Up and Down the River

Four players each play for themselves over 13 rounds. The number of cards dealt goes down the river and back again: 7 in the first round, then 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, then back up to 7. After each deal the next card is turned face up, and its suit is trump for that round.

Starting with the player to the dealer's left, everyone bids exactly how many tricks they expect to take, from zero up to the number of cards in their hand. The dealer bids last and is not allowed to make the bids add up to the number of tricks available, so at least one player must fail every round.

The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick. Follow suit if you can. If you can't, you may play any card, and you never have to trump. The highest trump wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led. Aces are high.

• Take exactly the number of tricks you bid: score 10 points plus 1 for every trick.
• Take more or fewer than you bid, even by one: score nothing that round.
• After 13 rounds, the player with the highest total wins.

• Desktop: click a number to bid, then click a highlighted card in your hand to play it.
• Phone & tablet: tap a number to bid and tap a card to play it. Cards you can't legally play are dimmed.
• The dealer's forbidden bid is greyed out automatically, and your trumps are outlined in gold.

• Daily: everyone gets the same 13 deals each day, so you can compare scores.
• New Game: a fresh random game against three CPU players.

• Bidding zero is often the best bid in the small rounds. Keep low cards so you can duck under everyone else.
• In long hands, side-suit aces get trumped more often than you'd expect. Count them as a little less than a trick.
• Once you have made your bid, stop winning. Play the highest card that still loses, so you aren't forced to win later.
• Watch the total of the bids. If it's well over the number of tricks, everyone is fighting, and your high cards may not be enough. If it's under, tricks will be pushed onto someone.
• The dealer's hook matters most in the one-card round. Think about what everyone else's bids leave you.

The game is usually called Oh Hell, and it is of British origin. Its rules were first described by B. C. Westall around 1930, under the name "oh! well". It was said to have reached America through the New York clubs in 1931.

Hubert Phillips kept the rules in print until at least 1976, and he and Westall called it "one of the best round games". They noted that it appealed not only to expert players but also to beginners and youngsters, because its rules are so simple.

Few card games have collected as many names. Besides oh hell and up and down the river, it is known as blackout, blob, bust, elevator, jungle bridge, contract whist, nomination whist, oh pshaw and oh heck. In Pakistan it is called 765. This version takes its name from the way the hands shrink and grow, round by round.

Up and Down the River is a free browser version of a traditional British trick-taking game, with CPU players, a new daily deal every day and online leaderboards. There's nothing to download and no sign-up.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.