Tichu app for iPhone and iPad

4.0 ( 5120 ratings )

Games Board Card
Developer: House Full of Games

2.99 USD

Current version: 1.10.0, last update: 7 years ago
First release : 24 Aug 2010
App size: 47 Mb

*** Listed on Games Magazines Electronic Games 100 for 2011! ***

Shall I Teach You About Tichu?

Legend has it that over 642 million Chinese play Tichu nearly every day! I dont know about that. All I know is that Tichu might very well be the worlds best card game.

Tichu is a partnership game for four players where partners battle to be the first to play all of their cards and score points. Each hand is filled with strategy and risk. Will you be the first player to play all of your cards? Perhaps youd like to make a little wager on that? Are you willing to risk 100 points? How about 200?

Tichu has long been the favorite card game of all time on BoardGameGeek. Find out why! I promise that you wont regret it!

Tichu boasts the following great features:

* Fully licensed and authorized by designer Urs Hostettler and publisher Fata Morgana Spiele.
* Computer controlled opponents boast a challenging and lifelike Artificial Intelligence that is configurable in numerous ways.
* Up to 4 humans can play linked over Bluetooth or Game Center.
* Full support for Game Center! including achievements, leaderboards, and world-wide multiplayer!
* Extensive tutorial and in-game documentation will teach you how to play and have you playing like a champ in no time.
* Shake-A-Hint™ feature helps you play while you learn.
* Music and sound effects.
* Keep track of up to 4 games at once.
* Keep track of your games progress with a fully automated score sheet.
* Track your statistics over multiple game sessions.
* Play in English or German.
* Optimized high resolution images for iPhone 4 and iPad.
(It also looks fantastic on older iPhones and iPod touch.)

Follow the developer on Twitter @sblanding.

Note: If you encounter any issue which you think is a bug, or even if you would just like to drop me a line, please send me email at steve-at-housefullofgames-dot-com. Posting bug reports in the comments below doesnt help me because I cant contact you to ask for more details. Please dont hesitate to write. Id love to hear from you!

Pros and cons of Tichu app for iPhone and iPad

Tichu app good for

Really enjoyable way to learn this game - sometimes the computer players make strange decisions but a lot of fun.

I am just a beginner Tichu player. This app is great for me to get some practice in. It did hang once, but on quitting, then restarting the app we were able to continue the game right were it had hung.

I had only played Tichu once before, so I basically had to relearn the game on my iPhone. It was really easy to pick it up again using this app. Awesome implementation! 5 Stars for sure!

The game plays very well. Takes care of all of the fiddly bits for you while still being a full play experience. Would be nice if the animations were a tad faster and if interacting with your hand wasnt so tedious but theyre minor niggles on a great implementation. Very pretty, has multiplayer...cant ask for much more.

Yes, my AI partner was making me upset, but then again, so do my real life partners. I love this game, and now that its on the iPad, there goes my life.... Thanks! :D

Tichu is a very popular "ladder" card game that has more depth than first appear. This app is a phenomenal way to learn how to play and gives you the opportunity to mess up with a partner who will never yell at you, no matter how badly youre playing! Ive heard some grousing that the AI isnt spectacular, but Ive found it to be challenging enough. Considering how much is going on here, I consider this to be an amazing feat of AI programming. My only small complaint is that in the new version (1.2), the interface for launching a new game isnt explained very well. it took me forever to figure out that you needed to double-tap. Even then, it doesnt work cleanly every time. But thats the only blemish on an app that has otherwise consumed more of my leisure time than any other.

Some bad moments

This game makes fun with the two easiest settings in the AI. The difficult AI levels are implemented with some cheats. It is no fun to loose a game, because the enemies do some magic tricks. Only by this app if you dont want to play in the normal mode.

Mutiplayer games over local and Game Center drop easily with no ability to rejoin. Tichu is a time tested game and its much fun to play with the AI but the devs need to iron out the multiplayer bugs to earn a 5 star rating that Tichu deserves.

Rated 1 star until the app stops nagging for ratings and stops advertising for other (also abandoned) apps.

I love this game, but there are three bugs that are irritating and keep me from playing more. The first is that whenever I try to start a new game, it crashes and sends me to my home screen, forcing me to restart the app. The second is that its always flashing "unable to authenticate player" when I open it after going to another app. Third error that started, it isnt starting a new game when I hit start a new game, it just boots me out, I come back and it starts a hand with the same score card as before!

The idea is to get rid of your cards with the usual poker hands... So obviously theres an element of luck involved. Included in this deck are "special" cards that have somewhat silly rules, as are the bomb rules. Interesting but as with other card games gets predictable after a while.

I love this card game. Great strategy and wonderful game. I recommend everyone learn the game and play.

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