How Can We Help?

Durak is played with a 36-card deck (6 through Ace across four suits). The goal is simple: be the first player to empty your hand. The last person still holding cards is the "Durak" — the fool — and loses the round.

Each game starts with players drawing six cards. The final card drawn from the deck determines the trump suit, which beats all other suits. On your turn you attack your opponent by playing a card face-up on the table. They must defend with a higher card of the same suit, or any trump card. If they cannot defend, they pick up all the cards on the table. After each round, both players draw back up to six cards from the remaining deck. The attacker and defender roles alternate each round.

Durak offers two authentic Russian variants:

Podkidnoy Durak (Classic) — The standard throw-in variant. While the defender is defending, any attacker can add more cards to the table, provided the rank matches a card already on the table. This is the most commonly played form of Durak worldwide.

Perevodnoy Durak (Transfer) — A strategic variant where the defender can transfer (redirect) the attack to the next player by playing a card of the same rank as the attacking card. This adds a layer of strategy and keeps every round unpredictable.

You can choose your preferred mode from the main menu before each game. The AI adapts to both variants.

Durak uses Apple Game Center to track your total wins on a global leaderboard. Every time you beat the AI and successfully empty your hand, your win count is submitted automatically.

To participate, make sure you are signed in to Game Center on your device. You can check your ranking by opening Game Center through your device settings or via the in-game leaderboard button. If Game Center is unavailable (for example when offline), your local win count is still tracked and synced the next time a connection is available.

On the main menu, use the AI Difficulty selector to choose between Easy, Medium, and Hard before starting a game. Easy is great for learning the rules; Hard provides a genuine challenge even for experienced players. Your selected difficulty is saved between sessions.

Tap the gear icon on the main menu to open Settings. From there you can choose between three themes — Clean, Classic, and Casual — each with its own color palette and card design. You can also switch between the Fanned and Stacked card display styles to suit your preference.

When Tutorial Mode is enabled (toggle it on the main menu), the game displays helpful hints throughout your turn — guiding you on which cards are valid plays, explaining the trump rule, and highlighting your best defensive options. It is ideal for new players learning the game. You can turn it off at any time once you feel confident.

We are sorry to hear that! Please email us at essentialdevteam@gmail.com with the following information so we can investigate and fix the issue quickly:

• Your iPhone model (e.g., iPhone 15 Pro)
• Your iOS version (Settings → General → About)
• A description of what you were doing when the crash happened
• Any steps to reproduce the problem (if you know them)

If you can attach a screenshot or a crash report from your device, that is even more helpful. We take every bug report seriously and work to resolve issues as quickly as possible.

Durak is a completely free app with no in-app purchases and no paid features. There is nothing to restore. If you have reinstalled the app, simply download it again from the App Store at no cost. Your Game Center leaderboard data is stored by Apple and will be available once you sign back in to Game Center.

No. Durak works fully offline. All gameplay, AI logic, and local statistics function without an internet connection. An internet connection is only needed to submit your win count to the Game Center leaderboard. Ads served by Google AdMob may also require connectivity; if offline, ad spaces may remain empty.

We love hearing from players. Send your ideas to essentialdevteam@gmail.com with the subject line "Feature Request". We read every message and use your feedback to shape future updates.