Mobile Bridge Apps: Using New Technology to Learn a Classic Card Game

Nonetheless, a few apps stand out from the crowd and pave the way for future developments. The most interesting apps currently available are:

This article reviews only some of the several apps currently available (highlighted in bold in the list above). The selection aimed to:

The review compares and describes those three apps, based on the following criteria:

Each app gets a mark from 1 to 5 for each of the parameters that are relevant to it, where 1 is lowest and 5 is highest, and then an overall average mark.

Kida is a double dummy app, which allows users to play a wide range of combinations and, importantly, see all four hands. What the developer has done is design puzzles that provide a range of scenarios designed to test your knowledge of the game. Some scenarios are simple, some are tricky, and some will tax even the most experienced players. Now, the real strength of this app is its underlying teaching style. Instead of giving you the ability to choose how hard things are, the level of complexity gradually increases. By slowly ramping up the difficulty, you essentially become a better player without realising it. What’s also nice about this software is that the hands are grouped into levels and each one contains 52 puzzles (i.e. to match number of cards in a standard deck).

Level 1 starts with one card per player and then moves up to two cards of the same suit per player. After a while, a second suit is introduced, which slowly brings the concept of trumps into the mix. Thanks to this step-by-step technique, new facets of the game, such as following suit, ruffing, overtaking, finessing and the uppercut are slowly introduced. The main benefit of this dynamic is that the software doesn’t overload you with information. Bridge is a complex game, even if you’re an experienced card game player, and it’s easy to get lost in the small details. However, because Kida builds things from the ground up, it’s easy for anyone to become a proficient player.

Overall, we think this app appeals to a broad audience. People who aren’t familiar with cards have an opportunity to explore all aspects of the game at their own pace. Additionally, aspiring players can enjoy the competitive aspect of the app and compare their performances to users from around the world. Finally, the fact that puzzles are short and can be solved on the go, means you can pick up the game at your leisure, take in a few bits of information and then move on.

Bridge CC Analyzer allows users to scrutinise card combinations and, moreover, review calculations that tell you the best ways to play different holdings. The app also displays the probabilities that tell you how effective a move is and how effective alternative moves would have been.

To ensure you can tailor the situations to suit your skill level and particular needs, Bridge Analyzer CC allows you to adjust the following in-game dynamics:

In our opinion, this app is an essential tool for any experienced player. Whether you’re looking to dissect a hand you’ve played, practice a few scenarios or get a better appreciation of the mathematics underpinning bridge, this app is always useful.

If you’re a complete novice, the app is a great way to familiarise yourself with the most common combinations in bridge. By adjusting the variables listed above, you can run through a variety of scenarios that will help you build up an internal database of common situations you’ll experience when you play for the first time. Because of this, we believe pros and newbies will have plenty of ways to challenge themselves each time they load up Bridge CC Analyzer.

This is an app that allows you to bid and play hands against a computer simulation. In terms of its design, Neuralplay is simple yet effective. Because there are no unnecessary details or design quirks, you can get straight into the action. In fact, you don’t even need to create an account or sign-in to start the action.

Depending on the aspect of bridge you want to work on, you can choose one of the following two settings: bid only and play only. The user can select from a range of pre-defined hand combinations in order to practice specific scenarios such as bidding, using balanced hands or opening with each suit. It is also possible to exclude opponents from the bidding to have uncontested auctions.

This is one of the most user-friendly playing apps we’ve come across. Because it’s simple yet effective, it’s very easy to get into the action, set things up to suit your learning objectives and review the action. That’s extremely important for us, because the game is complicated enough on its own without an app being hard to understand. Because of this, we love the way Neuralplay’s developers have taken a no-frills approach when putting together the software.

When it comes to the artificial intelligence powering the game, it’s fair to say it’s competent but not highly advanced. During our review, it did struggle with competitive auctions and its defence wasn’t always sharp. Additionally, there wasn’t an option to select a signalling method.

However, on the positive side, the software can track your stats so that you can analyse your own progression and even compare your performance to other users (this feature requires you to register an account). Overall, we think this app will appeal to players that fancy a quick, no fuss game of bridge. Beyond those that simply want a challenge, Neuralplay should also pique the interests of those that want to consolidate their existing knowledge and shore-up their skills. However, if you’re a complete newbie or someone that wants to learn the basics, we wouldn’t recommend this app.