Rummikub 4+

I actually purchased and set up a tablet for my grandmother for the sole purpose of being able to play this game with her grandchildren during this time since we are all socially distancing from her. Had it all set up and working and got one game in before we encountered the same issue that multiple other people in this thread have mentioned about a lack of connectivity. It is sporadic and unpredictable in when it can and can’t connect. While I understand that servers face and incredible load during this time, it is difficult to do remote tech support for someone who has a very specific set of instructions to follow on how to play a game and now feels like they are just simply doing it wrong, when in fact it is a developer issue that I hope can be addressed in the near future.
I am understanding of the greater issues at hand in the world and won’t let yet another negative element ruin this quarantine period, but I am greatly disappointed that something I looked forward to greatly improving this time only led to further complicating it. I wish that I had looked further into the fact that this has apparently been an ongoing issues for months and not wasted the time, money, and effort that I did. Just taking the time to share so that perhaps others will take that into consideration.

The beauty of this app is that unlike the physical game, you get the chance to throw caution to the wind and try different melds & strategies. And if they don’t work, just hit the undo button and try something else! I bumped up my practice sessions to allow 2 full minutes to play my tiles, and only wish you could increase it to 3 minutes or more. I also wish there was a way to slow down the laying of your opponents’ tiles during practice sessions, and maybe even see your opponents’ tiles, for better learning opportunities, even if it meant you would forgo any points being earned. Lastly, it would be great if the practice games had a “hint” option or maybe a “coach” mode so you could see if you have a viable move to make or not, something as simple as highlighting a playable tile. As you might guess, I’m using this app to make myself a better player when I play the physical game using tiles. One small complaint is that I’ve experienced an advertisement that I couldn’t close so I’ve had to force close the app. But overall, great app!

UPDATE: UGH!!! The cheating I mentioned in my first review is becoming much more rampant. I’m starting to wonder if these people think that this is how this game is actually supposed to be played?! Whether it’s cheating or people think that’s how it’s played, what’s the fun in that? It’s no fun to play people who save the Wild tiles until the very last round to ensure that they win. This would never happen in an in-person game. It’s become so common now that I no longer wish to play this app. So sad as I really love this game.
—————————————————————————————————-
Possible solutions - Remind players that that’s not how this is played. Allow players to block players who choose to play this way. Otherwise, I won’t come back. Deleting the app now. Feel free to respond to this review if you make these changes.
—————————————————————————————————-
I love Rummikub, have been playing the in-person game for years. This game is well done, no issues, except that I’d love an option to opt out of ads, such as paying 3.99 or something. Also, it’s easy to cheat, with no repercussions whatsoever. Twice in a row just now, 2 different players saved their joker tiles for their very last play in order to win. Ugh. In a real life game, they’d totally get called out on that and would not be allowed to win. This is an extremely frustrating part of the game and I don’t know how it can be remedied. Surely there must be a way though?