Comparison

Bergen Bridge vs Shark Bridge

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Bergen Bridge

Enhance your bridge playing skills with interactive lessons and explanations. This app provides guidance on optimal card play and bidding strategies, helping you become a more formidable opponent. It's designed for all skill levels and requires no internet connection.

Highlights
  • Interactive deal play
  • Explanation of optimal plays
  • Programmed questions for self-assessment
  • Standard American bidding system
  • Offline functionality
  • Expert guidance from Marty Bergen
Features
Read full description

This app is perfect for the bridge player who wants to improve his/her playing skills. When you are playing the deal but don’t play or defend perfectly, you will get a message explanation what you should have done. You also have the option to let the program ask you questions about the play. Every bridge player should ask these questions themselves before playing a card. By answering the questions you will learn the best approach. Once you are used to asking yourself these type of questions, you will have made a big step in improving your play and becoming a better opponent. The bidding system is based on Standard American. However, the auction is always provided for you so this program is appropriate for all players. To use the app, no internet connection is needed. About Marty Bergen Marty is a U.S. bridge teacher/player/author. He is a ten-time national champion and ACBL Grand Life Master and World Bridge Federation World International Master. He retired from active competition in 1993 to concentrate on teaching and writing. He was recently voted to be the 22 most influential person in the history of bridge. Marty has been a columnist in the monthly ACBL Bridge Bulletin since 1976. He has also written 69 bridge books; two of which won the ABTA Bridge Book of the Year award. Points Schmoints!: Bergen's Winning Bridge Secrets in 1996 and Declarer Play the Bergen Way in 2005. Wins - North American Bridge Championships (10) - Pan-American Maccabi Games (1) - Cavendish Invitational Teams (1) - Cavendish Invitational Pairs (2) - Goldman Pairs (1) Second-place finishes - North American Bridge Championships (10) - United States Bridge Championships (1) - Cavendish Invitational Teams (1)

About

Shark Bridge

Learn and play the card game of bridge with an AI opponent that adjusts to your skill level. Offers unlimited hands, duplicate games, and tournament play, with options for offline or online play. Analyze past competitions and share hands with friends.

Highlights
  • Adjustable AI difficulty
  • Unlimited hands
  • Duplicate bridge games
  • Daily tournaments
  • Offline and online play
  • Hand analysis
  • Import/export hands
Features
Read full description

Shark's 5th generation robot can be adjusted from an excellent beginner to a full-scale AI expert player. Shark Bridge offers unlimited hands, duplicate bridge games, and Daily Tournament with MP (%) scoring. Play bridge with friends or practice on your own. Study the hands of your bridge teacher. Play deals online from your library, classroom hands, and generator You can play and review boards with the complete auction and play details from International, North American, and European competitions. Internet is not required, except for Daily Tournaments and the Online Bridge Club. Shark Bridge won the 2014 and 2011 World Bridge Computer Championships. You can email hands to your partner or other bridge friends for discussion if they have Shark or another bridge app capable of opening PBN/LIN files. Share the fun! You can also import bridge deals from your computer disk or the Internet. Shark Bridge features: - Bidding systems: Standard American 5 card major( SAYC or Shark flavor), 2/1 Game Force, Std English Acol (in development) bidding systems. - Duplicate bridge game. - Bridge tournament boards. - Play bridge offline ( no Internet ) or live on the Internet with your friends and foes. - Never wait for a bridge table to fill in; our high-quality robot will play bridge when needed. - Hints and auction analysis are available at any time. Ask the Shark Bridge, and it will help. - Get suggestions when the declarer is on the lead to a trick; Shark will recommend a play strategy. - Open PBN (Portable Bridge Notation) and LIN ( VU-Graph) files from your email. - Choose from regular and 4-color card decks. Bridge Enthusiast In-App purchase ($29.99) upgrade offers: - Play an unlimited number of random deals. - 9 WBF, ACBL, and European bridge tournaments from 2014,2013,2011. - Email bridge hands from your Personal Deal Library. - Basic Online Bridge Play: create, join, and kibitz at any table. - Deal Analysis. - One year free VIP subscription. VIP subscription ($34.99/year) unlocks additional features and services: - Daily tournament with 16 boards; compare your skill with the rest of our VIP members. Study the deals from past competitions. - 32 WBF, ACBL, and European bridge tournaments in recent years, including 2016. More are in the works. - VIP online play: create, join, and kibitz at any table, manage friends, block players, invite players. - Par Contract Calculator. - Personal Deal Library: all saved deals are instantly available to all of your devices. - Advanced Deal Generator. - Classroom hands - Access to The CommonGame hands, via the Classroom hands module - Highest priority for feature requests. Bridge Bidding Systems: Standard American 5-card major( SAYC or Shark flavor), 2/1 Game Force, Acol, and Swedish 5-card major bidding systems, and more are in the works. Each bridge system includes the most popular conventions, and you can further customize it with : 1NT / 2NT range and hand distribution options Gambling 3NT or strong 25+ HCP 3NT Stayman Jacoby and Texas Transfers Weak two Spades, Hearts, Diamonds Strong 2 Clubs Blackwood: 4 Aces / 5 Aces, RKCB, RKC 1430, Exclusion Blackwood Jacoby 2NT Sandwich 2NT Two-way new minor forcing (XY-NT) Leaping Michaels Michaels Cue Bid Maximum Overcall Double Negative Doubles Takeout Doubles Responsive Doubles Support Double Splinter Bids Lebensohl Unusual 2NT Drury DONT Landy Multi Landi BPH The Shark Play bridge engine was designed and programmed by John Norris, an international bridge master and Danish Bridge Champion. Shark robot is the most human-like playing bot; it has been tested against professional players and proved a worthy opponent.

Screenshots

Bergen Bridge4 screens
Shark Bridge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Shark Bridge at 73% against Bergen Bridge's 26%. Shark Bridge also leads on rating (4.6 vs 2.5) and ratings volume (1.2K vs 17). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bergen Bridge sells 17 one-off in-app purchases and Shark Bridge sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shark Bridge holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shark Bridge has 1.2K ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of Bergen Bridge's written reviews are positive against 73% of Shark Bridge's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bergen Bridge ships an update every 5 weeks, Shark Bridge every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Bergen Bridge versus Shark Bridge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBergen BridgeShark Bridge
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.5 (17 ratings)4.6 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews26.3% of reviews73.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings171.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB164 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMarcel HofstedeThe Shark Bridge Company Inc

Customer experience

Bergen Bridge

All ratings17 ratings
Positive41.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative58.8%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive26.3%
Neutral10.5%
Negative63.2%

Shark Bridge

All ratings1,159 ratings
Positive91.5%
Neutral5.0%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive73.3%
Neutral10.0%
Negative16.7%

Bugs and requests

Bergen Bridge

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Shark Bridge

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • iPad app keeps quitting when saving hands
  • Identical daily hands repeated

Requested features

3 requests
  • Help files for analysis interruption and interpretation
  • Option for standard North American carding
  • Show lead card on results page

In-app purchases

17 purchases

Bergen Bridge

One-time17
  • Beginner 1$8.99
  • Beginner 2$8.99
  • Intermediate 1$8.99
Show 14 more
  • Intermediate 2$8.99
  • Advanced (Play)$8.99
  • Advanced (Defense)$8.99
  • Expert$8.99
  • Bergen Bridge Exercises$8.99
  • Finesse$9.99
  • Declaring No Trump contracts$9.99
  • Signal and Discard$9.99
  • Opening$9.99
  • Defense$9.99
  • Bid with Bergen 1$9.99
  • Bid with Bergen 2$9.99
  • Endplay and Squeeze$9.99
  • Declaring Trump Contracts$9.99
2 purchases

Shark Bridge

One-time2
  • Bridge Enthusiast$29.99
  • Yearly VIP subscription$34.99

Questions

Is Bergen Bridge free?
Bergen Bridge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shark Bridge free?
Shark Bridge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bergen Bridge or Shark Bridge?
Shark Bridge is rated higher. Bergen Bridge averages 2.5 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Shark Bridge averages 4.6 from 1.2K ratings.
Do Bergen Bridge or Shark Bridge have ads?
Neither Bergen Bridge nor Shark Bridge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bergen Bridge or Shark Bridge?
Bergen Bridge ships an update every 5 weeks, and Shark Bridge every 2 weeks. Most recently, Bergen Bridge was updated on September 29, 2026 and Shark Bridge on October 29, 2026.

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