and friendly unranked rooms do not change ratings. Accounts keep their rating across devices. Guests always play at 1,000 and do not appear on the leaderboard. Guest games never carry a rating into an account; sign in before playing if you want to keep your progress.

A few moves worth remembering

In negative contracts, keeping low cards can help you avoid unwanted tricks. Watch the suits other players cannot follow: those players may discard penalty cards onto your next lead. In Seventh & Last, plan your exits before tricks seven and thirteen. In All In, remember that penalties stack. In Domino, opening a sequence can help opponents as well as you.