Love BlackJack? You’ll Love BlackJack Run

If you love BlackJack or want to learn how difficult your odds really are, play BlackJack Run ($0.99), a challenging card game in which you have five rows of cards and you must try to get up to 21 — but no higher — using the cards given to you. In each round, you can only skip one card, and if you don’t have 95 points or more (all rows must add up to at least 95), you can’t progress to the next round.

The free version of this game was one that I always liked playing when I needed to kill time rather quickly — it’s a 3 minute game at the longest, and it’s fun. The paid game is on sale (it’s normally $4.99) and it’s still a fun option for those who love playing BlackJack. Personally, I’m not sure the $4.99 price tag is worth it — the $0.99 option makes most sense.

Those using the free version of the game actually get most of the features. The paid version has multiple levels, which ultimately get much harder (in higher levels, the card configuration is different and you have to work with a faster clock or with cards already on the game board). The free version only lets you play Level 1. The paid version lets you specify how many rounds you can play per game (3 is the default), how many seconds are played per round (30 is default), how many cards you start with, and lets you specify if the rows are totaled. These options are not available in the free version at all.

Blackjack lovers will find this game fun, and I certainly did. Personally, though, I think you’ll enjoy the free version just as much as the paid version, but if you do want a little more uncertainty and more levels, pay the $0.99 for the game, since more options keep you busy for longer periods of time, and didn’t they say the iPhone was a time waster?

Tamar Weinberg is a blogger and author of The New Community Rules (July 2009), a book on social media marketing and how to leverage existing communities for awareness and profit. She is also a new mom.