Play Back Alley Online
A Joker can do more than win a trick in the Back Alley card game. Lead the big blooper to pull each player's highest trump, or lead the little blooper to demand their lowest. Back Alley brings this partnership game to an illustrated courtyard table with a computer partner and two opponents. Play a complete twenty-six-deal match or twenty original open-hand studies, free online with no ads, account or download.
How to play Back Alley online
- Choose a full twenty-six-deal CPU match or an open-hand study.
- Bid once with your partner: Pass, a number, or Board for every trick.
- Follow suit, respect a led blooper’s high or low trump demand, and confirm each card.
- Continue through the match for the highest score, or reach the study’s additional-trick target.
Controls
Tap or click a card, then press Play card. For a numeric bid, use Lower bid and Higher bid, then Bid. Pass and Board have separate buttons. Arrow keys adjust the bid or focus cards; Enter or Space selects, B bids, A passes, G chooses Board and P plays. H gives a hint, U or Ctrl+Z undoes a study choice, and C continues after a deal. Keys 1–9 select hand positions; arrows reach later cards. Bids & scores opens the rules, bids and score history.
A tip before you start
A big blooper lead pulls your partner's highest trump too. Before using it, check whether that removes a card your team needs for a later trick. The little blooper usually draws low trumps, but a player whose only trump is the big blooper must play it and will beat you.
Four players and two very different Jokers
You sit opposite Partner, facing West and East. The deck has fifty-two ordinary cards and two distinguishable Jokers: the silver-blue little blooper, marked LB, and the coral-gold big blooper, marked BB. In trump, BB is highest, then LB, Ace, King, Queen, Jack and the numbered cards down to two. Ordinary suits also have Ace high. In a full match, the other three hands stay hidden and each computer chooses using only its own hand and public information.
The twenty-six-deal route
The first deal gives thirteen cards to each player. Hand size falls one card at a time to one, repeats the one-card deal, then rises to thirteen again. The dealer rotates clockwise. After dealing, the next undealt card names the trump suit. If that card is a Joker, the deal has no trumps; whoever was dealt the other Joker exchanges it for the next undealt card. The replacement stays hidden from the other players.
One bid each, with your partner's help
Bidding starts on the dealer's left. Each player chooses Pass, a number from one to one less than the hand size, or Board, which promises every trick. In a one-card deal, only Pass and Board are available. Numeric partner bids add together, and your team must take at least that many tricks. The sum can exceed the number available, so notice your partner's bid before making an ambitious promise. Four Passes throw in the hand: the next dealer deals the same size again, with no score change.
Board, double Board and the opening lead
Board overrides the other partner's numeric bid. Successive Board bids anywhere in the four-player auction become double, triple and quadruple Board. Each team uses its own highest multiplier when scoring. The last Board bidder leads first. If nobody bids Board, the first player who made the highest numeric bid leads. These are one-round bids, so you cannot return later to raise your partner's Board.
Following suit and breaking trump
Follow the led suit whenever your hand allows it; both bloopers belong to the trump suit. When you have none of the led suit, you may play any card without a compulsory trump or overtrump. The highest trump wins, or otherwise the highest card in the led suit. The winner leads next. Trump may normally be led only after a completed trick has contained trump, but a player who personally bid Board may lead it earlier. This table also allows an early trump lead when that player's hand contains only trumps, so the game can always continue. A partner's Board does not grant the same permission.
When high and low become compulsory
If BB is the first card in a trick, every other player must play their highest trump if they have one. If LB leads, each must instead play their lowest trump. Partner follows the same rule as either opponent. A player without trumps may discard anything. These special obligations apply only when the blooper leads; a Joker played second or later does not change the normal follow-suit requirement. The selected-card message explains which rule currently applies.
Reading the partnership score
A team that meets a numeric bid earns five points for each promised trick and one for each extra trick. Missing the target loses five points for every promised trick, regardless of how close the result was. A team with two Passes still earns one point per trick it captures. Board scores plus or minus ten times the hand size times that team's highest Board multiplier. For example, double Board in a five-card deal is worth one hundred points if all five tricks are won, and loses one hundred if any is missed. The highest cumulative score after twenty-six deals wins; this table treats equal totals as a shared win.
Twenty original studies with growing decisions
Study challenges disclose all four remaining hands from positions reached through legal play. Win the stated number of additional team tricks with optimal help from Partner against every opposing reply. The target concerns the remaining tricks, not the original bid or the match score. Across the sequence, your remaining hand grows from two to four cards, the number of consequential decisions increases, and required meaningful planning reaches three choices. Both high-blooper and low-blooper obligations appear. Two successful hints are available per study, and Undo restores your previous choice and all computer replies without refunding used hints.
A declared rules profile and a saved match
Back Alley has many local versions. This game uses four fixed partners, variable trump, both bloopers, the thirteen-down-and-up sequence and the Board multipliers described above. It does not add Boston, rainbow bonuses, blind bids, a poor-hand redeal or an exemption for Partner on a big-blooper lead. Full matches resume after reload when local storage is available. Study unlocks, best scores and sound are saved separately. Restart asks before repeating the initial deal sequence; New match starts a fresh one. Studies restart on reload. Loading and computer errors offer a retry.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a big and little blooper?
BB outranks every trump, while LB is second highest. When led, BB forces each other player's highest trump and LB forces their lowest. Neither obligation applies if that Joker is played later in the trick.
Must I take exactly the number I bid?
No. Your partnership tries to win at least its combined numeric bid. Extra tricks earn one point each. Board promises every trick, so a single lost trick defeats that contract.
Does my partner have to give up their highest trump?
Yes, when you lead BB in this version. Partner has the same highest-trump obligation as your opponents. A different house rule may exempt Partner, but that variation is not used here.
Why did my Joker disappear in a no-trump deal?
A Joker turned as the trump indicator makes the deal no-trump. If the other Joker was dealt, its holder exchanges it for the next undealt card before bidding. This leaves ordinary suited cards in the players' hands.
Can I play without downloading an app?
Yes. Back Alley runs on this page with a computer partner and opponents. Use touch, mouse or keyboard controls, and open Help or Bids & scores whenever you need a rule reminder. There is no account or download requirement.
Is this online multiplayer?
No. Full matches use three computer players. Study challenges reveal the remaining hands for practice; they do not expose opponents' cards in ordinary matches.
About Back Alley
A Joker can do more than win a trick in the Back Alley card game. Lead the big blooper to pull each player's highest trump, or lead the little blooper to demand their lowest. Back Alley brings this partnership game to an illustrated courtyard table with a computer partner and two opponents. Play a complete twenty-six-deal match or twenty original open-hand studies, free online with no ads, account or download.
Play this puzzle / casual game in the embedded browser player. No app installation or MangoFun account is required. Follow the instructions shown inside the game; controls and device support depend on the title.
