Starting a game
Tap Play online. A rated game near your level starts within 30 seconds, Classic to 121. The first time, the app asks for a name to show at the table. Signing in with Google, or with Apple on an iPhone, is offered there too, and you can skip it.
The clock
Each turn has a clock: 45 seconds to throw two cards, 30 seconds to cut or to play a card. When it runs out, the table moves for you and the game goes on: it throws the two the hint would, cuts in the middle, or plays your lowest card. Three times in a row loses the game, so a game never stalls on one player.
Your rating and the leaderboard
A rated game moves your rating on the win or the loss and on your opponent’s rating: beat a higher rating and you gain more, lose to a lower one and you drop more. The margin, skunks included, does not count. After five rated games you can appear on the leaderboard, which shows the top 50.
Deals you can check
Every online game carries a seal, shown before the first deal. After the game, your phone redoes the shuffle of every deal from the seeds and checks every card it saw against it, so the deals can be proved fair after the fact.
Chat, blocks and reports
You can chat at any online table. Block anyone you would rather not meet again, or report a message or a player. Chat is kept for 30 days and then deleted, unless a report about that table is still open.
Questions
- Does online play cost anything?
- No.
- Do I need an account?
- No. A name is enough. Sign in with Google, or with Apple on an iPhone, and your rating and record follow you to a new phone.
- Can I play a friend online?
- Yes, at a private table by code. Those games are not rated.