App Profile: CardGames.io

Reviewer 1983

Rating: 5/5

This has been increasingly my favorite app on my phone. It has so many games, and enough people play that you can almost always play a game with another person within 5 minutes of waiting. I’ve used this game to learn new games and love the easy to understand rules (and the humorous side remarks). I love that there’s no open chat feature which keeps rudeness down to a minimum. If I could change one thing, it would be to challenge favorited players (I’ve come across excellent players with a friendly demeanor and would love to engage with them again). Also, I question the rules for Escoba… my Italian friends taught me (La Scopa) that game a while back and the rules are very different. Other online versions I’ve played are similar to my friend’s rules. Perhaps I have the games mixed-up and they’re not the same, but if they are intended to be the same, the developers may want to review the rules. (Ex. You’re not adding a card in your hand to a card on the table for 15, you’re trying to make a card in your hand match the value of a card or cards on the table) I’m no expert, and this doesn’t drawback from the quality of the game. I’ve recommended it to friends across the US and we have game nights using this app. 100% recommend.

javinger

Rating: 5/5

I love this app! I’ve been playing for years. I learned every game offered, including Canasta and Bridge, and look forward to new games when offered (currently learning Skat!) I originally got the app for Solitaire and Backgammon. When I play Solitaire now, I replay until I can tie or beat the number of moves to solve the game. I have learned so much about Solitaire playing that way. As far as Backgammon, I have improved immeasurably! I look at the stats and see the probabilities of doubles play out in real time. Every time I hit 10,000 games, I clear my stats and start over. Based on my experience, I have begun to wonder if the game is improving against me of late. There are times when it is statistically improbable that I am gonna lose, and then the one situation where I will occurs. It makes me laugh and keeps me coming back. This morning, I noticed an Undo button below the board. 👀 I am not sure I like that. I have wished more than once I could undo a move because I wasn’t paying attention, but I learned something from that. I hope I’m strong enough NOT to yield to that desire if it happens now! I’ll come back here eventually and let y’all know!

randomrotor

Rating: 2/5

Want an app that has a lot of card games with limited ads? Okay, cool, this one has that. Want an app that actually has some elegance and strategy to its programming? Pffft, keep looking. This thing knows the rules of a game and that’s it. It has no strategy, is easy enough to learn and predict, and, worst of all - and this is where the frustration really comes in - it’s solution to ‘balance’ is to deal you increasingly unplayable hands for extended durations until the computer has won a few games to make the win/loss percent back in acceptable variance. How often in a game of euchre does your opponents get dealt 4 alones in a row? How often do you get 3 alones in a row and the computer immediately calls off making your hand useless because it’s the 9, 10, queen and bowers in the other color? With this app, it’s all the time. And don’t even get me started on how many hands you may as well not even play because it’s just the computer players slinging cards and your hand is completely irrelevant, or how easy it is to bait the computer into shooting the moon in hearts. Great for a very basic app with limited ads, but dear god, if you want any sort of subtlety… better to just deal with the ads in another app.