A new card game from the Horn Lake-based American Contract Bridge League is trying to pull a new generation to the bridge table, and its first box sets have already sold out. BridgeBattle mixes the quick play of the childhood game War with the trick-taking strategy of bridge. The ACBL hopes it becomes a starting point for people who would never sign up for a formal bridge lesson.
The DeSoto Times-Tribune reported the story on Oct. 31. ACBL Executive Director Bronia Jenkins and Stephanie Threlkeld, who handles marketing for the league, explained how the game came together and where it goes next.
Why the Horn Lake bridge league built BridgeBattle
The idea grew out of a recruiting effort that did not go well. About two and a half years ago, Jenkins and Threlkeld visited Pickleball 901 and asked players whether they would like to learn bridge. According to the Times-Tribune, every player said no. Jenkins described the answer as “a categorical no.”
Their response was to make the game easier to approach. In 2025 the league launched a free web-based version, first called BridgeWar. On the ACBL’s BridgeBattle page, a single player teams up with a “battle-ready bot” as the attackers against two defenders, and the first side to win seven tricks wins the game. You don’t need to know bridge or War to start.
From BridgeWar to a $25 box set
Jenkins took a prototype to a World Bridge Federation meeting in Europe. Players there told her a product with “war” in its name would not sell, so the league renamed it BridgeBattle. The same players asked for a physical version people could play at a kitchen table.
Threlkeld designed the box set. According to the Times-Tribune, it includes:
A deck of cards
A short, simple rules sheet
Plastic jewels that players collect each time they win a trick
A colorful, sturdy box (“a nice looking heavy box,” Threlkeld said)
The box is made in China, which Threlkeld said kept the price at $25. The rest of the set is made in the United States. The game has four levels of play: classic, hero, select and extreme.
First run sold out; more on the way
The league’s first production run of 500 sets sold out right away. “We sold out our initial run,” Threlkeld told the newspaper. She said more sets are coming and that she expects the game to sell well during the Christmas season.
According to the Times-Tribune, the set costs $25 with shipping included and is sold on Etsy. More information, including the free online version, is at acbl.org/bridgebattle.
A DeSoto County organization with a national reach
The ACBL is the governing body for contract bridge across North America. It moved its headquarters from Memphis to Horn Lake in 2010, and the Horn Lake office also houses the league’s Hall of Fame, library and museum. Jenkins became the organization’s first woman executive director in 2023.
The league’s broader goal is to grow the number of people who play bridge, a game Jenkins calls “fitness for the mind.” BridgeBattle is meant to be an entry point. If newcomers enjoy collecting tricks in a fast game, the ACBL hopes many will eventually take bridge lessons.
