You can lose a game to the rankest beginner who consistently gets cards and cuts, if you’re rarely getting either. If you don’t get the cards, or if you don’t get the cuts, you’ll quickly find any lead pone has insurmountable. Cribbage seems to involve almost as much luck as it does skill. Suffice to say, I’ve seen any number of times it was totally wrong. Too, its supposedly sub-optimal move feature doesn’t reflect various strategies, but I’ll not take the time to create scenarios. A simple example: if its last card played was, say, an 8 on a non-scoring throw, I can play a 5 to give a count of 26, because I know its remaining cards contain no card lower than an 8 really handy if I have another 5. Once you, its opponent, figure that out you’re free to make any unorthodox move. After it scores, it again “climbs the ladder.” That’s why it will sometimes lead with a 5 (the lowest card in its hand).

That is, it plays its cards in ascending order, unless there’s a scoring possibility. Respectfully, I disagree with you regarding Cribbage Classic online. The worst you’ll get is a tiny banner ad for the thing you bought on Amazon last week (God bless targeted adverts). Everything is kept dead simple – there’s no flashy graphics, rewards to be earned or intrusive ads (on the iPad, at least). Easy is insultingly soft, Standard will give you a decent game, and Pro is almost infallible. There are three difficulty levels: Easy, Standard or Pro.

It’s not only a decent game, it’s a knowledgable teacher, too. Cribbage Classic (4 stars)Ĭribbage Classic is the game I’ve had on my iPad for a year or so, and it’s one I keep coming back to. Otherwise, it’s an entertaining take on the game and only a couple of quid on either Android or iOS. In one game we saw a bug where it wouldn’t let us count a flush, which was infuriating, but we’ve only seen it once in a dozen or more hands.

If you make a mistake, grandpa won’t prompt you to recount – you just lose the points. The cards have a rather odd design, which takes some getting used to, and unlike the other two cribbage games here, you have to score your own hand (selecting the cards that make a ’15’, for example).

As for the gameplay itself, it’s pretty strong, with the different skill levels clearly evident.

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