If you've spent any time in the card game aisle lately, you've probably seen the term "trick-taking" thrown around a lot — usually attached to something with a slick modern box and a title like The Crew or Skull King. It sounds like jargon, but it's actually one of the oldest and most quietly brilliant mechanics in all of gaming. Here's what it actually means, where it came from, and a few modern trick-takers worth adding to your collection.
What is a trick-taking game?
At its core, a trick-taking game is built around rounds called "tricks." Each player plays one card, everyone compares what landed on the table, and whoever played the strongest card wins the whole trick — cards and all. Do that enough times across a hand, and you've got a game.
The details are where it gets interesting. Most trick-taking games force you to "follow suit," meaning if a heart is led, you have to play a heart if you can. Many also have a trump suit that beats everything else, so a lowly trump card can steal a trick from an otherwise unbeatable hand. Layer bidding on top — guessing in advance how many tricks you'll win — and you've got a genre that's simple to explain in thirty seconds but takes a lifetime to get good at.
That mix of simple rules and deep decision-making is exactly why the mechanic has survived for five hundred years.
A short history of trick-taking games
Trick-taking is one of the oldest mechanics in card gaming, full stop. Its story really starts in early-1500s England, where a game called Triumph (yes — that's where the word "trump" comes from) evolved through a string of names: ruff, ruff and honours, whisk and swabbers, and eventually just whist by the 18th century. Whist exploded in popularity after Edmond Hoyle published A Short Treatise on Whist in 1742 — one of the first bestselling rulebooks in gaming history — and it went on to become the favourite pastime of the upper classes across Britain and North America for the next 150 years.
Whist eventually gave rise to Bridge, developed through a 19th-century variant called Biritch (or "Russian Whist") before settling into the contract bridge millions still play today. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Euchre emerged in the early 1800s, most likely descended from an old Alsatian game called Jucker. Hearts and Spades followed as more casual, kitchen-table cousins — no partnerships, no fuss, just cards and quick thinking.
For most of the 20th century, that was trick-taking's whole identity: a family of classic, slightly old-fashioned card games your grandparents played. Then, in 2019, everything changed.
The modern hobby revival
Designer Thomas Sing released The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine — a cooperative trick-taking game where players work together to win specific tricks as a team, with almost no talking allowed. It won Kennerspiel des Jahres (Germany's "connoisseur game of the year") in 2020, and it did something nobody expected: it made trick-taking feel brand new again.
Since then, designers have been having a field day with the format. The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game takes the same "no communication" tension and wraps it in Tolkien's story and gorgeous stained-glass art. Skull King turns trick-taking into a swashbuckling family bidding game. Fox in the Forest strips it down to a gorgeous two-player-only duel. What was once a genre for four people around a card table on a Sunday afternoon is now one of the most inventive corners of modern board gaming.
Trick-taking games worth trying
If you're new to the genre, here's where we'd point you — all in stock now:
- The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine — the game that started the modern revival. Cooperative, no talking, endlessly replayable across 50 missions.
- The Crew: Mission Deep Sea — the sequel, and the one we'd actually hand a newcomer. Flexible objectives make every mission feel different.
- The Crew: Journey to the Ends of the Earth — the third campaign, for crews who've already been to space and the seabed.
- The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game — the same "say nothing, trust your team" tension, set across eighteen chapters of the novel.
- Skull King — pirates, bidding, and just enough chaos to make it a genuine family favourite.
- Fox in the Forest — a beautifully illustrated two-player trick-taker, perfect for date night or a quiet Tuesday.
Come say trumps
Trick-taking has been getting people around a table for five hundred years, and honestly, it's not hard to see why — it's quick to learn, endlessly replayable, and there's nothing quite like the moment you slap down a trump card at exactly the right time. Whether you want the classic feel of a well-worn deck or one of the modern hobby reinventions, we've got a shelf of trick-takers waiting for you to try.
Free click & collect from DFO Jindalee, or we'll post anywhere in Australia.
We believe the best moments happen around a table — and honestly, a lot of the best ones start with someone winning a trick they had no business winning.
Photo by Firas Wardhana on Unsplash