Many card games are played by four or more people, and often the players are organized into two partnerships. In some games, including this one, one partnership is termed the offense, and the other the defense. Because a member of the defense is often called a defender, a member of the offense may by analogy be called an offender. This usage is employed for symmetry and convenience, but is so rare that it deserves this explanation; and for emphasis it forms the name of this game.

The method of bidding is similar to that of R.F. Foster's game Pirate Bridge. Outside of that, this game is not very Bridge-like.

This version of Offender calls for five players specifically, but adaptations for other numbers are possible.

Needed as equipment are first, an ordinary pack of 52 playing cards; and second, a means to record scores such as an electronic device or pencil and paper.

Within each suit, the cards rank in the customary order, from high to low:

Ace-King-Queen-Jack-Ten-Nine-Eight-Seven-Six-Five-Four-Three-Two

or more briefly:

A-K-Q-J-T-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2

To provide a concrete example, the players in this explanation are given names. Listed clockwise, they are Amber, Betty, Cindy, Diana, and Ellie. Ellie is the dealer, and play proceeds to the left, and Amber is eldest hand. Players usually take turns revolving through this cycle: Amber-Betty-Cindy-Diana-Ellie.

General overview of play.

The dealer shuffles the cards and then some other player cuts them. Then the dealer:

1. gives a batch of three cards face down to each player, starting with eldest hand and working clockwise;
2. places one card face up in the middle of the table for all to see;
3. gives a batch of four cards face down to each player;
4. places one more card face up in the middle of the table;
5. gives another batch of three cards face down to each player.

With the deal complete, a game of Offender is played in three main parts: the bidding, the exchange, and the trick play.

The purpose of the bidding is for two players with compatible hands to find each other, forming the offensive partnership, and to decide on a contract. A contract is an obligation to win a minimum number of tricks with a suit they have chosen to be trump. The other three players, forming the defensive partnership, work together trying to defeat the contract.

The bidding is followed by the exchange, when each offender might swap one card with the widow.

After that, the hand is played out in tricks.

Then scores are figured. If the offense takes at least as many tricks as it bid, it earns a bonus; but if it fails, the defense earns the bonus.

Details follow.

Bidding.

1. There are two kinds of bids: the proposal and the acceptance, but a player is never required to bid.

2. A proposal is an offer to win at least a certain number of tricks, with a chosen suit as trump, with the aid of one partner. When making a proposal, the proposer does not know which player, if any, will accept the proposal.

3. If one player's proposal is accepted by another player, it becomes the contract pro tem. The proposer and accepter become the offensive partnership pro tem, while their three opponents become the defensive partnership pro tem. If a proposal is not accepted by any other player, it is abandoned.

4. Any proposal must call for a larger number of tricks than the current contract pro tem, if there is one. It need not be for more tricks than any abandoned proposal.

5. If a player's proposal is abandoned, she may not propose any contract until after some other player has made a proposal, whether accepted or abandoned. Still, she is free to accept any proposal made by any other player.

6. As the bidding progresses, one contract pro tem might be replaced by another, and that by yet another, calling for a higher number of tricks each time. The final contract pro tem becomes the contract.

7. The proposer and accepter of a contract pro tem are free to later propose and accept other contracts, in any suit, with possibly different partners.

8. Bidding alternates between a proposal stage and an acceptance stage, with proposals first.

• 8A. In the proposal stage:
  • To propose, a player announces "propose (number) (suit)". The number must be between 1 and 10, and must be greater than the number of any previous successful proposal. The bidding now shifts to the acceptance stage.
  • A player who declines to bid announces "no proposal". After five consecutive "no proposal"s, the bidding ends.
• 8B. In the acceptance stage:
  • A player who accepts a proposal announces "accept (number) (suit)". A contract pro tem and partnerships pro tem are formed. The bidding now returns to the proposal stage.
  • A player who declines to bid announces "reject (number) (suit). After four consecutive rejections, the proposal is abandoned, and bidding returns to the proposal stage.

9. At the end of bidding, the final contract pro tem becomes the permanent contract, and its partnerships pro tem become the permanent partnerships. If no proposal was accepted, the hand is abandoned, and the same dealer deals again.

10. Within the proposal stage, the turn to speak passes from one player to the player on her left. This is without regard to who, in any intervening acceptance stage, might have spoken when.

11. Within the acceptance stage, the turn to speak starts with the the player at the proposer's left and moves clockwise until some player accepts the proposal, or all four of the proposer's opponents have rejected it.

annotated example of bidding
proposal stage	acceptance stage
Amber: "no proposal"
Betty: "no proposal"
Cindy: "propose 3 hearts"
	Diana: "reject 3 hearts"
	Ellie: "reject 3 hearts"
	Amber: "accept 3 hearts"
3 hearts is the contract pro tem. Cindy and Amber form the offensive partnership pro tem. Betty, Diana, and Ellie form the defensive partnership pro tem. Any further proposal must be for at least 4 tricks, but it can be in any suit. Proposal bidding resumes with Cindy's successor, not Amber's.
Diana: "no proposal"
Ellie: "no proposal"
Amber: "no proposal"
Betty: "propose 5 clubs"
	Cindy: "reject 5 clubs"
	Diana: "reject 5 clubs"
	Ellie: "reject 5 clubs"
	Amber: "reject 5 clubs"
With four rejections, the proposal 5 clubs is abandoned. Betty may not propose again until some other player has proposed, whether or not the other's proposal is accepted or abandoned. However, Betty is free to accept some other player's proposal. 3 hearts remains the contract pro tem, with Cindy and Amber as offenders pro tem. Any further proposal must be for at least 4 tricks, but it can be in any suit. Proposal bidding resumes with Betty's successor, not Amber's.
Cindy: "no proposal"
Diana: "no proposal"
Ellie: "no proposal"
Amber: "propose 4 spades"
A player may overpropose her own contract pro tem, even in a different suit.
	Betty: "accept 4 spades"
4 spades is now the contract pro tem. Amber and Betty are the offensive partnership pro tem. Proposal bidding resumes with Amber's successor, not Betty's successor, so Betty speaks twice in a row. Because Amber made a proposal after Betty's abandoned proposal (5 clubs), Betty is now permitted to propose.
Betty: "propose 5 spades"
	Cindy: "reject 5 spades"
	Diana: "reject 5 spades"
	Ellie: "reject 5 spades"
	Amber: "accept 5 spades"
5 spades is now the contract pro tem. Amber and Betty remain the offensive partnership pro tem. Proposal bidding resumes with Betty's successor, not Amber's.
Cindy: "no proposal"
Diana: "no proposal"
Ellie: "no proposal"
Amber: "no proposal"
Betty: "no proposal"
With five "no proposal"s in a row, the bidding ends. The contract is for Amber and Betty partnering to win at least 5 tricks, with spades as trump. Cindy, Diana, and Ellie form the defensive partnership.

Exchange. After the bidding, each offender is permitted to swap one card with the widow. In detail:

• If the proposer chooses to swap, she moves one card from her hand to the widow and leaves it there face up. Then she takes the widow card she prefers and adds it to her hand.
• After that, if the accepter chooses to swap, she similarly transfers any one card from her hand to the widow face up. Then she takes the widow card she prefers and adds it to her hand. The card she takes could be the card that the proposer put there.

The widow has no further role, but because it is always face up, it influences play.

Tricks.

1. After the exchange, the hand is played out in tricks. A trick is a collection of cards, one from each player. Whoever contributes the best card wins the trick.

2. One player leads to a trick, contributing the first card. The each of the other players, in clockwise order, adds ("follows with") a card. The player who proposed the contract leads to the first trick. After that, the winner of one trick leads to the next.

3. A player, when leading to a trick, may choose any card she likes. After that, each other player must follow the leader's card with a card of the same suit if she has it; otherwise she may follow with any card she holds.

4. If any cards of the trump suit have been contributed, the highest-ranking trump wins the trick. If instead there are no trumps, the highest card of the suit led wins the trick.

Scoring. Each offender scores for each trick taken by either offender. Each defender scores for each trick taken by any defender.

If the offense wins at least as many tricks as they proposed, each offender scores a bonus based on their proposal (not their actual takings). If the offense fails, each defender scores that bonus instead.

Here is the table of points, which goes beyond 10 tricks for the convenience of players who change the rules:

points earned for tricks, whether bid or taken
tricks	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
points	0	1	3	6	10	15	21	28
tricks	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
points	36	45	55	66	78	91	105	120
These values are based on the triangular numbers.

In the long run each player plays for herself. In a succession of games, the respective players' accumulated scores will probably all become different.

	example of multi-game scoring
	offense				defense			accumulated points
	players	tricks bid	tricks taken	points	players	tricks taken	points	Amber	Betty	Cindy	Diana	Ellie
game 1	Amber Cindy	6	7	21 + 28 = 49	Betty Diana Ellie	3	6	49	6	49	6	6
game 2	Betty Ellie	7	6	21	Amber Cindy Diana	4	10 + 28 = 38	49 + 38 = 87	6 + 21 = 27	49 + 38 = 87	6 + 38 = 44	6 + 21 27
game 3	Cindy Diana	5	8	15 + 36 = 51	Amber Betty Ellie	2	3	87 + 3 = 90	27 + 3 = 30	87 + 51 = 138	44 + 51 = 95	27 + 3 = 30
game 4	Betty Diana	8	7	28	Amber Cindy Ellie	3	6 + 36 = 42	90 + 42 = 132	30 + 28 = 58	138 + 42 = 180	95 + 28 = 123	30 + 42 = 72

Variations.

1. Allow no-trump contracts.

2. In the rules as given above, after a proposal has been either accepted or abandoned, and bidding returns to the proposal stage, the first player to speak is the player to the left of the proposer, whether she was successful or not. The practice in Pirate Bridge differs when a proposal is accepted (but not abandoned): the first to speak is the player to the left of the accepter.

Other than five players. Rules are not included here; players can devise their own. Yet here are some observations:

With four players, the widow becomes less desirable and could well be omitted. This is because the two partnerships will be of equal size, and the offense has less need for a special advantage.

With six players by contrast, there will be two offenders against four defenders. Then a widow of four cards, so that each offender can exchange two, would help make competition more nearly equal.

With six players, having two partnerships of three players each would be nicely balanced; not evident, however, is what sort of bidding procedure would allow three players with compatible hands to find one another — even when those hands exist. Uncharted territory is how to form the alternative, three partnerships of two players each.

Comments.

When rejecting or accepting a proposal, players should repeat the number and suit to help prevent mistakes.

Two factors are intended to encourage players to propose and accept the largest contracts they can manage: (1) the offense's bonus for fulfilling the contract is based on their bid, not their actual trick-taking; (2) the triangular point schedule generously rewards high bids, if they are fulfilled.

Because the exchange is optional, each offender's hand might improve, but will not get worse. The exchange can help the two players of the offense, because they are outnumbered by the three players of the defense.

In most trick-taking games, a player must bid to win a large number (often a majority) of tricks, of card points, or of something else. By contrast, the Offender game allows a contract that specifies winning only 1 out of the 10 tricks; success in such a contract is almost trivial. The purpose of allowing low proposals, which will almost always be followed by higher ones, is to furnish "bidding room" so that players can experiment with various bids in hopes of finding suitable partners.

Because a contract can be for a small number of tricks, an offense that fulfills its contract could still be outscored by the defense. For example, the offense contracts for 3 tricks, but takes 4. This successful offense earns 10 points for the tricks and 6 points for the bonus, making a total of 16. Meanwhile the defense earns 21 points for the 6 tricks it wins.

No suit is higher or lower than another. For instance, a successful proposal of 4 clubs cannot be overcalled by a proposal of 4 diamonds, 4 hearts, or 4 spades. However, a bid of 5 in any suit would be acceptable.

If a player's proposal is abandoned, she must wait until some other player has made a proposal (whether accepted or abandoned) before proposing again. This is to discourage players from repeatedly delaying the progress of bidding with weak proposals.