Review Insights · App Store
42 Dominoes
Sergey Skosyrev · 10,441 ratings · ★ 4.5
4.5
★★★★★
10,441 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 41 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"partner"
26 negative reviews mention this · 63% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bad Partners. I really was expecting for the developers to make these 2 changes as I see others have the same issue. But nothing has been done, after 6weeks. I’m done. It is so FRUSTRATING. Deleting my favorite game app today. 6 weeks earlier: I paid fo…" - zoolady1
2
"game"
20 negative reviews mention this · 49% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bad Partners. I really was expecting for the developers to make these 2 changes as I see others have the same issue. But nothing has been done, after 6weeks. I’m done. It is so FRUSTRATING. Deleting my favorite game app today. 6 weeks earlier: I paid fo…" - zoolady1
3
"play"
20 negative reviews mention this · 49% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bad Partners. I really was expecting for the developers to make these 2 changes as I see others have the same issue. But nothing has been done, after 6weeks. I’m done. It is so FRUSTRATING. Deleting my favorite game app today. 6 weeks earlier: I paid fo…" - zoolady1
4
"trumps"
16 negative reviews mention this · 39% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bad Partners. I really was expecting for the developers to make these 2 changes as I see others have the same issue. But nothing has been done, after 6weeks. I’m done. It is so FRUSTRATING. Deleting my favorite game app today. 6 weeks earlier: I paid fo…" - zoolady1
5
"played"
11 negative reviews mention this · 27% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bad Partners. I really was expecting for the developers to make these 2 changes as I see others have the same issue. But nothing has been done, after 6weeks. I’m done. It is so FRUSTRATING. Deleting my favorite game app today. 6 weeks earlier: I paid fo…" - zoolady1
6
"computer"
10 negative reviews mention this · 24% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Computer flaws. The computer does not recognize the trumps somebody can play a double five and the Trump is four and you have one Trump left. They will say you lost the game.! I have been playing this game now for about a year and a half. I wish they would…" - Laneylady
7
"playing"
10 negative reviews mention this · 24% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Computer flaws. The computer does not recognize the trumps somebody can play a double five and the Trump is four and you have one Trump left. They will say you lost the game.! I have been playing this game now for about a year and a half. I wish they would…" - Laneylady
8
"smart"
9 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bad Partners. I really was expecting for the developers to make these 2 changes as I see others have the same issue. But nothing has been done, after 6weeks. I’m done. It is so FRUSTRATING. Deleting my favorite game app today. 6 weeks earlier: I paid fo…" - zoolady1
9
"trump"
9 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bad Partners. I really was expecting for the developers to make these 2 changes as I see others have the same issue. But nothing has been done, after 6weeks. I’m done. It is so FRUSTRATING. Deleting my favorite game app today. 6 weeks earlier: I paid fo…" - zoolady1
10
"other"
8 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bad Partners. I really was expecting for the developers to make these 2 changes as I see others have the same issue. But nothing has been done, after 6weeks. I’m done. It is so FRUSTRATING. Deleting my favorite game app today. 6 weeks earlier: I paid fo…" - zoolady1
11
"stupid"
7 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Enjoyed Practicing For Tournament. Good practice. Sometimes the partner makes stupid errors. It did irritate me when my opponent “lost” and he played a trump. The other “players” always exhaust their trumps quickly. I play it for fun and refuse to pay in order to play with “…" - SJurek
12
"hand"
7 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "42. Love this game but would like to know how many hands are programmed in to the app. Update: like playing with a 1 year old." - Squeaky 1944
📋 All 41 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Bad Partners
I really was expecting for the developers to make these 2 changes as I see others have the same issue. But nothing has been done, after 6weeks. I’m done. It is so FRUSTRATING. Deleting my favorite game app today.
6 weeks earlier:
I paid for a smart partner. There’s nothing smart about it! They lead with a points die when no other die has been played. Also, trumps me even when i already have the trick eon. My percentage is going down and not because of my play.
Please get partners that are at least as smart as a human!!!
6 weeks earlier:
I paid for a smart partner. There’s nothing smart about it! They lead with a points die when no other die has been played. Also, trumps me even when i already have the trick eon. My percentage is going down and not because of my play.
Please get partners that are at least as smart as a human!!!
Partner
When playing forced bid your partner will pick blanks as trumps 95% of the time, even if they don’t have a single blank. When playing forced bid you can count on losing the majority of your partners bid.
Very enjoyable and reasonable option prices
The basic mode is great for beginners to learn the game. I prefer playing points mode to extend the rounds. It should go to ALL marks (7) for true Texas mode and the play suggestions on trumps fails to account for count dominoes. Nonetheless.it is still very enjoyable and you can upgrade to play more challenging opponents.
BOOOOOOOO!
Boo this game. If you know how to play, you won’t be able to stand it. If you don’t you will learn nothing except maybe how to get your partner to punch you.
42
Love this game but would like to know how many hands are programmed in to the app.
Update: like playing with a 1 year old.
Update: like playing with a 1 year old.
Not pleased
I love to play 42 and the standard partner is dumber than dirt. They say you can buy a smarter partner, but I’m not spending money to buy a partner.
Don’t waste your time…or money
The most frustrating part is when the computer decides it’s time for you to lose, it’s unavoidable. Either your opponents get all the count and trumps or your partner makes outrageously bad decisions…even the “smart” one. It really diminishes the whole enjoyment of playing 42. I’ve left multiple reviews pointing this and various other flaws out but to no avail. Nevertheless, at least I’m able to get some small degree of satisfaction over the “house”.
Review
Shuffling needs to improve. Partner needs to watch dominoes played. Partner needs to stop bidding if he/she have 2 trumps especially if the trumps are low.
👎
Played 4 games, lost every game…. I know how to play well, but if the computer is going to pull better than you every hand, why bother?
Partners are idiots
The partners are very stupid. Apparently the designers of this game aren’t very 42 savvy.
Overpriced/very basic.
There is a much better 42 game version on Amazon App Store for $3. This one is $10 to play only the most basic nello, with no ability to adjust skill level of opponents, and partner like the Amazon I wish I was had found it first.
Porter
Of all the games I have played against the computer where bidding is required … cards or dominos …. This one is the worst … why would you spend the time to create this mess!!
Partner
Love the game but my partner is the worst player I’ve ever played with. Dumb dumb
Cheats
This game cheats. I paid for the upgraded partner so that he wouldn’t be dumb. But if the game gets lopsided on score my partner reverts to being dumb.
Time Vampire against 5 year olds
If you live in Antarctica and can’t play with people I suppose this is your only option. You can train your dog and a mop to play better than these CPUs. Not fun.
You have an algorithm that is not fair.
The player that is suppose to be my partner makes stupid moves. Example 4 are trumps. He will play a double 4 win, then play a 4-1 and get beat when he has a 4-5 or 4-6 still to be played . Also the cycle is predictable as I can almost tell you when the player to my left has the double 6 .
Stupid play
I expected this to be at least average in playing, but it is stupid. One example is in playing all the trump even when you and your partner have all of them. Hard play is a joke! The developers need to actually learn to play the game.
Playing gets more Frustrating
I think the “partner” makes incredibly dumb moves more often now. When I first got this game, it was fun and somewhat challenging. Now it is frustrating, because my “partner (computer)” makes moves no one would make. So frustrating to know we could have won a hand if it had played like most normal thinking people. I am ready to delete this app.
Horrible.
This game does not, in any way, follow normal 42 play. It plays off all the trumps first, regardless of the rest of the hand..ridiculous.
Computer flaws
The computer does not recognize the trumps somebody can play a double five and the Trump is four and you have one Trump left. They will say you lost the game.! I have been playing this game now for about a year and a half. I wish they would make it realistic like if you’re at the end of the game, maybe there’s two places left. They will give away a double six and a0 one. I would prefer to it to be more realistic, so you could really learn to play. I would like to add. That my Domino’s don't come over to me. I have to touch each one with my finger to get them to move.
Enjoyed Practicing For Tournament
Good practice. Sometimes the partner makes stupid errors. It did irritate me when my opponent “lost” and he played a trump. The other “players” always exhaust their trumps quickly. I play it for fun and refuse to pay in order to play with “smart” partners.
AI cheats
I love playing 42 but this app can really get ridiculous. It’s like you against 3. My partner is a complete idiot. This game using AI can really make one’s BP rise. The scoring also is off many times.
42 is a good game; AI is terrible
Absolutely terrible AI partner. Turns a good game into a bad one
Who programmed this game??
I would play the programmer of this game for one million dollars. They don’t know what they’re doing and I bought the upgraded version so that the computer would play smarter.
Computer
Could you possibly make your partner smarter? I paid extra for a smart partner and he still sucks. When you and your partner are the only 2 with trumps there is no reason for them to play a trump and draw out my last one when they have leads they could play. Dumb partner.
Operates Fine, but…
The computer players automatically default to bidding on blanks in a forced bid unless they have a VERY good hand in something else. That’s even if they only have one blank! I don’t remember, but I think it may also be if they don’t even have one. I played hundreds of games and there is very little challenge now because of that. Another huge problem is that your computer partner will pull your trumps out of your hand even if just the two of you obviously possess all the trumps and even when your partner has doubles! There are other more minor issues, but the previous ones are pretty awful.
Not realistic
No partner is ever going to play back trumps if you two are the only one with them. They’ll play an off so the two of you can flip flop and take the tricks. Very annoying and that’s not the only example.
Strategy
In real life play when you have the bid you don’t play trump out when you have the last trump. If your partner doesn’t take over, it’s an automatic loss.
Good for beginners
It will teach, but it will reneg
Not the way normal players play the game.
Partners do not overbid each other unless they have a hand with three high trumps or a good nello hand.
Do not purchase Smart Partner
The Smart Partner is just as stupid as the regular one. What a scam!
Fix it
Great game but you can’t have your partner over trumping you. Or trumping you when you have the hand. I lead a double and he will trump in. Also never gives me points when he could. They partners and opponents need to be smarter.
Not realistic
Logic by the computer is not realistic. Computer outbids partner. Computer will trump a hand won by partner. Will play point on losing hands.
Not Smart
Bought Premium package in order to play at a high level. Put setting on ‘smart’ - anything but smart. Plays dumb all the time. Doesn’t understand how draw out trump, leads with a counter and losses it. Etc. Very frustrating, wish I hadn’t
Flaws
Seems the two opponents have 98%+ of the time will have the perfect matching dominoes. Even seems to have flaws in scores.
Frustrating
The computer, AI, is completely stupid. Plays like a newbie every had. Even if you pay for the “smart” option, they are still stupid. Played the game for awhile until it was just so bad I can’t do it anymore.
Free version is terrible
In the free version your partner as well as the other players do not play with any logic whatsoever ever. They always lead trumps until they are out and throw count when the trick is obviously lost. Also bid with only two trumps a lot without the two largest. You have to purchase upgrades to get a “smart” partner and other things to make the game more realistic.
Incompetent partner
It is ridiculous to require a paid subscription in order to get a “smart partner.” It’s like playing against three people instead of two.
Stupid mistakes
The other players make the dumbest plays. I won the bid and played my lowest trump. My partner threw me a 10 count and we lost. I’m just blinking.
N42PA
Not very realistic. Leads out all trumps first. Not recommended for a “true” 42 player.
Better than others
I have yet to see the scoring flaw started in another review but there are some other quirks. Your partner is not always great about playing points when given the opportunity. For fun, I turned on hints. It suggests trumps for suits I don’t have. Updates are needed.
Sentiment summary
86%
Positive (4-5★)
7%
Neutral (3★)
7%
Negative (1-2★)