Ready for a tougher game? Choose Easy, Medium, or Hard computer players, with smarter bidding and play for a challenge that matches your skill level.
This game is similar to the classic ROOK® card game*.
Play the classic trick-taking game you remember, with the rules you grew up playing.
Bid for the chance to call trump, work with your computer partner to take point cards, and make your bid without getting set.
PLAY YOUR WAY
Start with Kentucky Discard or Western Wyoming rules, or customize the game to match the way your family plays. Blackbird supports a wide variety of rule options, including:
• 1s worth 15 points
• Low, high, or 10.5 Blackbird
• Playing without the Blackbird
• Allowing the Blackbird to be played at any time
• Winning bidder leads
• Red 1 worth 30 points
• Adjustable winning score
• Bonus for taking the most tricks
• Different nest and bidding rules
• And more
CHOOSE YOUR CHALLENGE
Play against computer players at Easy, Medium, or Hard difficulty. You can even choose separate difficulty levels for your opponents and your partner.
Easy players make some of the mistakes a beginner might make. Medium provides a balanced challenge, while Hard uses a more advanced strategy to think through possible hidden cards before bidding and playing.
The computer plays by the same information you do. It doesn't peek at hidden cards.
LEARN AS YOU PLAY
New to the game or need a refresher? Helpful tips introduce the game as you play and explain what's happening without getting in your way.
TRACK HOW YOU PLAY
See detailed statistics for your games, with results tracked separately by difficulty level. Complete achievements and see how your play develops over time.
Whether you grew up playing with family, learned at church, or just love trick-taking card games, Blackbird lets you play the version you remember.
* This app is not endorsed by or affiliated with Hasbro, Inc. ROOK® is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc.
Look, I know this game has some pretty funky rules, but the makers did a really good job of allowing you to modify. If you are reading this, then you no doubt understand how to play this game. But unless you’re from Medina County Texas, you have no right to consider yourself even an average rook player. I’ve heard this game is played all over the United States, but ain’t nobody out there more diabolical, strategic, or savvy enough to challenge the ancient German Rothe/Rath/Zinsmeyer/Cosgrove/Christopher/Bader/Long/(you aughta catch my drift by now) bloodlines that pass this game down with as much pride as Grand Pappy’s chili recipe. So consider this an open invitation for any of you northern hippies to come try your luck against the true champions. If you accept this invitation called the Pico Gas Station in D’hanis, Texas. Leave your name and phone number, and ask them to put it on the community bulletin board with the simple phrase “Rook Game Wanted” and we will answer the call.
Developer Response
This might be my favorite review yet. 😂 I appreciate both the kind words about the game and the warning to never underestimate a Rook player from Medina County.I’ll keep the Pico Gas Station challenge in mind. And if multiplayer happens to find its way back into Blackbird someday, you may have just given everyone else something to train for.Thanks for playing!
...
TheTheory
Solid rendition of the classic Rook game with tons of rule customization options. The UI is fairly clean (if a touch cramped on a phone screen). Unfortunately the AI struggles with certain common sense plays. Your partner understands feeding you points during the trump bleeding stage, but seems to lose track off trump during the late stages—especially if the other team made trump—and won’t feed you high cards before the other team’s last trump cards kick in. For example, there are two trump cards left with three turns to go. East leads, I play the highest card. North, my partner, doesn’t have suit and plays last—they know I’m taking the trick and I know this is the last trick we can take. They throw out a non-point card, then I see them having to play ones and 14s on the opponent’s trumps. While this type of situation is the most egregious and happens pretty regularly, there are other little quirks to their play that suggests the AI lacks any sort of complex strategy. So this is fine for casual time wasting here and there, and may be as good as we can get absent an official Rook app, but it can definitely be frustrating.
Great game
tlt1999
If you like the game of Rook you will love this game! You can set the rules to rook game rules. My biggest and really only complaint is your playing computers and your partner will hold the rook card and cause you to have to waste trump cards and allow opponents to get unnecessary points before playing it. Also, the rook is supposed to be a trump card only! And should not be allowed to be thrown whenever! Only when you don’t have a color and are trumping and whenever trumps lead out. In this game the computer players throw the rook to pull cards when they have the color that was played. The computer that they pair you with is awful and rarely plays point cards when it’s obvious that the opponents are playing a smaller card than the high card that still hasn’t been played. Your partner on this game holds point cards and doesn’t throw them when it’s obvious the opponents are not getting the catch.
The rules aren’t Rook Rules
Gatlingun:)
Very fun game. However, their needs to be some changes to Gameplay mechanics. The most obvious is when you throw away a counter to the nest. The bidder has to raise his/her bid. Example: bid - 120, threw away a red and yellow 5. Bid must go up 10 to 130. Also you never play Trump on the first hands. The A.I. throw Trump every time until everyone is out. You save your highest Trump so you can get the last Trick worth 20 points. There should be an option to play 4-8 players. Partners 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4. If 5 or 7 players then call for your partner. How that works is the bidder calls for the card they need (black bird, or Aces) and that round the bidder and the person they call on are partners. I really hope the developer of this game sees my comment because this game is awesome just needs some quality of life improvements.
CHOOSE HOW WELL THE COMPUTER PLAYS
• Pick Easy, Medium or Hard for your opponents, and set your partner's level on its own, in Settings.
• Hard is new: it thinks through many ways the hidden cards could lie before it bids or plays.
• Easy makes the kinds of mistakes a beginner would.
• Each computer's level shows as dots under its name at the table and on the scorecard.
• Blackbird may suggest a harder or easier level depending on how your games go. If you turn a suggestion down, it won't offer that level again.
SMARTER COMPUTER PLAYERS
• The computer bids more realistically. It goes higher with strong hands, competes for the bid near the end of a game, pushes opponents' bids up, and plays it safe when it would win the game on defense.
• It adjusts its bidding to the rules you play with, such as keeping the nest or bonuses for taking every trick.
• It picks trump by how many cards it holds in each suit, and discards and plays its cards better.
NEW ACHIEVEMENTS
• Beat Easy, Medium and Hard opponents, win 10 games against Hard, and beat Hard with an Easy partner.
YOUR STATS
• Your record for the rules you're playing (win percentage, current streak and longest streak) now appears beside the scorecard.
• Your stats are now kept for each level. Your stats from before this update count as Medium.
MORE CONTROL
• Don't want the point values on the cards? Turn off "Show points on cards" in Settings.
• The fastest game speed is a little faster.
• Sharper card and table art on iPhone.
FIXES
• A saved game now picks up where you left off after the app was closed.
• When you resumed a saved game, computer players could learn the nest's cards even under rules that keep the nest hidden. They no longer see them.
• The all-points bonus is now added on top of other bonuses instead of replacing them.
Version 2.0
The developer, R. Don Wilson, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Usage Data
Diagnostics
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Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
Robert Wilson
Size
15 MB
Category
Card
Compatibility
Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 16.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 13.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.