Durak, an app based on a Russian card game, has been released by Lost Token Software and has been available from the app store for several months. Durak recently received a significant upgrade that added multiplayer capabilities, giving the game significant replay value and opening up a solid card game to exciting new social aspects.
Durak Pros:
- Multiplayer over local, Bluetooth, or online wi-fi
- Chat with and play against people from around the world
- Create buddy lists and host private games with your friends
- Very polished look and feel
- Soothing, upbeat soundtrack
- Overall high-quality presentation
Durak Cons:
- $4.99 price tag poses the greatest barrier of entry for app store gamers, which may limit availability of online rivals
The goal of Durak is to get rid of all of the cards in your hand. The last person holding cards is the Durak, a term meaning “fool.” The game can be played against up to 3 AI opponents or up to 3 humans over local, Bluetooth, or online wi-fi multiplayer. Each player is dealt 6 cards, with the last card in the deck being upturned and used as the trump suit. You engage in turn-based battles with your opponents as you try not to be the last man standing. The attacking player will lay down a card, which the defending player must better, either with a higher card of the same suit or a card of the trump suit. If your opponent successfully defends the attack, you may continue to play cards that match the value of any cards already in the playing area. When you cannot continue attacking, simply drag the cards to the discard area below the deck of cards. Your hand will automatically be refilled to 6 cards until the card pile is exhausted. When a player is unable to defend an attack, he must take any played cards into his own hand. The attacking opponent is offered an opportunity to throw in additional cards that match the played cards before the attack is finished. This can be a helpful way to eliminate cards from your hand.
There is a special rule regarding Turnovers that can be toggled on or off in the Settings menu. Instead of defending against an attacker’s card, you can drag a card of matching value next to it and reverse the attack, causing your opponent to have to defend against both cards. This can again be reversed back to you if your opponent matches the card, as well. This can continue until a player cannot match the cards and must defend. There is an extremely helpful tutorial that visually walks you through all of the different rules. The Settings menu allows you to change the difficulty level (Easy, Normal, or Hard) and the image on the back of the card, selecting a picture from your photo library.
Graphically, the game has a very polished look and feel. Cards are easily slid around the wooden table top with very smooth animations. A little golden jester hat symbol bounces around the screen, indicating whose turn it is. Text prompts are constantly informing you of who is attacking and defending, as well as when you can throw in. The soundtrack is a very soothing, upbeat track that goes nicely with the game’s high-quality presentation. Controls are all touch-based, utilizing double-taps and swipes for most of the card movements. We found them to be simple to use.
Replay value comes mainly from the multiplayer aspect of the game, as you can chat with and play against people from around the world. The game itself is quite fun, but once you get the hang of it, playing against the AI can get a bit boring. Win/loss stats are maintained for both Single Player and Multiplayer modes, so you can play to better your own stats. Online play offers leaderboards that indicate your rank and show how many games you won compared to others. You can create buddy lists and host private games with your friends, which is a great feature. You maintain your own profile and can even send push notifications to invite others to play. In all, the game is a lot of fun and pretty easy to get into. The $4.99 price tag is a touch high and likely poses the greatest barrier of entry for app store gamers, which in turn can affect the availability of online wi-fi players. We found Durak to be a solid 4-Dimple treat.
