Up & Down the River

Keep score for
Up & Down the River.

You call the bids and take the tricks. The app handles the deal, the order of play, the arithmetic and every game you’ve ever played. Free, on iPhone and iPad.

Coming to the App StoreSee what it does
  • Completely free
  • iPhone & iPad
  • No data collected
The app’s home screen, showing New Game, Spectator Mode and a list of recent games
Entering tricks taken for round four, with each player’s bid marked made or missed

Put the pen and paper away.

Tell it what happened at the table and it takes the rest: the deal size, the order of play, the arithmetic, and a permanent record of every game.

  • It runs the round

    The deal size counts up and back down on its own. The app follows the dealer and who bids first, marks each player made or missed as the tricks land, and flatly refuses a round where the tricks don’t add up.

  • Spectator Mode

    No more leaning over. The phone stays with the scorer and everyone else watches on their own iPhone or iPad: bids so far, current scores, the whole board. It works over your local network, with no sign-in, no server and no setup.

  • Hall of Fame

    Every finished game feeds a leaderboard: wins, games played, win rate, bests and averages. Proof of who is actually good, and who only says so. Sort it per game or in total, for all players or just the regulars.

  • Built for the whole table

    The rules are in the app, in a short version for the table and a full guide for whoever is arguing. Dynamic Type, high contrast, haptics, and a keep-screen-on switch so it never goes dark mid-trick. iPhone and iPad, light and dark mode.

What a game looks like.

Bids going in, tricks landing, the board as a spectator sees it, and the final standings once the last round is played.

Entering each player’s bid for the round
Entering tricks taken, with each player’s bid marked made or missed
Spectator Mode showing live bids and scores
The end of a game, with the winner and the final standings

A round, in four steps.

Call exactly how many tricks you’ll win. Exactly right is worth everything, close is worth nothing, and that is the whole cruel game. The full guide is in the app.

  1. 1

    Deal

    Everyone gets the same number of cards. Round one is a single card each, and it climbs from there.

  2. 2

    Bid

    Each player calls how many tricks they’ll win. Zero is a real bid, and it is harder than it looks.

  3. 3

    Play

    One card each per trick. Highest card of the led suit takes it, unless someone trumps. Someone always trumps.

  4. 4

    Score

    Hit your bid for 10 points plus your tricks. Miss by one in either direction and you get nothing at all.

No accounts. No ads. No analytics. Nothing collected.

There is no sign-in because there is nothing to sign in to. Your players, games and settings live on your device and nowhere else. Spectator Mode talks to the devices in the room and never leaves your network. Export the lot to a file, or delete the lot, whenever the mood takes you.

  • Everything stored on device
  • No tracking, in any form
  • Nothing sold, rented or shared
  • Delete it all in one tap

Free, on iPhone and iPad.

Up & Down the River Scorecard is nearly done and headed for the App Store. Nothing to buy, nothing to subscribe to, nothing collected.

Questions before it lands? Get in touch.