The goal of the game
Judgement is scored by accuracy, not by winning tricks for their own sake. Every round, you bid a number of tricks; you score points only by matching that bid exactly, whether the bid was 0 or a number close to the whole round. Winning too many tricks is just as costly as winning too few.
Players and setup
- 3 to 7 players, each scoring individually — no teams.
- One standard 52-card deck (no jokers).
- The dealer rotates one seat clockwise every round.
The 8 rounds
The match is always exactly 8 rounds. The number of cards dealt to each player shrinks every round, and each round's trump suit is fixed by a rotation rather than drawn or chosen:
| Round | Cards per player | Trump |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Clubs |
| 2 | 6 | Hearts |
| 3 | 5 | Spades |
| 4 | 4 | Diamonds |
| 5 | 3 | Clubs |
| 6 | 2 | Hearts |
| 7 | 1 | Spades |
| 8 | 1 (blind) | Diamonds |
Bidding and the hook rule
Bidding starts with whoever sits to the dealer's left and goes clockwise, dealer last. Each bid is any whole number from 0 up to that round's card count. The one restriction — the hook rule — falls only on the dealer: their bid can never be the one value that would make everyone's bids add up to exactly the round's card count. Every other seat bids completely freely.
Playing tricks
Whoever sits left of the dealer leads the first trick; the winner of each trick leads the next. Follow the led suit if you hold it. If you don't, you may play a trump card to win the trick, or discard any other card. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick, unless a trump was played — then the highest trump wins.
The blind final round
Round 8 deals everyone their usual 1 card, face-down as always — but this time, nobody may look at it, including its own owner, until every player has bid. The instant the dealer's bid is accepted, every card turns face-up at once and the round's single trick is played immediately.
How scoring works
At the end of every round, your bid is compared to the tricks you actually won:
- Miss your bid, in either direction, and you score 0 for the round.
- Hit a bid of 0 or 1 exactly and you score a flat 10 points.
- Hit a bid of 2 or more exactly and you score 10 points for every trick bid (a bid of 4, made exactly, is 40 points).
Scores add up across all 8 rounds — nothing resets between rounds.
Winning the match
After round 8's single trick is scored, whoever holds the highest cumulative total wins. If two or more players are tied for the top score, they share the win.
Once the rhythm of shrinking hands and rotating trump clicks, the real skill is in bid accuracy. Head to the Judgement strategy guide next.