Card Game
Manage a deck and simulate a trick-taking hand, data structure design and simulation with a bug → feature → scale arc.
Problem
A card game engine manages a 52-card deck and simulates trick-taking rounds. The starter code has a bug.
Phase 1: Fix the bug
shuffle() is broken: it can leave the deck with duplicate cards or miss cards entirely. The deck must contain each card exactly once after shuffling.
Phase 2: Feature
Implement a full trick: each player plays one card; the highest card of the lead suit wins, unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump wins. Track who takes each trick.
Phase 3: Scale
The game grows to many players across many rounds. Deck state and trick resolution must not drift or slow down.
What interviewers watch
A correct swap-based shuffle, clean per-trick state (not shared mutable leftovers), and review of the trump resolution logic the AI produces.