Gin Rummy

I have had other Gin Rummy games for my iPad, but they made me too frustrated. I swore the games cheated because I so seldom won. That may sound like sour grapes, but it’s no fun to lose all the time. I accused the game of cheating because (unlike a human opponent) it knows exactly what cards I had in my hand and what cards were still in the deck. Too many times I needed one card to win, but that card didn’t come up until just the moment the other player knocked and won. It knew exactly what card I needed. I realize there are players out there who are very good and can remember every card played. I am not that good. I like games where I can win at least a quarter of the time. This game has three difficulty settings. The first level is very easy and is for children or beginners. I started with that but quickly got bored with it because I won every game. I am now enjoying the middle or average setting. There is also an advanced player setting. I may never switch up to that, but if you are able to remember cards already dealt and can figure out what cards the other player has, that setting is for you. Meanwhile, I am happy with winning half the time. It’s enough challenge without being frustrating.

The first problem, you should be able to manually move your cards around. But you can’t. There was an instance where I should’ve had Gin and the program did not see it. The computer tells you if you have gin, I had no choice but to knock. Even though I had Gin. I have a screenshot. Another problem is, if you have two runs going, with two different suits, and you pick up a card. The program then rearranges them to sets (ie 777 and 888) which may be the best for points value. However maybe that’s not the route I want to go, because of cards that have been let go or cards that I know are dead in the pile. And when that happens you have no idea what the card was that you just picked up, it’s not highlighted or anything so you have to sit there and mentally sort through the cards trying to figure out what card you want to discard. And the final problem which I just saw the AI do, Was he had three or four of the nine’s, and then he started discarding them? Because I had discarded them so I knew when I let go of the third one, oh shoot he’s going to have three nines. He picked it up, and then later started letting the nines go. OK well you could say maybe it didn’t go with this hand, well I called Gin and There was no reason for him to let those 3 nines to go. The next highest card he had in his hand was a six. And he only had one set of melds. So basically you’re playing with an idiot and 9 times out of 10 you should be able to knock or call Gin before it.

This is one of the best gin rummy games I’ve been able to find in the App Store. That being said, it’s pretty easy to game the computer into losing every time even on the highest difficulty. If you are more aggressive about getting rid of high value cards then you are about trying for melds in the 9-K card range, typically you will pick up some medium value melds along the way and end up with pretty low dead wood. Then rather than trying to go for gin, if you get rid of your highest value card every turn your dead wood will almost always be less than 7 by the time the computer knocks. This means maybe 65% of the time you win the hand through undercutting the computer and get 25 points plus the difference in your deadwood. The computer almost always knocks before getting gin so the other outcomes are the computer wins the hand but only gets the difference in deadwood (which should be a relatively small amount) or if the computer gets a good hand and knocks early you might lose the hand by a lot but you will almost always win the game through undercutting. I haven’t lost yet. But the reason I say all this is really to let the developers know cause I hope they improve the AI. Any human player would learn to stop knocking and letting the other player undercut them.

The cards and the overall design is crisp and nice looking. The setup for the most part is good. However, the sounds are not up to par with the rest of the game. For example, the cards being dealt sound like a cartoonish whip, which becomes a little annoying if you’re playing more than a couple of games. And who doesn’t? Yes, you can turn the sounds off, but why not just have better sounds instead of forcing us to turn them off? As for the play, the option to select an independent mode of play whereby you can decide for yourself when to knock might not be possible - but would be fantastic. This would make the play seem more realistic. (Yes, knocks can be ignored, but why would you?) Having the app tell you when to knock takes the challenge and fun out of the game. As it is, the app already places my cards in order after I draw - so am I really playing this game, or is the computer playing it for me? Another issue I have with the play is that when you decide to discard one that’s of no use to you, the game invariably seems to suddenly and miraculously present the cards you would have used/needed had you kept it. This doesn’t happen every single time, but at least 75% of the time. Perhaps these issues are the bane of computer card games. Maybe I should stick to playing Gin with actual people.

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It is like random, my buns!! Just play it for a while, and you'll see how obvious the game is depending your selection of cards. When you decide to get rid of a set because the card you are waiting for is not showing up, watch what card the game throws right after!!! 🤣🤣 Or you decide to wait to complete high numbered sets and it only throws you smaller cards the entire game which never does otherwise. Or all of the sudden knocks you with a fast game also when you are waiting a little longer for those high sets which also almost never does either. How convenient!! It is hilarious!! If I were in the casino, I would be denouncing it for scamming players 😆. But...oh well...is free, and fun right up to when your brain can't take anymore playing it dumb. If you like a basic card game and you don't mind winning most of the time on a game developed more with a no human left behind mentality, this is for you. Fun, but don't expect much brain exercise!!