How to Play Call Break: Rules, Scoring and Tips

Updated 14 October 2026 · 7 minute read

Call Break (कल ब्रेक), also written Callbreak and called Lakdi in parts of India, is the four-player card game that fills Nepali homes through Dashain and Tihar. Everyone plays for themselves, spades are always trump, and the whole skill is in one number: how many tricks you call before the first card is played.

The basics

• Players: exactly four, each playing alone (no partners).
• Cards: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers. Each player gets 13 cards.
• Trump: spades (सुरत, Surat) always beat the other suits.
• Rank: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9 … 2. Ace is highest in every suit.
• A round: 13 tricks. A game is usually 5 rounds.

Step 1: Deal

Pick the first dealer at random. The dealer shuffles and deals all 52 cards one at a time, so everyone has 13. The deal passes to the next player after each round. Most groups (and most apps) move the deal one seat each round; which direction is a house custom, so agree before you start.

Step 2: Call your tricks

Starting with the player next to the dealer, each player says how many tricks they will win this round: a whole number from 1 to 13. You can't pass or call zero, and once called you can't change it. Many apps keep the calls hidden until everyone has called; at a real table people usually say them aloud in turn.

How to choose your call. A good starting point is to count your sure tricks:

• Count your Ace of spades and King of spades (if you have at least one more spade to protect it) as one trick each.
• Count each ace of the other suits as nearly one trick, and a king with one or two small cards beside it as about half.
• Holding four or more spades? Each extra spade will often win a trick late in the round.
• A short suit (none, one or two cards) lets your small spades trump that suit when it is led.

Most hands are worth 2 to 4 tricks. Calling too high is the most common way to lose points.

Step 3: Play the tricks

1. The player next to the dealer leads the first trick with any card, including a spade.
2. Going round the table, each player plays one card. You must follow the suit that was led if you have a card of that suit.
3. If you have no card of the led suit, you may play a spade to trump, or throw any other card.
4. The trick is won by the highest spade played. If nobody played a spade, the highest card of the led suit wins. A higher card of a different suit never wins.
5. The winner collects the four cards and leads the next trick. Keep going until all 13 tricks are played.

Step 4: Score the round

If you win at least as many tricks as you called, you score your call, plus 0.1 for each extra trick. If you win fewer, you lose your call.

Add each round's score to a running total. After the last round (usually the fifth), the highest total wins. Some families multiply everything by ten (a call of 3 made is 30, missed is −30); it gives the same result.

House rules you may meet

Call Break has no official rulebook, so groups and apps differ on a few points. Agree on these before you deal:

• Must win if you can. Many Call Break apps say that if any card you are allowed to play would win the trick, you must play one: beat the card on the table in the led suit, or trump with a high enough spade when you are out of that suit.
• Must trump when out of suit. Some players require a spade whenever you can't follow suit and still hold one.
• Direction. Dealing and play go clockwise in some homes and anticlockwise in others.

The Call Break game on this site uses the standard rules (no forced winning or trumping) and lets you switch either house rule on in its settings.

Strategy tips

• Call what you can count, not what you hope. Missing by one trick costs your whole call; an extra trick only earns 0.1.
• Cash your side-suit aces early. The longer you wait, the more likely someone has run out of that suit and will trump your ace.
• Empty a short suit. Lead the low cards of a suit you hold one or two of. Once it's gone, your small spades can trump it.
• Win cheaply. If you're last to play, use the lowest card that still wins. Save high cards for later tricks.
• Remember which high cards are gone. Once the Ace and King of a suit have been played, your Queen is the top card of that suit.
• Watch who runs out. When a player fails to follow a suit, they can trump it from then on. Don't lead your big cards into them.
• After you make your call, extra tricks add only 0.1 each, so throw away high cards that might otherwise win tricks you don't need.

Call Break vs Spades

Call Break is closely related to the American game Spades, but it is simpler: there are no partnerships, no "nil" bid, no bags penalty, and spades can be led at any time. In Call Break every player is on their own and the only number that matters is your call.

Frequently asked questions

Can I play Call Break online against the computer?

Yes. Call Break on Dashain Games is free in any phone or computer browser. You play against three computer players (Pasang plans carefully, Kiran plays boldly, Maya stays balanced) on easy, normal or hard. No login, no coins, no money.

Can I play Call Break offline?

Yes. After you have opened the game once, it keeps working without an internet connection, and you can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app.

Can you call zero in Call Break?

No. The lowest call is 1 and the highest is 13.

What happens if two players finish with the same score?

It's a tie for first place. Some groups play one more round to break it.

Is Call Break the same as Lakdi?

Yes, Lakdi is a name used for the same game in parts of India. The rules are the same apart from local house rules.