play a trick on vs play a joke on

play a trick on and play a joke on both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
play a trick on	No	No	Yes	No
play a joke on	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, play a trick on and play a joke on are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of play a trick on include flim-flam, fob, fox, play tricks, pull a fast one on, trick.

play a trick on (verb)	play a joke on (verb)
deceive somebody	subject to a playful hoax or joke
	deceive somebody