Have you ever wondered how card decks came to be the way they are these days? The truth is that their past is quite murky and hard to decipher due to a lack of a clear historical record, but that doesn’t mean we won’t try to do so anyway! Here’s the history of the evolution of playing card decks:

1. The Early Days

Depending on who you ask, playing cards as we know them today emerged in either the ninth, 11^th or 13^th centuries. As you’ll come to know in this blog, their history is rather vague! One deck dominates modern playing cards, namely the French one – it consists of 52 cards, four suits, two colors and inflexible dimensions. With that being said, there are numerous others that exist, and include suits consisting of bells, acorns and swords, different card shapes, more than 100 cards in some instances, and less than 25 in others. The burning question, however, remains where playing cards were invented, and by whom.

Numerous different theories as to their origins exist. What scholars have established with a certain degree of certainty is that playing cards originated in Asia, but it’s not clear specifically where, nor is it clear how they first arrived in Europe. It’s believed that playing cards have their origins in either China or Persia (modern-day Iran), but there’s nothing concrete to prove or disprove this definitively.

A study conducted back in 2009 cites the very first time that playing cards were definitively referenced was an arrest that happened in China back in 1294. Two male gamblers were arrested in Shandong, with the consequence of their playing cards and printing blocks being confiscated.

One of the major problems with establishing the origins of playing cards is that when fragments are discovered purporting to be playing cards are discovered, it’s usually unclear if said fragments are actually playing cards at all. For example, there are fragments of card-sized parchment dating back to the 13^th century that can be found in a couple of museums, such as the Keir Collection of Islamic Art in Dallas, but it’s difficult to determine whether these were actually playing cards, or are just scraps of parchment that happen to look like playing cards.

2. The Oldest-Known Complete Deck of Playing Cards

The oldest-known complete deck of playing cards is called the Cloisters Deck, which resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It dates back to the late 15^th century, and is believed to have been made in Burgundian Netherlands. It’s very recognizable by modern standards, with 52 cards in four suits containing both numbered and face cards.

Another world-famous old playing card deck is the Mamluk Cards, which is located in the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul, Turkey. It’s not complete, having only 43 of the 52 cards it should, and some scholars contend that some of the cards were replaced with cards from other decks at a later date.

What’s for certain is that playing cards appears in Europe fairly suddenly – sometime during the last quarter of the 14^th century. This was a time when there was significant interaction between Christian Europe and Islamic powers due to the Crusades. Although huge numbers of Christian and Muslim soldiers fought each other, it’s likely that they were playing cards when they weren’t fighting. That why it seems wholly possible, albeit unproven, that playing cards were introduced to Europe by bored soldiers during the Crusades.

This theory is supported by the fact that the Mamluk cards in Istanbul are practically identical to the arrangement found in modern Spanish cards. Southern Spain was home to the Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Western Europe, until 1492.

3. The Emergence of the Big Four

Regardless of how playing cards ended up in Europeans’ hands, they certainly loved playing them! Initially, playing cards were for the rich, because they were hand-painted and could be extremely elaborate, employing exotic dyes and ornate designs. The Mamluk cards, for instance, are so elaborately decorated that it’s hard to tell which is which!

Throughout Europe, individual countries and regions created countless different playing card decks, meaning that there were countless different variations in colors and suits. For example, the Cloisters deck uses hunting-themed suits – think of hunting dogs, stags and lures. Other playing card decks had suits representing the ruling families of Europe, but by the end of the 15^th century following the advent of the printing press and the popularity of playing cards achieving critical mass, the design and layout of the cards began to be standardized.

Nevertheless, a dominant standard hadn’t emerged just yet. Four standardized playing card decks prevailed in Europe, namely the German, Swiss, French and Latin decks, from the 1400s onwards. It’s presumed that the Latin deck was the first to emerge, seeing as it’s almost identical to the Islamic Mamluk cards, followed by the Swiss, German and then French.

The Mamluk Cards, together with the modern Italian and Spanish decks, usually consist of 40 cards, however they sometimes consist of 48 or 52 cards. These playing card decks are split into four suits, which are Cups, Coins, Swords and Baton (also known as sticks or cudgels). A 40-card deck has “pip cards”, or number cards from one to seven, together with three face cards for each suit, which are fante (knave, or jack), cavallo (knight), and re (king).

In contrast, German decks usually have either 32 or 36 cards divided into four suits – Acorns, Leaves, Hearts and Bells. The closely-related Swiss deck has 36 cards divided into four suits, with Roses in place of the Leaves suit. Neither of these decks divide those suits by color – only the French deck does that. The German cards consist of numbered cards from seven to 10, and face cards unter (under knave, a junior officer), ober (over knave, a senior officer), konig (king) and ass (ace). The numbered and face cards are essentially the same in the Swiss deck.

4. The World’s Most Popular Playing Card Deck

The French playing card deck is by far the most popular in the world. It consists of 52 cards of four suits – Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades. They’re further split into two colors – black and red. There are a number of reasons why the French deck is the most popular. Firstly, it suits are the simplest in design, which makes them easy and cheap to print. Secondly, the French deck has been the deck of choice among the world’s foremost military powers of the past two centuries, namely France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Thirdly, some of the world’s most popular card games, such as bridge and poker, are played with the French deck.

As to how and why the suits developed for each of the European decks, no-one is quite sure. Some theorize that suits are meant to represent aristocracy and peasantry (Diamonds and Spades), whereas other say the represent peace and war (cups and swords). What’s more likely is that certain suits came about as whims of noblemen in Italy, Germany or elsewhere who decided it would be fun to have their own deck created.

The worldwide popularity of the French deck has a stranglehold on most of the other decks out there, in spite of a clear division that existed just a century ago. For example, although a German deck exists, the French-suited cards are actually more popular in Germany. And that story is true in countries throughout the world.

The world’s most successful card players didn’t get to where they are purely by chance. In addition to their obvious skill at their card game of choice, these elite players share a number of common traits that have led them to fame, riches and respect. Let’s take a closer look at the psychology behind the most successful card players:

1. Mental Toughness

To be a success at any card game, particularly the more complex ones, you have to have a certain amount of mental toughness to be able to outmanoeuvre your opponents. Such toughness is also handy if you happen to go on a bad run of form that you need to turn around. Any professional playing career is actually just a series of upswings and downswings, and having a certain amount of mental toughness allows the best players to cope with the ups and downs they will inevitably go through.

2. They’re Always the Favorites

Psychology in the context of card games is very much influenced by collective thoughts and feelings. Games are often lost or won on the basis of collective mistakes that are made by participating players. In a card game, it’s inevitable that one or two players will stand out above the rest due to their perceived higher skill level. This perception can put the supposedly weaker or less skilled players on the back foot before a game even starts, and the most successful card players take full advantage of how others perceive them.

3. Knowing When not to Play

The most successful card players make it a point to ensure they’re fighting mentally fit before they get themselves involved in any kind of game. Fatigue is a card player’s worst enemy – when they’re not able to mentally focus, completely, playing their best game is next to impossible. In addition, a lack of focus also results in players struggling to assess table dynamics correctly, which in turn will inevitably lead to losses. If a successful card player feels they’re in such a mental state, they are highly likely to just sit out games for a while until they feel they’re ready to go again.

4. Having a Balanced Life

Although card games play a big part in the most successful players’ lives, these games are not the be-all and end-all of them. These players all know that card games are merely a means to an end (if being played on a professional basis). They play their favorite card game for a living, as opposed to living to play their favorite card game.

This isn’t to say that passion isn’t important – it’s crucial, but the best card players don’t base the entirety of their self-worth on the skills they have at the playing table. They know that there will be both good times and bad times, and that it’s vital to have other aspects of life that bring them joy and fulfilment. 

5. Being Studious

Analysis of previous form is also a crucial part of becoming a successful card player. The best in the world go back and analyze their games and form in minute detail to see where they can improve. They are constantly thinking of new ways to beat their opponents, and take the time and invest money in their game (coaching, for example) to ensure they’re playing at their very best. In fact, such players are known to actively encourage a second pair of eyes to take a closer look at their game from time to time to make sure that they haven’t missed anything.

6. A Genuine Love for Their Favorite Game

A hunger to play and win is a hallmark of the most successful card players. It has to be there every single time they play. That doesn’t mean that they love the grind of their playing careers, but they never sit down at a table with hatred or dread. With that being said, it’s inevitable for even the best players to suffer burnout from time to time, and that’s where the importance of having a balanced life comes into play.

7. Apply Your New Knowledge to Becoming a Gin Rummy Super Ace!

Here at Zarzilla Games, we love a good card game just as much as anyone! That’s why we created Gin Rummy Super, bringing the excitement of gin rummy to your very own smartphone! Why don’t you try keeping what you’ve just learned in mind and applying it to your Gin Rummy Super Game? Wishing you the very best of luck!

The beloved card game, gin rummy, is 112 years old this year. It was invented in the United States by Elwood Thomas Baker and Charles Graham Baker, a father-and-son duo from Indiana. After inventing gin rummy, Charles Baker went on to become a screenwriter and director during the Golden Age of Hollywood, with well over 30 movie credits in his name. All in a lifetime’s work for some!

According to the magician and writer, John Scarne, gin rummy evolved from 19^th-century whiskey poker, and was created with the intention of being faster than standard rummy, yet let spontaneous than knock rummy.

Back to the Roots

To really understand where gin rummy came from, however, you have to look to the Orient. The rummy principle of drawing and discarding in order to meld later is common in Chinese card games from the 18^th and 19^th century. In fact, this principle is the essence of mah-jong, the Chinese card game that’s popular all over the world.

It was a relative of mah-jong, called kun p’ai, that inspired a certain W.H. Wilkinson to persuade Messrs Goodall of the UK to publish a Western adaptation of it called Khanhoo. A similar game, called Kon Khin, or Conquian to give it the name Hispanics used to refer to it, emerged in the southwestern United States just prior to the turn of the 20^th century after being brought over by Chinese immigrants. Due to their similarities, Conquian is thought to be the definitive forerunner of gin rummy.

Into the Roaring Twenties 

During the 1920s, the nightlife in New York was in full flow. Every lounge, saloon, hotel parlor and speakeasy had a game of gin rummy on the go. It can be said that the 1920s marked the first heyday for gin rummy. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, gin rummy went quiet for the better part of a decade until its re-emergence in the 1940s.

What’s even more interesting is that gin rummy was actually called gin poker during the Great Depression. Confusingly, this actually had nothing whatsoever to do with the card game of poker, but is believed to have its roots in the socioeconomic conditions that existed during that time.

The effects of the Great Depression meant that people in general had less money to spend on going out and enjoying themselves, and that’s why they had to rediscover the art of amusing themselves at home once again. Gin rummy is much simpler to learn that contract bridge, which was a card game at that was popular at the time, and more suited to a family environment than poker.

Gin Rummy Takes Hollywood

Gin rummy became very fashionable at the turn of the 1940s, with the who’s-who of Hollywood and Broadway being known to enjoy a game or two. Screen siren Ingrid Bergman, for example, was known to play gin rummy on the set of the classic movie, Casablanca.

Two features in particular made the game popular with actors. The first was that gin rummy is very fast to play, but could be paused at a moment’s notice, only for it to continue being played once the participants were free to do so again. The second was the introduction of an ingenious scoring device, whereby players could (in effect) play three games at the same time.

Gin rummy’s association with Hollywood and Broadway made the game explode in popularity, especially in the United States, where it seemed like everyone was playing it. The game’s popularity has endured to this day, however there was another great transformation it went through…

The Emergence of Card Games in the Personal Computer Age

The early 1980s heralded the start of the personal computer age, and it wasn’t long before card games were digitized and made accessible to all virtually. Although personal computers are more associated with solitary card games such as Solitaire, other card games such as gin rummy weren’t long to emerge in a digitized format.

Into the 2000s: The App Age

Although Nokia is credited with creating the first-ever app back in 1997 when it installed the game Snake on one of its mobile phone models, apps as we know them today emerged in 2007, when Apple launched its now ubiquitous App Store. As such, there wasn’t really a “first” app in the modern era, because the App Store was launched with 500 apps at once. Mobile card games have been emerging ever since that time.

2021: Gin Rummy Super is Here!

We’re now well into the third decade of the 21^st century, and here at Zarzilla Games, we’ve produced our own amazing take on the beloved gin rummy card game – Gin Rummy Super! Not only is it ridiculously colorful and fun, but it also allows two players to compete and match exclusive suits and sets of three to develop the best hands. Compete against your friend, or rank yourself against the rest of the world!

Along your Gin Rummy Super journey, you’ll earn rewards, complete challenging levels and climb the global leaderboard! Why don’t you try Gin Rummy Super today? It’s absolutely free and will provide you with endless hours of fun. Good luck!

“You might be some kind of new player that's yet to be identified!”

No two individuals are the same when it comes to enjoying games, however there are actually four distinct categories of gamer that are used to identify how people play mobile games. These categories can provide great insight into who will play a particular mobile game, and why. Which kind of gamer do you think you are? Let’s take a closer look at the four categories: 

1. CASUAL GAMER 

Most of us fall into this category. We don’t live and breathe games, and we’re not too fussed about genre either. Casual gamers just like what they like. They might stick to a single title for a very long time, playing regularly, only for them to uninstall it on a whim. On the other hand, they might also flit between vastly different genres from one day to the next. 

Casual gamers are the biggest downloaders and spenders in the mobile gaming industry – they are the reason why mobile gaming is as big as it is today. They play anywhere, and at any time – perhaps on the train, between meetings, or for a few minutes before bed. 

2. SOCIAL GAMER 

Social gamers aren’t interested in single-player titles. . They love to play with others and are only attracted to multiplayer titles such as classic card games like Gin Rummy Super. Social gamers tend to try and invite their friends to play too – they are social butterflies after all!

The social gaming market is enormous – it’s estimated to be worth $98 billion by 2024. What’s also interesting to note is that many casual gamers are social gamers.

3. MIDCORE GAMER 

Midcore gamers are an interesting bunch. They don’t play as regularly as casual gamers, nor are they dedicated to gaming in the way that hardcore gamers are, but they take gaming seriously. Generally, a midcore gamer is an individual aged 25 or over, whose time is constrained by adult life. They don’t have time to play like they used to. They don’t play often, but when they do, they really go for it!

Midcore gamers tend to know what they like, and will stick to their favorite title or genre.

4. HARDCORE GAMER  

Hardcore gamers love mobile gaming. These gamers are the ones who seek AAA titles, have played all of Rockstar’s GTA mobile ports and might even have bought a gaming controller for their mobile device. They update their phones for better memory and increased screen sizes on a regular basis.

You’ll find that these gamers are avid PC or console gamers too. They are always up to date with the latest trends and completely unafraid to provide an honest opinion on a particular title.

WHICH TYPE OF GAMER ARE YOU? 

Do you play Gin Rummy, Shooters, or RPGs? How often do you play? Do you like playing alone, or with your friends? You might have traits from all the categories, and be some kind of new player that’s yet to be identified!  Whatever kind of gamer you are, Zarzilla has something to offer you. Check out our amazing offerings on Google Play and the App Store today!

~ Download and Play Gin Rummy Super for FREE ~

~ Zarzilla proudly makes social mobile games for Android and iOS devices ~

"Play Jacks or Better to improve concentration, focus and strategic thinking"

When Zarzilla launched Jacks or Better for iOS and Android devices way back when, we simply wanted to give players a fun and amazing video poker game. And boy did we deliver! But we had no idea that video poker has been used by rehabilitation clinics in Nevada, US. Learn how playing Jacks or Better can help improve your brain health.

Video Poker Therapy

A hospital in Nevada, the home of casino gaming in the US and probably the world really, has been using physical video poker machines to help patients redevelop standing tolerance. They’ll don weights and play for 15 minutes at a time, slowly but surely regaining their strength when recovering from conditions such as pneumonia.

But the medical staff at HealthSouth have also touted video poker as a great tool for mental therapy too. Mental flexibility, memory, and self-regulation are all executive-functioning skills that we train when playing video poker games like Jacks or Better. Research has already suggested that games like poker can reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia in the elderly.

Jacks or Better for Better Mental Health

There are quite a few health benefits to playing Jacks or Better with Zarzilla games. Here are just a few that’ll be sure to get you feeling better after a hard day.

De-Stress – there isn’t much to a quick game of jacks or better. You only have to make one decision. Yes, it involves some strategic thought and mental power but its all over in a second and with a few quick presses of the screen. You can play for an hour and not even realise it! Perfect for de-stressing the mind.

Build Cognitive Health – Observation skills, learning the odds, understanding the various winning hand types – these are all talents of the cognitive mind. You can improve your ability to concentrate, to focus and increase your ability to think strategically.

Learn to Lose – A very important skill and mindset to have. One must know how to lose. To understand that it’s going to happen and it’s not the end of the world. Jacks or better can teach you how to lose and then learn from that loss. Video poker teaches you how to bounce back stronger than ever before!

Play Poker at Zarzilla Games

If you like poker games or want to experience the mental benefits of casino card games, then Zarzilla have you covered. Jacks or Better is the ultimate poker brain trainer and if that’s not enough Casinozilla offers several poker titles including Deuces Wild, 5-card poker, and Keep Going!

~ Zarzilla proudly makes social mobile games for Android and iOS devices ~

~ Casinozilla, Jacks or Better, and Gin Rummy Super are FREE to play – download today ~

“Play one game to improve your skills in the other”

Cricket players skip rope and box to improve their footwork and Rugby star play touch football to improve their agility – one can improve skills in a chosen game by playing a similar game that requires relatable skills. Why would the same not apply to card games? Stu Ungar was Gin Rummy master who turned those skills to Poker to become a world champion.

We’ve noticed that Poker and Gin Rummy are closer than anyone might realise. Here is why these two amazing games come from the same family and how playing one can improve your skills in the other.

General Rules

Honestly, the rules are not that different… Both games involve building the best hand from cards based on suits and values. Actually, most of the winning hands in poker are basically just sets and runs in Gin Rummy. If you know one of these games, chances are you’ll very quickly pick up the other with relative ease.

Strategic Similarities

While there are certainly many variations of poker that can differ significantly, the basic strategy behind the game is essentially the same. That strategy is not all too dissimilar from Gin Rummy either.

The probability of melding a suit is much the same as the probability of getting that suited King on the river in Texas Hold’em. Reading opponents and following the hands of the game are important to both Poker and Gin Rummy. Both games rely on the amount of information you can interpret from the state of the game.

Skill

Skill levels are a factor in both games. In both Poker and Gin Rummy, a complete amateur can defeat an expert player, simply because the cards were in their favour. At the same time skilful players can take the upper hand far more regularly and undo weaker players consistently. Both games are a mixture of skill and interpretation of the available information.

Both Available at Zarzilla Games

That’s right! You can play several types of Poker and Gin Rummy with Zarzilla Games. Try Casinozilla to play multiple poker games such as 3-card poker, Jacks or Better, or even Keep Going! Why not play Casinozilla to practice your skills in Gin Rummy Super?

Zarzilla have plenty of amazing card games that can improve your skills in Poker, Gin, or any other casino card that take your fancy! 

~ Download and Play Gin Rummy Super and Casinozilla for FREE ~

"Billions of combinations, yet sometimes you still gotta knock!"

Did you know there are a possible 15,820,024,220 possible ten-card hands in Gin Rummy Super? So don’t ever say “I’m not getting the right cards”. Since Gin Rummy Super is a game of chance mixed with skill, probability and odds can play a huge part in getting the winning hand.

You will be completely blown away by the astonishing mathematics of Gin Rummy Super. Whether you’re a math geek, or just love you some Gin – Zarzilla presents the Mathematics of Gin Rummy Super.

10 Melded Cards + 1 Un-melded Card = GIN!

Let’s start with some Gin irrefutable Gin Mathematics:

·      There are 52 three-card melds of three of a kind - - that is 3 Kings, 3 3’s, 3 Aces, etc…

·      There are 44 melds of suited three card sequences such as 5, 6, 7 or J, Q, K.

·      The changes of extending a three of a kind is twice as likely as the chances of extending a three-card sequence.

Remember that statistic of 15,820,024,220. Now consider that you actually receive 11 cards in Gin Rummy Super, 11 cards to get a Super Gin also. Well, there are actually 60,403,728,840 possible 11 card hands – imagine if we added a 12th!

In-Play Math

Let’s consider the very first play. The odds of your opponent throwing a card you can use is less likely than you think.

Check this out:

Opponent Discard Odds Probability

King or ACE 6 to 1 0.141

Queen or 2 5 to 1 0.171

All other cards 4 ½ to 1 0.182

How useable a card may be will surprise you too? What are the chances a wild discard would be used in 3 sequences and 3 sets – 31/2 to 1! That chances of a wild discard only being useful for a single set is a staggering 20 – 1. Gin Rummy Super certainly offers plenty of ways to build a winning hand.

Play Gin Rummy Super

Got any more amazing Gin statistics or math? We’d love to hear it. Comment below! In the meantime, test your own strategies and mathematics out in Gin Rummy Super. Its free to download, free to play, and free to have as much fun as you like!

~ Download and Play Gin Rummy Super for FREE~

 ~ Zarzilla proudly makes social mobile games for Android and iOS devices ~

"The lines between social media and gaming have become blurred, and it is very much a good thing".

It's one of largest sectors of growth in gaming, and the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 has only fuelled the need for social interaction. We are, of course, talking about social gaming. As more people are forced to stay inside, they must find other avenues to fulfil their desire for interactivity and personal connections.

Community Engagement

It isn’t enough to simply put out a game anymore. People want something more. Something that allows them to connect with their fellow players in a more meaningful way. People are playing games to join a community. They want to discuss strategies on Discord, join fan clubs on social media, meet new friends, and become a member of a group – a community!

It is important that games forge their own unique community, filled to the brim with fun, engaging, and social players who are ready for a good time!

Creative Communication

An email newsletter blast won’t cut it anymore. How many people actually pay attention to half of their news feed? Gaming communities interact differently than they once did and game developers need to take heed of this trend. Social gaming is not is fun and should promote innovative ways to engage a growing community.

Take KFC for example, KFC Philippines opened up a new branch in Animal Crossing last year – What a great way to promote fried chicken!

There are so many unique platforms for connectivity. Snapchat, Tik Tok, Zoom, YouTube, Twitch, and so many more. There is no excuse for not being creative in reaching your wonderful audience.

2021 – Year of the Zarzilla

The world seems to finally be on the mend this year and social gaming is on the rise. The lines between social media and gaming have become blurred, and it is very much a good thing. Come and join our community of casino card game and Gin Rummy players. We've got big things happening this summer and we can't wait for you all to enjoy!

~ Zarzilla proudly makes social mobile games for Android and iOS devices ~

~ Download and Play Gin Rummy Super for FREE ~

" Look after yourself by playing Gin Rummy Super" 

Its long been researched and proven that card games have a profound affect on the human brain. There is no better card game for mental well-being, stimulation, and growth, than Gin Rummy Super. Gin Rummy Super is a two-player card game in which players try to build the best 10 or 11-card hand by making sets and runs from a single deck of cards.

To learn more about how to play Gin Rummy Super, feel free to check out our guide. Here are three monumental benefits Gin Rummy Super has for the human brain and your mental well-being:

Keeping Seniors Sharp

Some of us may get a little forgetful in our old age, or perhaps calculations take a little longer than they used to. Gin Rummy Super is perfect for promoting brain health and staying sharp as we get older. The classic card game requires careful attention as players need to keep track of what cards have been discarded and which cards are yet to come!

Brain Booster

Strategy, decision, making and just a little bit of math – all key components of Gin Rummy, but also important life skills. Gin Rummy Super has proven to enhance those skills. Assessing how many Eights are left in the deck, determining how best to block your opponent from building a certain meld – these are skills you take into the workplace!

Stress Reliever

You can also play Gin Rummy Super without really thinking – just load up a game and just play to music, or just with a nice hot cup of tea. Gin is a perfect game for unwinding after a long day at the office. Playing cards will automatically take your focus away from everything else – it won’t make problems go away, but it certainly can help to take your mind of it. Next time you need to hit restart on your brain, consider playing Gin Rummy Super.

 So look after your brain folks – play Gin Rummy Super for free with friends or against anyone in the world! 

~ Download and Play Gin Rummy Super for FREE ~

Of course, there is a great deal of luck involved in the great game of Gin Rummy. But there can also be no doubt that Gin Rummy Super is a game of skill too. There is an employable strategy for all stages of the game, be it early, middle or late play. 

It is during the opening play that we see ‘freak’ hands. That is, cards that are begging for outright aggressive play to destroy your opponent. Today we unpack the concept of Freak Hand strategy.

Opening Play

Opening plays are probably the most meaningful in a round of Gin Rummy Super. They are among the most skilful plays and can dictate the remainder of the round. Opening moves should be aimed at making your opponent do exactly what you want them to do. Skilful players such as Stu Ungar did that to great effect.

Advanced Gin strategy requires knowledge of two categories of hands – regular and freak. Regular hands are common. These are cards you see over and over. They might help build are meld, they also are utterly useless sometimes. Freak hands are where it gets exciting!

Freak hands are calling out for legitimate aggressive play. These hands are where real skill and strategy are required. With the right knowledge, a skilful player can use freak hands to end the round with a quick win.

The most extreme of the freak hand is a nine-card meld from the outset of the game – you are literally almost at a Gin before you even begin! Another freak hand is an initial deal that allows you to knock without picking up a card. These freak hands call for aggressive play. A nine-card meld must be chased aggressively to pick up the early Gin, whilst an early knock can be a quick win or again turned into a Gin with aggressive play.

You don’t see these hands often and you certainly don’t want to sit on such a gift from the Gin Rummy Gods.

Defensive Freak Hands

But not all freak hands call for aggressive play. Some are extreme freak hands that offer you nothing. Imagine an initial deal of cards with no matches and no related cards of any kind. It is rare but it does happen. This is cause for defensive play as you somehow manage to work through as much of the deck as possible, without letting your opponent build melds. This is where skilfully observant players can triumph – you’ll really need to determine what hand your opponent is working with.

Let’s play Gin Rummy Super

The funny thing about Gin Rummy Super is that your opponent has every chance of having a freak hand as you do – what an exciting game! With so much strategy, skill, luck and good plain fun involved, why wouldn’t you try your hand and Gin Rummy Super. Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to play some freak hands right from the get go!

 ~ Download and Play Gin Rummy Super for FREE ~

~ Zarzilla proudly makes social mobile games for Android and iOS devices ~

Did you ever notice how gamers are portrayed in movies or TV shows? They’re always shown as a scruffy minority, hiding out in basements or in small groups, segregated from the rest of society.

The problem with this stereotypical portrayal of gamers couldn’t be further from the truth! The fact is that most people are actually gamers these days, with statistics indicating that almost 3 BILLION people played some form of game during the past year.

No longer merely the hobby of a minority, some form of gaming has become part of all our lives – even if it’s just five minutes of Angry Birds that you happen to play on the bus. Let’s look at who makes up this near 3-billion-strong group of gamers on this amazing planet we call home:

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

It’s estimated that some 2.69 billion people played games in 2020, which means that two out of every five people are gamers! Take a look around your office – that’s quite a lot, isn’t it?

A great number of gamers come from China, with a staggering 655 million gamers hailing from the country. In fact, China has the leading share of gamers in the world! The United States came in second, with around 250 million gamers. In other words, roughly three in ever four Americans are gamers!

THE BIG MARKETS

Considering the amount of gamers that come from them, it’s no surprise that the biggest gaming markets in the world are the United States and China. Despite the differences in the number of gamers, revenues generated in both countries are more or less on par with each other, with a market value of around $40 billion, according to the 2020 Newzoo Global Games Report.

The third-largest gaming market is Japan, with revenues nearing $19 billion in 2020. The combined revenue of Europe was around $32 billion, mainly driven by gamers in Germany, the UK, France and Italy.

MOBILE GAMING

Mobile gaming companies will certainly be targeting Southeast Asia in the coming years, with nations such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia generating around $4 billion in mobile gaming revenue last year. That number is only set to grow in the coming years.  

Mobile gaming generated almost $90 billion in 2020 – that’s almost double the figure generated by console gaming, and nearly three times that of the PC gaming market! Mobile gaming makes up almost half the total gaming market share, and it has made gaming far more accessible to the mainstream market. Anyone can play mobile games, and the rise of hybrid casual games is evidence of how the gaming market has evolved.

LET’S PLAY GIN RUMMY SUPER

There is no better way to experience the mobile gaming world than with Gin Rummy Super. You can play against friends, rivals, and literally anyone across the globe. As a Gin Rummy Super player, you could even play against individuals from any of the leading video gaming markets!

~ Zarzilla proudly makes social mobile games for Android and iOS devices ~

~ Download and Play Gin Rummy Super for FREE ~

By now you know how important it is to be aware of the current score in a game of Gin Rummy Super, as well as what your opponent may be holding. You should be always appraising your hand throughout the game but it is of most importance at the late stage of a round. Why you ask? Let us walk you through the late game appraisal and how to decide how to play those hands in the dying seconds of a round.

Conditions of the Appraisal

Firstly, you’ll obviously need to insect the condition of your own hand. This means considering what melds you have, can build, and what cards you’ll need for your strategy. Next, you’ll need to consider the state of the game. What is the score? What is the current value of your hand and will a knock right this second end the game for you? Finally, you’ll need to do your best to determine what condition your opponents’ hand is in too. Think about what cards they might hold and what they need.

How to Determine Your Opponent’s Hand

So, the condition of the game score and your own needs are easily available to you. However, determining your opponent’s hand requires a little more thought and observation. There are few things you need to look out for during the game to determine your opponent’s hand.

• Think about what cards have been discarded. What has your opponent decided they don’t need. If they have thrown away a couple of 2s, they obviously aren’t building a set.
• What has your opponent picked up? Think about the cards they have actually taken and not returned. It’ll give you insight to what they might be building.
• If you can work out what these two factors, you’ll be able to form an understanding of what cards they need and what melds they most likely have.

 Attack or Defend?

Now that you have gathered as much information as possible, you can decide whether to play the late game aggressively or defensively. There is every change that this assessment doesn’t affect the way you are playing at all – you might be an aggressive player and the assessment suggests you should continue to play that way!

On the other hand, maybe you played defensively owning to a weak looking hand but the assessment points to a possible fast Gin and the big win. Remember to think how close your opponent is too knocking. You’ll most likely have to play defensively and reduce your score as quickly as possible to negate the blow to the score – or perhaps it’s the first round and you can risk going all out because the score doesn’t matter so much yet.

Play Some Gin Rummy Super Tonight?

Who’s up for a round of Gin Rummy Super!? Gin Rummy Super is so much fun and you can play anyone from around the world! Remember to appraise your hand throughout the game and be mindful of your opponent’s move – you could be screaming “GIN”! before you know it.

~ Zarzilla proudly makes social mobile games for Android and iOS devices ~

~ Download and Play Gin Rummy Super for FREE ~

"There's nothing sweeter than stealing your rivals win!"

Often misunderstood and never features into many new players strategies is the under-knock. You know about the knock; well the under-knock is when a player knocks to end the round but the opposing player actually has the lower score. This can be the cheekiest way to win the round and the most frustrating to see when you think you’ve knocked for the win.

Recap!

A quick re-cap – When a player knocks, their un-melded cards and compared the un-melded cards of the opponent. For example, a player knocks with an un-melded Ace and 2 for a score of 3. The opponent has an un-melded 3 and 6 for a score of 9 – the knocking player wins. But what if the opponent has the lower score?

An important component of the under-knock is the lay-off. You’ll probably have noticed this playing Gin Rummy Super and have no idea why some of your opponents’ cards were not calculated in the scoring. A lay-off can occur when the non-knocking player has un-melded cards that can continue any of the knocking players sets or runs.

For example, the opponent knocks and you have 3 un-melded cards. However, 2 of those cards match a set and a run of your opponent’s hand – say your 3 makes the opponents 4th 3 in a set and you have a K that completes your opponent’s run of 9, 10, J, Q. The beauty of the lay-off is that those laid-off cards do not count towards your score and therefore lower your score.

Lay-Off Under-Knock

Considering most players will try to have the lowest score possible when knocking, the lay-off can be a vital part of actually pulling off a successful under-knock. It’s a great way to win the round. Your opponent gets frustrated – they think they had the win after all – and you get bonus points for the cheeky reversal.

So let’s say your opponent knocks with a score of 4. You have 3 un-melded cards with a score of 13 but your 10 card matches your opponents run of J, Q, K. It lays-off and you now have a score of 3! Since your score is lower than your opponent you win the round with a cheeky under-knock!

The Gin Off!

Now the Gin Off is the ultimate under-knock. Imagine laying-off so well that you actually end up with a Gin! It can happen and it does, in fact, result with a gin win. If your opponent knocks and you are able to lay-off enough un-melded cards to reduce your score to zero, you will get a Gin. This will most commonly occur when you have 1 un-melded card that is laid off.

Play Gin Rummy Super!

What’s the best way to practice lay-offs, knocking, and going gin? Playing Gin Rummy Super on iOS and Android of course! Gin Rummy Super is the ultimate social card game online. Play against friends or foes from around the world. Download for free today!

~ Download and Play Gin Rummy Super for FREE ~

~ Zarzilla proudly makes social mobile games for Android and iOS devices ~

At Zarzilla, we all love games! We all love gaming – everything about it. Step into the Zarzilla office and you’ll most likely hear heated debates not just about our favourite games but about the ins and outs of this exciting industry.

The mobile gaming industry amazes us every day and motivates us to keep making the most fun and social games for your enjoyment. Check out these surprising mobile gaming statistics for 2021.

1.     There will be almost 3 billion global mobile gamers by the end of the year. 

Mobile gaming is not just about hardcore gamers. In fact, it appears we all play games! The mobile gaming industry has expanded into so many different genres, it is of no surprise that almost everyone can find something to play.

2.     Mobile gaming accounts for more than half of global gaming revenues.

That’s right! It’s not console gamers or PC gamers – Mobile gaming is the biggest earner in the industry. In 2019, mobile gaming accounted for 51% of the industries $152 billion dollars.

3.     Casual games rule them all!

At a staggering 58%, casual games are the most popular mobile gaming genre. No surprise there – with games like Gin Rummy Super offering simple game mechanics and fast-action gameplay. Considering more than half of mobile gamers are over the age of 34, one can see why classic card games like solitaire, poker, and gin rummy are so popular.

Casual and card gamers are loyal and dedicated too! With a high stickiness and the longest average session lengths of any other genre, casual card players clearly know what they like!

4.     Not Just for the Young

Many developers miss this little fact. 55% of gamers are around 55 years old. In fact, only 8% of mobile gamers are teenagers. Games are really not just for kids anymore and developers should really consider the full scope of their audience.

5.     We Like to Play in the Bathroom

Seriously – apparently so. According to a study at MediaPost, more than 50% of gamers play mobile games in the bathroom. That means when you defeat a worthy rival in a game of Gin Rummy Super, they may be playing in the bath… but hey you may very well be celebrating in the bath too!

Mobile Games for Everyone

If these mind-blowing statistics tell us anything, it is that mobile gaming is here to stay and that mobile gaming is for everyone – young or old, rich or poor. Among the best of social card games, is Gin Rummy Super – standing tall among the mountain of choices, Zarzilla’s rummy title provides the fastest, most social, and truly global card game experience.

~ Download and play GIN RUMMY SUPER for FREE~

Arguably the greatest gin rummy player to ever exist – and a handy poker player too – Stu Ungar gin skills were so revered; Vegas wouldn’t let him play anymore.

Widely considered to be a legend in both poker and rummy, Stu Ungar was far from your ordinary World Series of Poker champion. The son of bookmaker and loan shark, Stu won his first Gin Rummy tournament at the age of 10 and dropped out of school to pursue gaming full-time.

Early-Life

Born in 1953, Stu Ungar was a talent child. He skipped the 7th grade in school and was earning 10s of thousands of dollars in gin tournaments throughout his early teens. Before he could finish the 10th grade, Stu’s father, who ran illegal gaming parlours in Manhattan, died. Stu’s mother was poor of health and at the age of 13, Stu was the sole provider for the household. Of course, Stu was already a talented card player by this stage and he played his way to adulthood.

By the time he was 17, Stu was well on his way to legendary status in the underground world of New York gaming. He eventually fell in with the Victor Romano crew. Yes, that Victor Romano – the famed card player and Genovese crime family soldier. Stu was a renowned sore winner and loser, but under Romano’s protection, he could play absolutely anyone. By the mid 1970’s, Stu Ungar was regarded as the best gin player in New York.

“Imagine if Stu was a rival on Gin Rummy Super? Think you could best him!?”

Vegas, Baby, Vegas

The young, talent card player had a major vice – the ponies! Stu would regularly blow all his monstrous card game winnings at the racetrack and by the late 70’s his debts were starting to catch up to him. Stu had destroyed all the New York competition and he decided he need to seek new action. After a short refuge in Miami, Florida, Stu headed to a realm filled with the most elite and reputed card players in the world – Las Vegas.

The obvious game of choice was Gin Rummy and quickly Stu destroyed all the competition. Some say the reason gin rummy is no longer played in Vegas casinos, and as such most casinos around the world, is because of Stu Ungar. His name as a participant alone had players running the other way, eventually leading to calls for his ban from professional matches.

Thankfully, for the rest of us, there is Gin Rummy Super!

The final blow to gin rummy in Las Vegas, came when Ungar faced off against the worlds best Gin player, at the time, Harry “Yonkie” Stein. Ungar utterly destroyed him. In a high-stakes game of Hollywood Gin, Ungar defeated Stein 86 to nothing. Stein stopped playing professionally following that match and some say the man was never the same again.

But just like that, no one wanted to play against Ungar. Despite offering several handicaps against his opponents, the competition dried up and Ungar needed to find a new game.

World Series of Poker

Stu went on to become a poker legend, winning the World Series of Poker (WSOP) 3 times, including a triumphant comeback in 1997. He became the youngest champion in its history (an achievement since surpassed by others) and he won in more than just Texas Hold’em. Ungar won WSOP events in No-Limit Deuce to Seven and 7 Card stud.

Think you’re a poker star? Try your hand at Casinozilla for free!

Play like Stu

If you’re reading this thinking Stu Ungar left some fabled rummy tips to help you defeat your rivals in Gin Rummy Super, you are, unfortunately, going to be disappointed. The best gin rummy player in the world had a near-clairvoyant ability to read other peoples hands and had perfect recall and an uncanny ability to count cards.

That’s ok though - That just means you can jump into Gin Rummy Super and forge your own legacy as a rummy star! Gin Rummy Super is free to play and available on the App Store and Google Play. So be like Stu, play your hands aggressively and defeat your rivals in Gin Rummy Super!

~ Download and play GIN RUMMY SUPER for FREE~

Gin Rummy is going through a serious period of renaissance of late – wildly popular in India for decades and now retaking the rest of the world by storm. Once quite a popular game through the 1950’s till around the late 1970s when the game fell out of favour in Vegas.

But Gin Rummy has been seen in some pretty big places. Here are 4 instances of Gin Rummy in popular culture:

1.     Bond plays Gin.

What’s the best way to unwind after destroying a Latin American drug lab? Obviously, a holiday in Miami and a few rounds of Gin Rummy – well that’s exactly what James Bond did in the 1964 classic, Goldfinger.

Bond is asked to confirm whether the films antagonist, Auric Goldfinger, is cheating in a game of Gin Rummy. The original Ian Fleming novel featured Canasta, specifically in this scene, which is a variation of 500 rum. Don’t worry there is no cheating in Gin Rummy Super – Unless like Auric Goldfinger, you have a femme fatale with binoculars spying on your rival’s smartphone!

2.     It’s a Me… Mario!

Nintendo’s favourite main character, Mario, is known for a lot of things. Jumping, beating up innocent creatures, picking up princesses, and sometimes plumbing… actually has anyone ever seen him plumbing? Back in 1995, Mario also turned his skilful hand to a new role – Card mini-game dealer and rival!

Mario’s FUNdamentals and Mario’s Game Gallery are among some of the rarest Nintendo titles to track down, but they reportedly feature a Gin Rummy playing Mario. What can’t that amazing plumber do!?

3.     Gin in the title!

If you have ever been home sick or forced to watch something your mother or grandmother like, you’ll be no stranger to the hit-and-miss wonders of day time TV. In 2003 somebody decided to reunite Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore in TV film about Gin Rummy! Well, it’s not actually about Gin Rummy but it’s got Gin in the tile.

The Gin Game features an elderly man and woman in a retirement home come to terms over a game of a certain card game we all love – That’s right! It was Gin Rummy. The film was based on the 1976 play about two senior citizens, with no friends, who battle each other in conversation and gin. Gin Rummy Super can bring people together – teach your friends, spouse, or the quiet guy at work.

4.     Indian Mythology

Gin Rummy, or Teen Patti as it is known in India, is one of the most popular games in the 2nd most populous countries in the world. That means there’s a hell of a lot of Gin Rummy Super fans in India! Teen Patti can even be played at major online casinos.

Games of skill and fate feature prominently in Indian mythology. You must have heard the one about Yudhishthira losing a game of dice against Duryodhana? A man ended up being put to the stake! We wouldn’t recommend you take your Gin Rummy that seriously though.

Gin Rummy is popular in India, mostly because of religious festivals such as Diwali – a feast that heavily features games of Teen Patti. The game brings families together – much like Gin Rummy Super.

So Many Reasons to Play!

Gin has featured in pop culture for over half a century and that’s no surprise – It’s just so much fun. Gin Rummy Super is the ultimate way to enjoy rummy from anywhere and against anyone in the world. Download Gin Rummy Super and become part of a cultural phenomenon!

~ Download and play GIN RUMMY SUPER for FREE~

It's one of the fastest-growing industries in mobile gaming. An aspect of gaming that has been a secret to the mainstream world but a cold-hard fact for gamers throughout the generations – beyond the game screen is a community! The truly exponential growth of mobile gaming since the start of the global pandemic is a testament to the need for social connection in isolation.

Gamers Know the Secret

Covid-19 restrictions have been observed the world over but a cure for our isolation blues have been for the longest time experienced by gamers. Now we are all picking up a controller, or smartphone, for a bit of relief from working at home or a break from your being by yourself.

Gamers know, full well, that sitting in isolation and playing video games does not mean you are alone. Players of video games are never totally isolated and some are forging lifelong friends over the internet. When the lockdown orders came down, technological diversions filled the void that social interaction once occupied.

Zoom quizzes kept our minds sharp, Netflix viewing parties let us enjoy a film together, and social video games connected complete strangers. What a success social games have been during this strange and difficult time – Sneaky space saboteur mobile game Among Us has drawn in over 100 million people, Online party games brought back family game nights, and Indie developer, Zarzilla made sure quick card games could be played with anyone from around the world.

Mobile Gaming - Socialisation for the Future

So what has this pandemic done for mobile gaming? It certainly has opened all our eyes to the power gaming has to bring people together. Streaming platform Twitch has reported an 83% increase in video game content engagement in 2020 and global revenue of the gaming industry in 2020 is estimated to have clocked in at almost $180 billion.

As mental health concerns arise during this period of extended social isolation, mental health professionals are seeing direct psychological benefits to playing social games for all ages. Playing Gin Rummy Super is not only a great way to play a classic card game, it is also a means to improve your social and mental wellbeing. Social games hold the key to global socialisation.  

~ Download and play GIN RUMMY SUPER for FREE~

More than just some of the oldest games in existence, card games have proven to be amazingly beneficial to our lives. Especially as we get older and the need to keep our minds sharp, social card games can ensure an enriched life. But how you may ask? Read on to see just a few of the astonishing ways social card games can enrich your life.

Promotes socialisation

Video games are not what they once were in the 1980s when coin-operated game machines offered nothing in social activity. Thousands of free to play games populate multiple gaming platforms that offer social gaming to a global audience. Some of the most social of all are card games. Great for all ages, easy to learn, with plenty of opportunities for social interaction.

Playing cards helps the conversation flow, you already have something in common in the cards in front of you. Friendly banter can develop, the conversation can steer to any avenue, and friendly competition is encouraged.

Work that brain

Many studies have been conducted and proven the immense cognitive benefits of playing card games such as Poker, Gin Rummy, or Blackjack. Using all the different parts of your brain each and every single day is so important for preventing degenerative functions such as memory loss or even dementia. You can improve memory and communicative skills just by learning the basic rules of a new card game.

Dealing with pressure? Card games will teach you to be cool under stressful situations and give you the tools to make informed decisions when the going gets tough. Need to learn to trust your judgement? Just play a few rounds of Gin Rummy. Take a breath before each move and watch as your educated decisions bear fruit! Problem-solving skills can be developed very quickly through intense analysis of the cards you are dealt and how best to make the perfect hand.

Reduce Stress

Relevant now more than ever in a world of lockdowns, work from homes, reduced hours, and isolation, stress can pose serious health implications and negatively impact both your physical and mental well-being.

Card games are quite a shift from some of the most popular mobile games on the market. Card games don’t let you feel rushed, they are not overly team-based with tremendous associated peer-pressure, and the stakes are low. You can take your time, play at your own pace, and stop whenever you like. There is also no pressure to actually engage socially with anyone. You can just pay quietly if you so choose.

It’s Time to Play!

There clearly is no better way to unwind, socially interact with friends and strangers alike, and engage in beneficial physical and mental health practices. So why not download a free card game like Gin Rummy Super and ease into the evening after a hard day’s work or study? 

~ Download and play GIN RUMMY SUPER for FREE~

In 2017, the social casino industry generated over $3 billion and current predictions see the industry rising to over $5.5 billion by 2022. Research conducted by Super Research estimated that 20% of all social gamers – play social casino games. It appears that everyone plays mobile games now and the guys & gals at Zarzilla love to make them!

What is Social Casino?

A social casino is an online platform in which players can play their popular casino card games like Black Jack, Poker, Roulette, and Slot Machines. The focus is on the social components with players being able to interact with each other, post their big wins, compete in exciting tournaments, and challenge their friends.

The key motivation for playing at a social casino is – surprise, surprise – the social component. A truly social casino involves absolutely zero real money gambling and there is no means to win money in any fashion. This is, of course, the point. Social casinos offer the glitzy, exciting, and glamourous casino gaming experience with none of the financial risk.

Why can’t casino games be played without wagering any real money? The popularity of social casinos is evidence enough that the games themselves are exciting and the thrill of wagering real money is only a small component of the overall experience.

Social casino card games are more than just mere no real money gambling versions of your favourite casino titles. We generally think of only gambling when we think of poker, gin, baccarat or even bingo. But why can’t these games be played for fun? Moreover, why can’t these games be as exciting as any other social game on your smartphone?!

The Fun Factory

Zarzilla, at the forefront of social experience games and gamification of casino card games, is home to just this. Fun, thrilling games that feature more than just card games - but also challenges, unique experiences, progression, and a safe space to compete against the world.

Leader boards, high scores, unlocking rooms and tables, exclusive content… Videogame or social casino? If you walk into a physical, land-based casino everything is open to you and where’s the fun in that. You want reward. You need a sense of achievement and a reason to play a bit of everything.

Enter social casino – Keep the best tables locked so you have to play the smaller tables to unlock them. Your skills will grow, your level will rise, and your sense of achievement will be immense. Defeat 100 opponents to finally reach the legendary table and face only the best players in the world. This is the gamified casino experience.

Join in the Fun!!

Leading the charge in the free to play, gamified social casino is Zarzilla’s Casinozilla and Gin Rummy Super. Casinozilla, a monstrously large online casino experience with challenges, raging tournaments, engaging social features, and an ever-growing catalogue of the best casino card games. Gin Rummy Super is the ultimate way to play one of the most renowned card games, the world over! Overcome challenges, defeat friend and foe in PvP battle, Climb the global leaderboard, and collect as many gems as humanly possible – Gin Rummy Super is not your ordinary social card game.

~ Download and play GIN RUMMY SUPER for FREE~

How technology puts the social back in casino games.

The evolution of the powerful tool that each one of us now has in our pockets, the mobile phone, is quite the story. The origin of the mobile phone can be traced back to radio communication between ships and land, which later morphed into a device the size of a suitcase. In 1973 developers at Motorola showed off the first truly mobile phone. It weighed in at a whopping 2 kilos and would set you back almost $4,000. However, over the past 40 years, the mobile device has become an inseparable part of every one of us, while becoming pocket-sized and extremely powerful.

Games started to appear on phones in 1994 with the ever-popular Tetris. Nokia then introduced the world to “Snake” in the late 1990s and a cultural icon was born! As phones became more powerful, the game offerings became more amazing, more brilliant, and more enjoyable. These days every single game in every single variant is available to anyone, downloadable in seconds with only the click of the button, from anywhere they may be. This created an entire industry in a very short amount of time and left a lot of room to reinvent and re-imagine the classic games that have been played for 100’s of years in gambling halls throughout the world.

“Over the past 40 years, the mobile device has become an inseparable part of every one of us.”

Early versions of mobile casino games had the player competing against the computer, with a very flat experience, and simplistic visuals. These games were built for a single player, although to play and compete together, players would have to play their turn and pass the phone to each other. The issue with these games was that they were taking social games, and turning them into anti-social experiences. Thankfully as phones became more powerful, designers started to add new elements to the games, such as; improved graphics, quicker speeds, more intelligent computers to play against, tournaments, and in-game prizes.

Almost overnight any card game imaginable became available at the tip of everyone’s fingers. The games themselves became immersive, as all of a sudden you were able to play against other real people, no matter where they are in the world. What used to demand multiple people sitting together in one room, has morphed into random people playing against each other whilst in different parts of the world! Just like that, the social element reappeared and created a completely different and new experience! Imagine all of a sudden being able to play against people you cannot see, giving you a whole new experience every time you play, and the ability to make new friends all the time!

Developers continue to bend the ways in which we interact and take part in social experiences by allowing us to connect to others whenever we feel the need. It’s so easy to find other people to play age-old games with, such as Jacks or Better, Poker, Bridge, Gin Rummy, and more! Players can now chat with each other, buy online ‘gifts’, and share their skills and scores across multiple social platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. With new mini-games, fun animations, exciting tournaments, and other fantastic elements, these games have left the table and become a part of our lives — whenever we have a few minutes to play!

What used to demand a trip to a casino town, can now take place anytime and anywhere. All you need is to download your favourite game and start playing. With millions of users throughout the world, playing thousands of mobile games, there is no shortage of fun to be had!

~ Download and play GIN RUMMY SUPER for FREE~

The future of gaming is in the palm of your hand. Mobile gaming trends reveal a bright future!

“Mobile gaming will and must transcend the mere device screen and will integrate into our lives”

Mobile gaming has seen exponential growth over the last decade, and an increase in mobile phone hardware has seen the rise of high-quality mobile gaming. Several trends have emerged that reveal how bright the future of mobile gaming will be. Read on to see how mobile gaming is quite possibly the future of the gaming industry!

AR Gaming

Augmented reality has been a dream for gamers since the dawn of time. Since the very first pixelated game, gamers have desired a fully immersive experience that blends fiction with reality. Enter AR gaming and the virtual integrates with the real world. Gamers want immersion and AR provides this by the truckload!

AR games are typically represented as a virtual reality where game elements are superimposed into the real environment depicted through a device's camera. Some AR games make extensive use of real-world elements to build a virtual environment. Just look to Pokémon GO or the string of “Laser Tag” styled games such as Reality Clash. It seems almost inevtiable that mobile gaming will transcend smartphone screens, branching out into our lives. 

“91% of the 4.5 billion global internet users use mobile devices… While the global gaming market is estimated at a whopping $152 billion with 45% of the market coming from mobile gaming”

AAA Quality

Major console titles have found a home on mobile devices in recent years. We’ve already seen immense success from Epic Games’ Fortnite and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile. Two huge console titles are made into two incredibly high-quality mobile games with console playability, visuals, and player base. Mobile hardware has made significant leaps and bounds over the years and developers are taking advantage by pushing the limitations of mobile devices to create experiences on par with console games.

Major gaming titles and non-gaming brands alike have also used mobile gaming to promote and grow their fanbase. British heavy metal rockers Iron Maiden connected with Nodding Frog Ltd to develop and produce Legacy of the Beast, an incredibly high-quality turn-based RPG. CD Project brought GWENT, a popular mini-game within their Witcher franchise, to the mobile screen with all the quality the reputable developer is known for. We are only going to see mobile titles get better and the recent success seen from AAA developers is a sign of great things to come.

Cross-Platform Gaming

Mobile gaming won’t replace console gaming and nor should it. The future will be the blending of these great platforms — Imagine a gaming experience in which players can seamlessly switch and integrate between the two. We’ve seen it already in companion apps.

Remember Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs ctOS mobile that put “Chicago in the palm of your hand”. The app allowed a person to connect to anyone playing Watch Dogs and take control of the city in which they were playing in. How could anyone forget Bethesda’s Pip-Boy companion app that perfectly integrated your mobile device into your Fallout 4 game, giving you access to maps, inventory, and mini-games? The future will see further integration of mobile devices and console titles and quite possibly we will see mobile players competing against console players at the same time.

Final Thoughts

The mobile market continues to show a strong dominance with 91% of the 4.5 billion global internet users utilizing mobile devices to access the internet. The global gaming market is estimated at a whopping $152 billion with 45% of the market coming from mobile gaming. The mobile market's potential cannot be denied, and the increasing development of mobile device hardware will only drive further growth of the mobile gaming market.

You are what you play! What mobile games say about you.

“Merely a phone no longer, smartphones have become ‘personal life devices’, with most of the world unable to live without access to one”

Every story has a beginnig, but where did the mobile games you’ve come to know and love start? The earliest models of mobile phones were only numeric and were not capable of supporting games. Other than spelling funny words with the numbers, the phone was exactly that — a phone.

While games did appear in some earlier mobile phone models, mobile phone games only gained traction with the launch of ‘Snake’, which appeared on the Nokia 6600 in 1997. This game is one of the most well-known games in the world. It's still being played today and has become a cultural icon. To have a Nokia phone and to be a Snake player was a status symbol among high-schoolers in this era. Owning an old Nokia with the original Snake game today is a badge of honor among nostalgic hipsters the world over.

Together with Tetris and a few other games that were available at the time, such as Solitaire or Dice, mobile games were built-in to the first generation of mobile phones. These games were extremely enjoyable but grew stagnant. The mobile game needed to progress along with the phones that they were being offered with.

“The Future of games is connected to our reality…”

Age of the Internet

The next generation of mobile phones enabled WAP (wireless application protocol) that allowed the phone to connect to the internet. The introduction of the internet raised the stakes in the mobile industry. Now that the phones were connected to the internet, the game could be hosted on a server, allowing for multiple players and for more games to be offered. The ability for users to take part in multiplayer games took pocket gaming to the next level.

As the years progressed from 2000 and on, the screens became brighter, the processing and internet speed grew in leaps and bounds, while the games that were offered became more and more complex and enjoyable. Progressing from simplistic 2D games where you need to move a pixelated snake around a screen, the mobile game industry could now produce role-playing games, adventure games, and classics, such as cards, bowling, and even snowboarding. There was one issue though, the phones were still black and white…OK well more greenish or maybe bluish but nobody could predict the truly awe-inspiring level of development to come.

I Can’t Live Without My Phone

From around 2006 onwards, mobile phones completely changed their entire purpose. Merely a phone no longer, smartphones have become ‘personal life devices’, with most of the world unable to live without access to one. With the introduction of the iPhone, Android operating system, and touch screens, there were no more limits to what these amazing devices could do.

Phones have become so powerful, their screens so vibrant, and the internet so fast, that anything that someone would want on their phone, could be there within minutes, if not seconds! All of a sudden, we defined ourselves by our online presence, by the phone we own, and of course by the games we play.

“Couple information with an online persona, and a very clear picture of their personality will emerge.”

Mobile game developers took all of this in and have created an entire industry that provides entertainment to millions of people around the globe. Up until 2006, for complete entertainment, users needed to have an MP3 device, a phone, and a book to read. However today, this one device can be anything that its user needs it to be, and the offerings are so enormous. App stores have 1000’s of new games and apps uploaded each day! With each passing day a new game company is created, new games appear on users’ phones, and our gaming dreams are made a reality through 24/7 content.

Learn What They Play and You’ll Learn Who They Are

The games we have on our phones define who we are as people. Ask any person what games or apps they have downloaded and you will understand what entertains them. Couple this info with an online persona, and a very clear picture of their personality will emerge. In this day and age, mobile phone users have access to ideas, entertainment, and a plethora of information that was never available before, as access did not exist.

The future of games is connected to our reality, as we’ve already seen in the global phenomenon that was Pokémon Go, that brought virtual reality into the real world. What we consider amazing now, will be old school and dull in only 5 years. Game developers are scrambling to figure out what the next big thing in gaming will be, and the first to that mark will dominate gaming, if only for a short time.

Mobile phone games have become such an integral part of us, that it will not be surprising if the next level of gaming will turn our lives into one big game for us all to play.

Download and play Gin Rummy Super for Free

To everyone who has downloaded and already enjoyed our game of Jacks or Better, you'll have the full version of the game on January 8th for your enjoyment!

We thank all who downloaded and gave us their feedback. We'll continue to bring you great entertainment and amazing games!

Zarzilla Megawheel, also know as the Big 6 wheel, or Big Wheel is a casino favorite the world over! The game is easy to play, quick, and very fun! The game consists of a large wheel, with 52 subsections divided into numbers and other symbols, much like the game of roulette. Bets are placed by the players and the vertically positioned wheel is spun. When the spin is completed and the wheel has stopped on a symbol, all losing bets are collected by the dealer, and all winning bets are paid out. A new round will then begin with players once again placing bets.

Zarzilla brings all this fun straight to your pocket! With great graphics, enormous payouts and awesome bonuses and extras, you’ll are sure to enjoy this casino classic!

Zarzilla Games is proud to announce that it has released it first full feature game, the popular title “Jacks or Better’, which also happens to be the most popular variant of video poker! As lovers of card games and casino favorites, we realized that some of the best games out there are not getting the treatment they deserve!

While there are hundreds of variations of poker in the app stores, there is a big gap when it comes to games like Jacks or Better, as well as some of the other big casino games! This is where Zarzilla Games decided to step in.

 

The Jacks or Better game is now available for download, and anyone who wants to give it a try, is more than welcome. Just follow the link in this article, and be sure to give us feedback! Many more games are expected to be released and we want YOU to be on the ground floor of each and every one of them!

(Link- https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.zarzilla.JacksOrBetter)

We made sure to put in the best graphics, best interface, leading to a great UX (User Experience). We pride ourselves on keeping it interesting, so each level has its own little toys, whether it may be larger wagers, ‘better’ cities, bigger payouts and so on.

Become a part of our beta testing team! Join Zarzilla markets and receive bonus rewards when our games are released! The best thing is that you dont need to do anything… except try the beta version and let us know what you think!