Stuck at a table? These are the things that actually come up.
Choose your language
Englishहिन्दीગુજરાતીमराठीবাংলাதமிழ்తెలుగుಕನ್ನಡമലയാളംਪੰਜਾਬੀEspañolFrançaisThe group leader: tap Host a table on the home screen and pick one of two ways to play.
When everyone is in the lobby, the leader taps Deal the cards.
Tap Join with a code. If the leader started a nearby table, tap Join a nearby table and your phone finds it on its own — no code, no internet, just the same Wi-Fi or hotspot. If the leader started an online table, type the six characters they sent you and take your seat. Codes exclude characters like 0 and O that get misread when read aloud. If a code is refused, the room has probably expired — rooms close six hours after the last activity. If a nearby table is not found, move closer to the host's phone or make sure both phones are on the same Wi-Fi or hotspot.
From the group leader. Chips in Balkrishna Cards are virtual, are never sold, and can never be cashed out or converted into anything. There is no way to buy chips, and no in-app purchase that gives an advantage.
The app only shows moves the rules permit, and it checks every move again before accepting it. If a button does nothing, the usual causes are: it is not your turn, you are showing a packed hand, or a card you selected was already discarded. Rejected moves always explain themselves in a small message at the bottom of the screen.
Pass-and-play shows one hand at a time: the phone should be passed after each turn. If a hand looks wrong, the phone may have been handed over before the previous player finished their turn.
The table waits for every phone before showing the next move, so one person on a weak connection paces everyone. Moves are tiny and the app reconnects by itself. If the leader's phone leaves the table, the room closes.
The app can remind you that a table is waiting — at most once every three hours, and never between 10pm and 8am. Turn it off any time under Settings; nothing is sent when it is off. On Android 13 and above, the permission is asked once right after the first-run terms screen, and again from the Settings switch if you declined it then. The reminders arrive even when the app is closed; they stop if you turn the switch off, and a restart of the phone clears them until you next open the app.
Every player has an avatar, so a family table looks like a family table instead of a list of names. If you choose nothing, the app gives you one of twelve faces it draws itself, based on your name — everyone who joins the same room sees the same face for you. If you would rather be recognised instantly, tap your face on the home screen (or Settings → Your face) and choose Use a photo from my phone: Android's own picture chooser opens, the middle square of the picture you pick is cut out and shrunk, and it is stored inside the app. Nothing reads your gallery, and no photo permission is asked for. In an online table of twelve or fewer players your picture is shown to the players in that room; in bigger rooms, and offline, only the built-in face travels. Remove my photo takes it back to a face.
The free version shows ads on the menus, never while a hand is being played. Ads are the only thing funding the relay server that online tables use.
Every game is documented on our how to play page in twelve languages, and the same explainer is inside the app under How to play.
Email balkrishnagames@gmail.com with your phone model, the Android version, and what you were doing when it went wrong. If it happened online, include the room code if you have it.