For two
Schnapsen
The classic for two, against the computer or a friend: win tricks, collect card points, and be first to 66.
Bauernschnapsen and Schnapsen online: Two games, one deck
Schnapsen and Bauernschnapsen, the card games of every Austrian Wirtshaus, with the classic William Tell cards. Free against the computer, and online with friends, family or players from anywhere.
Free in your browser, no download needed. The apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV are coming soon.
For four
Bauernschnapsen
You and your partner against two: call trump, win tricks together and reach 66, or announce a higher game for more points. The computer fills any empty seat.
- BrowserNow
- iPhoneSoon
- iPadSoon
- MacSoon
- Apple TVSoon
Free and Premium
Free to play, on every screen
Play the computer as much as you like, for free. To take a seat at an online table, all you need is a free account. Starting an online game takes Premium, a low-cost subscription.
Free
Against the computer
€0 no account needed
- Both games, as often as you like
- Three levels: Easy, Medium and Hard
- Computer players with Austrian voices
- No ads and no tracking
- Join a friend’s online game with a free account
Premium
Online with everyone
€2.99 a month, or €29.99 a year
- Open a table for friends and family with a code
- Play with anyone: a table with players from anywhere
- Open the Apple TV’s table for the whole room
- A week free to try, and Family Sharing
- Your friends join your table free
Premium is bought in the apps, which are coming soon, and works on the website too once you sign in with the same account. Prices in euros; elsewhere the App Store shows your local price.
The Apple TV table
The TV is the table
Everyone sees the table on the big screen, and each player holds their cards on their own phone. Play in the same room, or with family on the other side of the world.
Anna
Ben
Franz
Oma
CodeKARTE
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Open a table on the TV
Choose Play now, a game, then Play with friends. The TV shows a code and a QR code.
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Sit down with your phone
In the room, scan the QR code with your phone’s camera, or find the TV in the app on the same Wi-Fi. Far away, type the code in the app or at bauernschnapsen.online/play. It works from anywhere.
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Play your cards
Tap a card on your phone and it lands on the TV. Up to four players in Bauernschnapsen, two in Schnapsen, and the computer takes any empty seat.
On your own, the Siri Remote is your hand: swipe to choose a card, press to play it. The Apple TV app is coming soon.
Every device
Pick up the cards anywhere
Both games, the same rules and the same cards on every device, and everyone plays at the same tables.
In your browser
Free, nothing to install
- Any phone, tablet or computer: Safari, Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
- Against the computer, you keep playing even if your connection drops.
- Add it to your Home Screen and it opens full screen, like an app.
- At an Apple TV, your phone becomes your hand of cards: just scan the QR code on the TV.
iPhone
The app, free to download
- Made for one-handed play: your cards in a fan. Tap a card to play it, or drag it onto the table.
- Play the computer anywhere, no internet needed.
- At an Apple TV, your iPhone becomes your hand of cards.
- Names, settings and results follow you through iCloud.
Coming soon to the App Store
iPad
The same app
- A big table: bigger cards, the tricks you win laid out beside you, and score bars down the sides in landscape.
- Portrait or landscape, with touch, a keyboard or a trackpad.
Coming soon to the App Store
Mac
The same app, free to download
- A window you can size as you like, up to full screen.
- Keys 1 to 5 play your cards, Esc opens the menu, and the menu bar has every command.
Coming soon to the Mac App Store
Apple TV
The table for the whole room
- On your own: play the computer with the Siri Remote.
- With friends: the TV shows the table, everyone holds their cards on their own phone.
- With anyone: you and the Siri Remote at a table online, with players from anywhere.
- Score bars down both edges, so the room can follow the race to 66.
Coming soon to the App Store on Apple TV
Compare every device
| Feature | Browser | iPhone | iPad | Mac | Apple TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bauernschnapsen and Schnapsen | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Play the computer | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Works offline | ✓while open | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Friends by code | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Play with anyone | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hand of cards at an Apple TV | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Buy Premium | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sync through iCloud | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Music | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| English and German | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Playing together
Friends, family or anyone
Three ways to a table. Browser or app, everyone sits at the same table, and the computer takes any empty seat.
1
By code, from anywhere
Tap Play online, then Start a table for friends: you get a code of five letters. Friends tap Play online, then Join with a code, in the app or at bauernschnapsen.online/play, and type in the code.
Both games · every device
2
At the Apple TV
The TV shows the table for the whole room, and everyone plays their cards on their own phone, from the sofa or from another country.
Both games · the TV and your phones
3
With anyone, online
Tap Play online, then Play with anyone. The server finds you a table with players from anywhere and runs it, so nobody can see your cards or cheat. Everyone plays under a name the game gives them, for one Bummerl.
Both games · every device
No chat, and no strangers at a table with friends: only people with your code, or on your Wi-Fi at the Apple TV, can join. Everyone at an online table needs a free account; whoever opens the table needs Premium. Playing the computer needs neither. Won matches count on the leaderboard.
How it’s played
Bauernschnapsen in four steps
Two against two, partners sitting opposite. 20 cards, five each, every one of them dealt.
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Three, then two
Everyone gets three cards, then two more. The forehand (Vorhand), the player after the dealer, calls trump after seeing only the first three. Or they say “Auf”: their next card is turned up, and its suit is trump.
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Bid higher
Once all five cards are dealt, anyone may announce a higher game, and the called suit stays trump. Bidding goes round until it comes back to whoever holds the highest game.
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Spritzer and Retour
Before the first card is played, an opponent of the caller may say “Spritzer” to double the game. The caller’s side may answer “Retour” and double it again.
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Play to 66
Follow suit and beat the trick if you can. With none of the suit, you must trump, and overtrump if you can. The highest trump takes the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led. In the normal game, your team plays for 66 card points.
- 11Ass
- 10Zehn
- 4König
- 3Ober
- 2Unter
Card points
The cards also rank in this order, so a Zehn beats a König. 120 in the deck. In the normal game your team needs 66; if nobody gets there, the last trick wins.
20
Marriages
König and Ober of one suit: announce 20, or 40 in trump, as you lead one of them. It counts once your team has a trick. Only in the normal game, and for whoever plays a Schnapser.
The Bummerl
Every hand scores game points for one side. The first team to 24 wins, and the losers get the Bummerl. Win two Bummerl and you win the match.
The contracts
From Rufer to Bauer
The Rufer is the normal game; the others are harder and score more. Lowest to highest, with what each one is worth.
- “Spritzer” doubles a contract, “Retour” doubles it again. A Farbringerl always counts 24.
- Alone means you take the tricks yourself. Your partner still plays and helps you, except in a Bettler.
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Rufer the normal game
Call trump and play to 66 with your partner. 2 points if the other side stays under 33 (Schneider), 3 if they take no trick (Schwarz).
1up to 31 point, up to 3
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Bettler
No trump, and you must not take a single trick. Your partner sits out; the hand is played three-handed.
5points
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Schnapser
Only the forehand may call it. Win the first three tricks alone and reach 66 in them.
6points
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Gangl
No trump. Win all five tricks alone.
9points
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Zehnerloch
No trump, and the Ass ranks lowest: Zehn, König, Ober, Unter, then Ass. Win all five tricks alone.
10points
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Bauer
A Gangl with trump: the called suit stays trump. Win all five tricks alone.
12points
Farbringerl not a contract
All five cards of one suit. Shown as soon as all the cards are dealt, it ends the hand and decides the Bummerl.
24points
How it’s played
Schnapsen for two
The classic Austrian game for two, against the computer or a friend: draw from the talon, announce 20 and 40, and be first to 66.
10 cards
Exchange Unter
- The talon
- The talon is the face-down pile lying across the trump card. While it is open, each of you draws a card after every trick, and nobody has to follow suit. When you lead, you may exchange the trump Unter for the trump card.
- Close it
- Sure of 66 with the cards in your hand? Close the talon when you lead: nobody draws any more, and from then on you must follow suit and beat the card if you can; with none of its suit, you must trump. If you miss 66, your opponent scores 2 or 3.
- First to 7
- Both start at 0, and each deal you win scores 1, 2 or 3 points. First to 7 wins; the other gets the Bummerl. Win two Bummerl and you win the match. Still on 0 at the end? That is a Schneiderbummerl, and it counts as two.
The deck
The William Tell pattern
The Doppeldeutsche cards of Austrian tables, from a classic deck scanned in fine detail, with clean new suit signs. Both games use four suits of five cards: Ass, Zehn, König, Ober and Unter. Each Ass carries a season, and each Ober and Unter the name of a character from the William Tell story.
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Herz
Spring
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Schelle
Summer
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Blatt
Autumn
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Eichel
Winter
Why a heart, a bell, an acorn and a leaf, and why William Tell? Read the history of the game and its cards.
Good to know
A Wirtshaus table in your pocket
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English and German
In English or Austrian German, and you can switch at any time.
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Works offline
Against the computer, you keep playing even if your connection drops.
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No ads, no tracking
Playing the computer needs no account. Without one, your matches, names and settings stay on your device.
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Full screen on your phone
Open the game and add it to your Home Screen: it opens full screen, like an app.
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Players with voices
Hansi is your partner, Franz and Mitzi play against you (you can rename them), and all three call out in Austrian German.
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A piece of Austria
This project wants to keep these games and their cards alive. Read where they come from.
Questions
Questions and answers
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What is Bauernschnapsen?
The Austrian card game for four: you and your partner against two, with 20 William Tell cards. The forehand calls trump, anyone may announce a higher game, and in the normal game your team plays for 66 card points. The first team to 24 game points wins; the losers get the Bummerl.
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How is Schnapsen different from Bauernschnapsen?
Schnapsen is for two: while the talon is open, each of you draws a card after every trick, and the first to 7 game points wins. Bauernschnapsen is for four, two against two: all 20 cards are dealt, the forehand calls trump, higher games can be announced, and the first team to 24 wins. Both use the same cards and the race to 66.
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Can I play Schnapsen against the computer?
Yes, for free: Schnapsen for two and Bauernschnapsen for four against the computer, in your browser, as often as you like, on Easy, Medium or Hard. No account and no download.
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Is it free?
Playing the computer is free. Joining a friend’s online game is free too, with a free account. Starting an online game takes Premium, a low-cost subscription.
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Do I need an account?
Not to play the computer. Everyone at an online table needs a free account.
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Can I play with friends online?
Yes. Open a table and you get a code of five letters. Your friends type it in at bauernschnapsen.online/play, wherever they are, and the computer takes any empty seat. Or play with anyone: the server finds you a table with players from anywhere.
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Is there a Bauernschnapsen app?
The apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV are coming soon. Until then, play in your browser: add the game to your Home Screen and it opens full screen, like an app.
Pull up a chair
The cards are shuffled. Free in your browser, on any phone or computer.