Bridge by NeuralPlay

I play bridge in several different bridge clubs and this is my go-to game when I have a little bit of time to kill on my phone. It gives offers quite a few options to set the type of game and bidding options that you prefer and once I experimented with those options I have a very good and challenging bridge game. You have the option to turn hints on and off and I admit that sometimes the game wants me to play different bidding styles that I don't use but I have learned a lot by paying attention to the hints. You can go back and replay a game to try and improve your play. One of the things I appreciate is that, like so many apps, this one is supported by showing ads. The ads are almost always five seconds or less in length and they don't appear so often that I get frustrated with them. All in all I think it's a really good bridge game for beginners or seasoned players. It has improved my skills at the game and gives me the opportunity to try and be a better player.

I am no expert but this app plays a very credible game. I have won 48% of hands played on level 5 and 6, but the app counts ties as wins so I’m doing worse than that. I have played 600 hands and have not noticed reneges or anything completely “wrong”. Bots may bid or play unexpectedly but that’s what people do too. What makes bridge great is that there are times where there’s no obvious move. I will say the bot’s SAYC bidding is pretty good (I don’t know all the conventions myself), but the card play seems a little weak. I’m now playing level 6 all the time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the bot duck a trick even when it’s pretty clear it should. It seems finesses lose more than they should because second hand seems to play high whenever possible. Every dice or card game app I’ve ever seen get reviews accusing the app of rigging the randomness. Generally speaking, why would a developer put in effort like that to make an inferior product that makes people mad? The beauty of bridge is that you can play duplicate and randomness is not a factor. Sometimes my “teammates” make dumb plays on the other table, but that’s real life too.

The frequency of 9 or 10 high hands being dealt to South is well beyond statistical probability. For example, in the last 5 hands I was dealt, 3 hands were 9 high with even distribution, 1 hand had a single Jack with even distribution, and the 5th hand was about 5 points again with even distribution. Without keeping detailed records, I feel 70-80 percent of South hands are 9 or 10 high. It is disappointing to play a myriad of hands where your only bid is “pass” and no defense can be offered when you can only catch the cards you hold. Beware that the program uses a strange 4NT bid by North. Following a pass by South, a bid by West. North will overcall 4NT to indicate 2 4-card suits for the lowest suits that have not been bid and North usually has only 3-5 points. The bid is doubled. So with with South having a high hand with no honors, and North having so few points, declarers often capture only one or two tricks. I have not found a way to avoid this disaster. Additionally, be prepared for North to discard winning Aces and Kings or overtake your winning trick permitting opponents to set up their suit. This occurs despite the lead being from dummy when it is obvious what cards to hold. Often, North will discard Ace or King while continuing to hold 3 small cards in the same suit. North is not unblocking hand for South because never has much of a chance to catch a trick when mostly holding 10-high hands!