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Friendly cartoon kids playing contract bridge at a warm green card table, holding fans of cards, a few cards played in the middle

DealTales

Learn contract bridge the way partners really learn it — as a conversation. Bid with your partner, play out the tricks, and read the cards like a story.

Play MiniBridge Learn to play
Level 1

Start here

Play MiniBridge The simplest way in — see both hands, count the points, find your fit, pick the contract. Predict the Trick Call who wins the trick — or whether the finesse works — BEFORE the reveal, then find out why. Card Table — Win the Trick A trick is in progress and you play last. Tap the card that wins — follow suit, trump when you can. Learn to Play — First Tricks Four short steps on real cards — the trick, following suit, the high card, and trumps. Nothing timed.
Brain Break Take a quiet moment between deals — a fun riddle or a short breather. Brain breaks help you remember what you learn.

All activities

All activities

Play bridge

MiniBridge — Pick the Contract See both hands, count the points, find your fit and choose the contract — no auction yet. Start here. Bidding Conversation Your partner is waiting — count your hand and choose the opening call. The bidding is how partners talk. Card Table — Win the Trick A trick is in progress and you play last. Tap the card that wins it — following suit and trumping when you can. Predict the Trick Call who takes the trick — or whether the finesse works — BEFORE the reveal, then find out why. A guess is the point. Play It Out — the whole hand A contract is set — now play all five tricks. Steer declarer’s two hands (South + dummy) and make the contract. The next step after picking the contract.

More card games

Hearts Play Hearts against three friends — follow suit, dodge every heart and the Q♠, or dare to shoot the moon. Spades Partnership Spades — bid what you can take with your partner, then deliver it. Spades are trump. Gin Rummy Build sets and runs, cut your deadwood, and knock. See the groups form as you draw and discard. Eights (shedding) Match by suit or number, play wild eights, and be first to empty your hand — the Crazy-Eights family. Little Cards (ages 6–8) A gentle, audio-first first taste of card games for younger players — reading a card and matching it by its number or its suit. Big cards, read aloud.

Learn & practice

Learn to Play — First Tricks Four short steps on real cards — the trick, following suit, the high card, and trumps — with a drill at the end. Mixed Practice A short round across the kits you have played — brought back, spaced so it sticks. Quick round — a calm sprint Quick recall of kits you have mastered. Self-paced; turn on a timer only if you want one. Tactics Sharpen the play — finesses, counting, and reading the cards, one crisp puzzle at a time. Trick Questions Brain-teasers with a twist — spot why the obvious answer is a trap. Teach the Cast Teach a bridge idea to a cast member still learning it — teaching makes it stick.

Play together

Deal Duel 2–4 players take turns on one device — same questions for everyone, highest first-try score wins. Deal Quest — follow the map A progression trail through every kit. Clear each stop of real practice, then move on. Progress Your levels, days active, and how each skill area is coming along — saved on this device.
Concept Kits — 16 kits from the first trick to slam judgment

From the deck and the first trick up through squeezes and slam judgment — a short round of questions with a hint whenever you get stuck. Progress stays on this device.

Kit 1: The Deck, Suits & Ranks Bridge Basics · grades gr4-5 · 25 questions Kit 2: Tricks & Trick-Taking Card Play · grades gr4-5 · 25 questions Kit 3: The Trump Suit Card Play · grades gr4-5 · 25 questions Kit 4: Counting High-Card Points The Auction · grades gr5-6 · 25 questions Kit 5: The Auction: Opening Bids The Auction · grades gr5-6 · 25 questions Kit 6: Responding to Partner The Auction · grades gr5-6 · 25 questions Kit 7: Suit Contracts vs Notrump The Auction · grades gr6-7 · 25 questions Kit 8: Scoring: Games & Slams Scoring · grades gr6-7 · 25 questions Kit 9: Declarer Play: Making a Plan Card Play · grades gr6-7 · 25 questions Kit 10: The Finesse Card Play · grades gr6-7 · 25 questions Kit 11: Establishing Long Suits Card Play · grades gr7-8 · 25 questions Kit 12: Defense: Leads & Signals Card Play · grades gr7-8 · 25 questions Kit 13: Squeezes & End Plays Card Play · grades gr7-8 · 25 questions Kit 14: Bidding Conventions The Auction · grades gr7-8 · 25 questions Kit 15: Slam Bidding & Judgment Scoring · grades gr7-8 · 25 questions Kit 16: Putting It Together Bridge Basics · grades gr7-8 · 25 questions

Cast, stories & more

More ways to play

Quiz Arena Deal Run Collect the Set
Where this game comes from

Playing cards

Playing cards reached Europe in the 1370s from the Islamic world. The four suits most of us use now, hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades, were first used in France around 1480, simplified from German suit signs.

One thing to hold: The first European packs had cups, coins, swords and batons as their suits, and Italian and Spanish packs still do. The French shapes were simple enough to print with a stencil, which made packs cheaper.

Why it matters: The French suits grew from German ones, not straight from the cups-and-swords packs, but card players still pair them by tradition: cups with hearts, coins with diamonds, batons with clubs and swords with spades.

What we don’t know: How cards travelled to the Islamic world from China, where paper cards were first made, is not fully known.

Sources: David Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (1990)

Hearts

Hearts is a trick-taking game where you try NOT to take certain cards. It grew from older games of the same kind, such as Reversis; its modern form settled in America in the late 1800s.

One thing to hold: The queen of spades, the one card nobody wants.

Why it matters: Winning a trick is usually good; in Hearts it can be bad. Thinking about which tricks you want is the skill.

Sources: David Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (1990)

Spades

Spades was invented in the United States in the 1930s. For a long time it was little known elsewhere, except in places where American soldiers were stationed.

One thing to hold: The bid: before a card is played, each player says how many tricks they will take, and partners add their bids together.

Why it matters: You promise, then you keep the promise. Counting your likely tricks before you play is the same skill a bridge player uses.

Sources: John McLeod, pagat.com, “Spades”

DealTales mascot

Meet the cast — the characters who teach this

Each one stands for an idea you’ll practice. Tap a character to read their illustrated story and hear their audio drama.

Ensemble stories — the cast together

Explore all the stories →

What next? Pick a door

Chosen from what this app is about. What you open is remembered on this device only.

📚 Books for DealTales

Read the story, print a workbook, or color the cast — free PDFs to read offline or print at home.

Browse all books →

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