Spades vs The Spades
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Spades at none against The Spades's 1. Spades also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). The Spades's advantage is ratings volume (8.2K vs 2.5K). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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
Both are free to download. The Spades sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Spades asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Spades against 4.6 for The Spades. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.5K and 8.2K respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 46% and 47% positive.
Spades ships an update monthly, The Spades every 4 months. Both last shipped on October 12, 2026.
| Parameter | Spades | The Spades |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2.5K ratings) — better | 4.6 (8.2K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 46.4% of reviews | 47.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.5K | 8.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 55 MB | 116 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | fishdog.net | UNBALANCE Corporation |
Customer experience
Spades
The Spades
User reviews
Spades
From 2.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast game play
- 👍 Minimal advertisements
- 👍 Good graphics
- 💡 Helps keep mind sharp
Room to improve
- 🐛 Partner doesn't understand nil bids
- 🐛 Partner overbids frequently
- 🐛 Partner doesn't protect nil bids
- 🐛 Partner makes poor card plays
- 🐛 Inconsistent in counting books
The Spades
From 8.2K App Store ratingsWhat 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
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
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
Spades
No in-app purchases
The Spades
- Remove Ad$5.99
