How Lothar plays
Every icon and surface of the game, briefly explained. Your reference for everything you see at the table.
Looking for the rules themselves? Right this way.
Reading the board
Skat has four suits: Diamonds, Hearts, Spades and Clubs. Each wears its own color here, so your hand reads at a glance. Spades glow green, after their German name, Grün.
Whatever is trump wears Royal Purple. As soon as the declaration stands, every trump card recolors: the Jack of ClubsJ, say, the highest trump in every suit game and in Grand.
On your turn, every card you may play right now lights up. Unplayable cards dim. You never need the rules for following suit by heart: the light shows what's allowed.
The glow behind each player zone shows the alliances: bright means you play on the same side, dark means the other side. Who currently belongs to whom, readable without a single badge.
King Lothar and Prince Stef are your two opponents at the table. The knight with the closed visor is you.
The start screen
Two games stand ready: classic Skat with bidding and declaration, and Ramsch, where everyone tries to collect as few Augen as possible. Each mode keeps its own run, so you can play both side by side.
The three-legged stool stands for a table: a multiplayer run with one or two friends. Any seat you don't fill, Lothar takes, for example when only one friend joins and the third seat stays open.
Into the fortress: the Play button starts a new run, or resumes the one in progress — a glowing mode card shows the next round waiting, and one click resumes right there. Closing the browser never ends a run: everything waits until you return.
With hints switched on, Lothar marks what he would play in your place, reasoning included. Made for learning, off whenever you like.
In Learning Mode every hint appears instantly, instead of after a short pause. Handy while you are still learning the game. It only takes effect while hints are switched on.
The leaderboard collects every player's best marks per mode: by net score, by most rounds, or by best net per round. You are on it as soon as you have played your first round.
Want the full story on how the ranking works? Right this way.
The merchant's scale stands for an average value everywhere, such as net score per round. You find it in the leaderboard detail and in your run stats at round end.
The merchant's weight stands for a bid: the number you named in the bidding, the weight you put on the scale, so to speak.
The strongbox stands for the game value: the prize the round is played over. If the declarer wins, it is added to their score; if they lose, they pay it twice over.
Every card that carries Augen shows them as a small tally arc; the Seven, Eight, and Nine carry none, so they show no arc. The same arc, cut loose, marks throughout the game: this number counts Augen.
In the menu you can switch between German and English at any time. Your choice is remembered for your next visit.
Bidding
A battle standard stands for a defender. Once a player wins the bidding, the two others' banners stand side by side: they now defend together.
When a standard topples, its player has passed: they bid no further and leave the field to the others.
The bidding is decided. The portcullis drops, and the winner's banner flies over the gatehouse: they are now the declarer.
Three roles that move on every round: the dealer hands out the cards, the player left of the dealer hears the first bid, and the remaining player says it. The icons show them as hand, ear and mouth.
The glass tiles are your voice in the bidding: the check bids on or holds a bid, the cross passes.
You can also leave the Skat untouched and play Hand. Its two cards still count for you at the end, and the game is worth more.
As declarer you announce what is played: a suit game, where one suit is trump, Grand, where only the four Jacks are trump (the upright chalice), or Null, where you may not win a single trick (the slashed zero). The fallen chalice stands for Ramsch: everyone passed, and it is each player for themselves.
Ouvert is the boldest declaration: you lay your whole hand open on the table, and everyone sees every card. In return the game is worth considerably more.
The counterpart to the Ouvert tile when declaring Null: your hand stays face down, as usual. The tile simply confirms the normal case.
During play
The glasses ask what Lothar would do in your place: his suggestion lights up, reasoning included. The real Lothar, by the way, wore glasses.
To play a card, simply tap it, or drag it into the trick at the center of the table. Both work the same.
The icons from the bidding, gatehouse and standards, rest under the trick slots as watermarks for the whole round. Who is declarer and who defends stays readable at all times.
The previous trick stays visible in miniature. A quick look tells you what just happened, without losing the thread.
Round end
The round ends as a small show: the forces muster, the Augen duel, the verdict falls. In a hurry, one click skips the show.
At the end of the show the declarer's fortress shows the result: it flies the pennant on a win, or crumbles to ruin on a loss.
A planted standard means won, a falling one means lost. These two marks mean the same everywhere in the game, from the round list to the stats.
Up to four buttons open the round's numbers: Details shows the full reckoning, History your run so far, Stats your record, Tricks the whole round again, trick by trick.
The menu & your games
Under Your games lies every stored run. Each round unfolds, down to the bidding and every single trick.
Through the gate and back to the start screen. Your run stays fully preserved: quitting is navigation, never surrender.