Texas 42 FAQ

Follow Me 42 is a web app that installs directly from your browser - no app store needed. Once installed, it works just like a regular app with its own icon on your home screen.

iPhone or iPad (Safari):

1. Open play.followme42.com in Safari
2. Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing up) at the bottom of the screen
3. Scroll down and tap "Add to Home Screen"
4. Tap "Add" in the top right corner

Android (Chrome):

1. Open play.followme42.com in Chrome
2. Tap the three-dot menu ⋮ in the top right corner
3. Tap "Install App" or "Add to Home Screen"

Android (Firefox):

1. Open play.followme42.com in Firefox
2. Tap the three-dot menu ⋮ in the top right corner
3. Tap "Add app to Home Screen"
4. Touch & hold the Follow Me 42 icon to drag it to your Home Screen

Follow Me 42 can also be installed as a desktop app from your browser. No download or app store required.

Chrome or Edge (Windows, Mac, Linux):

1. Open play.followme42.com in Chrome or Edge
2. Click the install icon in the address bar (it looks like a monitor with a down arrow), or click the three-dot menu and select "Install Follow Me 42"
3. The app will open in its own window and appear in your Start menu, Applications folder, or app launcher

Safari (macOS Sonoma or later):

1. Open play.followme42.com in Safari
2. Click File in the menu bar
3. Click "Add to Dock"

You can also play directly in any browser without installing. The app works the same way either way.

Yes, the app is completely safe. Follow Me 42 is built as a Progressive Web App (PWA), which runs directly within your web browser's secure sandbox environment. This architecture ensures that the app cannot access your device's files, contacts, or sensitive hardware features without your explicit permission.

We chose the PWA approach over traditional app stores for three primary reasons:

• Focus on Game Development: Complying with ever-changing app store policies, submission guidelines, and regulatory requirements takes significant time and energy away from game development. By choosing a web-first approach, we avoid these administrative hurdles and focus our resources entirely on improving the game, upgrading the AI, and shipping new gameplay features.
• Zero App Store Fees: Traditional mobile app stores charge a 15% to 30% cut of all digital purchases. Running the game on the web allows us to process cosmetic unlocks and supporter subscriptions directly via Stripe, keeping costs low for players.
• Instant Updates: Instead of waiting days for app store review processes, we can deploy bug fixes and new features instantly. The next time you open the app, you automatically run the latest version.

If parts of the game are cut off or hidden, you're most likely playing in a browser tab. The browser's address bar and toolbars take up screen space that the game needs.

The fix: Install the app to your Home Screen using the steps above. This removes the browser chrome and gives you the full-screen experience the game was designed for.

If you've already installed and still have issues, try rotating your phone to make sure you're in portrait mode, and close any other apps that might be overlapping (like a picture-in-picture video).

Enlarged Fonts / Accessibility Zoom: If you have enlarged system fonts or high accessibility zoom enabled on your device, the game's scoreboard will scale up, which can squeeze or clip the active play area on smaller screens.

The fix: You can resolve this by adjusting your device's display or font settings:

• On iPhone or iPad: Go to iOS Settings > Display & Brightness > Text Size (or Display Zoom) and adjust to a smaller size. Alternatively, tap the aA icon in Safari's address bar and lower the page zoom to 85% or 75%.
• On Android: Go to Android Settings > Display > Font size and style (or Screen zoom) and adjust it down. Inside Chrome or Firefox, you can also lower the "Text scaling" or "Zoom" under the browser's Accessibility settings.

When you visit play.followme42.com, you'll be prompted to sign in before the game loads. You can sign in with one of the following:

• Google - sign in with your Google account
• Facebook - sign in with your Facebook account
• Microsoft - sign in with your Outlook, Hotmail, or Microsoft account
• Email & Password - create an account with any email address (requires email verification - see below)

Signing in with Google, Facebook, or Microsoft does not require email verification - those accounts are verified automatically by the provider.

Your account tracks your game history, achievements, ratings, and cosmetics across devices. You only need to sign in once - the app remembers you.

If you opened the link from inside Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, or another social media app, you're in an "in-app browser" that blocks sign-in for security reasons.

The fix: Open the game in your phone's real browser instead:

1. Look for a "Open in Browser" button - the app will show one if it detects you're in an in-app browser
2. Or tap the three-dot menu ⋮ (or Safari icon) in the in-app browser and select "Open in Safari" or "Open in Chrome"
3. Or copy the link (play.followme42.com) and paste it into Safari or Chrome directly

The game updates itself. Each time you come back to the main screen (the one with the Start Game button) while connected to the internet, it checks for a newer version and quietly reloads if there is one. It never updates in the middle of a game, so your hand is never interrupted.

If the game still looks out of date (something from our News page isn't showing up, or you see a screen that says "App Update Required"), work through these steps in order. Most people only need the first two.

Step 1: Go back to the main screen and wait

1. Make sure your tablet is connected to Wi-Fi.
2. Finish or leave the game you are in, so you are on the main screen.
3. Wait about 10 seconds without tapping anything. If an update is ready, the screen will blink and reload by itself.

Step 2: Close the game completely, then open it again

Tapping the Home button only hides the game; it keeps running in the background. To close it all the way on a Samsung tablet:

1. Tap the Recent apps button. It is at the bottom of the screen and looks like three short lines ( ||| ). If you don't have buttons at the bottom, slowly swipe up from the very bottom edge of the screen and hold your finger still for a moment.
2. You will see small pictures of your open apps. Find Follow Me 42 and swipe it up, off the top of the screen. (Or tap Close all at the bottom.)
3. Tap the Follow Me 42 icon on your Home screen to open it again, and wait on the main screen for 10 seconds.
4. Do this twice. The first time downloads the new version, and the second time switches to it.

Step 3: Restart the tablet

1. Swipe down from the top of the screen (on some tablets you need to swipe down twice) until you see the row of large buttons.
2. Tap the power symbol (a circle with a line at the top) in the top corner.
3. Tap Restart, and tap Restart again if it asks.
4. When the tablet is back on, open Follow Me 42 and wait on the main screen for 10 seconds.

Step 4: Clear the game's saved data (only if Steps 1 to 3 didn't work)

Even though you play from the Follow Me 42 icon, the icon runs on the browser you installed it from, so that browser is where you clear its data. Use the steps for that browser. Most Samsung tablets have both Chrome and Samsung Internet, and some people add Firefox too; if you aren't sure, start with Chrome. Menu names can differ slightly depending on how up to date your tablet is, so look for the closest match.

Chrome (the round red, yellow, and green icon):

1. Open Chrome itself (not the Follow Me 42 icon) and go to play.followme42.com.
2. Tap the small icon just to the left of the web address at the top of the screen.
3. Tap "Cookies and site data".
4. Tap the trash can next to the stored data, then tap Delete to confirm.
5. Close Chrome, open the Follow Me 42 icon on your Home screen, and sign in again. Clearing the data in Chrome also resets the icon, so you don't need to add it again.

Samsung Internet (the purple icon with a white planet):

1. Open Samsung Internet and tap the menu button with three lines ( ≡ ).
2. Tap Settings, then Personal browsing data, then Delete browsing data.
3. Check "Cookies and site data" and "Cached images and files", then tap Delete.
4. Open the Follow Me 42 icon on your Home screen and sign in again.

Samsung Internet clears every website at once, so you may also need to sign back in to other sites you use in it.

Firefox (the orange fox wrapped around a purple globe):

1. Open Firefox itself (not the Follow Me 42 icon) and go to play.followme42.com.
2. Tap the shield icon in the address bar, next to the web address.
3. Tap "Clear cookies and site data".
4. A message will ask you to confirm. Tap Clear.
5. Close Firefox, open the Follow Me 42 icon on your Home screen, and sign in again.

Unlike Samsung Internet, Chrome and Firefox only clear Follow Me 42, so you stay signed in to your other websites.

If the icon still shows the old version after this: touch and hold the Follow Me 42 icon on your Home screen, tap Uninstall (or Remove), and confirm. Then add it back using the Android install steps and sign in again.

Still stuck? Send us a message and tell us what kind of tablet or phone you have. We're happy to walk you through it.

The game updates itself. Each time you come back to the main screen (the one with the Start Game button) while connected to the internet, it checks for a newer version and quietly reloads if there is one. It never updates in the middle of a game.

If the game still looks out of date (something from our News page isn't showing up, or you see a screen that says "App Update Required"), work through these steps in order.

Step 1: Go back to the main screen and wait

1. Make sure you are connected to Wi-Fi.
2. Finish or leave the game you are in, so you are on the main screen.
3. Wait about 10 seconds without tapping anything. If an update is ready, the screen will blink and reload by itself.

Step 2: Close the game completely, then open it again

1. Slowly swipe up from the very bottom edge of the screen and pause in the middle. If your device has a round Home button, press it twice quickly instead.
2. You will see small pictures of your open apps. Find Follow Me 42 and swipe it up, off the top of the screen.
3. Tap the Follow Me 42 icon on your Home Screen to open it again, and wait on the main screen for 10 seconds.
4. Do this twice. The first time downloads the new version, and the second time switches to it.

Step 3: Restart the device

1. Open Settings, tap General, scroll to the bottom, and tap Shut Down. Slide the power slider to the right.
2. Wait 30 seconds, then press and hold the button on the side or top until the Apple logo appears.
3. Open Follow Me 42 and wait on the main screen for 10 seconds.

Step 4: Remove the game and add it again (only if Steps 1 to 3 didn't work)

If you open the game from a Home Screen icon:

1. Touch and hold the Follow Me 42 icon until a menu appears.
2. Tap Delete Bookmark or Remove App, and confirm. This removes the old copy and everything it saved.
3. Add the game back by following the iPhone or iPad install steps, then sign in again.

If you play in Safari:

1. Open Settings and tap Safari. (On newer versions, tap Apps first, then Safari.)
2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Advanced, then Website Data.
3. Find followme42.com, swipe it to the left, and tap Delete.
4. Open play.followme42.com in Safari again and sign in.

If you play in Firefox:

1. In Firefox, tap the menu button with three lines ( ≡ ). It is at the bottom of the screen on an iPhone and at the top right on an iPad.
2. Tap Settings, then (under Privacy) tap Data Management, then Website Data.
3. Tap followme42.com to select it (tap Show More if you don't see it), then tap Clear Items at the bottom of the list.
4. Open play.followme42.com in Firefox again and sign in.

Still stuck? Send us a message and tell us what kind of iPhone or iPad you have.

The game updates itself. Each time you come back to the main screen (the one with the Start Game button) while connected to the internet, it checks for a newer version and quietly reloads if there is one. It never updates in the middle of a game.

If the game still looks out of date (something from our News page isn't showing up, or you see a screen that says "App Update Required"), work through these steps in order.

Step 1: Go back to the main screen and wait

Finish or leave the game you are in, then wait about 10 seconds on the main screen. If an update is ready, the page reloads by itself.

Step 2: Close the game completely, then open it again

• Installed app window: close the Follow Me 42 window. On a Mac, click the window and press Command + Q so it quits fully. Open it again from your Start menu, Dock, or app launcher.
• Browser tab: close the tab, open a new one, and go to play.followme42.com.

Do this twice. The first time downloads the new version, and the second time switches to it.

Step 3: Force a fresh copy (browser tab only)

• Windows or Linux: press Ctrl + Shift + R
• Mac (Chrome, Edge, Firefox): press Command + Shift + R
• Mac (Safari): press Option + Command + R

Step 4: Clear the site's saved data (only if Steps 1 to 3 didn't work)

If you installed the game as an app from Chrome, Edge, or Brave, the app shares its data with that browser, so clearing it in the browser also resets the app window.

• Chrome or Brave: open play.followme42.com in a normal browser tab, click the small icon just to the left of the web address, choose "Cookies and site data", and delete the data stored for followme42.com.
• Edge: click the three dots ( ... ) in the top right, then Settings, then Privacy, search, and services, then Cookies, then See all cookies and site data. Search for followme42 and delete it.
• Safari: in the menu bar, click Safari, then Settings, then the Privacy tab, then Manage Website Data. Search for followme42, click Remove, then Done.
• Firefox: click the shield icon to the left of the web address and choose "Clear cookies and site data".
• Safari web app in your Dock: Safari's own settings don't reach it, because a Dock web app keeps its data separately from Safari. Open the Follow Me 42 app, click Follow Me 42 in the menu bar at the top of the screen, and choose Settings. Open the Privacy tab and use the option there to clear the website's data.

Then open the game again and sign in.

If an installed app still looks old after this, delete it and install it again:

• Chrome, Edge, or Brave app: open the Follow Me 42 app window, click the three dots at the top right, and choose "Uninstall Follow Me 42". In Chrome, tick "Also delete data from Chrome", then click Remove. (Edge and Brave word this slightly differently.)
• Safari web app in your Dock: in the Finder, choose Go > Home from the menu bar, open the Applications folder, and drag Follow Me 42 to the Trash.

Then add it back using the computer install steps and sign in again.

Still stuck? Send us a message and tell us which computer and browser you use.

After signing in:

1. Choose a game mode - Beginner is recommended if you're new
2. Tap "Start Game" to begin
3. The AI will play the other three seats. You're always the South player

If you've never played Texas 42 before, tap "Learn to Play" on the main screen to walk through a guided tutorial that teaches you the basics step by step.

• Beginner - simplified rules, easy AI, and coaching hints to help you learn. No special bids like Nello or Splash
• Tournament - official tournament rules (straight 42). The standard competitive format, played against Expert AI
• House Rules - the full Texas experience with Nello, Splash, Plunge, Follow Me, and all the extras. Hard AI difficulty
• Custom - pick your own rules, difficulty, and scoring style

Those four are the Texas 42 track. The main screen also has a Moon tab for the canonical three-player game: 22 tiles, a face-down widow, and a race to 21. You pick Moon by AI difficulty (Easy, Medium, Hard, or Expert) or build a Custom Moon game, and it keeps its own ratings and leaderboards.

You can switch between modes at any time from the main screen.

Your rating is marked as Provisional under our Glicko-2 rating system when there is still a high level of mathematical uncertainty about your true skill level. This is normal for newer accounts and occurs if:

• You have played fewer than 15 rated games, OR
• Your Rating Deviation (RD) (which measures the system's uncertainty of your skill) is greater than 150 (brand new players start at 300).

Once you have played at least 15 rated games and your performance stabilizes, your RD will drop below 150, and your rating will become fully established.

Can I become provisional again?

Yes. If you go an extended period without playing, the system's certainty in your skill naturally decays. Your RD will increase by 15 for every inactive 7-day period. If it climbs back above 150, your rating returns to provisional status until you play a few games to stabilize it again.

While your rating is provisional, server-wide ranking percentiles are hidden to ensure accurate placement on the leaderboard.

For a game to qualify as rated and affect your skill rating and leaderboard position, it must meet several strict structural and fair-play requirements depending on whether you are playing in Solo Mode or Multiplayer Mode.

Solo Mode (vs. AI Bots)

To qualify as a rated game against the AI, the following conditions must be met:

• AI Difficulty: Must be played on Medium, Hard, or Expert difficulty (Beginner mode is excluded).
• No Coach Hints: The "Coach Hints" or AI assistance features must not be used during the game.
• Standard Scoring Target: The game must be configured for exactly 7 marks to win.
• Minimum Duration: The game must last for at least 3 completed hands and at least 60 seconds (prevents premature folding or concessions).

Multiplayer Mode (Online)

To qualify as a rated multiplayer game, the following conditions must be met:

• Natural Completion: The game must finish naturally through gameplay and cannot be voided or forcibly ended early.
• Two Human Opponents (42): A rated game of 42 has exactly two human players on opposing teams, each partnered with an AI. Two humans on the same team are not rated. In Moon, two or three human players at a canonical Moon table can be rated.
• Open to Every Player: Rated multiplayer does not require a subscription. Joining a table and Quick Match are free.
• Active Gameplay: Both teams combined must score at least 3 total marks before the game concludes (prevents immediate concessions for rating boosting).
• No Sevens: Games on tables that allow the Sevens contract are not rated.
• No AI Substitutions: If a player disconnects past the grace period or leaves and is replaced by an AI mid-game, the game is not rated for the players who stay. The player who left is recorded a rated loss.
• Fair-Play Rate Limits: To prevent collusion or rating manipulation, a maximum of 5 rated games can be recorded between the same two players in any 24-hour window. Tournament games are exempt.

Your skill ratings are calculated using the competitive standard Glicko-2 rating system. Ratings are computed and tracked separately for Solo Mode (vs. AI) and Multiplayer Mode (vs. other humans). When you play rated games, winning increases your rating and losing decreases it, with the size of the rating shift depending on the rating of your opponents and teammate relative to yours.

In addition to your overall Glicko-2 rating, the game computes a detailed Pillar Rating system, which scores specific dimensions of your play and displays them on a spider chart in your profile.

Standard Texas 42 Rating Pillars:

• 🎯 Decision (DEC): Measures your strategic bidding choices. It is calculated from your bid accuracy (making the bids you call), your bidding courage (bidding when holding two or more winners in the eventual trump suit), and your recovery rate on forced bids (when forced to bid 30 as dealer).
• 🏹 Execution (EXE): Measures your ability to win marks and close out games. It is calculated from the percentage of total marks won, your overall bid completion rate, and your recovery rate on high bids (36 points or more, including Shooters).
• 🦴 Bone Sense (BNS): Measures your efficiency in managing count dominoes (fives and tens). It is calculated from the count points your team captures and the count points you deny your opponents.
• 🤝 Teamwork (TMW): Measures your partnership synergy. It is calculated from your follow-through rate (winning tricks when your partner led), your trick split balance (maintaining balanced trick counts with your partner), and your count donation rate (playing count points on tricks your partner is winning).

Moon Variant Rating Pillars (3-Player Mode):

Since Moon is a three-player game played without a partner, its pillars are adjusted to reflect individual play:

• 🎯 Decision (DEC): Calculated from your bid accuracy, bidding courage, and shoot discipline (your success rate when bidding Shoot it Over or Shoot it Under).
• 🏹 Execution (EXE): Calculated from your hand win rate, trick capture rate (ratio of tricks won vs. tricks bid for), and lead recovery (winning back control on the next trick after losing a trick you led).
• 👁️ Read (REA): Replaces Teamwork and Bone Sense to measure hand reading and tactical defense. It is calculated from your coalition synergy (cooperative play with the other defender), your bidder set rate (defeating the bidder's contract on defense), and your widow value extraction (success rate when exchanging tiles with the face-down widow).

How to Improve Your Ratings:

• Practice bidding accuracy: Bidding too high and getting set is the fastest way to drop your Decision and Execution ratings. Learn to calculate your hand's trick-taking potential before bidding.
• Support your partner: In standard 42, donate count tiles to tricks your partner is guaranteed to win, and work to keep your trick counts balanced to boost your Teamwork rating.
• Deny count on defense: Do not let opponents capture count tiles easily. Play low off-cards or trump in to secure valuable points for your team, boosting your Bone Sense rating.
• Play rated games at higher difficulties: In Solo Mode, you must play on Medium, Hard, or Expert difficulty to update your ratings. Easy difficulty games are not rated.

Follow Me 42 features a built-in achievement system that rewards you for milestones and skillful play. As you play, you will automatically unlock achievements across categories like bidding, trick-taking, count management, and more. Every achievement you unlock grants you a unique avatar and a showcase badge that you can equip on your profile.

Viewing your achievements:

1. From the main screen, scroll to The Hall and tap Profile
2. Look for the Achievements summary row showing your progress (e.g., "X / Y unlocked")
3. Tap the row to open the Achievement Collection, where you can browse all achievements organized by category

Earned achievements display their full-color icon, rarity tier, and description. Locked achievements appear greyed out with a progress bar showing how close you are. Some achievements are secret and show as "???" until you unlock them.

Equipping an achievement avatar as your profile image:

1. Open your Player Profile from The Hall on the main screen
2. Tap your current avatar image in the top right of the profile screen
3. Browse your unlocked avatars and select the one you want to equip

Your avatar is displayed everywhere other players can see you - at the table, in the player roster, on player cards, and on your public profile page if enabled.

Showcase badges:

You can also display up to 3 achievement badges in your profile's showcase area. These appear as circular icons with rarity-colored ring borders below your ratings. Tap the badge slots in your profile header to select from your unlocked collection.

Follow Me 42 supports four distinct AI difficulty levels, allowing you to choose the right level of challenge or match competitive tournament standards. The AI engine is built using Dennis Roberson's strategy rules, simulating highly authentic and strategic Texas 42 play.

The Four AI Difficulty Levels:

• Easy: Designed for beginners. The bots bid using basic heuristics, play legal moves at random, and never call special contracts (Nello, Plunge, or Splash). Recommended for learning the game.
• Medium: The standard difficulty for casual play. Bots bid and play using solid standard strategy but occasionally make human-like tactical errors, especially when leading or counting trump.
• Hard: A tough competitive challenge. The bots use Dennis Roberson's at-risk points evaluation framework (bids are calculated as 42 minus at-risk points), bid Nello under a strict 90% confidence threshold, utilize advanced defensive maneuvers (such as sluffing off-suits and bleeding opponents' trump), and coordinate tightly with their partners.
• Expert: The ultimate challenge. Bots employ all Hard-tier evaluations plus lay-down hand detectors, advanced Nel-o defensive blanking and trapping, and score-based desperation multipliers. If the Expert bot is trailing in points near the end of a match, it dynamically lowers its bidding confidence gates to attempt high-risk comeback bids.

Where can I configure the difficulty?

• Tournament Mode: Locked to Expert difficulty to guarantee a consistent competitive standard.
• House Rules: A fixed preset locked to Hard difficulty, playing with standard Texas scoring and all special contracts enabled.
• Custom Mode & Multiplayer: In Solo Mode, selecting Custom expands the Gameplay Options panel (the custom rules panel) where you can fully customize AI difficulty and rules. In online Multiplayer, the host can configure difficulty for AI seat substitutes under the Table Options panel.

Note: To earn points toward your official Glicko-2 rating in Solo Mode, the game must be played on Medium, Hard, or Expert difficulty (games played on Easy are not rated).

The Trick History drawer shows every trick played so far in the current hand: which tile each seat played, who won the trick, and what it was worth. It is there in solo games, in multiplayer games, and when you are watching someone else's table.

Opening it

Tap the Trick 1/7 button in the bar at the bottom of the table. The number counts up as the hand goes on, so it always tells you which trick is being played. Tap the button again, or the × at the top of the drawer, to close it.

Reading it

• The top line: who won the bid, what they bid, and trump, for example West Bid 31 Fours Trump. Special contracts like Nello, Plunge or Splash show by name.
• Columns: one for each seat. Yours is labelled You, and the others by their place at the table: S, W, N and E, or S, NW and NE in Moon.
• Rows: one for each finished trick, T1 through T7. Next to the trick number is the seat that won it, and the winning tile is highlighted.
• Points: on the right, what the trick was worth, in the color of the side that won it. Every trick is worth 1 point, plus any count tiles in it: 5 each for the 5-0, 4-1 and 3-2, and 10 each for the 6-4 and 5-5. A trick with the 5-5 and no other count shows +11. In Moon, every trick shows +1.

A trick is added once it has been won, so the tiles still on the table are not listed yet. Before the first trick of a hand, the drawer reads No tricks played yet.

Why did that tile win?

Tap the highlighted winning tile in any row to see why it took the trick, such as Highest Trump, Highest Trump (Double) or Highest of Led Suit. Tap the note to close it.

Nello hands

In Nello the bidder's partner sits out, so their column is hidden. Instead of points, each row shows ✓ with a running count, like ✓ 3/7, when the bidder stayed out of the trick, or ✗ when the bidder was caught taking it. Tap the bidder's tile, your own tile, or the winning tile to see what that play was doing.

Keep it open while you play

On a computer, or a tablet turned sideways, the top of the drawer has two extra buttons:

• Pin: keeps the drawer open beside the table while you go on playing. Tap the pin again to unpin it.
• Popout (with a mouse or trackpad): moves the history into its own window, titled Tricks 1/7 and counting. Drag it by its top bar, resize it from the bottom-right corner, minimize it to a small bar, or dock it back into the drawer. It remembers where you put it and how big you made it.

On a phone, or a tablet held upright, the drawer opens over the table instead. Close it when you are ready to play your tile.

When a solo game against the AI ends, the game review screen opens with your result (VICTORY! or DEFEAT), the final marks, how long the game took, and the ruleset you played. From there you can dig into the game two ways. Every player gets this, with no subscription needed.

See Statistics

Tap See Statistics for a scorecard of your game: bids made and your success rate, count captured against the AI's, bids versus passes and your highest bid, your most-used trump suits, tricks won, and how many times you were set.

Review Hands

Tap Review Hands to open the Hand History, one row per hand:

• Bidder & Contract: who won the bid (You, Partner, or Them) and for how much, including special contracts like Nello or Plunge.
• Trump: the suit that was named, DBL for doubles, or NT for no-trump and Nello.
• Result: MADE or SET, or for Nello, DODGED or BUSTED.
• Points: how the 42 points split between the two teams, with a bar so you can see the hand at a glance.

How to see why the AI played the way it did:

1. On the game review screen, tap Review Hands.
2. Find the hand you want to understand and tap Why? at the end of its row.
3. Read The bidding: each AI seat (West, North, or East) and what it bid or whether it passed, with how strong it rated its hand on a scale of 0 to 100. If the bid was a helping-hand bid, or the AI counted on its partner's help, it says so, and the winning bidder's line tells you whether the hand was made or set.
4. Read Trick play: every tile each AI seat played, trick by trick (T1 through T7), with the reason it chose that tile.
5. Tap Why? again to close it, or tap another hand's Why? to switch. One hand opens at a time so you can compare without scrolling through a wall of text.

Only the AI's decisions are listed. Your own bids and plays are not, and the AI's explanations never reveal tiles it did not play. The hand-strength number is the AI's own rating of its hand, not its chance of making the bid. A Why? button only shows on hands where the AI recorded its reasoning.

Still think the AI got one wrong? Subscribers can send it to us with the Game Reporter during the game, which attaches everything we need to check the play.

The Game Reporter is a diagnostic and bug-reporting tool built directly into the game. It allows players to submit detailed reports to the development team when they encounter a bug, an unexpected rule resolution, or unusual AI behavior.

What does it capture?

When you submit a report, the tool automatically bundles critical technical details so the developers can accurately recreate and debug the issue. This includes:

• A complete Game State Snapshot (capturing all played tiles, bids, scores, rules, and settings for that hand).
• Full AI Telemetry Logs (a step-by-step history of what the AI bots evaluated and why they chose their bids or plays).
• Recent Game Sync or Save Errors, if any occurred.

Who can use it?

The Game Reporter is available to players with active supporter roles: Subscribers, Reporters, Admins, and Super Admins. If you are a supporter, the tool's background telemetry tracking is automatically active from the moment the game starts.

How to submit a report:

1. During an active match (while playing), look for the circular Report Issue icon on the bottom action strip.
2. Tap the icon to open the Report a Game Issue panel.
3. (Optional) Type a description of what happened and the steps to reproduce the issue.
4. Tap Submit Report.

Quick Match is a 1v1 head-to-head multiplayer game available from the lobby chat header. You and one other human each get an AI partner, sitting on opposite teams.

Game rules:

• Format: Standard Texas 42, first to 7 marks
• Follow Me: On
• Doubles as Trump: On
• Nello, Splash, Plunge: Off
• Sevens, Renege: Off
• Throw-Down: On - Quick Match only, so the bidder can close out a hand whose result is already decided
• Pass-out Handling: Redeal
• AI Partner Difficulty: Hard
• Max Opening Mark: 2

How matching works: Players are matched first-come, first-served with no rating restrictions. When two players are in the queue, the match starts automatically. The table closes when the game ends.

A subscription is $3.99 a month, paid securely through Stripe, and you can cancel anytime. It is built for hosts: it gives you a table of your own and the community tools that go with it.

A subscription unlocks:

• Your own permanent table - choose 2, 3 (Moon), or 4 seats, set the rules and AI difficulty, and dress it with your own felt, tiles, and watermark
• Matchmaking for your table - open your empty seats so players looking for a game can fill them
• A public table page other players can visit and join from
• Outfits - create and lead your own Outfit
• Tournament registration
• Subscriber support - the Subscriber feedback and Billing & subscription support categories, plus the in-game Game Reporter

Free for everyone: solo play, rated multiplayer, Quick Match, joining any table you are invited to, achievements, and all of your ratings. A subscription gives no gameplay advantage: the AI, scoring, and ratings work the same for every player.

How to subscribe: tap Table in The Hall on the main screen, or tap Subscribe for $3.99/mo in your Profile.

Open your Profile from The Hall on the main screen, find the Subscription section, and tap Manage Subscription. That opens Stripe's secure billing page, where you can cancel, update your card, or view your invoices.

What happens when you cancel:

• Your table goes dormant instead of being deleted. Its name, rules, and cosmetics are kept, and it is yours again if you resubscribe.
• You keep everything else: ratings, achievements, avatars, badges, and any cosmetics you bought.
• You can still join other players' tables and play Quick Match for free.

Hosting a table requires a subscription. Once you are subscribed:

1. Tap Table in The Hall on the main screen to open your table
2. In the Settings tab, choose a size: 2 Players (one human and one AI on each side), 3 Players (Moon), or 4 Players
3. Under Table Options, set the contracts, bidding rules, marks to win, and the AI difficulty used for any seat an AI fills
4. Under Cosmetics, pick your felt, tiles, and watermark

Who gets a seat: players who come to your table knock, and you let them in. If you set a Passphrase, anyone who enters it sits down directly, and everyone else can still knock. Turn on Allow Spectators to let people watch, and use the Table Chat toggle to turn chat on or off. As host, you can mute individual players in table chat.

Each player can own one table. Your table also gets a public page at play.followme42.com/t/ followed by your handle.

Joining tables is free for everyone.

1. Tap Community in The Hall on the main screen, then open the Tables tab
2. Under Join Directly, enter the host's handle and tap Join Table
3. If the table has a passphrase, enter it to sit down. Otherwise, or if you choose Request to join instead (knock), you wait for the host to let you in

You can also tap any player's card and choose Join Table, or Watch Table if their table allows spectators. Spectators see the game as it is played but never see anyone's hand, and they chat in their own channel, separate from the seated players.

If you lose connection: your seat is held for 15 seconds, so a quick reconnect puts you right back where you were. Stay away longer than that, or spend more than 90 seconds offline in total over one game, and an AI takes your seat so everyone else can finish.

Tournaments are bracketed multiplayer events. Anyone signed in can follow them: tap Community in The Hall, then the Tourneys tab for events and brackets, or Circuit for the circuit standings.

To register, you need:

• An active subscription
• An established rating: at least 15 rated games
• A rating at or above the event's floor, if it sets one

During a tournament you play under an anonymous name such as Competitor-A3F2C19B, and it changes every round. That keeps players from arranging results with people they recognize. Tournament results earn circuit points, and tournament games do not count toward the 5-games-per-day limit between the same two players.

An Outfit is a crew of up to 42 players with its own name, emblem, and public page, and its own spot on the Outfit leaderboard. Find them under Community in The Hall, on the Outfits tab.

• Joining is free. An open Outfit lets you join directly. Others take requests, and a leader approves them.
• Creating one requires a subscription. The creator becomes its leader.
• One at a time. You can belong to one Outfit; leave it before joining another.
• Every Outfit has a public page at play.followme42.com/o/ followed by its name, with its roster, recent activity, and milestones.

A new member's games start counting toward the Outfit's stats 24 hours after they join, so nobody can hop in just to add a win.

There are two chats: Lobby Chat for everyone online, and Table Chat for the players at a multiplayer table. Tap the chat bubble to open them, and switch between the two from the chat header.

Who can chat: you must be 13 or older. The app asks for your birth month and year once. You can hide chat completely with the Enable Chat switch in your Profile.

Muting and reporting: tap the ⋮ menu on someone's message and choose Mute to hide their messages from your view, or Report to send the recent conversation to our moderators.

Messages containing profanity are blocked rather than sent, and each player can send up to 5 messages every 5 seconds.

The Market is where you get cosmetics and merch. Tap Market in The Hall on the main screen.

• Cosmetics change how your game looks: table felts, tile materials and graphics, pip colors, watermarks, player themes, and avatar effects. Bundles group several items together.
• Free and premium. Every player starts with a set of free defaults. Premium items are one-time purchases through Stripe checkout.
• Merch is real, printed apparel and accessories, made to order and shipped to you. Anyone can browse and order it.

Cosmetics are purely visual and never affect gameplay. Digital items are a license to use them in the game; see Terms of Service section 9.2 for details. The Market needs an internet connection.

Open your Profile from The Hall on the main screen and use the Public Profile switch.

• On: you get a shareable link at play.followme42.com/u/ followed by your handle, showing your title and level, stats, showcase badges, tournament career, and Outfit.
• Off: your profile is visible only to you.

Yes. Solo games against the AI work without a connection. Your finished games are saved on your device and sync to your account automatically the next time you are online.

Multiplayer, Community, the Market, and subscriptions all need an internet connection.

Tap Support in The Hall on the main screen, pick a topic, and send us a message.

• Everyone: Rules & gameplay, Bug (outside a game), Feature idea, and Something else
• Subscribers: also Subscriber feedback and Billing & subscription

Found a bug during a game? Use the Game Reporter instead: it attaches the game state our developers need to reproduce the problem.

You can send up to 3 support messages a day. News and announcements from us arrive in the Notifications bell on the main screen.