Among the best things in life is playing printed games in person with family and close friends. When those are not convenient we like iOS Board Games.
News, reviews, previews, and opinions about board gaming on iPhones, iPads, iPods and even Android devices. (iPhone board games, iPad board games, iPod board games, Android board games)
• Summoner Wars Coming • Yo Deshi Released • BrainFreeze by Seth Jaffee Released and Updated • Trader HD Released • Tactica RTS Released • Codito Updates Their Release Schedule • Top Trumps Released • Catan HD Updated • Bang! 4th of July Released • Scotland Yard for iPad Released • Kard Combat Releasing on July 13
The app will be universal, support from 1-4 players and offer asynchronous online play. This blogger will speculate that we'll see similar app features to the excellent Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer when this game is released in Fall 2011.
• Yo Deshi for iPad Released - June 21 Proper Games has released a 1-2 player born-digital board game app for iPad that was described to me as Knizia-esque. The app recently went free over the July 4th holiday, but returned to its original $2.99 price point. Looks interesting for those who are into "Mental Martial Arts" and "Authentic soothing Chinese music".
• BrainFreeze by Seth Jaffee Released and Updated - June 23, July 6 Eminent game designer, Seth Jaffee and Tasty Minstrel Games have released BrainFreeze by Seth Jaffee for iPad and available for free! The app has since been updated as well to fix crashing in solo mode when a high score was made.
• Trader HD Released - June 24 Trader HD for iPad has been released by a division of Cocktail Games called Interlude. The app is priced at $3.99 and supports 1-3 players.
• Tactica RTS Released - June 28 Waggoner Industries has released Tactica RTS for iPad. This real time strategy game is priced at $1.99. I normally shy away from mentioning real time games, but this one has hexes. It has counters. It's a division level war game "that follows the US Army Umpiring Guide for Field Maneuvers." How can I resist? Not sure if it has AI or not. We'll be checking up on it.
• Top Trumps Released - June 30 Connect2Media has released Top Trumps Collection, the iOS version version of Top Trumps. Apparently Top Trumps has been very popular in the UK. Mechanically, it would appear similar to "War", only the cards are collectible with different stats on them that the leading player selects. While the app has local network multiplayer, there does not seem to be an online feature. The app did, however, go free in just over week after its June 30 release date.
• Catan HD Updated - July 1 USM and the Catan folks have updated Catan HD, the iPad version of The Settlers of Catan, currently priced at $4.99. Here's what's new:
United Soft Media Verlag wrote:
What's New in Version 2.1.0
Based on user feedback from Catan players all over the world, update 2.1 includes a number of exciting new features for all players: - Enhanced graphics and menus offer a more detailed view of the game - New user interface with info ticker line: Keep track of your fellow players’ actions while still keeping an eye on the game board - 3 different graphic sets to choose from: Play with the classic set or select the original graphics from the US or German board game editions - Game Center Achievements: Prove if you’re an expert Catan player and go for the numerous achievements that have been added: Can you manage to settle every island in a Seafarers scenario or win a game without building any city? - Various smaller tweaks and optimizations
• Bang! 4th of July Released - July 2 In a somewhat odd move, Palzoun & SpinVector have released a re-themed iOS version of Emiliano Sciarra's hand management and deduction game Bang! It's a 4th of July theme. I suppose if it's free, then it can't really be odd, can it? I was wondering if haters of the original game might be more drawn to this theme instead? Unfortunately it does not seem to feature flintlocks and muzzle loaders that might drag out the game a little more. Instead the Society for Creative Anachronism might enjoy the Wild West era weapons in the Revolutionary War milieu while George III takes barrel shots at George Washington or Benedict Arnold. Yee ha!
• Scotland Yard for iPad - July 2 Did you know that the 1983 Spiel Des Jahres winner, Scotland Yard had 6 designers involved in its creation, the most involved in any Spiel Des Jahres winner ever? Now that game has been released on the App Store by Demansol, one of the self-described biggest iPhone game/app development firms in India. The app of this famous game is for iPad and has seen a price drop in just its 5th day of release from $2.99 to just $0.99. It plays 1-6 people and supports local multiplayer over WiFi and Bluetooth.
• Kard Combat Releasing on July 13 - July 7 Finally, we leave you with an update on Kard Combat, the upcoming card battle game coming from Hothead Games in association with Richard Garfield of Magic the Gathering fame. The app will be released on July 13. Hothead has released a new video walkthrough narrated by Hamish Millar, one of the producers of Kard Combat. It's very informative with a humorous ending. I recommend watching it to get an idea how the game plays.
ahh....I love the smell of a stack of sketchily placed animals in the morning!
nice! summoner wars... I wonder how many factions it will launch with. My hunch is two with downloadable factions. I don't own an idevice that can play games (keep the faith, gen 5 ipod!) other than breakthrough, but this may give me just another reason.
I'll add some positives later, but I'm struck by two immediate negative thoughts:
1. The Catan update features horribly broken achievements. It's possible to gain an achievement simply by making an ordinary move. It really is that bad. It's utterly, completely broken.
2. What are the Bang! guys thinking? We really need another craptastic free version? Where's the missing powers for about 25 of the characters? Where's the multiplayer?
Bang! is turning into a string of broken promises. The developer is getting blasted on its own Facebook page — and rightfully so.
There is no indication that Scotland Yard has permission from the publishers of the boardgame (and a fair amount of circumstantial evidence that it doesn't).
In other commenting on news, I have to say that that schedule looks mighty ambitious for Sage, considering how troublesome their other releases are. I've gone from "buy on sight" to "hold off and see" with them.
Hoping SW ships with computer AI so that this can be played anytime easily. The Ascension app is great, so I have faith that Incinerator Studios will do this right, and the game itself seems perfect for iOS.
I can't believe they've made another stripped-down free version of Bang! rather than giving us those "Coming Soon" features. It's a fun game, yet a continuous disappointment.
There is no indication that Scotland Yard has permission from the publishers of the boardgame (and a fair amount of circumstantial evidence that it doesn't).
I hope Codito gets their act together on the graphic design. Peurto Rico looks like it was made in 1991.
I have to say I quite agree. They're competent coders but don't seem to have hired an art department. I cringe a little every time we see yet anothe classic board game being developed by them...
Ah, but I'll note that the Catan update appears to have also applied to iPod, as when I ran it last night it had a somewhat different layout, and I got a couple of achievements. I suspect Captain Cosmic's complaint may just be a fluke of the lower-threshold achievements; I got one the first game I played post-update for having something like 5 goods stolen by other players moving the bandit. There may well be a fleet of achievements; I haven't looked at the list yet.
There is no indication that Scotland Yard has permission from the publishers of the boardgame (and a fair amount of circumstantial evidence that it doesn't).
What circumstantial evidence? Just curious.
I emailed Demansol who confirmed it's unlicensed by Ravensburger, and although "inspired by", it's not in conflict with their original and it's approved by Apple.
I hope Codito gets their act together on the graphic design. Peurto Rico looks like it was made in 1991.
Won't that fit with the physical version of the game
warth0g wrote:
I have to say I quite agree. They're competent coders but don't seem to have hired an art department. I cringe a little every time we see yet anothe classic board game being developed by them...
I'm not sold on the competence of their coders. Ra and Tikal are both unstable. I get regular crashes on both, and about 20% of my online Tikal games have become corrupted and required me to abandon them.
It seems that the developers' focus in these games was on superfluous animations (the sand in Ra) and HD jungle (in Tikal), but not on stability and a pleasant user experience. Substance before style, I say!
I will buy all of the games mentioned in the post, but not until there's some evidence that Codito is stepping up its game. They should take a look at Neuroshima Hex and Carcassonne to see how it's done. These apps shine.
• Codito Updates Release Schedule - June 28 Codito Development posted new updates on their Geeklist.
Puerto Rico - July 2011 Tigris & Euphrates - August 2011 Le Havre - September 2011 El Grande - November 2011 Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization - Christmas 2011
What? Nothing in October?
Maybe that's when they will actually patch their earlier products. I've managed to complete 50% of my Tikal online games - the other games have been so fubared they cannot be completed.
I love their lineup, but I will not purchase another Codito game upon release. I'm waiting for early adopter reviews from now on.
Re: Codito's art, I thought Medici and Ra looked good. Tikal was disappointing and Puerto Rico looks terrible. I hope this isn't a trend, as their line-up is godly.
Through the Ages won't have to be any better than their current releases to consume huge chunks of my time.
Re: Codito's art, I thought Medici and Ra looked good. Tikal was disappointing and Puerto Rico looks terrible.
To give Codito credit, both Medici and Ra were given some interface/graphics improvement after user feedback. Ra, in particular, became easier to look at.
Also, I'm not sure it's fair to judge Puerto Rico on what could be pre-production and/or placeholder art. Let's wait and see what the final product looks like (assuming Ravensburger ever approves it, of course ...).
Tikal, though ... sorry, Codito, but Tikal is awful.
... I have to say that that schedule looks mighty ambitious for Sage ...
And that's the new version of the schedule. The previous one had no bearing on reality.
Yeah, I'd much rather see announcements here that say, "This game was just released and here's a review!" as opposed to getting our hopes dashed by the extremely flexible developer schedules.
• Codito Updates Release Schedule - June 28 Codito Development posted new updates on their Geeklist.
Puerto Rico - July 2011 Tigris & Euphrates - August 2011 Le Havre - September 2011 El Grande - November 2011 Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization - Christmas 2011
What? Nothing in October?
Maybe that's when they will actually patch their earlier products. I've managed to complete 50% of my Tikal online games - the other games have been so fubared they cannot be completed.
I love their lineup, but I will not purchase another Codito game upon release. I'm waiting for early adopter reviews from now on.
[rant] As far as i'm concerned, Codito, or Sage, or whoever they are, have ruined my first time experience with Ra and Tikal. When i look at this lineup, and i look at how popular these games are on BBG, i'm very worried. How can these guy have obtained so many licences for such important games on the strength of what they have already produced? My guess is that they have had the licenses for a few years, obtained without showing prior products, before iOS board gaming mattered. I bet the game publishers are kicking themselves now. With the amazing things others have managed to produce (i don't need to list them here), my expectations of any board game iOS port are higher than ever, and i just know that every one of these releases is going to dissapoint. [/rant]
As far as i'm concerned, Codito, or Sage, or whoever they are ...
Excellent rant; you are definitely not alone in your worry.
Re: the nomenclature. Codito is a software maker that has produced a range of titles for iOS. Sage Board Games is, it appears, a licensee that is producing a range of specific "Euro-style" boardgames for Codito.
In practice, I'm not sure it matters too much. Here, at Touch Arcade, and elsewhere on the web, you'll see people refer to both names and use them interchangeably, but everyone is clear on what is being discussed.
Regardless of the name, it's clear that Codito/Sage is operating with three constants right now:
1. Puerto Rico needs to be very solid right out of the gate;
2. Much of the goodwill they managed to build up, especially from those eager to play Ra, has since eroded.
3. They need a multiplayer solution that works. Optionally, they need to simply drop multiplayer support until they find that solution.
4. Every implementation has to look professional. Enough of these recycled menus and buttons between games, amature looking "programmer graphics", illogical layout and unusable interfaces. And that goes for Skotos as well.
Ive been waiting for a good hex wargame on the iOS platform so I had to try this one out.
It was exactly what I expected.
Its a game written by a coder. The user interface is in every aspect a coder made gui. Its ugly, its chunkey, its unintuitive and totally usless.
Menus are horrible. Texts are moving. Transparent windows make stuff hard to read. Icons are uggly, unintiutive and generally in the way. The unit selection is unintiutive becase there is no indication that a unit is selected. Path finding on moves is horrible because when you click your unit and where you want it to go it goes straightest line. It doesnt consider ZOCs at all which means you need to plott all paths manually.
Since the game is an RTS with a horrible user interface you need to paus and play all the time inorder to issue commands. So in reality its a turn based game just that you dont really have a good sence of the turn.
If this project had an artist and or someone who knew something about usability then it could actually turn into a decent game.
But as it is now I would stay away from it. In fact Im quite suppriced it made it through appels approval process since its so uggly. Usually Appel have a minimum visual appeal level.
This game is what I would expect to find on Android market and not on iStore.
I have to say I quite agree. They're competent coders but don't seem to have hired an art department. I cringe a little every time we see yet anothe classic board game being developed by them...
Have had no problems whatsoever with ra and tikal. But then again, i dont play online, only pass and play, so i rate them based on that. games like small world though, we had plenty to complain about with that implementation.
SJack wrote:
jearles wrote:
Quote:
• Codito Updates Release Schedule - June 28 Codito Development posted new updates on their Geeklist.
Puerto Rico - July 2011 Tigris & Euphrates - August 2011 Le Havre - September 2011 El Grande - November 2011 Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization - Christmas 2011
What? Nothing in October?
Maybe that's when they will actually patch their earlier products. I've managed to complete 50% of my Tikal online games - the other games have been so fubared they cannot be completed.
I love their lineup, but I will not purchase another Codito game upon release. I'm waiting for early adopter reviews from now on.
[rant] As far as i'm concerned, Codito, or Sage, or whoever they are, have ruined my first time experience with Ra and Tikal. When i look at this lineup, and i look at how popular these games are on BBG, i'm very worried. How can these guy have obtained so many licences for such important games on the strength of what they have already produced? My guess is that they have had the licenses for a few years, obtained without showing prior products, before iOS board gaming mattered. I bet the game publishers are kicking themselves now. With the amazing things others have managed to produce (i don't need to list them here), my expectations of any board game iOS port are higher than ever, and i just know that every one of these releases is going to dissapoint. [/rant]
To all of the developers releasing "HD" and regular versions of their software for iPad and iPhone, respectively: Please make your "HD" version a Universal app.
I will never pay for an upgraded-graphic version of a game that I can't play on all of my iOS devices, but I will pay more for an HD version that I can play a reduced-quality version of on my iPhone. The disparate versions become especially onerous where in-game purchases are concerned. I'm not paying for two versions of Catan and then twice for Seafarers, no matter how snazzy the iPad graphics are.
I don't care about the file size...I've got a 16GB iPad and a 16GB iPhone, so what's good for one is fine for the other.
This game is what I would expect to find on Android market and not on iStore.
Ouch.
That's all I need to know. Thanks for the warning, Tex. The already-slim chance that I might take a flyer on this one (maybe about a 15% chance) has been reduced to zero. No sale here.
I also share in the frustration others have expressed about Codito and Tikal. I tried a pass and play game in the car on the way to Origins, and it was so buggy that I ended up with 3 leaders on the board at one point in the game. It also crashed a few times while playing. Does anyone know if there is an update in the works for issues like this? If not, I'll have to pass up on getting an app of one of my favourite games. I have no patience for such crappy quality control.
I will buy all of the games mentioned in the post, but not until there's some evidence that Codito is stepping up its game. They should take a look at Neuroshima Hex and Carcassonne to see how it's done. These apps shine.
I will buy all of the games mentioned in the post, but not until there's some evidence that Codito is stepping up its game. They should take a look at Neuroshima Hex and Carcassonne to see how it's done. These apps shine.
Agreed. I'm horribly disappointed with the user interface of both Ra and Tikal; it makes the game hard to play and (for newbies) learn. Also, Codito should better utilize Game Center for matchmaking, a la Carcassonne.
I'm horribly disappointed with the user interface of both Ra and Tikal; it makes the game hard to play and (for newbies) learn. Also, Codito should better utilize Game Center for matchmaking, a la Carcassonne.
Great point. My wife hated Tikal and won't try it again. Even though she's had less exposure to games in general, and iOS games specifically, she had a number of complaints about the UI in Tikal. It didn't help that our first game became corrupted and frozen 2/3 of the way through. I think she'd have enjoyed the physical version, but now she's turned off to the game in general.
Also, Codito should better utilize Game Center for matchmaking, a la Carcassonne.
They backed the wrong horse. They insisted that GC's (current) inability to handle asynch was a show-stopper, so they went with OpenFeint. Which has been a smashing success for them ...
[q="polychrotid"]Also, Codito should better utilize Game Center for matchmaking, a la Carcassonne.
They backed the wrong horse. They insisted that GC's (current) inability to handle asynch was a show-stopper, so they went with OpenFeint. Which has been a smashing success for them ...
I'd be surprised if Codito wasn't intensely delving into iOS 5 to save their online multiplayer/async situation. They say a rising tide lifts all boats...
