Twenty Eight Express

Twenty Eight Express deals the trick-taking game played across Kerala and much of India to the phones around the table. Four players in two pairs, or six in two threes. One hosts, the rest join — over Wi-Fi, over Bluetooth, or through Google Nearby.

NOTHING LEAVES THE ROOM
There is no server, no account and no sign-in. The phones talk to each other directly, and a hand exists only on the phones playing it. Bluetooth needs no network at all, which means a train, a power cut or a holiday house with no signal is still a table.

THE GAME, IN FULL
• The 32 cards from seven to ace, or 36 with six players
• Jack high, then nine, ace, ten, king, queen, eight, seven — jacks three points, nines two, aces and tens one
• Partners sit alternately, so an opponent is on either side of you
• Bid from the table's minimum; your partner needs twenty to raise a bid already on your side
• The bidder sets a trump face down, where everybody can see it lies
• Ask for the trump when you cannot follow — nothing moves until the holder turns it over
• A second round of bidding once every card is out, up to bidding all the tricks

SHORT OF PLAYERS? SEAT A BOT
A bot is a player with no phone — and twenty-eight needs four, so this is the one that makes a game possible at all. Seat one or three of them, and give each a memory dial from 0 to 100: the chance, each turn, that it works out from the play who is void in what, rather than looking only at its own hand. A bot bids what its cards are worth, leads low, and does not trump a trick its partner has already won.

BUILT FOR A REAL TABLE
• A code the host reads out, mixed into the handshake, so being in range is not the same as being invited
• A phone that drops out can come back and take its seat again
• Set the table on "Both" and a table that loses Wi-Fi carries on over Bluetooth without the game noticing
• Your hand, held full-screen, and a Hide button for when somebody leans over
• A log of every bid, trump and trick, in plain words
• Six languages: English, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi
• Share a win: an "I won!" card with the final table, sent wherever you choose
• When a phone loses touch, the host chooses: wait for them, or drop them and play on

NO MONEY, EVER
Nothing to buy, nothing to cash out, no real-money play of any kind. The game is free and shows ads, never on the table while a hand is being played.