Experience with various programs?

[konanekane]

I realize this forum is not so active these days, but I will post and hope

I am interested in the relative strength of computer programs. I have tried a few but I'm not a skilled player myself so my judgments are only my own opinion. I'll stick with programs that run on PCs or online; not Macs, and not Android or iOS, which would be a whole separate discussion.

First, at the top: online, on ISS the Muppets seem wickedly strong. But on the PC, Siegfried lays claim to the title. But I don't know, is Siegfried as good as the Muppets? It seems quite good but I only have a limited evaluation version, and it is not seeing active development.

Next I think is Rasche's Skat 8 Premium. And maybe after that is Heinlein's Skat 9. Rasche 8 seems quite good. Skat 9 plays a different style, seems to be pretty aggressive even on the "ausgewogen" setting.

Then there are all the rest like Royal Skat, Skat XXL, NetSkat, etc.

Does anyone still on this forum have ideas about all of this? I'm especially interested in the Muppets vs. Siegfried question.

[konanekane]

No one posting here in months and months!

Well, to answer my own question.

I'm doing a little study of various Windows and Android Skat-playing programs and will post a link to results when I'm done. It's sort of a (very) abbreviated and (very) amateur version of what Skatfuchs posted on a German site several years ago.

Preliminary observation: the Muppets on ISS are ferocious. If you want some tough training, look no further.

Siegfried plays a very strong game but rather unnatural. Be prepared for the king of all Maurers.

Rasche Skat 8 Premium plays a pretty strong and natural game.

On Android: Skat HD seems to be the best so far. There are numerous Really Bad (TM) apps and just a couple of fair-to-good ones.