How do I...?

Short, step-by-step answers to the questions people ask most. They are the same answers the Game Assistant gives when you press Help.

Anybody may read every answer here. The ones marked For members are about things you do once you are signed in as a member. Click or tap a question to read the answer.

Getting in, and your account

  • Ask for an invite
    1. Press Login at the top of any page.
    2. Press Ask for an invite under the sign-in box.
    3. Fill in your name, email, phone number and address. Every box is needed.
    4. Press Send my request.
    5. Wait for an email. The fella who runs the place looks over every request himself.
    6. Open the link in that email to choose your password, then sign in.
    • Know somebody who plays here already? Asking them to send you an invite is quicker.
    • Nobody is emailed until the request is approved, so a quiet inbox is normal for a few days.
    • Your phone number and address are seen only by the people who run the site, never by other players.
    • Nothing here costs anything, and there is nothing to buy.
    • The old Register page normally says it's invite only. When it's open, it makes an account that waits to be looked over.

    More on its own page

  • Closing your account, or clearing your phone and address For members
    1. Open the Contact page from the bottom of any page.
    2. Write that you'd like your account closed, or your phone number and address cleared.
    3. Press Send my message.
    4. Wait for an answer at the email address you gave.
    • There's no button to close your own account yet, so a person does it for you.
    • What was said in a table's chat stays on record after an account closes, as the Terms page explains.
  • Invite a friend to NewfieCards For members
    1. Open the menu under your name and pick Invite a friend.
    2. Type your friend's email address and send it.
    3. Tell them to watch for an email with a link. It works once, and for 14 days.
    4. Wait for them to fill in their details. Someone here looks over every new member, and they get an email when they're in.
    5. Changed your mind? Take back any invite that hasn't been used, from the list on the same page.
    • You can send 3 invites a day.
    • Somebody already on the site can't be invited again. If you meant your table, see "Invite someone to your table".
    • Their link expired? Send them a fresh one from the same page.
  • My account is waiting for approval
    1. Sit tight. Your account is on the list, and the fella who runs the place looks over every new player himself.
    2. Watch your email. You'll hear when you're let in.
    3. Sign in with the username and password you chose once you're approved.
    4. Waiting more than a couple of days? Ask whoever invited you to give him a nudge.
    5. Don't know anybody here? Write to us on the Contact page, linked at the bottom of every page.
    • Signing in before you're approved just brings you back to the waiting page. Nothing is wrong.
    • You can still reset a forgotten password while you wait.
    • The Roadmap, the rules pages and the Tokens page are open to you meanwhile.

    More on its own page

  • Profile settings: the three of a kind rule and the drumpf name switch For members
    1. Open the menu under your username and pick Settings.
    2. Tick the three of a kind box under House rules if you'd like it to score 30½ at Scat.
    3. Untick the box under What you see if you'd rather read drumpf on your screen.
    4. Press Save settings.
    • The three of a kind rule only counts in a game where every person at the table has it ticked. Computer players have no say.
    • It's settled when the cards are dealt, so a change never touches a game already going.
    • The drumpf switch changes only your own screen. Everybody else sees what their own setting says.
    • A table you already have open changes when you reload it.
  • Signing in, and a forgotten password
    1. Press Login at the top of any page.
    2. Type your Username and Password, and press Login.
    3. Forgot your password? Press Forgot Password? under the box.
    4. Type the email address on your account, and press Send the link.
    5. Open the email we send and follow its link.
    6. Type your new password twice, and press Save my new password.
    7. Sign in with the new password straight away.
    • Too many wrong tries pauses your connection for a short spell. It never locks your account, and Forgot Password? keeps working.
    • A reset link works once and runs out after a while. Ask for a fresh one if it has.
    • No email? Look in the junk folder. The page reads the same whether or not the address is on file, on purpose.
    • An account still waiting for approval can reset its password, but can't sign in until it's let in.

    More on its own page

  • Signing out For members
    1. Open the menu under your username at the top right.
    2. Press Logout at the bottom of it.
    • Closing the tab or leaving a page doesn't sign you out.
    • Signing out in the middle of a game is treated like a dropped connection: your seat waits for you.
    • A NewfieCards icon on your Home Screen keeps its own sign-in, apart from your browser's.
  • Times are shown in your own time zone
    1. Read any time on the site as your own local time. Your phone or computer's clock decides it.
    2. Look for the zone name beside a time, such as NDT or PDT, if you're not sure.
    3. Hold the pointer over a date, or over something like 3 minutes ago, to see the exact moment.
    4. Check your device's time zone setting if a time still looks wrong.
    • A game scheduled for later shows your own time on its page. Its emails name the host's time zone instead.
    • Roadmap dates are days, not moments, so they aren't changed.
  • What NewfieCards is, and who it's for
    1. Open the front page to see every game you can play here, and which ones are still new.
    2. Press About in the top menu for the story behind the site.
    3. Read the rules of any game from the Games menu, signed in or not.
    4. Ask for an invite if you'd like to pull up a chair. Nobody signs up off the street.
    • NewfieCards is a small, invite-only place for the old Newfoundland card games, played against computer players or with family and friends far away.
    • Each computer player honours a real person who once sat around a family's kitchen table.
    • Playing costs nothing today.
    • Players Online on the front page counts the people signed in whose page checked in within the last 2½ minutes. Computer players never count, and neither do visitors.

    More on its own page

  • Why drumpf cards are renamed, and how to switch it off
    1. Press About in the top menu and read its section on the name. Every renamed word links there too.
    2. Open Settings from the menu under your username to switch it off.
    3. Untick the box under What you see, and press Save settings.
    • It's on for everybody to start with, signed in or not.
    • It only changes the words on your screen, never how a game plays.
    • What people type in the chat is never changed.

    More on its own page

  • Your photo: upload one, take one, or remove it For members
    1. Open the menu under your username and pick Settings.
    2. Choose a picture under Upload a picture, then press Upload photo.
    3. On a phone or a computer with a camera, press Take a picture instead.
    4. Press Capture when you're happy with it.
    5. Press Remove my photo to take it down.
    • Phone pictures often carry the place they were taken. The site rebuilds every photo from its pixels alone, so none of that is kept.
    • An iPhone HEIC photo can't be read. Use Take a picture, or set the iPhone camera to Most Compatible.
    • Only signed-in members can see your photo.
    • At a game, your photo is your picture: on your name in the Players list and at your seat, for the other players and for anyone watching. Without one you show as a plain person icon.
    • To change it later, upload or take a new one. It replaces the old one.
  • Your profile and your record: what the numbers mean For members
    1. Open the menu under your username and pick Profile.
    2. Look at Game Statistics for your record.
    3. Scroll down to Recent Games for the games you played lately.
    4. Press (change) beside a setting to change it.
    • Games Played counts games that were dealt. A table where nothing went out shows under Never Dealt instead.
    • Forfeited is a game you left while it was still going. Each one counts as a loss.
    • Win Rate is games won out of the games decided: the finished ones, plus the ones you forfeited.
    • Walked Away From is a game that never finished, whoever left. It isn't held against you.
    • Leaving after the game is over, after you're knocked out, or before the deal costs you nothing.
    • Games from before September 5, 2026 were never saved, so an older record looks thin.

The lobby and tables

  • Answering a game invite: I'm coming, Can't make it, Count me in For members
    1. Open the invite from your bell, or from the link in its email.
    2. Press I'm coming or Can't make it.
    3. Change your answer any time until the table opens.
    4. Not invited, but it's a public game? Press Count me in on its page.
    5. Press Count me out if your plans change.
    6. Come along when it opens, and press Take a seat.
    • Your answer holds no seat. Whoever sits down when the table opens plays.
    • The host sees who's coming, and so does everybody invited.
    • Said you can't make it? The reminders skip you.
    • A private game has no Count me in. Only people the host invited can see it before it opens.
  • Answering people who ask to join your table, and your ignore list For members
    1. Look for "would like to join" in your bell, in the lobby's Asking to join your table box, or at your table.
    2. Press Yes to let them in. The room opens for them and they're told.
    3. Press No to turn them down. They aren't told anything.
    4. Tick and don't ask me again before No to put them on your ignore list.
    5. Open your ignore list to see who's on it.
    6. Press Let them ask again to take somebody off.
    • The ignore list covers every table you host, not just one, until you clear it.
    • Nobody on it is ever told, and taking them off sends them nothing.
    • Saying yes is an invite, so your table's seat limit still applies.
  • Ask to join a private table, and what you'll hear back For members
    1. Find the table with a padlock in the Game Lobby.
    2. Press Request Invite on its row.
    3. Wait. If the host says yes, the room opens for you and your bell says so.
    4. Press Join once it's open to you.
    • You only ever hear back when the answer is yes. No news looks the same whatever the reason, on purpose.
    • One request per table is plenty. Pressing again doesn't send another.
    • A table that has dealt can't take anybody new, so ask before the cards go out.
  • Finding a game in the lobby: the room list, Quick Join and Refresh For members
    1. Open Games in the top menu and pick Game Lobby.
    2. Look under Available Kitchen Games for a table with a free seat.
    3. Press Join on a waiting table to sit down.
    4. Press Spectate on a game that's already going to watch it.
    5. Press Request Invite on a table with a padlock to ask its host.
    6. Press Quick Join to sit at the first open table on the list.
    7. Use All Games and All Statuses to narrow the list, or tick Show Full Rooms.
    • The list keeps itself up to date, and Refresh fetches it again now.
    • A seat count like 1/4 counts people. The AI number under it is the computer players holding the other seats, and any of those seats can be taken.
    • The gavel line under a table says its house rules. Press it to read them.
    • Upcoming games lists games scheduled for later that you may see.
    • Players online counts people signed in whose page checked in within the last 2½ minutes. Computer players never count.
  • Invite someone to your table For members
    1. Press Private room & invites at your table, or Make private / invite at a public one.
    2. Type their exact username under Invite a member.
    3. Press Invite.
    4. Send them the link shown on the page if the email didn't go.
    • The room opens to them in the lobby straight away, no link needed. They're emailed as well.
    • The link works only for their own account.
    • You can only invite before the cards are dealt. Revoking works any time.
    • You can't invite more people than your table has seats, counting yourself.
    • Somebody not on NewfieCards yet needs a site invite first: see "Invite a friend to NewfieCards".
    • A public table needs no invite at all. Anybody can press Join in the lobby.
  • Leaving a table, and coming back to your game For members
    1. Press Leave Game, or Leave in the game controller.
    2. Read the box that opens. It says whether leaving costs you anything.
    3. Press Just leave, keep the room to go, or Never mind, I'll stay.
    4. Changed your mind? Go back into the room from the lobby to get your own seat back.
    • Leaving a game that has started is a forfeit, and it counts as a loss unless you come back before it ends.
    • A computer player holds your seat and plays your hand while you're gone, and gives it back when you return.
    • Closing the tab or losing your connection isn't leaving. Your seat waits for you.
    • Leaving after the game is over, after you're knocked out, or while you're only watching costs nothing.
    • Nobody else at the table? Leave, and clear the room away tidies it up, and your result is kept either way.
  • Play on your own against the computer For members
    1. Go to the Game Lobby and press Create New Room.
    2. Pick your Game Type and how many Players. You count as one, and computer players fill every other seat.
    3. Tick Private room so nobody else drops in.
    4. Press Create Room.
    5. Press Start Game when you're ready.
    • Leave in the middle and the table simply waits for you. Come back later and carry on.
    • The Game Prompt can pause after each computer move until you press OK. It only works when you're the only person at the table.
    • Your own table settings decide the house rules, because a table you play alone is one you host.
    • The results window waits as long as you like between rounds.
  • Private rooms: who can see in and come in For members
    1. Tick Private room when you make the room.
    2. Already made it? Press Make private / invite at your table.
    3. Press Make it private. You can undo it with Make it public.
    4. Type a member's username under Invite a member and press Invite.
    5. Press Revoke beside a name to take them off the list.
    • A private room has no password. Only the people you invite can see who's there or come in.
    • Other members see only its name, its game, a padlock and whether it's playing.
    • Private or public can only be switched before the cards are dealt.
    • You're on your own guest list, so you can always get back into your room.
  • Schedule a game for later For members
    1. Press Create New Room in the Game Lobby.
    2. Fill it in as usual, and tick Play later.
    3. Pick the day and time on your own clock under Starts at, your time.
    4. Press Schedule Game.
    5. Press Invite people on the game's page to ask your crowd.
    6. Press Cancel this game if plans change. Everybody invited is told.
    • The soonest you can pick is 5 minutes from now, and the furthest 60 days ahead.
    • Nobody sits down until the table opens, and saying you're coming holds no seat.
    • A public game is open to anybody signed in, and they can press Count me in.
    • Everybody invited gets a bell line and an email, reminders the day before and the hour before, and word when it opens.
    • Each person sees the time in their own time zone.
  • Start a game with other people For members
    1. Go to the Game Lobby (top menu) and press Create New Room.
    2. Pick the Game Type, then how many Players. You count as one. Any seat nobody takes gets a computer player.
    3. Only want your own crowd? Tick Private room.
    4. Want it another day? Tick Play later and pick a time.
    5. Press Create Room. You're sat at your own table.
    6. Private room: press Private room & invites and type each person's username. Public room: it shows up in everybody's lobby, and they press Join.
    7. When your crowd is sat down, press Start Game.
    • A room has no password. Private means only the people you invite can see in or come in.
    • You can't invite more people than the table has seats.
    • Nobody turns up? Press Start Game anyway and the computer players fill in.
  • Starting the game, and playing again For members
    1. Wait for your crowd to sit down.
    2. Press Start Game if you're the host.
    3. Drag the deck onto the table if you're the dealer, or wait a moment and it deals itself.
    4. Close the results with Continue when the game ends.
    5. Press Start Another Game to deal a fresh game at the same table.
    • Only the host can start a game or deal another. Everybody else is told whose deck it is.
    • Nobody turned up? Start anyway, and computer players take the empty seats.
    • Each new game starts everybody fresh, and every game goes on the record by itself.
    • Somebody who left before the new game isn't in it.
  • This table's house rules For members
    1. Find the table in the Game Lobby.
    2. Press the house rules line under it, the one with the gavel.
    3. Read what the table plays at the top of the page.
    4. Change a setting if it's your table and the cards aren't dealt yet.
    5. Press Save this table's rules.
    • Anything left on My usual rule follows your own table settings.
    • Once the cards are dealt the rules are fixed until the game ends.
    • Only the host can change them. Everybody else can read them before sitting down.
    • The host can also change how long the computer players pause, and the Game Prompt, on this page, even mid-game.
    • At Scat and Go Fish the line reads The usual rules, because neither game has table settings. It still opens this page for the pace and the Game Prompt.
  • Watching a game, and taking a seat For members
    1. Press Spectate in the Game Lobby to watch a game that's going.
    2. Type in the Chat box to talk to the table while you watch. Everybody sees when you come and go.
    3. Press Take a seat if one is free and the game hasn't started.
    4. Press Leave Game when you're done, then Leave.
    • Watching is free, and nothing about it goes on your record.
    • Leaving while you're only watching is never a forfeit.
    • Once the cards are dealt nobody new can sit down, but you can keep watching.
    • You never see anybody's hidden cards while the hand is being played.
    • At the end of a round of Scat, Krazy 8's or Rummy, the cards are laid face up to be counted, and you see them too, the same as standing at the table.
    • If you open the table after the count has started, you won't see that round's cards.
  • When a scheduled game opens, arriving late, and cancelling For members
    1. Open the game from Upcoming games in the lobby, or from your bell when it opens.
    2. Press Take a seat at the table. Every seat starts with a computer player, the host's too.
    3. Host, after 15 minutes: press Start with computers or Keep waiting.
    4. Short of people? Press the Start with just the button to deal for those who are there.
    5. Late? Press Take over a computer's hand to play the rest of the game, or Just watch.
    6. Host, before it opens: press Cancel this game to call it off.
    • The host is asked that question once, in the bell and on the game's page, and only if some seats are still empty.
    • A late arrival takes a computer's cards and score as they stand. A seat held for somebody who left stays theirs.
    • Once it opens it's an ordinary table, so leaving works the usual way.
    • A cancelled game disappears from the lobby, and everybody invited is told.
  • When somebody leaves or drops out For members
    1. Keep playing. A computer player takes over the hand of anyone who leaves, and the chat says who.
    2. Wait a bit if somebody's connection drops. After 20 seconds the chat tells the table.
    3. Press the Let the computer play for button with their name on it, if you're the host and would rather not wait.
    4. Press End the game if the table would rather stop than play on against a computer.
    • If they come back before the game ends, they get their own seat and cards back.
    • If the game ends without them it's a forfeit and a loss for them, whether they pressed Leave or the host let the computer take over.
    • Only the host gets these buttons. If the host leaves, the next person at the table becomes host.
    • End the game only appears once a computer is holding somebody's hand. Nobody wins a game ended that way.
  • Your table settings: the house rules for games you host For members
    1. Open the menu under your username and pick Table Settings.
    2. Pick your usual rule for each setting of a game.
    3. Press the save button under that game.
    • These are your house rules for every table you host, games on your own included.
    • At somebody else's table you play their rules. Every table shows its rules before you join.
    • A change never touches a game already dealt.
    • One table can differ: change it on that table's own House Rules page before the deal.
    • Scat has no table settings. Its one house rule, three of a kind, is in your profile Settings.

At the table

  • Add NewfieCards to an Android Home Screen
    1. Open newfiecards.com in Chrome.
    2. Tap the ⋮ menu at the top right.
    3. Tap Add to Home screen. Some phones say Install app instead.
    4. Tap Install or Add to finish.
    5. Open NewfieCards from its new icon. It opens without the browser bar, straight to the lobby.
    6. Sign in once more the first time, if it asks.
    • There's no Play Store app. The icon is the app.
    • Menus differ from phone to phone. Look for Install or Home screen in your browser's menu.
  • Add NewfieCards to your iPhone Home Screen
    1. Open newfiecards.com in Safari.
    2. Tap the Share button, the square with an arrow pointing up. On newer iPhones it sits behind the ••• button.
    3. Tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.
    4. From now on, open NewfieCards from the dog icon on your Home Screen. It opens full screen, with no browser bar, straight to the lobby.
    5. The first time you open it from the icon, sign in once more. The icon keeps its own sign-in, apart from Safari's.
    • There's no App Store app. The Home Screen icon is the app.
    • Already opened it from the icon? Then you're already full screen. There's nothing more to add.
  • Connection trouble: the connection line, and dropping out For members
    1. Look at Connection Status at the top of the right-hand panel.
    2. Wait if it says it's reconnecting. It tries again by itself.
    3. Reload the page if it says it gave up.
    4. Go back into the room if you dropped out. Your seat and your cards are where you left them.
    • A dropped connection costs nothing by itself. The table waits for you.
    • After 20 seconds the chat tells the table you've gone, and the host may let the computer play your hand.
    • If the game then ends without you it counts as a forfeit, so get back before it ends.
    • Switching from wifi to data, or a phone going to sleep, is a dropped connection, not leaving.
    • Still stuck after a reload? Report it as a bug from the Roadmap page.
  • Full screen, on a computer and on a phone
    1. Press Full screen at the bottom of the game controller on the table.
    2. Press it again, or press Esc, to come back.
    3. On an iPhone or iPad, add NewfieCards to your Home Screen and open it from the icon instead.
    • Full screen makes the whole table bigger. Nothing moves around on it.
    • Safari on an iPhone can't make a web page full screen, so the button there shows the Home Screen steps.
    • The end of game question and the leaving question take you out of full screen so you can see them.
    • Starting a game keeps you in full screen.
    • On a phone held upright the table is laid out for the tall screen, and that is the bigger view.
  • Reading the table: whose turn, the seat bubbles, the piles For members
    1. Look for the gold glow: it sits on the cards of whoever's turn it is.
    2. Find your own hand along the bottom, with everybody else around the far side.
    3. Tap a seat, or point at it with the mouse, to open its bubble with the name and the score or lives.
    4. Look for the Dealer tag in a bubble to see who dealt this round.
    5. Read the status bubble at the top left for what the table is waiting on.
    6. Watch the top right corner for a knock, a refused move and the round results.
    • On your turn, the piles you may take from glow too.
    • A bubble opens by itself for its player's turn, and for a few seconds when a score or a life changes, with the old number struck through.
    • On a computer or an iPad your whole hand shows, and a big hand covers part of the middle. The piles still work anywhere you can see them.
    • On a phone held upright, the other players sit in a row along the top and the view follows the play.
    • The Players list on the right shows each player as a small pill with their picture. Gold means it's their turn, the crown marks the host, and a plug means their connection dropped.
    • Click a heading on the right, such as Players, Chat or Game Controls, to fold that section away or open it again. Your browser remembers which ones you folded.
  • The count at the end of a round, and the results window For members
    1. Watch the table count the round out on the felt, one hand at a time.
    2. Tap the count if you'd rather skip to the end of it.
    3. Read the Round Results window in the top right corner.
    4. Open Player by player in it for every seat's cards and score.
    5. Press Continue when you've read it. The next round waits for everybody at the table.
    • Each game counts its own way: Scat lifts the cards that count before any life goes, Cribbage calls each count as it's made, and Go Fish lays out the Catches.
    • Nobody is told who won a game until its last count is finished.
    • Playing alone, you can leave the results up for as long as you please.
    • With other people, the next round goes ahead after a while if somebody never closes their window.
  • The end of a game: the winner, and playing again For members
    1. Watch for the gold crown over the winner's seat.
    2. Close the round results with Continue to see That's the game.
    3. Press Start Another Game to deal again at the same table, if you're the host.
    4. Press Leave the Game to head off, or Stay and look at the table to stay.
    • Not the host? The box tells you whose deck it is.
    • Every game goes on each player's profile.
    • At 120s both partners win together.
    • A game the host ended early has no winner.
  • The game controller box: Start, Knock, Leave, Full screen, and moving it For members
    1. Find the small box of buttons in the bottom right corner of the table.
    2. Press Start to deal, if you're the host and the table is waiting.
    3. Press Knock at Scat when you're ready to end the round.
    4. Press Leave to get up from the table. It asks you first.
    5. Press Profile to open your record in a new tab, so your game stays put.
    6. Drag the box by its dots or its edge to move it. It stays where you put it, on any device.
    7. Press Full screen to fill your screen with the table.
    • The top line names the game, with Beta beside it while the game is still new.
    • Under that are your numbers for this game, such as lives, the round and the cards left.
    • A button only shows when you can use it right now.
    • Each button is the same control as its twin in the panel on the right.
    • A spot that doesn't fit a smaller screen slides back into view, and your chosen spot is kept for the bigger one.
  • The Game Prompt: the computer's turns at your own pace For members
    1. Go to the Game Lobby and find your own table.
    2. Press the house rules line under it, the one with the gavel.
    3. Tick Game Prompt under Pace and prompt.
    4. Press Save pace and prompt.
    5. Go back with Back to the table.
    6. Press OK after reading each note to let the next computer player move.
    • It only works when you're the only person at the table. With anybody else seated, the game plays at its usual pace.
    • Your own moves are never read back to you.
    • It names only the cards the whole table saw, never a card drawn from the deck.
    • At Scat and Go Fish the gavel line reads The usual rules. Press it all the same to reach this setting.
  • The table chat, and what the computer players say For members
    1. Type in the box under Chat on the right of the table, just below Players.
    2. Press Enter, or the paper plane button, to send it.
    3. Read the grey lines to see who came in, who left and who sat down.
    • Everybody in the room sees the chat, watchers too.
    • The computer players have their say in speech bubbles at their seats: about a knock, a card you took, or you taking your time.
    • Click Chat to fold the chat away. While it's folded, a red number on it counts the new lines, and opening it again clears the count.
    • Chat is plain text, so links and pictures don't work.
    • What's said in the chat is kept on record, as the Terms page explains.

The games

  • Auction 45s (rules here, not playable yet)

    The gist

    • A close cousin of 120s: partners, bidding, and the five and jack of drumpfs on top.
    • There's no table for it yet, so it can't be played here.
    • The rules page shows how it's commonly played, not yet how this site will deal it.

    How to do it here

    1. Open the Auction 45s rules from the Games menu.
    2. Check the Roadmap to see when it might come.
    3. Play 120s in the meantime. It's the nearest thing on the site.
    • The house rules this site will use are still to be settled before any of it is built.

    More on its own page

  • Bidding, calling drumpfs and the discard at 120s

    The gist

    • Bids go round once from the dealer's left, up in fives from 15 to 30. If everybody passes, the hand is dealt again.
    • From 90 points up, a side's smallest bid is 20. Passing is always allowed.
    • A side that has never made a bid stops at 115, and nobody wins a game without bidding and making it.
    • Drumpfs are named first, then the bidder picks up the kitty and throws back down.
    • On a bid of 30 the bidder must lead a drumpf to the first trick.

    How to do it here

    1. Press a bid button on your turn, or Pass. Only the bids you're allowed are shown.
    2. Won the bid? Press the suit you want for drumpfs.
    3. Press Take the Kitty to pick up its 4 cards.
    4. Tap the cards you'll throw away, and press the throw button.
    5. Play the first card yourself: the bidder leads, whoever dealt.
    • Everybody else throws any number of cards, none included, and is dealt back up.
    • The other side always keeps the points it took.
    • Missing a bid takes it off your score, even below zero, unless the host set a floor.
    • Computer players whose side is stuck at the cap get keener to bid, and still pass a weak hand.

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  • Briscola (rules here, not playable yet)

    The gist

    • An Italian trick game with the same forty cards as Scopa. One card is turned up and its suit is drumpfs.
    • You hold three cards and pick one up after every trick. Nobody has to follow suit.
    • The ace and the three are the big cards. Win more than half the points in the tricks to take the hand.
    • There's no table for it yet, so it can't be played here.

    How to do it here

    1. Open the Briscola rules from the Games menu.
    2. Check the Roadmap to see when a table might open.
    • The page gives the game as it's commonly played. Where families play it differently, it says so.
    • The rules the table will use come from the family before any of it is built.

    More on its own page

  • How to play 120s

    The gist

    • Four players in two sides: you and the player across from you are partners.
    • Everybody gets 5 cards, with 4 face down as the kitty. Bid 15 to 30 once round, or pass.
    • The high bidder names drumpfs and takes the kitty, then everybody throws what they don't want and draws back up.
    • Each trick is worth 5, and the trick taken by the best card played is worth 10.
    • Make your bid and your side scores all it took. Miss and you go down by the bid. First side to 120 wins.

    How to do it here

    1. Go to the Game Lobby, press Create New Room and pick 120s.
    2. Press Create Room, then Start Game. Computer players fill the empty seats.
    3. Press a bid button, or Pass, when it's your turn to bid.
    4. Won the bid? Pick the drumpf suit, then press Take the Kitty.
    5. Tap the cards you want rid of, and press the throw button. Keeping them all? It says Throw none.
    6. Play a card to each trick by dragging it to the middle, or by clicking it.
    • The best drumpfs are the five, then the jack, then the ace of hearts, whatever suit is drumpfs.
    • You must follow suit or play a drumpf. Only the top drumpfs may be held back against a lower drumpf lead.
    • The bidder holds nine after the kitty, throws back down to the hand size, and draws nothing.
    • The host can change what happens when everybody passes, add a floor at zero, turn on the Kitty Teaser, or shuffle the throws back in.

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  • How to play Cribbage

    The gist

    • Two, three or four players. Four play as partners across the table.
    • Everybody throws cards to the crib, which belongs to the dealer, then a starter card is turned up.
    • In the play, cards go down one at a time on a count that can't pass 31, pegging for fifteens, pairs and runs.
    • Then each hand is counted with the starter: fifteens, pairs, runs, flushes and his nobs. The dealer counts the crib last.
    • First side to 121 wins, the moment it gets there. The host may pick the short game to 61.

    How to do it here

    1. Go to the Game Lobby, press Create New Room and pick Cribbage.
    2. Press Create Room, then Start Game.
    3. Drag your card or cards for the crib onto the crib beside the pack.
    4. Drag a card to the play on your turn.
    5. Press Count my hand when the count box asks.
    6. Dealt this hand? Press Count the crib after it.
    • Go is said for you when you can't play without passing 31.
    • Each count is called out item by item as it's made, and the peg moves after the call.
    • With Muggins on, you claim your own count, and the next player against you pegs anything you missed.
    • Don't count and the table counts truly for you after a short wait.

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  • How to play Escoba del 15

    The gist

    • Scopa's Spanish cousin, with the same forty cards: the Sota counts 8, the Caballo 9 and the Rey 10.
    • Everybody gets 3 cards, with 4 face up on the table.
    • Your card takes table cards that add up to 15 together with it. A card that can take must take.
    • Clear the table for an escoba, worth a point.
    • Each hand scores the most cards, the most Oros, the seven of coins and the best setenta. First to 15 wins, unless the host picked another target.

    How to do it here

    1. Go to the Game Lobby, press Create New Room and pick Escoba del 15.
    2. Press Create Room, then Start Game.
    3. Tap the table cards that make 15 with the card you'll play.
    4. Drag that card at the table. With nothing tapped it's laid down, but only if it can't take anything.
    5. Tap or drag the cards you won to pull them into your pile.
    • The line above the table adds up what you tapped for you.
    • Tapped the wrong card? A tap on a bare bit of felt starts you over.
    • The host can switch on the Italian hybrid, where a card may also take cards of its own value.
    • Four players play in partnerships.
    • Play and the deal both run to the dealer's right: the first card dealt goes to the seat on the dealer's right.
    • Computer players go for the siete de velo, then oros and sevens (a seven counts double), then most cards. Laying, they push the table past fifteen, then spare oros and sevens.

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  • How to play Go Fish

    The gist

    • On your turn, ask another player for a rank you already hold.
    • If they have any, they hand over every one and you ask again.
    • If not, they say go fish and you draw one from the pool. Draw the rank you asked for and you go again.
    • Hold 4 of one rank and that is a Catch: it goes face up in front of you.
    • When every Catch is down, most Catches wins. A tie goes to the Catches worth the most.

    How to do it here

    1. Go to the Game Lobby, press Create New Room and pick Go Fish.
    2. Press Create Room, then Start Game.
    3. Tap a card of the rank you want, then tap the player you're asking.
    4. Being asked? Drag each card of that rank to the player asking, or press Go Fish if you have none.
    5. Told to go fish? Drag any card from the pool into your hand.
    6. Holding 4 of a kind? Drag one of them to Your Catches and the rest follow.
    • Nobody can move while a Catch is waiting to be laid or a fish is owed.
    • Leave it too long and the table does it for you.
    • Dealt a Catch? Lay it yourself once the cards are out. When more than one player has one, the dealer's goes first, then round the table.
    • Hand empty? Drag one card from the pool to draw back up.
    • There's no score and no rounds: it's one game, start to finish.

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  • How to play Krazy 8's

    The gist

    • Match the top card of the pile by suit or by rank, or play an eight.
    • An eight is wild, and you name the suit it stands for.
    • Can't go? Draw from the stock until you can.
    • First out of cards wins the hand and scores what everybody else is caught holding.
    • First to 250 wins the game, unless the host picked another target.

    How to do it here

    1. Go to the Game Lobby, press Create New Room and pick Krazy 8's.
    2. Press Create Room, then Start Game.
    3. Drag a card that matches onto the pile, or click it.
    4. Played an eight? Pick a suit in the box that opens.
    5. Nothing to play? Click the Stock to draw.
    • After an eight, play to the suit in the Suit in force box, not the eight's own suit.
    • Twos, jacks, kings and the queen of spades all do something: see the special cards sheet.
    • A card you had to draw can be played straight away, unless the host turned that off.
    • The host can switch any special off, change the target, or make the losers go down too.

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  • How to play Rummy

    The gist

    • Each turn: draw one card from the stock or the discard pile, lay down or add to melds if you like, then discard one.
    • A meld is a set of one rank, or a run in one suit, at least 3 cards long.
    • You may add a card to anybody's meld on the table.
    • Go out by melding all but one card and discarding the last. Going out all in one turn is rummy, and scores double.
    • The player who goes out collects the value of what the others still hold. First to 100 wins, unless the host picked another target.

    How to do it here

    1. Go to the Game Lobby, press Create New Room and pick Rummy.
    2. Press Create Room, then Start Game.
    3. Drag one card into your hand, off the stock or off the discard pile.
    4. Drag cards into Your new meld and press Lay it down.
    5. Drag a card onto any meld on the table to lay it off.
    6. Drag one card to the discard pile to end your turn.
    • Take back empties the meld box if you change your mind.
    • The table says plainly when cards aren't a meld, and they come back to your hand.
    • The host picks the target, the scoring, the deal, how aces play, and more.
    • A hand where nobody can go out ends by itself, and the lowest count scores the difference.

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  • How to play Scat

    The gist

    • Everybody gets 3 cards. Only one suit counts: ace 11, face cards 10, the rest what's on them.
    • Your turn: take the top card off the discard pile or one from the deck, then throw one away.
    • Think you're not the lowest? Knock. You need 19 or better. Everybody else gets one more turn.
    • Lowest hand loses a life. Knock and get beaten outright, you lose two. A 31 ends the round on the spot.
    • Everybody starts with 4 lives. The last one with a life left wins.

    How to do it here

    1. Go to the Game Lobby, press Create New Room and pick Scat.
    2. Press Create Room, then Start Game. Empty seats get computer players.
    3. On your turn, take a card from the deck or the pile, then throw one onto the pile.
    4. Ready? Press Knock on the table or in the game controller.
    • Being second lowest costs you nothing. You just can't be last.
    • A knocker who ties for lowest is safe. A knock has to be beaten, not matched.
    • Three of a kind can score 30½, but only if everyone at the table has it switched on in Profile settings.

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  • How to play Scopa

    The gist

    • A forty card Italian deck. Each card counts its number, and the three court cards count 8, 9 and 10.
    • Everybody gets 3 cards, and 4 lie face up on the table.
    • Play a card to take a table card of the same value, or a handful adding up to it. Otherwise it stays on the table.
    • Clear the table and it's a scopa, worth a point.
    • Points each round for most cards, most denari, the settebello and the primiera. First to 11 wins, and must be ahead.

    How to do it here

    1. Go to the Game Lobby, press Create New Room and pick Scopa.
    2. Press Create Room, then Start Game.
    3. Tap the table cards you're taking. They light up gold.
    4. Drag one of your cards at the table to take them. With nothing tapped, your card is laid down instead.
    5. Tap or drag the cards you won to pull them into your pile.
    • The line above the table says what will happen before you let go.
    • In this family's game capturing is optional, unless the host switches on Must capture when you can.
    • Four players play in partnerships, across from each other.
    • The host picks the target, which way the play runs, Scopone, and more.
    • The cards are dealt the way the play runs: the first card goes to the dealer's right, unless the host turned the table to the left.
    • Computer players always capture when they can: settebello first, then coins and sevens (a seven counts double), then most cards. Laying, they block a scopa, then spare coins and sevens.

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  • Knocking, and calling Scat with thirty-one

    The gist

    • You may knock on your turn instead of drawing, when your best suit adds up to 19 or more.
    • After a knock everybody else gets one more turn, and the knocker gets none.
    • Only one knock a round. Once somebody knocks, nobody else can.
    • A knocker beaten outright loses two lives. A knocker who ties for lowest is safe.
    • Three cards of one suit worth 31 is a Scat. Lay it down and everybody else loses a life.

    How to do it here

    1. Press Knock on your turn, before you draw, when you think you're not the lowest.
    2. Holding 31? Press Scat in the game controller. It only shows while your own hand has it.
    3. Drew into it? Throw the one card that isn't part of it first, then press Scat.
    • The Knock button is grey when you can't knock, and hovering it says why.
    • A Scat beats a knock.
    • Three of a kind at 30½ beats everything but a real Scat, at a table where everybody has that house rule ticked.
    • Forget to press Scat and the table lays it down for you after a short wait.

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  • Melding and laying off at Rummy

    The gist

    • A set is 3 or more cards of one rank.
    • A run is 3 or more cards in a row of one suit. The ace is low unless the host changed it, and a run never wraps round from king to ace.
    • You can lay off a single card on any meld showing, whoever put it down.
    • You must draw before you meld, and you go out by discarding your last card unless the host changed that.
    • Melds stay face up on the table for everybody to see.

    How to do it here

    1. Draw first, from the stock or the discard pile.
    2. Drag the cards of a meld one at a time into Your new meld.
    3. Press Lay it down to put the meld on the table.
    4. Press Take back to empty the box instead.
    5. Drag a single card onto a meld it fits to lay it off.
    6. Keep one card back, then drag it to the discard pile to go out.
    • A click on one of your cards puts it in the meld box. Clicking never throws a card away, since that would end your turn.
    • A card taken from the discard pile can't go straight back on it the same turn, unless the host allows it.
    • At a table playing the 500 Rummy take, you may pick a card from deep in the pile, with every card above it.

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  • Tarabish (rules here, not playable yet)

    The gist

    • A partnership game with a short deck, a kitty, and a jack and nine of drumpfs worth more than an ace.
    • There's no table for it yet, so it can't be played here.
    • The rules page shows how it's commonly played, not yet how this site will deal it.

    How to do it here

    1. Open the Tarabish rules from the Games menu.
    2. Check the Roadmap to see when it might come.
    • The house rules this site will use are still to be settled before any of it is built.

    More on its own page

  • Throwing to the crib, pegging and the count at Cribbage

    The gist

    • At two players each throws two cards to the crib, at three or four one each, and the crib always ends up with four.
    • A jack turned up as the starter is his heels: two for the dealer.
    • Pegging scores two for making fifteen or 31, two for a pair, six for three of a kind, twelve for four, and one a card for a run.
    • Nobody can play? The last card pegs one, and the count starts again from nothing.
    • The count gives two per fifteen, two per pair, one a card per run, a flush, and one for the jack of the starter's suit.

    How to do it here

    1. Drag a card from your hand onto the crib.
    2. At a two player table, drag a second one, or click both and press Throw them in.
    3. Drag a card to the play when it's your turn. The running count shows on the table.
    4. Press Count my hand when the count box opens on your turn.
    5. Press Count the crib after your hand, if you dealt.
    6. At a Muggins table, type your claim and press Claim.
    • Claim too little at Muggins and the next player against you pegs the rest. You can never claim more than a hand is worth.
    • A loser who didn't get far is skunked. The results say so, and nothing is doubled.
    • Clicking the pack, the crib or the play tells you what each is for.

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  • Tre Sette (rules here, not playable yet)

    The gist

    • An Italian partnership game with the same forty cards as Scopa, and no drumpfs at all.
    • You must follow suit. The three is the top card of each suit, then the two, then the ace.
    • Aces and the last trick count most. Partners may not tell each other what they hold.
    • There's no table for it yet, so it can't be played here.

    How to do it here

    1. Open the Tre Sette rules from the Games menu.
    2. Check the Roadmap to see when a table might open.
    • The page gives the game as it's commonly played. Where families play it differently, it says so.
    • The rules the table will use come from the family before any of it is built.

    More on its own page

  • Twos, the queen of spades and picking a suit at Krazy 8's

    The gist

    • A two makes the next player pick up 2 and miss their turn. Lay several twos at once and the pickup adds up.
    • The queen of spades makes the next player pick up 5 and miss their turn.
    • A jack skips the next player, and a king turns the play around.
    • Hit by a pickup? Answer a two with a two, or a queen with a queen, and it grows and moves on.
    • An eight is wild: you choose the suit that follows it.

    How to do it here

    1. Hit by a pickup? Lay a two on a two, or a queen on a queen, to pass it on.
    2. Rather keep your card? Click the Stock to take the pickup.
    3. Holding several twos? Choose how many in the Lay how many twos? box, then press Lay them down.
    4. Changed your mind? Press Never mind.
    5. Played an eight? Press the suit you want in the box that opens.
    • Twos and queens don't mix: you can't pass a queen on with a two, or a two with a queen.
    • Only the queen of spades bites, unless the host makes every queen a pickup.
    • Eights and queens cost the most if you're caught holding them at the end of a hand.
    • The host can switch any of these off on the table's house rules.

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  • What Beta means beside a game
    1. Look at the badge on each game on the front page.
    2. Play any game marked Beta. It works, it's just new.
    3. Report anything odd from the Roadmap page, so it gets fixed.
    • Beta means a game is playable but hasn't had enough real games played by people yet. It comes off when the fella who runs the place is happy with it.
    • Coming Soon means a game has a rules page but no table yet. Future Plans means it's an idea on the list.
    • The word at the bottom of every page says how far along the whole site is.

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People, tokens and the family

  • Tokens: what they are, and what things cost today
    1. Press Tokens in the top menu.
    2. Read the top of the page: nothing on the site costs a token today.
    3. Read on to see how tokens are meant to work once they're switched on.
    • Every game, playing on your own, and watching are all free right now.
    • Nobody has a balance, and there's nothing to buy.
    • If that ever changes, the Tokens page will say so first.

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  • Who made NewfieCards: For Mom & Dad, Special Thanks, the Terms
    1. Press For Mom & Dad in the top menu for why the site was made.
    2. Press Special Thanks for the people who helped.
    3. Open Terms at the bottom of any page for who owns what and what's kept.
    • NewfieCards was made by a Newfoundlander far from home, for his mom and dad back on the rock, and for anybody missing their own people.
    • The games themselves belong to nobody. The site, its writing and its pictures are his.
    • Please leave the memorial pages be: they're about real people.

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  • Who the computer players are
    1. Press Memorial in the top menu.
    2. Tap a card to read about that person and the memories shared by their family.
    3. Press the record link near the bottom of their page to see every game they've played here.
    • The computer players at the table today: Bessie, Dave, Ed, Gus, Harold and Patsy.
    • Each one honours a real person who once sat at a kitchen table with a hand of cards.
    • A character only appears once their family has said yes.
    • For now they all play to the same skill. Their personality is in what they say at the table.
    • Would you like a loved one remembered here? The Memorial page says who to ask.

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Messages, Help and notifications

  • Getting help: the Game Assistant, and asking for a person
    1. Press Help at the bottom right of any page.
    2. Type your question under Your question.
    3. Add Your name and an Email if you're not signed in, so we can answer if you leave.
    4. Press Send.
    5. Read the Game Assistant's answer. It comes straight away when it knows one.
    6. Press No, this doesn't help, can a person answer? under its answer if it didn't help.
    7. Wait for a Help Desk person to answer in the same window.
    8. Press Ask something else when you're done.
    • When the Game Assistant has no answer it says so, and a Help Desk person is told without you pressing anything.
    • Nobody from the Help Desk on? Your question is kept and they're emailed, so press Help again later for the answer.
    • One question at a time. A red dot on the Help button means a new reply.
    • You can move to other pages while you wait.
    • Drag the Help window by its top bar to get it out of your way. Reset position puts it back where it started.
    • The square arrow at the top opens Help in a small window of its own, and Bring it back returns it to the page. That isn't offered on a phone or in full screen.
    • Every answer the Game Assistant knows is also on the How do I...? page, linked at the foot of every page.
  • Sending a message to another member For members
    1. Press Messages in the top menu.
    2. Pick a person under To, and press Start conversation.
    3. Write your message in the box under the conversation, and press Send.
    4. Open a conversation under Conversations to read it and reply.
    5. Press Turn off messages under Settings if you'd rather not get any.
    6. Press Block under Options in a conversation to stop that person messaging you.
    • Only approved members can use Messages. Visitors have Help instead.
    • The red number beside Messages is how many you haven't read.
    • Somebody you block isn't told. Unblock them under People you’ve blocked in Settings.
    • Help chats keep working even with your messages off.
  • The bell: your notifications For members
    1. Look at the bell beside the logo at the top. A red number means something is waiting.
    2. Tap the bell to see your latest notifications. Opening it marks them read.
    3. Press a button on a line, such as Yes or No, to answer it there.
    4. Press See all notifications for the whole list.
    5. Press the Mark all read button on that page to clear the count.
    • You hear about requests to join your tables, invites to games, a game opening, and bug reports you follow being fixed.
    • The bell checks for news by itself every so often. Nothing pops up.
    • Visitors and accounts still waiting for approval have no bell.
    • Old notifications are cleared out after a while, but one still waiting on your answer is kept.
  • Writing to the fella who runs the place (Contact)
    1. Press Contact at the bottom of any page.
    2. Fill in your name, your email address and your message.
    3. Press Send my message.
    4. Watch your email for the answer, and look in the junk folder too.
    • No account needed, and you don't have to be signed in.
    • There's no email address on the page on purpose. Your message comes straight in.
    • Your details are kept only to answer you, and are never shown to other players.
    • For a quick question, the Help button may be faster.

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The Roadmap and bugs

  • Reporting a bug, I have this too, and following one For members
    1. Go to Found a bug? at the bottom of the Roadmap page.
    2. Type a few words about the problem, and press Search.
    3. Open a report that matches, and press I have this too.
    4. Nothing matches? Press Report a new bug.
    5. Fill in the form and press Send the report.
    6. Press Follow on any report to be emailed when it's fixed.
    • Every member can read reports, so leave out phone numbers, addresses and passwords.
    • A new report shows up straight away, and the fella who runs the place is emailed.
    • You're emailed when a report you filed, joined or follow is marked fixed, unless you press Unfollow.
    • Not a member? The Contact page reaches us instead.

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  • What's coming, and when (the Roadmap)
    1. Press Roadmap & Bugs at the bottom of any page, or Roadmap in the top menu when signed in.
    2. Press What's coming next to jump to the plans.
    3. Tap a line to read more about it.
    4. Press Expand all to open every line at once.
    • Done so far is the site's story, with each bug on the day it was found and the day it was fixed.
    • Coming next gives each plan a best guess at when. They're estimates, not promises.
    • A plan that runs past its month is marked as past its estimate until it's done or moved.
    • Anybody can read it, signed in or not.

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