How Lothar plays
Every icon, every surface, explained short — your reference for the game.
Looking for the rules themselves? Right this way.
Reading the board
Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, Clubs — each its own color, so your hand reads at a glance. Green marks Spades, echoing the German "Grün."
A suit rising into Royal Purple is trump — the trump cards themselves recolor too.
Your turn: playable cards light up, illegal ones dim — no guessing what's allowed.
A bright glow behind a zone means an ally, dark means the other side — who's with whom, no badge needed.
King Lothar and Prince Stef are the two AI opponents; the Knight with the closed visor is you.
The start screen
Skat (classic, vs. two AIs) and Ramsch (everyone avoids tricks) — each keeps its own running session.
A glowing mode card resumes your run at the shown round — closing the browser never ends a run.
Enter the fortress — starts the run, or resumes it.
The hints toggle: the AI marks what it would play, with a reason.
Hints appear instantly instead of after a pause — needs Hints turned on.
High scores per mode — Net, Most rounds, Best net per round. You join it after your first round.
The merchant's scale marks averages — in the leaderboard detail here and in your run stats at round end.
The merchant's weight marks the bid — what you put on the scale in the auction.
The strongbox marks the game's worth — the prize the round was played over.
The cards' own tally arcs, cut loose — marking Augen wherever the count appears.
DE/EN switch, in the menu — remembers your choice for next time.
Bidding
The contested prize — whoever wins the bidding claims the fortress and plays alone.
A battle standard marks a defender — the two defenders' banners stand side by side.
A toppled standard means that player passed.
Bidding decided — the portcullis drops, the winner's banner flies: the declarer.
The dealer gives the cards, forehand hears the first bid, middlehand says it.
Accept a bid or pass — the glass tiles are your voice in the bidding.
Take the two Skat cards and discard two back — or…
…play Hand instead: the Skat stays down, and the game is worth more.
The declaration: a suit as trump, Grand (only Jacks are trump — the upright chalice), or Null (win no tricks — the slashed zero). The fallen chalice is Ramsch: everyone passed, nobody claimed the prize.
Ouvert: your hand lies face up on the table — the boldest declaration.
Null's counterpart tile — the hand stays face down.
Schneider (open scissors): the other side is held to 30 points or fewer. Schwarz (closed): not a single trick.
During play
Ask what Lothar sees: the AI's move lights up, with its reasoning — Lothar wore glasses.
Tap a card, or drag it into the trick.
The bidding icons rest under the trick slots for the whole round — who's who never disappears.
The previous trick stays visible in miniature — a quick check on what just happened.
Round end
The round settles as a small show: the forces muster, the Augen duel, the verdict falls — a click skips it.
The declarer's fortress flies the pennant on a win, or crumbles to ruin on a loss.
A planted standard means won, a falling one means lost — the same marks on every stat surface.
Details, History, Stats, Tricks — the round's math, your run so far, and the full trick-by-trick replay.
The menu & your games
The battlement button, top right on every screen — the game's menu.
Every warehoused run, each round open down to the bidding and every trick.
Leave through the gate — the run persists. Quitting is navigation, not surrender.