How to Play Trix: Kingdoms, Contracts and Scoring
Ask a family in Amman, Damascus or Beirut what they play on a long winter evening and many will answer Trix. It is a game of four small games in one: you dodge the King of Hearts, hide from the queens, throw away your diamonds, refuse every trick, and then race to empty your hand. This guide explains the Trix card game rules step by step, with diagrams of the five contracts, the layout and the kingdom rotation, plus a full scoring example.
You can try every rule as you read in our free Trix game online, playing one kingdom, a full game or as partners with Sami against two computer players.
What is Trix?
Trix, also spelled Trex (تركس، تريكس), is a four-player card game from the Levant, hugely popular in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. It uses the standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Each player receives 13 cards, aces are high, and play goes counter-clockwise, to the right.
The game is divided into four kingdoms (ممالك). Each player owns one kingdom, and in it chooses the order of five contracts (طلبات). After four kingdoms, twenty deals in all, the highest score wins.
The five contracts
Four contracts are trick-taking deals. The leader plays any card, the others must follow suit if they can, and the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. There are no trumps in Trix. The winner of each trick leads the next one.
- King of Hearts (شيخ الكبة): the player who takes the K♥ scores −75. You may not lead hearts until you hold only hearts, and the deal ends as soon as the king is taken.
- Queens (البنات): −25 for every queen you take. The deal ends once all four queens are out.
- Diamonds (الديناري): −10 for every diamond you take, −130 in all.
- Ltoosh (اللطوش): −15 for every trick you win, whatever is in it. Thirteen tricks make −195.
- Trix (التركس): no tricks at all. Players build a layout and the first to empty their hand scores +200, then +150, +100 and +50.
Kingdoms and who chooses
In the first deal, the player holding the seven of hearts owns the first kingdom. Before each of the next five deals, the owner looks at the new hand and chooses one contract that has not been played in this kingdom yet. The owner also leads the first trick, or plays first in the Trix layout.
When the five contracts are done, the kingdom passes to the right. Every player therefore chooses every contract once, and knows when the hardest deals will come. That choice is the heart of the game: the owner tries to play each contract when his hand suits it best.
How the Trix layout works
In the Trix contract nobody takes tricks. Starting with the owner, each player in turn adds one card to a shared layout in the middle of the table:
- Any jack can be played at any time and starts the row of its suit.
- Once a jack is down, you may add the next card below it (10, then 9, down to the 2) or above it (queen, king, then ace).
- If you have a legal card you must play one. If you have none, you say pass (باس).
- The first player out scores +200, the second +150, the third +100 and the last +50.
A common table rule allows a redeal when Trix is chosen and a player holds all four twos, or three twos plus the three of the fourth suit, because such a hand can never finish early.
Doubling the King of Hearts and the queens
Before the first trick of King of Hearts or Queens, a player holding the K♥ or a queen may reveal it (كشف) to double it. That makes the card twice as costly to take and gives its owner a bonus when someone else is forced to take it. It is a bold move: everyone now knows exactly where the card is.
| What happens to the doubled card | King of Hearts | Each queen |
|---|---|---|
| Another player takes it | Taker −150, you +75 | Taker −50, you +25 |
| You are forced to win it on someone else's lead | You −150, the leader +75 | You −50, the leader +25 |
| You lead it yourself and win the trick | You −75 only | You −25 only |
Reveal only when your hand is safe: plenty of cards in the suit, no ace or king of that suit to protect, and a short suit elsewhere so you can throw the doubled card on someone else's trick.
Scoring example: one full kingdom
Here is a complete kingdom owned by you. The numbers in brackets show how many penalty cards or tricks each player took.
| Contract | You | Nour | Sami | Karim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King of Hearts | 0 | −75 | 0 | 0 |
| Queens (1 · 0 · 2 · 1) | −25 | 0 | −50 | −25 |
| Diamonds (3 · 4 · 2 · 4) | −30 | −40 | −20 | −40 |
| Ltoosh (2 · 4 · 3 · 4 tricks) | −30 | −60 | −45 | −60 |
| Trix (1st · 4th · 3rd · 2nd) | +200 | +50 | +100 | +150 |
| Kingdom total | +115 | −125 | −15 | +25 |
Check any column and you will see that every contract adds up to zero across the four players: the −500 in penalties are exactly balanced by the +500 in Trix. A positive score at the end of the game means you won points from the others, and a negative one means you lost them.
Playing Trix with partners
In the partnership version, partners sit opposite each other and their scores are added together at the end. Each player still owns a kingdom and chooses its contracts. Partnership Trix changes your thinking: in Ltoosh you may let your partner win a trick rather than an opponent, and in the layout you play the cards that open runs for your partner. Some groups also play Trix Complex, where the four penalty contracts are combined into one deal; our game plays the classic version.
7 tips to win at Trix
- Pick Trix when you hold jacks. Two or three jacks let you open rows that you control, so you are often first out.
- Save Ltoosh for weak hands. Lots of low cards and no aces or kings is the perfect Ltoosh hand.
- Get rid of high hearts early in King of Hearts. The ace and queen of hearts can be forced to win the trick that carries the king.
- Make a void. Empty a short suit quickly, then throw the K♥, your queens or your big diamonds when that suit is led.
- Count the queens and the diamonds. Once you know which ones are gone, you know which of your cards are safe.
- Block in the layout. Hold back the 10 or queen next to a jack when the cards beyond it belong to your rivals, and play the cards that only help you.
- Think about the whole kingdom. The last contract in your kingdom is forced, so do not leave the one you fear most for the end.
Rules vary a little between families and cities, so agree before you start. A detailed English description is on Pagat. If you enjoy Levantine card games, read our guides to how to play Tarneeb and how to play Baloot.
Frequently asked questions
How many contracts are there in Trix?
Five: King of Hearts, Queens, Diamonds, Ltoosh (tricks) and Trix. The owner of each kingdom plays each of them once, in any order.
Who starts a game of Trix?
The player dealt the seven of hearts owns the first kingdom. The kingdom then passes to the right after its five contracts.
Is it Trix or Trex?
Both spellings name the same game. In Arabic it is usually written تركس or تريكس, and the same word is also the name of its fifth contract, the jack layout.
Can you lead hearts in King of Hearts?
No. You may not lead a heart until you have only hearts left in your hand.
What happens if you cannot play in the Trix contract?
You say pass and the turn moves on. You must play whenever you have a legal card, so passing is never a choice.
How do you win Trix?
After four kingdoms (20 deals) the player with the highest total wins. In the partnership game, the two partners' scores are added together.
Play Trix now
Open our free Trix game and start with one kingdom where you choose all five contracts, then try a full game of four kingdoms or the partnership mode. If you like the King of Hearts and Queens contracts, you will also enjoy Hearts, or browse all our free card games.
