Continue learning: How to play · Rules and scoring · Bidding · Strategy
Quick answer
Nil is a bid to take no tricks. Winning even one trick defeats the nil bid. Bonuses, penalties and availability depend on the chosen rules.
The core trick-taking rules
Follow the suit led whenever you can. Spades are trump. Without a trump, the highest card in the led suit wins; with trumps, the highest spade wins. Rules about leading spades before they have been broken vary, so check the embedded instructions.
Common partnership scoring example
The following is a common partnership convention, not a verified scoring table for this embedded edition. Partners combine their bids into one team contract. A team bidding five and taking five tricks earns 50 points under the ten-points-per-bid-trick convention.
If that team takes six, the same convention gives 51: 50 for the contract plus one extra-trick point, usually called a bag. If it takes only four, the usual set penalty is −50. A five-trick bid is therefore different from a promise that all five of your highest cards will win.
Nil, bags and score targets
Nil means trying to win no tricks where that option is offered. Its bonus and penalty are separate from ordinary bids. Some rules apply a penalty after accumulated bags reach a threshold; blind nil and team variations add further differences.
Use the scoring panel inside this game to resolve these details. This guide does not promise a particular nil bonus, ten-bag penalty, multiplayer lobby or match target.
What does nil mean in Spades?
Nil is a bid to take no tricks. Winning even one trick defeats the nil bid. Bonuses, penalties and availability depend on the chosen rules.
What are bags in Spades?
Bags are tricks taken beyond a bid. In a common partnership scoring system, each extra trick adds one point and ten accumulated bags trigger a 100-point penalty. Other editions may use different scoring.