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Gabe Alvaro
United States
Berkeley
California
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• What's My Word? Released
• Kard Combat Released in Canada
• iOS Board Game Developers Make Develop 100
• Game Center Improvements for iOS 5 Announced at WWDC
• Wizards War Updated to Version 1.1.0
• What's My Word? Released - June 3
The folks at Vintru, LLC who brought you Roll Through the Ages are back with a new release: What's My Word?. What's My Word? is an iOS Universal implementation of the classic word game designed by Joli Quentin Kansil where you attempt to discover a game word by using guess words with letters that not only appear in the game word, but that also fall in matching position.
The app has been priced at $0.99 and offers additional word packs as in app purchases.
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=Smq3RC8yf5I&offe...
• Kard Combat Released in Canada - June 3
Hothead Games has released Kard Combat in the Canadian App Store as an iOS Universal app for free. Kard Combat is another dueling-mage card game ala Magic: The Gathering. In fact, Hothead features an endorsement from none other than MtG's Richard Garfield who has this to say about Kard Combat:
Quote: “For years I’ve wanted to create Magic-like experiences for people who play video games. Kard Combat on iPhone and iPad does this and is simple enough for anyone to pick up and play, but with plenty of depth for the hardcore player. Hothead has definitely created a truly magical game."
One question: Why just Canada?
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=Smq3RC8yf5I&offe...
• A Few iOS Board Game Developers Make The Develop 100 - June 3
The folks at Develop-Online.net, a European-based website and magazine totally focused on the games development sector, have ranked and published a list, the Develop 100: The Worlds Best Game Studios, of the top 100 of the world's most successful games development studios based on Metacritic data, charting success based on critical reception of console, PC and smartphone games released around the world.
Anybody familiar with the way Metacritic works will understand that this is not a list of sales success or install base, but a critical ranking of quality as covered in reviews.
Spanning formats of PC, iOS, DS, Wii, 360, XBLA, PS3, and PSP, 50+ developers listed were iOS-based. The list of luminaries as well as little-knowns included some names our readers might be familiar with such as:
#10 - The Coding Monkeys known for Carcassonne
#22 - GAIA Games known for Sword & Poker
#55 - Pixelocity Software LLC known for Disc Drivin'
Congratulations! I expect to see a few more names we're familiar with here added to that list next year.
• Game Center Improvements for iOS 5 Announced at WWDC - June 6
There was lots to soak up from the Apple World Wide Developers Conference keynote on Monday, but the one item that caught this blogger's attention as perhaps being capable of having a direct impact on iOS Board Games was the announcement that Apple has added support for turn-based games right into the OS. This of course gave cause to believe that all of our asynchronous multiplayer games will come true through the iCloud. Here's how Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iPhone Software put it:
Quote: "Another thing we've done for our developers is we've added support for turn-based games right into the OS. {applause} There are some great turn-based games out there like Scrabble, but the developer had to do all the work for that. And now, that's supported right out of the box in iOS 5. There's some really nice enhancements to Game Center."
I was actually quite surprised and thrilled to hear applause when Scott mentioned turn-based games. For a second, it seemed as if all the developers in the room had been waiting for it. Now as much as I do love and believe in the power of async, from the larger perspective of game apps in general, they are still currently a rather rare and strange bird. Let's hope that changes! Later, the Apple Developer' website described the Game Center improvements this way:
Game Center
Game Center is taking multi-player gaming on iOS one step further with the addition of turned-base game support. With turn-based games, players can play when they want and Game Center will manage each turn for them. Game Center will automatically send the next player a push notification via Notification Center and manage multiple game sessions. Other developer additions to Game Center include, adding players to existing multi-player games, displaying achievement notification banners, and support for distinct icons for each leaderboard.
It would be great if a developer at WWDC could break it down into specifics for us. I have seen, however, some of the early comments and reactions of a number of iOS board game developers with hopes to offer async in the future. Clearly they interpreted the news as the solution they may be looking for. If this capability comes in the Fall with iOS 5, it could turn out to be a very merry holiday app season for iOS board games and gamers!
• Wizards War Updated to Version 1.10 - June 7
Malvicio, the developer of Wizards War has updated the simple miniatures board game app for iOS iPhone to version 1.1.0. Here's what's included:
Quote: What's New in Version 1.1.0
- Multiplayer, multiplayer and more multiplayer. Support Game Center and Peer to Peer connectivity with bluetooth and wifi. Now you could play with your friends everywhere.
- Five new spell cards for the sorcery school: 3 new summons and 2 general spells.
- Special effects and animations, now you will see as your magic bolt is shooted by your wizard and impact the objective.
- Skills for some miniatures. Now, the miniatures may have a special skill for use instead of an attack action.
- One specific game board for duels between two players.
- User interface general improvements.
- Many bug fixes.
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=Smq3RC8yf5I&offe...
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Quote:"Another thing we've done for our developers is we've added support for turn-based games right into the OS. {applause} There are some great turn-based games out there like Scrabble, but the developer had to do all the work for that. And now, that's supported right out of the box in iOS 5. There's some really nice enhancements to Game Center."
