Comparison

Rook vs HiLow Gem Quests

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

Head to head
About

Rook

Experience a strategic trick-taking card game with a unique deck and bidding system. Play with friends or AI, aiming to reach a target score by winning tricks and naming trump suits. Features color-blind friendly cards and customizable rules.

Highlights
  • Trick-taking gameplay
  • Unique card deck (5-14)
  • Bidding for trump suit
  • Color-blind friendly cards
  • Customizable rules
  • AI opponents
Features
Read full description

Play the classic Rook trick-taking card game on your iPhone or iPad. You play South, partnered with North, against the West/East team. Rook uses a special deck with four colored suits numbered 5 through 14, plus the powerful Rook card. In this app, the Rook is represented by a castle chess piece, and the cards are designed to be color-blind friendly. Customize the game to match the Rook rules you know. Change the wallpaper, add optional 1 cards ranked above the 14s, choose whether players must play trump when unable to follow suit, award a bonus for winning every trick, adjust the winning score, and more. HOW TO PLAY Dealing: The deal rotates to the left each hand. Each player receives 9 cards, with 5 additional cards dealt to the widow in the center of the table. Bidding: Players bid for the right to choose the trump suit. The player to the dealer’s left opens the bidding at 70 or passes. Bidding continues to the left, usually in 5-point increments. Once a player passes, that player is out of the bidding for the hand. The Widow and Trump: The high bidder takes the 5 widow cards, which are revealed to all players, chooses the trump suit, and then discards 5 cards. The discarded cards remain hidden from the other players. Depending on your settings, point cards in the discard go either to the bidding team or to the winner of the last trick. Playing Tricks: The dealer—or optionally the high bidder—leads the first trick. Play continues to the left, with each player playing one card. Players must follow the suit that was led when possible. If unable to follow suit, a player may play any card—or, with the appropriate option enabled, must play trump when possible. The highest card of the suit led wins unless a trump card is played, in which case the highest trump wins. The Rook is the highest trump card and can be played strategically to capture a valuable trick. Standard card ranking from highest to lowest is: Rook – 14 – 13 – 12 – 11 – 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 With the optional 1 cards enabled: Rook – 1 – 14 – 13 – 12 – 11 – 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 The winner of each trick collects the four cards and leads the next trick. Scoring: At the end of the hand, each team counts the point cards it captured: • Rook: 20 points • 14: 10 points • 10: 10 points • 5: 5 points Other cards have no point value. If the bidding team fails to score enough points to make its bid, the bid amount is deducted from its score. An optional bonus can also be awarded for winning every trick. Winning: The first team to reach the selected winning score wins the game. You can adjust the target score in the game settings. Rook is free to play and supported by advertising. Prefer to play without ads? Rook+, the paid ad-free version, is also available on the App Store.

About

HiLow Gem Quests

A casual card game where players guess if the next card will be higher or lower. Earn gem power through quests and gain abilities to navigate the deck. Aim to achieve a gold star on every level.

Highlights
  • Higher or lower card prediction gameplay
  • Earn gem power from quests
  • Strategic ability acquisition
  • Level-based progression
  • Gold star achievement system
Features
Read full description

SO SIMPLE TO PLAY... OR IS IT? Do you think the next card will be higher or lower? That’s all you need to decide to get started in this casual game for iPhone and iPad. Earn gem power from quests that will make you think carefully about which card might be coming next. Will you be better off going against the odds this time to earn green power? Are you guessing fast enough to earn orange? Gain abilities as you play that will allow you to navigate the deck to suit the current situation. Try to earn a gold star on each level!

Screenshots

Rook4 screens
HiLow Gem Quests4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Rook at none against HiLow Gem Quests's 1. Rook also leads on ratings volume (7K vs 2). HiLow Gem Quests's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, update cadence, 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

Both are free to download. HiLow Gem Quests sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Rook asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HiLow Gem Quests holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rook has 7K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rook ships an update every 2 months, HiLow Gem Quests every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Rook versus HiLow Gem Quests: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRookHiLow Gem Quests
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (7K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings7K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerfishdog.netDaniel Guenther

Customer experience

Rook

All ratings6,955 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral2.5%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews113 reviews
Positive61.9%
Neutral13.3%
Negative24.8%

HiLow Gem Quests

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Rook

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • AI partner plays trumps incorrectly
  • Scoring calculator issues and negative scores
  • Inability to skip the rest of the hand after outcome is decided
  • Irritating background music that cannot be turned off

Requested features

5 requests
  • Online multiplayer mode to play with friends
  • More customization options for game rules
  • Ability to play with full deck (2-14) and 4-card kitty
  • Option to start bidding lower
  • Ability to 'shoot the moon'

HiLow Gem Quests

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Rook

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

HiLow Gem Quests

One-time1
  • Bypass Quest Ads$2.99

Questions

Is Rook free?
Rook is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is HiLow Gem Quests free?
HiLow Gem Quests is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Rook or HiLow Gem Quests?
HiLow Gem Quests is rated higher. Rook averages 4.8 out of 5 from 7K ratings, while HiLow Gem Quests averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Rook or HiLow Gem Quests have ads?
Rook shows ads; HiLow Gem Quests does not.
Which is updated more often, Rook or HiLow Gem Quests?
Rook ships an update every 2 months, and HiLow Gem Quests every 6 weeks. Most recently, Rook was updated on October 18, 2026 and HiLow Gem Quests on October 2, 2026.

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