Tichu vs Tichu Buddy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tichu
A strategic partnership card game for four players where teams compete to be the first to empty their hands and score points. Features challenging AI opponents and online multiplayer for global play. Learn the game with a comprehensive tutorial and helpful hints.
- Partnership card game for four players
- Strategic gameplay with risk and scoring
- Challenging configurable AI opponents
- Online multiplayer with up to 4 players
- Cloud data backup and sync
- Extensive tutorial and in-game documentation
- Hint feature for learning
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*** Listed on Games Magazine's Electronic Games 100 for 2011! *** Legend has it that over 642 million Chinese play Tichu nearly every day! I don't know about that. All I know is that Tichu might very well be the world's 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 you'd 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 won't 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 from any supported device in any part of the world. Data automatically backed up to the cloud and synced to any device that runs the game! Extensive tutorial and in-game documentation will teach you how to play and have you playing like a champ in no time. Hint feature helps you play while you learn. Choose from multiple beautiful deck styles.
Tichu Buddy
This app simplifies scoring for the 4-player "Tichu Nanking" card game. Its unique slider interface allows for rapid point division between teams, including quick scoring for Double Victories.
- Quick scoring for Tichu games
- Innovative slider design
- Easy point division between teams
- Supports Double Victory scoring
- Designed for 4-player Tichu Nanking
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Quickly score Tichu games with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Tichu Buddy's innovative slider design enables you to quickly divide points between teams. Score a Double Victory by moving the slider all the way to the left or right. This app is designed for the 4-player "Tichu Nanking" version of the game.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Tichu Buddy at Free against Tichu's $4.99. Tichu Buddy also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 70%). Tichu's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (319 vs 3). On rating, 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
Tichu Buddy is free to download; Tichu costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Tichu against 4.3 for Tichu Buddy. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tichu has 319 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Tichu's written reviews are positive against 100% of Tichu Buddy's.
Tichu ships an update monthly, Tichu Buddy every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tichu | Tichu Buddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (319 ratings) | 4.3 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 319 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #107 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 162 MB | 0 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | House Full of Games | CyberMoai |
Customer experience
Tichu
Tichu Buddy
Bugs and requests
Tichu
Reported bugs
5 issues- Crashes on launch or during gameplay
- Inability to join or maintain multiplayer games
- Inconsistent behavior when calling Tichu
- Incorrect card interactions (e.g. overplaying)
- Persistent login and username issues
Requested features
5 requests- Multiplayer support (online and local)
- More statistics and performance tracking
- Ability to forfeit games
- Faster animations and gameplay
- Improved card visibility on smaller screens
Tichu Buddy
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Tichu
No in-app purchases
Tichu Buddy
No in-app purchases
