What Is German Whist?
German Whist is a clever two-player trick-taking game with two completely different phases. In the first phase, you play tricks not to score points but to WIN CARDS from a face-up deck — building the best possible hand for Phase 2. In the second phase, you play 13 tricks with your rebuilt hands, and whoever wins more tricks wins the game. Because you can see what cards are available in Phase 1, the strategic choices about which tricks to win — and which to deliberately lose — are fascinating.
What You Need
- One standard deck of 52 playing cards
- Exactly two players
Setting Up the Game
- Deal 13 cards to each player.
- Place the remaining 26 cards face-down as the stock pile.
- Flip the top card of the stock face-up and place it next to the stock where both players can see it. This card’s suit is the trump suit for the entire game. The winner of the first trick will receive this face-up card.
Phase 1 — Building Your Hand (13 Tricks)
In Phase 1, the goal is not to win the most tricks — it is to win the RIGHT tricks. The winner of each trick gets to take the face-up card showing on top of the stock. The loser of each trick draws the next card from the face-down stock (unknown).
- The non-dealer leads any card face-up.
- The other player must follow suit if they have a card of the led suit. If not, they may play any card including trump.
- The highest trump wins if any trump was played. If not, the highest card of the led suit wins.
- The winner of the trick takes the FACE-UP card from the top of the stock into their hand. The loser draws the top FACE-DOWN card from the stock — they don’t know what it is until they pick it up.
- After both players draw their replacement cards, flip the next stock card face-up for the following trick.
- The winner of the trick leads the next one.
- Continue until the stock is empty after 13 tricks. Each player still holds 13 cards.
The Key Strategic Decision
Before playing each trick, look at the face-up card. Ask yourself: do I want that card? If the face-up card is an Ace of trump, winning this trick is extremely valuable. If it is a low card you don’t need, deliberately losing the trick might be better — letting your opponent take a useless card while you draw from the unknown face-down stock.
Phase 2 — The Battle (13 Tricks)
Now both players have rebuilt 13-card hands. The same trump suit applies. Play 13 standard tricks — follow suit if you can, trump if you cannot follow suit, highest card wins. No more drawing. Count your tricks.
Winning
The player who wins more than 6 tricks in Phase 2 wins the game. Keep a running score across multiple games if desired.
Tips for New Players
- In Phase 1, winning a trick is only worthwhile if the face-up card is genuinely useful — an Ace, a high trump, or a card that pairs well with cards already in your hand.
- Remember what your opponent won in Phase 1 — if they grabbed the Ace of trump, you know they have it in Phase 2.
- Lead trump early in Phase 2 to pull out your opponent’s trump cards and protect your side-suit Aces.