Comparison

Backgammon ∙ vs Pinochle Gold

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

Head to head
About

Backgammon ∙

Enjoy the classic board game of Backgammon on your mobile device. Play against friends or a computer opponent with adjustable difficulty. Features include move highlighting, match play, and automatic saving.

Highlights
  • 1 and 2 player modes
  • Challenging AI with 3 difficulty levels
  • Highlighting of possible moves
  • Match play to configurable points
  • Undo function
  • Automatic save
Features
Read full description

Play the classic game of Backgammon on your iPhone or iPod Touch for free! Backgammon Free is the best free Backgammon app available for iOS. Backgammon Free supports both 1 player and 2 player gameplay, so you can play against friends or test your skills against a challenging computer opponent. Backgammon Free includes a host of exciting features, including: • Outstanding AI with three difficulty levels • Highlighting of possible moves • One touch or double touch move entry • Match play to a configurable number of points • Undo function • Configurable player names and score tracking • Automatic save when you exit or suspend the app • Great graphics and awesome sound effects If you've been looking for a great Backgammon app for your iPhone or iPod Touch, look no further. Download Backgammon Free today!

About

Pinochle Gold

Experience a premium, ad-free card game with configurable options for single- or double-deck play. Enjoy strategic bidding, melding, and trick-taking against computer opponents. This version offers enhanced tabletops and card backs.

Highlights
  • No ads, tracking, or subscriptions
  • Single- or double-deck play
  • Configurable bidding and melding
  • Play against computer opponents
  • Enhanced tabletops and card backs
  • Frequent updates with AI improvements
Features
Read full description

This is a no-ads, no-tracking, no-subscriptions version of the first and most popular pinochle app for iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Play single- or double-deck with configurable options, including meld bids and shoot the moon. Pinochle Gold has more tabletops and more card back options than Pinochle Plus and is updated frequently with user-suggested features and AI improvements. To try before you buy, see our free, ad-supported Pinochle app. Pinochle is a card game played with a 48- or 80-card deck of 9s, 10s, jacks, queens, kings and aces. The game consists of a repeating sequence of bidding (for the right to name the trump suit and optionally to pass cards), melding, and trick-taking. Players score points by melding various card combinations and by taking tricks. In this version, one human player (South) plays with a computer partner (North) and two computer opponents (West and East). BIDDING: Each player bids the number of points she thinks she can make with her hand. Player to the dealer's left is required to bid, and bidding proceeds to the left. Players who pass are out of the bidding for that hand. A typical high bid is 35 points (for 48 cards) or 60 (for 80 cards). High bidder names the trump suit for the hand and optionally exchanges cards with her partner. MELDING: Players get points by showing various card combinations. A run (or straight) in the trump suit is worth 15 points. Aces in all four suits is 10 points. Pinochle (queen of spades and jack of diamonds) is 4 points, or 30 points for double pinochle (two of each). TRICKS: Play begins with the high bidder, and proceeds around the table to the left, 4 cards per trick. Each trick has a winner, who gets 1 point per ace, ten or king. SCORING: If the high bidder fails to make the bid (his team's total meld plus trick points is less than the bid), the bid amount is subtracted from the team score. Play continues until one team goes out.

Screenshots

Backgammon ∙4 screens
Pinochle Gold4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Backgammon ∙ at Free against Pinochle Gold's $5.99. Backgammon ∙ also leads on ratings volume (80K vs 1.5K). Pinochle Gold's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (58% vs 26%). On update cadence, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

Backgammon ∙ is free to download; Pinochle Gold costs $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pinochle Gold holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backgammon ∙ has 80K ratings behind it against 1.5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of Backgammon ∙'s written reviews are positive against 58% of Pinochle Gold's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Backgammon ∙ ships an update every 4 months, Pinochle Gold every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Backgammon ∙ versus Pinochle Gold: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBackgammon ∙Pinochle Gold
PriceFree — better$5.99
Rating4.5 (80K ratings)4.7 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews26.4% of reviews58.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings80K — better1.5K
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supported — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#26 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size127 MB52 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOptime Software LLCfishdog.net

Customer experience

Backgammon ∙

All ratings78,239 ratings
Positive88.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews1,089 reviews
Positive26.4%
Neutral13.7%
Negative60.0%

Pinochle Gold

All ratings1,442 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews65 reviews
Positive58.5%
Neutral10.8%
Negative30.8%

User reviews

Backgammon ∙

From 80K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth gameplay
  • 👍 Good visuals and interface
  • 🕰 Great for passing time

Room to improve

  • 🎲 Unfair dice rolls favoring the computer
  • 🤖 Computer AI cheats on higher difficulty levels
  • 💢 Frustrating when computer gets perfect rolls
  • 🔍 Lack of randomness in dice rolls

Pinochle Gold

From 1.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Good game play
  • 👍 Awesome Game
  • 👍 Enjoy the options
  • 👍 Great game, would like more rule options
  • 👍 Pinochle is a great game

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Partner is buzzed
  • 🐛 Awful partner
  • 🐛 Could use more common sense
  • 🐛 Too easy
  • 🐛 Not true multiplayer

Bugs and requests

Backgammon ∙

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Game resets in the middle of a match
  • Ads cover the screen and are difficult to close

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add option to see game statistics and win/loss record
  • Improve randomness of dice rolls
  • Adjust AI difficulty to be more challenging but fair

Pinochle Gold

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • After melding, the player still receives a message asking if they want to Concede the Hand when only the obligatory or mandatory 20 points are necessary
  • Cannot read what trump is with the voiceover screen reader on iPhone
  • Cannot tell the score of the game in progress with the voiceover screen reader on iPhone

Requested features

2 requests
  • Allow for game of 1500 instead of 150 with an override adding a 0 on to all applicable settings
  • Peer to peer capability

In-app purchases

None

Backgammon ∙

No in-app purchases

None

Pinochle Gold

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Backgammon ∙ free?
Backgammon ∙ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pinochle Gold free?
Pinochle Gold costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Backgammon ∙ or Pinochle Gold?
Pinochle Gold is rated higher. Backgammon ∙ averages 4.5 out of 5 from 80K ratings, while Pinochle Gold averages 4.7 from 1.5K ratings.
Do Backgammon ∙ or Pinochle Gold have ads?
Backgammon ∙ shows ads; Pinochle Gold does not.
Which is updated more often, Backgammon ∙ or Pinochle Gold?
Backgammon ∙ ships an update every 4 months, and Pinochle Gold every 3 months. Most recently, Backgammon ∙ was updated on November 10, 2026 and Pinochle Gold on November 6, 2026.

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