Comparison

Hardwood Spades Pro vs The Spades

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

Head to head
About

Hardwood Spades Pro

Experience a premium digital card game with stunning graphics and multiple variations. Play against thousands of online players, track your progress on leaderboards, and enjoy customizable environments. Offers various game modes for solo or multiplayer fun.

Highlights
  • Online multiplayer
  • Multiple Spades variations
  • Leaderboards
  • Achievement challenges
  • Customizable environments
  • Offline solo play
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Pull up a chair. Hardwood Spades has been bringing players together for over 20 years -- and our medieval tavern is still going strong. Whether you're a Spades veteran or just learning the ropes, you'll find a welcoming atmosphere, good company, and a great game. If you're tired of card games dressed up as casinos, you've found your medieval tavern. Play online with thousands of players worldwide, team up with friends, or enjoy a quiet solo game against AI opponents that actually play like real people. No casino noise. No slot machine gimmicks. Just Spades. Why Players Keep Coming Back: • Ad-free experience -- no interruptions, ever • A Mature Community: Moderated and friendly -- sportsmanship comes first • Play Anywhere: Smart AI opponents for solo play anytime, no internet required • Competitive Edge: Online tournaments and global leaderboards • Immersive Experience: Stunning environments and high-quality audio • Total Customization: Unique card decks, backgrounds, and animated FOOMS effects that express your style at the table Spades Variations: • Partnership: Traditional, Mirrors • Individual: Standard, Mirror, Cutthroat • Specialty: Whiz • And more! Want online chat, rated games, and 200 tokens every month? Plus membership is optional and affordable -- your first 30 days are on us. Questions, suggestions, or found an issue? We love hearing from our players at support@silvercrk.com ____________________ Hardwood Games Subscriptions are optional and available at a rate of 1 month for $4.99, 3 months for $14.99 or 1 year for $29.99. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions will auto-renew unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your Apple ID account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Your subscriptions can be managed from your iTunes account settings. Cancellation of subscriptions is not allowed. Our privacy policy may be viewed at http://www.hardwoodgames.com/about/privacy/ Our terms of service may be viewed at http://www.hardwoodgames.com/about/terms/

About

The Spades

Experience the classic 4-player contract trick-taking card game on iOS. Enjoy smooth gameplay, scalable difficulty, and track your performance against 18 AI opponents. Customize your partnerships and challenge yourself to beat them all.

Highlights
  • Full Spades partnership play
  • 18 CPU characters with varying skill
  • Choose partners and opponents
  • Undo play and hint facility
  • Save player statistics
  • Customizable graphics and sound
Features
Read full description

The most downloaded Spades app now available !! 'The Spades' brings this classic 4-player contract trick taking card game to the iOS, based on the No.1 downloaded Spades app by AI Factory! 'The Spades' supplies classy graphics, super smooth gameplay, addictive background music and sound effects, highly scalable difficulty & much more. The game will track your wins/losses and draws against each of the difficulty levels. You can monitor how well you have performed in partnership with all the 18 CPU players provided for the game. Beat them all and partner them all! Features: -- Full Spades Partnership Play -- 18 CPU characters of varying skill (beginner to expert) -- Choose who to partner with and who to play against! -- Undo your play anytime -- Hint facility -- Backgroud Music and Sound Effects (ON/OFF) -- Beautiful Card and Background graphics -- Animation speed (Normal/ Fast) -- Saves history of your and CPU player stats -- Remove ads

Screenshots

Hardwood Spades Pro4 screens
The Spades4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: The Spades at Free against Hardwood Spades Pro's $0.99. The Spades also leads on ratings volume (8.2K vs 125). Hardwood Spades Pro's advantage is review sentiment (87% vs 47%) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, update cadence, 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

The Spades is free to download; Hardwood Spades Pro costs $0.99 up front. Hardwood Spades Pro sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and The Spades sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hardwood Spades Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Spades has 8.2K ratings behind it against 125, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Hardwood Spades Pro's written reviews are positive against 47% of The Spades's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hardwood Spades Pro ships an update every 2 months, The Spades every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Hardwood Spades Pro versus The Spades: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHardwood Spades ProThe Spades
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (125 ratings) — better4.6 (8.2K ratings)
Positive reviews86.8% of reviews — better46.6% of reviews
Number of ratings1258.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#198 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size101 MB116 MB
Age rating9+17+
DeveloperSilver Creek EntertainmentUNBALANCE Corporation

Customer experience

Hardwood Spades Pro

All ratings125 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive86.8%
Neutral5.3%
Negative7.9%

The Spades

All ratings8,204 ratings
Positive91.4%
Neutral4.7%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews118 reviews
Positive46.6%
Neutral12.7%
Negative40.7%

User reviews

Hardwood Spades Pro

From 125 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Enjoyable pastime
  • 👍 Good AI opponents
  • 👍 Nostalgic connection
  • 👍 Play with friends
  • 👍 Great graphics

Room to improve

  • 👎 Avatar choice limited
  • 👎 AI partners not smart
  • 👎 Expensive for a game
  • 👎 Multiplayer cost
  • 👎 Few people playing rated games

The Spades

From 8.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Enjoyable game
  • 👍 Good entertainment
  • 🕹️ Relaxing gameplay
  • 🧠 Improves gameplay skills

Room to improve

  • 💸 Too many ads
  • 🤖 Biased AI partners
  • 🤔 Inconsistent partner behavior
  • 🧠 Questionable AI decision-making

Bugs and requests

Hardwood Spades Pro

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Avatar choice limited
  • AI partners not smart
  • Bid and score boxes huge on iPhone 6s/iPad
  • App won't start on iPad
  • Crashes frequently
Show 1 more
  • Login issues with Facebook

Requested features

9 requests
  • Change avatar to camera/pictures
  • More avatar options (diverse)
  • More game options (joker, deuces wild)
  • Draw spades from start
  • Improve bot programming
Show 4 more
  • Keep upgrading game with charges
  • Fix iPhone 6s/iPad issues
  • Flawless opponent level for challenge
  • More in-game progress for customization

The Spades

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game freezes and crashes
  • Scoring issues and discrepancies
  • Undo feature locked behind ads

Requested features

4 requests
  • Option to customize game rules
  • Ability to lead with spades
  • More balanced AI partners
  • Add-free version

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Hardwood Spades Pro

Subscriptions3
  • 1 Month Plus Membership$4.991 Month
  • Plus Membership$4.991 Month
  • Plus Membership$29.991 Year
One-time7
  • Pack of 80 Tokens$0.99
  • Pack of 165 Tokens$1.99
  • Pack of 425 Tokens$4.99
Show 4 more
  • 1 Month Plus Membership$4.99
  • Plus Membership$4.99
  • Pack of 865 Tokens$9.99
  • 12 Month Plus Membership$29.99
1 purchases

The Spades

One-time1
  • Remove Ad$5.99

Questions

Is Hardwood Spades Pro free?
Hardwood Spades Pro costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is The Spades free?
The Spades is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hardwood Spades Pro or The Spades?
Hardwood Spades Pro is rated higher. Hardwood Spades Pro averages 4.8 out of 5 from 125 ratings, while The Spades averages 4.6 from 8.2K ratings.
Do Hardwood Spades Pro or The Spades have ads?
The Spades shows ads; Hardwood Spades Pro does not.
Which is updated more often, Hardwood Spades Pro or The Spades?
Hardwood Spades Pro ships an update every 2 months, and The Spades every 4 months. Most recently, Hardwood Spades Pro was updated on November 10, 2026 and The Spades on November 11, 2026.

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