Comparison

Spades vs PrefA

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

Head to head
About

Spades

A digital adaptation of the classic trick-taking card game. Play solo or with partners, bidding on the number of tricks you can win. Customize game rules, opponent difficulty, and visual elements.

Highlights
  • 3 or 4 player solo modes
  • 4 player partnership mode
  • Customizable bid and lead rules
  • Adjustable AI opponent aggression
  • Table and card appearance customization
  • In-app instructions
Features
Read full description

Spades is a trick-taking card game that can be played with 3 players solo, 4 players solo, or 4 players with partners (2 teams of 2). A standard 52-card deck is dealt, then players bid the number of tricks they can take. The goal is to take as many tricks as were bid. When playing with partners, North/South is one team, West/East is the other, and teammates' bids and tricks are combined, so one player's underbid can compensate for his teammate's overbid. This app allows you to configure number of players and teams, the appearance of the table and cards, rules about nil bids and when spades can be lead. There are instructions included in the app, as well as a setting to make your robot opponents less aggressive or more aggressive.

About

PrefA

Experience classic and ordered Preferans card games on a journey with 33 levels. Compete against AI players with varying skill levels in this 10-card plain-trick game.

Highlights
  • Classic Preferans gameplay
  • Ordered Preferans (Bandit mode)
  • 33-level journey progression
  • AI opponents with varying skill
  • Bidding and trump suit mechanics
Features
Read full description

You are offered to take a journey through the routes Moscow - Petushki playing ordered or classic Preferans! The route is made up of 33 stops. Arrival at a certain station will signify the transition to the next level, where your coupe (table) will get filled up with new players. Each player has their own level of understanding of the game. Preference is a 10-card plain-trick game with bidding. A bidding process is used to decide which player declares the trump suit as well as the contract. Declarer's objective is to win the contracted number of tricks. The defenders' main objective is to prevent this. Players must follow suit if possible, else trump if possible. Bandit - This is ordered Preferans. Playing this feature, each player is required to play 6 spades, 6 clubs, 6 diamonds, 6 hearts, 7, 8, 9, 10, two all-passes and miser. All sixer games are started with the proclamation of the trump suit until the announcement of the buy-in. Games 7, 8, 9, 10 are announced until the opening of the buy-in, however, the trump suit is announced after.

Screenshots

Spades4 screens
PrefA4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Spades at 4.7 against PrefA's 2.8. Spades also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (monthly vs every 16 months). PrefA's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment 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. PrefA sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Spades asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Spades holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spades has 2.5K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Spades's written reviews are positive against 44% of PrefA's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spades ships an update monthly, PrefA every 16 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Spades versus PrefA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpadesPrefA
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.5K ratings) — better2.8 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews46.4% of reviews — better44.4% of reviews
Number of ratings2.5K — better4
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 16 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB85 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerfishdog.netFuzzex Inc

Customer experience

Spades

All ratings2,518 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral3.3%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews84 reviews
Positive46.4%
Neutral17.9%
Negative35.7%

PrefA

All ratings4 ratings
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive44.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative55.6%

Bugs and requests

Spades

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Scoring discrepancies
  • Cards blocked by ads
  • Freezing on last card
  • Sounds always on after update

Requested features

3 requests
  • Allow confirmation for bidding entry box
  • Automatic play for last card in suit
  • Implement bid 10 get 200 feature

PrefA

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Spades

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

PrefA

One-time2
  • 2000 coins for Preferans$0.99
  • PrefA$2.99

Questions

Is Spades free?
Spades is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PrefA free?
PrefA is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Spades or PrefA?
Spades is rated higher. Spades averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.5K ratings, while PrefA averages 2.8 from 4 ratings.
Do Spades or PrefA have ads?
Spades shows ads; PrefA does not.
Which is updated more often, Spades or PrefA?
Spades ships an update monthly, and PrefA every 16 months. Most recently, Spades was updated on October 12, 2026 and PrefA on September 29, 2026.

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