# Rook — Kentucky Discard > Digital trick-taking card game with special deck and bidding mechanics. (iPhone/iPad app by fishdog.net.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rook/id789382449 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [fishdog.net](https://appshunter.io/developer/337519299) - Category: Games, Entertainment, Card, Casino - Price: Free - Rating: 4.80/5 from 6,895 App Store ratings · 110 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 15.0 · 32 MB - Languages: German (Germany), American English, French (France), Hindi, Swedish, European Spanish, Turkish - Released: 2018-04-06 - Data updated: 2026-09-01 - Monetization: ad-supported - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rook/id789382449/reviews.md ## What is Rook? Rook is a popular trick-taking card game using a special card deck numbered from 5 to 14 (and optionally 1) in 4 suit colors, plus a Rook card. In this app, the Rook card is a castle chess piece and the cards are designed to be color-blind friendly. Dealing: Deal passes around table for each hand, to the left. Dealer deals 9 cards to each player, and 5 cards to the widow in the middle of the table. Bidding: Players bid for the right to name the trump suit. The player to the left of the dealer starts the bidding at 70 (or passes), and bidding proceeds to the left, usually in 5 point increments. A player that passes is out of the bidding for that hand. Widow, Naming Trump: The high bidder collects the 5 widow cards (which are shown to all players), names a trump suit for the hand, and discards 5 cards from her hand (not shown to the other players). The 5 discards can include point cards which will, depending on your settings, go to either the high bidder or the winner of the last trick. Tricks: The dealer (or the high bidder, you can change this) leads the first trick. Play proceeds to the left until all 4 players have played one card. Players follow suit unless they are out of that suit (or play the Rook card to win a trick with lots of points). If a player cannot follow suit, any card may be played. If there were no trump cards played on a trick, high card in the lead suit wins the trick. If trump cards were played on the trick, the highest trump card wins the trick. The trick winner pulls in the cards (adds them to his won tricks pile), and leads the next trick. The Rook card is the highest card of the trump suit. The ranking of cards from high to low is Rook-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5. Hand results: Both teams count the points from their won tricks piles: Rook card is worth 20; 14 and 10 cards are worth 10 each; 5 cards are worth 5. The other cards count nothing. If the bidding team did not score enough points to cover its bid, its score decreases by the bid amount. Winning: First team to 300 points (or to be 300 points ahead) wins the game. A paid Rook Gold app with no ads is also available on the App Store. ## Key features - Trick-taking gameplay - Unique card deck (5-14) - Bidding for trump suit - Color-blind friendly cards - Customizable rules - AI opponents ## What do users think of Rook? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 👍 Fun and enjoyable game - 👍 Challenging and makes the mind work - 👍 Brings back childhood memories - 👍 Great implementation of Rook game **Cons** - 🐛 AI partner makes poor decisions and gets team set - 🐛 Unfair distribution of cards favoring the opponent team - 🐛 Opponents can renege and play off-suit trumps - 🐛 Frustrating bidding by AI partner **Commonly reported bugs** - AI partner plays trumps incorrectly - Scoring calculator issues and negative scores - Inability to skip the rest of the hand after outcome is decided - Irritating background music that cannot be turned off **Most requested features** - Online multiplayer mode to play with friends - More customization options for game rules - Ability to play with full deck (2-14) and 4-card kitty - Option to start bidding lower - Ability to 'shoot the moon' ## Recent user reviews (10 of 110) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rook/id789382449/reviews.md ### 3/5 — Good game but inappropriate ads *2026-08-19, version 26.0.0* Love the game but hate the risqué ads. Had to remove the app to keep away from the suggestive ad pictures. ### 1/5 — South Can’t Win *2026-07-20, version 26.0.0* Not very much fun. South never has a hand that can bid. Bidder wins 95% of games. Frustrating! ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2026-07-17, version 26.0.0* Allows playing the Rook card when you have the non-Trump color led with in your hand. Not how the game works. Don’t waste your time with this app. ### 1/5 — Decent Game *2026-06-19, version 26.0.0* I would say it’s good for beginners to learn basic strategies. However, having played Rook for 40+ years the flaws in competitive game play are obvious and annoying. I have played this particular game for 4+ years. The worst aspect is that your AI partner is obviously less skilled than AI opponents. The game was better and more accurate a couple years ago. It’s a shame that the game developers implemented changes to AI rules that lowered the quality of the game! ### 5/5 — Review *2026-06-08, version 26.0.0* Makes my mind work; motivates ### 5/5 — Online opponents *2026-04-01, version 26.0.0* Love it! Grew up playing Rook. Just wished we could play against others! ### 4/5 — Fun *2026-02-20, version 26.0.0* Nice being able to play almost any variation of the game, computer isn’t much competition I play were no one gets the bid below 140 to make it interesting. Would be perfect if you could play against real players. ### 5/5 — Great game! *2026-02-20, version 26.0.0* Love this game! ### 2/5 — Question *2026-02-08, version 26.0.0* How do I change I want to not be able to throw out count in the discard pile. ### 4/5 — Fun practice! *2026-02-08, version 26.0.0* The only thing I would add is an option to not play with the Big Rook card and have for discards instead of five. Fun to play and actually learn to get better :) ## Frequently asked questions about Rook ### What is Rook? Rook is a trick-taking card game played with a special deck. Players bid for the right to name the trump suit and then try to win tricks to score points. The game involves strategic card play and bidding to reach a target score. ### How do you play Rook? Players are dealt cards and bid for the trump suit. The highest bidder names the trump and collects 'widow' cards. Players then play tricks, with the goal of winning tricks containing point cards and fulfilling their bid. The Rook card is the highest trump. ### Is Rook free to play? This version of Rook is free to play but includes advertisements. A paid version, Rook Gold, is available without ads. ### What makes the cards color-blind friendly? The cards are designed with distinct colors and symbols to make them easily distinguishable for players with color vision deficiencies. This ensures a more inclusive gameplay experience for everyone. ### What are the point values in Rook? In Rook, the Rook card is worth 20 points. Cards numbered 14 and 10 are each worth 10 points, and 5 cards are worth 5 points. Other cards have no point value. Points are counted from the tricks won by each team. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 26.0.0 — 2025-09-30 Support for new devices. Minor bug fixes. ### 3.8.0 — 2025-06-15 Minor improvements and bug fixes. ### 3.7.0 — 2025-01-07 Minor improvements and bug fixes. ### 3.6.3 — 2024-11-14 Fixes crashing bug running on iOS 12. ### 3.6.2 — 2024-11-01 Adds option to block ad tracking. ## Apps similar to Rook | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Original Farkle](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/original-farkle/id1576253551) | 4.7 (4,503) | Free | Games | | [Cribbage Pro](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cribbage-pro/id409644287) | 4.7 (60,161) | Free | Games | | [Blackbird!](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blackbird/id563960217) | 4.7 (6,950) | $2.99 | Games | | [Canasta Royale](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/canasta-royale/id1119902945) | 4.7 (5,137) | Free | Games | | [Nertz JD](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nertz-jd/id1089058813) | 4.7 (3,010) | Free | Games | | [Rummy 500](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rummy-500/id1164298646) | 4.7 (17,796) | Free | Games | ## More apps by fishdog.net - [Super Car and Flyer 1](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/super-car-and-flyer-1/id319182108) - [Super Car and Flyer 2](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/super-car-and-flyer-2/id320167355) - [Super Car and Flyer 3](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/super-car-and-flyer-3/id322228209) - [Super Car and Flyer 0](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/super-car-and-flyer-0/id331469600) - [Dress-up](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dress-up/id337519296) - [Pinochle Gold](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pinochle-gold/id339141561) All apps by fishdog.net: https://appshunter.io/developer/337519299 ## Related topics [rook card game](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/rook-card-game) · [trick taking game](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/trick-taking-game) · [rook](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/rook) · [take 5 card game](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/take-5-card-game) · [rook scoreboard](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/rook-scoreboard) · [crows nest](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/crows-nest) · [descarte](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/descarte) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-01.*