Comparison

Pick'Em Blitz® vs Play 21

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

Head to head
About

Pick'Em Blitz®

This card game emphasizes mental skill and strategy over chance. Compete in tournaments against live players for fun or cash prizes. Learn to build hands, block opponents, and master a unique card selection mechanic.

Highlights
  • Skill-based card gameplay
  • Indirect competition
  • Cash and fun tournaments
  • Strategic card selection
  • Interactive tutorial
  • Tournament history analysis
Features
Read full description

A revolutionary new way to play cards where mental skill and savvy replace chance. Compete indirectly against other live players in Skillz® tournaments for CASH prizes or FUN!!! Pick’Em Blitz® is no-betting, all-skill UnPoker where cards are dealt to the players based on player card selection rather than randomly like poker. As a result, it is a very different game for skill has replaced chance while playing directly against 2 to 4 bots. The interactive tutorial teaches you this enticing. fun game that is easy-to-learn but hard-to-master! It’s you against some of the smartest bots in the West. From hand-to-hand, you share with them the same face-up, randomly dealt four community cards and card selection limited deck that contains fewer than 25 cards. Then on each of three player card selection rounds, after every player privately selects a card from the limited deck, any player who has selected the same card as another player is dealt a no-value THWART card. Otherwise, that player is dealt their selected card. What is your strategy in trying to make the best poker-style hand? Do you try to a) build the best possible hand, b) block another player or c) improve your hand but avoid being blocked? In Pick’Em Blitz®, player card selection adds the exciting dimensions of building and blocking to gameplay to create a playing environment that is highly interactive, engaging and competitive. A tournament game consists of ten hands played in 3 minutes or less. Earn points for the quality of your hand if you win — or consolation points if you don’t. You also get points for time left on the clock. There is no betting! Just smart playing. Your final tournament score is compared to another live player who is playing with the same exact community cards, card selection deck and bots. And whomever gets the most points... wins! When a Pick’Em Blitz® game ends, in either an offline Practice session or Skillz® tournament, you can view a snapshot of each hand's final screen while on the Game Summary screen. Pick’Em Blitz® also has a Tournament History feature that for any hand in any past tournament match, displays on a single screen all the cards selected by and dealt to you, your live opponent and each of their respective bots. This feature can be invaluable in helping you improve your gameplay strategies. It allows you to analyze a) when a card selection strategy has failed to consider all the available information, b) where your strategies weren't flexible enough and c) how your decisions compared to those of your live opponent. Pick’Em Blitz® is an absorbing, exciting game for all. Playing it also makes you a better thinker, strategist and card player! (And maybe rich, too!) Pick’Em Blitz® has a companion app, Pick’Em Puzzle®, which for each hand requires you to keep trying alternate strategies until you find a winning one. Blitz and Puzzle are in a sense opposite sides of the same coin! Note that Skillz® real prize tournaments are not available in the following states: AZ, AR, CT, DE, IN, LA, ME, MT, SC, SD and TN. If you don’t live in a real prize-enabled region, you can play for fun with Skillz® virtual currency.

About

Play 21

A skill-based card game combining blackjack and solitaire mechanics. Compete against real players for cash prizes by strategically reaching a total of 21. Sharpen your card counting abilities and earn rewards.

Highlights
  • Real money prizes
  • Blackjack and solitaire blend
  • Skill-based competition
  • Fair matching against players
  • Leaderboard climbing
  • Redeemable tickets for rewards
Read full description

The cards are shuffled, the dealer is ready! It's time to Play 21! The top mobile card game that you can play for real money prizes! Play 21 is the perfect mix of blackjack and solitaire. Take your blackjack skills from the casino floor to your phone with this fast-paced card game. Count the cards, track the aces and the faces and stack hands to hit the total of 21. Doubledown on your card game IQ against real competitors, playing for REAL CASH PRIZES. Like solitaire, it’s all about the order of the cards and figuring out if the card you need is about to come! All combinations of cards count, from a casino blackjack to 5 card runs, just don't exceed 21! The quicker you play the more points you earn and you can take home the cash with a winning score! If you love poker, solitaire, blackjack and classic card games like rummy then Play21 is the game for you! It can sharpen your card counting skills and improve your real blackjack game. Start playing for free, perfect your strategy and then play for real cash! With Play 21 you're not playing against the house, so if you make the right decision you can always win! Play 21 is a skill based competition game, powered by Skillz®. Here, fairplay rules and every player has a chance to achieve an epic win, no matter your level of ability. • Win cash bonuses with Skillz® Daily Challenges! • Get fairly matched against real players that match your skill level! • Earn medals to climb the leaderboard and win real cash prizes. • Get tickets every time you play. Redeem your tickets for real world rewards in the Skillz® Rewards Store including gift cards, jewelry and even brand new cars! If you have any questions about the Skillz platform please contact: support@skillz.com

Screenshots

Pick'Em Blitz®4 screens
Play 214 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Play 21 at 88% against Pick'Em Blitz®'s 50%. Play 21 also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (128 vs 6). Pick'Em Blitz®'s advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Play 21 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Play 21 has 128 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Pick'Em Blitz®'s written reviews are positive against 88% of Play 21's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pick'Em Blitz® ships an update monthly, Play 21 every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pick'Em Blitz® versus Play 21: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPick'Em Blitz®Play 21
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (6 ratings)4.7 (128 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews87.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6128 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size355 MB179 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperThwartPoker Inc.Foxpaint AB

Customer experience

Pick'Em Blitz®

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Play 21

All ratings126 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%

In-app purchases

None

Pick'Em Blitz®

No in-app purchases

None

Play 21

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pick'Em Blitz® free?
Pick'Em Blitz® is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Play 21 free?
Play 21 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pick'Em Blitz® or Play 21?
Play 21 is rated higher. Pick'Em Blitz® averages 4.3 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Play 21 averages 4.7 from 128 ratings.
Do Pick'Em Blitz® or Play 21 have ads?
Both Pick'Em Blitz® and Play 21 show ads.
Which is updated more often, Pick'Em Blitz® or Play 21?
Pick'Em Blitz® ships an update monthly, and Play 21 every 4 months. Most recently, Pick'Em Blitz® was updated on October 18, 2026 and Play 21 on October 20, 2026.

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