Thaas — Pure Trick-Taking Online

What is Thaas?

Thaas (Dhivehi: ތާސް) is a partnership trick-taking card game for four players, played with a standard 52-card deck. It is a close sibling of Dhihaeh (Dehla Pakad / Mendikot) — the deal, the trick play, and the hukum (trump suit) rules are identical — but with a simpler, purer objective.

In Thaas there are no prize cards. The four tens carry no special weight. Instead, every hand (trick) — each round of four cards played to the centre — counts equally toward the total of 13. The team that wins the most hands wins the deal.

Because 13 is odd, a deal can never end in a tie. A match plays a set number of deals (best-of 1, 3, 5, or 7); the team that wins more deals takes the match — unless one side achieves a sweep first (see below).

How to play

Setup and deal

The full 52-card deck is dealt evenly — 13 cards to each player. Aces are high (A K Q J 10 ... 2). The player to the left of the dealer leads the first hand. Whoever wins a hand leads the next.

The hukum (trump suit)

The trump suit — the hukum — determines which cards can beat any other suit. In the default implicit rule, there is no hukum at the start of a deal. The first time a player cannot follow the suit that was led, the suit of the card they play becomes the hukum for the rest of that deal.

Variant rules are also available: declared (a player names the hukum openly before play begins), hidden (a random set-aside card determines the hukum, revealed only when the first void occurs), and no-trump (no hukum at all — the led suit always wins).

Playing a hand (trick)

Each hand consists of four cards, one from each player in turn. The leader plays any card; subsequent players must follow suit if they can. If they cannot, they may play any card — potentially setting or using the hukum. The highest card of the led suit wins the hand, unless a hukum card was played, in which case the highest hukum card wins. The winner leads the next hand.

Winning a deal — most of 13 hands

The team that takes the majority of the 13 hands wins the deal. Once one team reaches 7 hands, the opponents cannot catch up — the deal ends and the cards are thrown in. There is no early lock if a sweep is still possible (see below): in that case, play continues to its natural conclusion.

The sweep — the one special outcome

If one team has won every hand so far and the opponents hold none, the deal plays on past the 7-hand lock in chase of a sweep: winning all 13 hands. A sweep wins the entire match on the spot, regardless of the current deal score. The moment the opponents win a single hand the sweep is dead, and the deal is decided by the normal majority.

There is no middle tier in Thaas — unlike Dhihaeh (which has a "Bang" for capturing all four tens and a "Big Bang" for the full sweep), Thaas has only the one sweep, because there are no tens to capture.

Match scoring

Play a single deal, or best-of 3, 5, or 7 (chosen at setup). A sweep ends the match on the spot — the sweeping team wins instantly, regardless of the current deal count. If no sweep occurs, the team that wins more deals takes the match. The next deal's lead comes from the winning team.

Ways to play

• Solo vs computer bots — four difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Ultra (a Monte Carlo tree-search AI with endgame solving).
• Online with friends — create a room and share the invite link. Up to four human players; bots fill any empty seats.
• Any device — works in the browser on phone, tablet, or desktop. Installable as a PWA for an app-like experience.
• Free — no cost, no in-game purchases, no ads during play.

More games on THAASBAI