A
trick-taking game is a
card game or
tile-based game in which play of a "hand" centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called
tricks, which are each evaluated to determine a winner or "taker" of that trick. The object of such games then may be closely tied to the number of tricks taken, as in
plain-trick games such as
Whist,
Contract Bridge,
Spades,
Napoleon,
Euchre, Rowboat, and
Spoil Five, or on the value of the cards contained in taken tricks, as in
point-trick games such as
Pinochle, the
Tarot family,
Rook,
All Fours,
Manille,
Briscola, and most "evasion" games like
Hearts. The domino game
Texas 42 is an example of a trick-taking game that is not a card game.