China Hand (ShedHead)
Francesco Sacchi Games iPhoneiPadiPod touch
China Hand (ShedHead) is a free Games app for iPhone and iPad by Francesco Sacchi. Requires iOS 18.0. Updated September 10, 2026.
- Price
- Free
- on the App Store
- Size
- 2 MB
- Age 12+
- Updated
- Sep 10
- 2026 · v1.3.1
Screenshots
About China Hand (ShedHead)
Shed every card in your hand. Then the cards on your table. Then the ones you can't even see. Last one holding cards is the China Hand; don't be the China Hand! China Hand is a fast, hand-drawn take on the classic shedding card game (also known as ShedHead or Palace). Every card is drawn right in the app, no photos, no stock art, just a warm, inked-parchment style that's entirely its own. HOW IT'S PLAYED Play from your hand first. Once it's empty and the draw pile's gone, move to your three face-up table cards. Then the real nerve-test: three cards face-down, flipped one at a time, sight unseen - a bad flip means you take the whole pile. Three cards break the rules on purpose: - The 2 resets the pile, anything can follow it - The 3 is glass, see straight through to the card underneath - The 10 burns the pile and sends you again Land four of a kind and the pile burns too. Play a 7 and whoever's next has to go equal or lower. Simple to learn, sharp enough to argue about afterward. PLAY YOUR WAY - Solo against AI, with three difficulty levels - Local multiplayer with friends nearby, no internet required - Online through Game Center SIX WAYS TO DEAL Classic parchment-and-purple, Ink & Gold, Midnight Table, Emerald Sorcerer, Ashes & Embers, and Summer Tide; each with its own card backs. Summer Tide reworks the faces entirely. All cosmetic. None of them touch how the game plays. FAIR BY DESIGN No ads. No third-party tracking. No pay-to-win, the optional Supporter unlock and China Token packs are purely cosmetic, and nothing in the deck ever changes because of what you've bought. Deal yourself in. Try not to end up the China Hand.
What’s new
Version 1.3.1 · Updated September 10, 2026
PLAY ONLINE WITH ANYONE, ANYWHERE Online games now run through our own server, so you can play with friends on a different Wi-Fi network or on mobile data. Host a table, share the six-character code, and they're in. Lose signal mid-hand and your seat is held while you reconnect. TWO NEW DECKS Odysseus, in Greek pottery black and terracotta, where a loosed arrow burns the pile. Spider, where a web hauls the cards clean out of the screen. NOIR, PROPERLY Rebuilt in real black and white - a black table, white cards, and an interface to match. Cards turn to black glass and shatter where they lie. A NEW HOUSE RULE Turn on "9 reverses" to send the play back the other way. FIXES Wins and losses are recorded correctly again. A 10 can no longer be played on a low card with a glass 3 on top of it. Card counts and table text now read clearly on every deck.
App privacy
The developer, Francesco Sacchi, reported these privacy practices to Apple.
Data Not Linked to You
The following data, which may be collected but is not linked to your identity, may be used for the following purposes:
- Purchases: Purchase History
- Identifiers: User ID
Used for: App Functionality
Alternatives to China Hand (ShedHead)
Looking for apps like China Hand (ShedHead)? Here are 6 similar apps on the App Store. The highest rated is DominGen (4.9/5), and all 6 are free to download.
-
Poker Odds – Simulator
-
Shithead: Palace Card Game
-
Aces - Poker Odds Calculator
-
DominGen
4.9
-
Poker Range Calculator
4.7
-
Gambit - Play and Learn Poker
4.3
| App | Rating | Price | Last updated | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China Hand (ShedHead) | – | Free | September 10, 2026 | |
| Poker Odds – Simulator | – | Free | Oct 23, 2025 | Compare |
| Shithead: Palace Card Game | – | Free | Oct 12, 2026 | Compare |
| Aces - Poker Odds Calculator | – | Free | Jan 28, 2026 | Compare |
| DominGen | 4.9 / 5 (1,645) | Free | Oct 21, 2024 | Compare |
| Poker Range Calculator | 4.7 / 5 (67) | Free | Oct 7, 2026 | Compare |
| Gambit - Play and Learn Poker | 4.3 / 5 (121) | Free | Oct 19, 2026 | Compare |