Batak

Batak is the Turkish trick-taking card game, played here on a warm salon table with tulip glasses of çay on the rail, real-feeling cards on felt and three regulars around you. You bid, name the trump (koz) and try to take at least as many tricks as you promised, or play defence and make the bidder go down (batık).

There are five ways to play. İhaleli Batak is the four-player auction game: whoever bids the most tricks names the trump. Eşli Batak is two against two with your partner across the table. Koz Maça Batak has no auction: spades are always trump and everyone declares their tricks. In Açık Koz Batak the dealer's last card is turned up and its suit is trump. In 3-player Gömmeli Batak everyone gets 16 cards, and the bid winner takes the four-card gömü and buries four before naming trump. A rules page explains each mode, and house rules can be switched on or off: minimum bid, yükseltme (overtaking), forced trumping, when trump may be led, what happens if all pass, and scoring.

The career has 120 tables in eight venues of 15, from a corner kahve in Bursa to a Bosphorus yalı, a ferry saloon, a stone mansion in Mardin and a cave hotel in Cappadocia. Each venue brings a new mode or rule twist, tables 5 and 10 are challenges such as setting the bidder or making a big contract, and table 15 is a final against the venue's champion. Tables cost a chip buy-in, and stars reward winning, winning by a margin and never going down. Opponents come in three levels: Novice, Regular and Sharp. Sharp players count cards, track which suits each player is out of and play out possible hands before choosing a card.

Some advice for newer players: turn on the bid and trump helper, which estimates how many tricks your hand is worth; remember that under the default rules trump cannot be led until it has been broken; keep track of the high cards that have fallen; and in Eşli Batak you never have to outbid your own partner. Hints highlight a good card, the last trick can be reviewed at any time, and one-tap play and three game speeds let you set the pace.

A Daily Table with a win streak, Quick Play with any rules, card backs, felts, avatars and achievements round it out. Signed-in players can join online İhaleli, Eşli or Gömmeli tables through quick match or a private room code; bots fill empty seats and take over if someone leaves, and chat uses preset phrases only. Batak works on desktop, phones and tablets with mouse, keyboard or touch.

After the deal comes the bidding. The highest bidder names trumps and leads the first card. You must follow the suit that was led; if you have none, you must play a trump. By default, trumps cannot be led until koz has been broken. If the bidder takes the tricks they promised, they score; if not, they go batık.

Work through the career, set any rules in quick play, keep a streak at the daily table, or play online: İhaleli Batak (4 players), Eşli Batak (2 vs 2) and 3-player Gömmeli Batak. Card backs, felts, avatars and achievements keep the table open.