The Hotness
Games|People|Company
Dominion: Dark Ages
Total War
Mage Knight: Board Game
Fantastiqa
Libertalia
The Lord of the Rings: Nazgul
Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition)
Eclipse
Mice and Mystics
Doctor Who: The Card Game
Lords of Waterdeep
Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game
Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small
Dungeon Fighter
Android: Netrunner
Virgin Queen
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition)
Glory to Rome
Infiltration
Collapsible D: The Final Minutes of the Titanic
Dominion
The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
Twilight Struggle
City of Horror
Snowdonia
1989: Dawn of Freedom
Goa
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Agricola
Among the Stars
7 Wonders: Cities
7 Wonders
The Swarm
Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization
Arkham Horror
Village
Ora et Labora
Battles of Westeros: House Baratheon Army Expansion
Race for the Galaxy
War of the Ring
Trajan
Kingdom Builder
The Castles of Burgundy
Zombicide
Twilight Imperium (third edition)
Space Alert
Dungeon Command: Sting of Lolth
Hacienda
Battlestar Galactica
Ground Floor

iOS Board Games

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)
Recommend
54 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up

Android Release: Tichu

Mark Webb
United States
Verona
Pennsylvania
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Name: Tichu

Devices: Android Phone & Tablet

Launch Price: $2.99

Players: 1

Multiplayer: None.

Seller/Developer:
Christopher Holdren
United States

Wisconsin


Android Market: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mystcmage.android....

Based on BGG Entry: Tichu

Notes: BGG user Christopher Holdren (MystcMage) sends Android users a valentine with the February 14th announcement in the forums of his release of Tichu available for Android devices. Supports both phones, and tablets in stretch or zoom mode. According to the in app FAQ, there are multiplayer capabilities in works. Note this app has a different look and feel, and is not a port of the Tichu app for iOS done by Steve Blanding, but this is the official app for Android licensed and authorized by the publisher, Fata Morgana Spiele.

App Description wrote:

The popular card game comes to Android to test your strategic thinking skills The popular card game Tichu is now available on your Android device!

Tichu is a strategic partnership card game whose goal is to be the first to use all of your cards.
It may seem like a simple game, but ask any Chinese bus driver and he'll tell you it is a challenge for beginners and experts alike.

Your computer opponents will pull no punches, calling Tichu or Grand Tichu nearly 90% of the time.
They also look for ways to go out at every opportunity.
This does not mean the gameplay is incredibly slow.
The computer players will go as fast or slow as you can handle.
If the difficulty proves to be too much, you can turn on the in-game hints and a view of your opponents cards to see why they make the plays they do.
Whatever your skill level, you will find Tichu to be a fun and challenging game!
Post any bugs/suggestions at http://tichuapp.freeforums.org and I will have a look.
Features:
• Fully licensed and authorized by publisher Fata Morgana Spiele
• Full implementation of the card game
• Expert-level gameplay
• Advanced statistics to track your play
• Customizable settings to play the game at any speed
• Optional hints help you to improve your game
• Developer mode lets you cheat and see all cards and play reasons





Twitter Facebook
36 Comments
Subscribe sub options Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:05 pm
Post Comment
Snooze Festival
United States
Hillsborough
North Carolina
flag msg tools
We love our pups!! Misu, RIP 28 Nov 2010. Tikka, RIP 11 Aug 2011.
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Just curious ... how does the AI compare with the iOS app?
8 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:26 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Denis Begin
United States
Reno
Nevada
flag msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Purchased!
3 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 3:08 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Jeff G
United States
Santa Rosa
California
flag msg tools
These are not the droids you're looking for. You can go about your business.
badge
Move along.
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Me too. Hopefully more great boardgames will be released on the Android platform soon.
5 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 7:50 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Jeff Forbes


New Hampshire
msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
snoozefest wrote:
Just curious ... how does the AI compare with the iOS app?


Haven't played the iOS app.

I just played about 10 games or so, and the AI seems to be decent. It has made a couple curious plays, but if you call Tichu or Grand Tichu, your AI partner holds off on playing cards, and if another player is running low on cards will play higher ones to regain the lead.

Let's put it this way: I feel like I'm worse at the game than the AI. I'm not awful at Tichu, but I am not very good at it either. If you're a master, you might not think it's great (I can't judge based on my skill level), but it seems to be fine for casual play by a competent player.
5 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:17 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Rich Hims
United Kingdom
Leeds
West Yorkshire
mbmbmbmbmb
jforbes wrote:
it seems to be fine for casual play by a competent player.


So, given that I've never played Tichu, it's going to kick my ass? Nonetheless, purchased on principle of supporting Android game development. And I guess I might learn something
4 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 11:22 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Paul - the
Sweden
Lund
flag msg tools
What's going on down there?
badge
¡uʍop ǝpısd∩
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Forward locked. crycrycry
2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:07 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Bruno D.
United States

New York
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
How does this implementation compare to the iOS version ?
2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 1:07 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Sean Tompkins
United States
San Antonio
Texas
flag msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
[quote]• Optional hints help you to improve your game
• Developer mode lets you cheat and see all cards and play reasons[/quote]

Wow - that last bullet point is a geek dream - I can't tell you how many times I've played a game of Tichu on Iphone and sat there after a hand is over and tried to puzzle out what the AI thought it was doing! It may not be a feature that everyone will like, but that is worth the $3 to me... (well, that, and the fact that it's Tichu - but still)

Can't wait to try it out and see what hints are available...
2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 1:35 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Jeff Forbes


New Hampshire
msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
leeds55 wrote:
jforbes wrote:
it seems to be fine for casual play by a competent player.


So, given that I've never played Tichu, it's going to kick my ass? Nonetheless, purchased on principle of supporting Android game development. And I guess I might learn something


Tichu isn't that complicated. You could learn on this game. If you spend 15 minutes or so reading on strategy in the forums you'll be fine.




I think I've found the biggest weak point of the AI.

So, the AI is perfect when it comes to breaking down a hand in the quickest way to go out. But I think the area where it has a bit of trouble is in a transitional phase where it has options to play that make other possible plays weaker. If the strategy of the AI breaks down it is when it needs to break up its hand to have a shot at regaining control.

2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Edited Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:25 pm
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:11 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
David Boeren
United States
Marietta
Georgia
flag msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
seanp wrote:
[quote]• Optional hints help you to improve your game
• Developer mode lets you cheat and see all cards and play reasons[/quote]

Wow - that last bullet point is a geek dream - I can't tell you how many times I've played a game of Tichu on Iphone and sat there after a hand is over and tried to puzzle out what the AI thought it was doing! It may not be a feature that everyone will like, but that is worth the $3 to me... (well, that, and the fact that it's Tichu - but still)


I have the iOS version and I wish it had these features too.
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:48 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Jonathan C
United States

Iowa
flag msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
jforbes wrote:
snoozefest wrote:
Just curious ... how does the AI compare with the iOS app?


Haven't played the iOS app.

I just played about 10 games or so, and the AI seems to be decent. It has made a couple curious plays, but if you call Tichu or Grand Tichu, your AI partner holds off on playing cards, and if another player is running low on cards will play higher ones to regain the lead.

Let's put it this way: I feel like I'm worse at the game than the AI. I'm not awful at Tichu, but I am not very good at it either. If you're a master, you might not think it's great (I can't judge based on my skill level), but it seems to be fine for casual play by a competent player.


Let's put iOS and Android AI's in the ring and see who survives. Best of 20.
7 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:50 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
mateen
Canada
Toronto
Ontario
Raks Raks Raks
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
looleypalooley wrote:

Let's put iOS and Android AI's in the ring and see who survives. Best of 20.


this would be a very cool experiment. I wonder if the developers would be up for it
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:07 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Brent W
United States
Louisville
KY
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
My guess is that a face off won't happen any time soon. I would imagine it would be a major headache to get these two apps to talk and have a single source generate their hands.
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Fri Feb 17, 2012 7:25 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Paul Mulders
Netherlands

Avatar
mbmbmb
they should make this an online multiplayer game then I would buy it haha.
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:22 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
mateen
Canada
Toronto
Ontario
Raks Raks Raks
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
One problem with the iOS AI is that (at least in my experience) it gets really really slow the better you make it. That's one thing I wish improved.

How's the Android AI?
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:13 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Jeff Forbes


New Hampshire
msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
slinkydink wrote:
One problem with the iOS AI is that (at least in my experience) it gets really really slow the better you make it. That's one thing I wish improved.

How's the Android AI?


See my above comment on the game as a mediocre Tichu player.

As for performance, there is only one difficulty setting, and I have experienced no performance slowdowns at all. You can set it to autopass and actually set the turn delay. Not sure if the game uses the full amount of delay in order to choose a move, but at 1 second, the games zip along very quickly and the AI is competent (again, see my comments).
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:24 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Legend Dan Hoffman
United States
Baltimore
Maryland
My partner, on his Tichu, overbombed me to go out. While a forgivable play, I would scowl at a real life partner for that. But outside of that, I have been liking pretty much everything.
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:38 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
David Chapman
United Kingdom
Unspecified
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
leeds55 wrote:
jforbes wrote:
it seems to be fine for casual play by a competent player.


So, given that I've never played Tichu, it's going to kick my ass?


I've never played Tichu before, and won my first game comfortably by about 500 points without even knowing properly what the four specials do.
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:07 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Malachi Brown
United States
Hermitage
TN
It's turtles all the way down.
badge
“Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself.”
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Jedit wrote:
I've never played Tichu before, and won my first game comfortably by about 500 points without even knowing properly what the four specials do.

Was that on the strength of your play or your partner's Tichu calls?
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:11 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
David Chapman
United Kingdom
Unspecified
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Malachi wrote:
Jedit wrote:
I've never played Tichu before, and won my first game comfortably by about 500 points without even knowing properly what the four specials do.

Was that on the strength of your play or your partner's Tichu calls?


How should I know? I do know that we managed to forestall an opposing Tichu almost every time they called one, which was why the margin was so great, but that's all.

It doesn't matter anyway. If the AI is not so terrible that crushing victories are assured once you do learn how to play, then the game itself is so badly broken that a player can handily defeat two opponents of equal skill even if his own partner is essentially playing at random. In either event, it's not worth playing this version any more. I uninstalled it right after finishing that game.
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Sun Feb 19, 2012 12:50 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Jeff Chunko
United States
Columbus
Ohio
mb
Given that you just admitted you have no clue how to play the game, you're completely unqualified to judge if the AI is good or not. It's a card game. Sometimes the cards will just fall correctly. A single play is a horribly small sample size.
2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:29 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
David Chapman
United Kingdom
Unspecified
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Jeff Chunko wrote:
Given that you just admitted you have no clue how to play the game, you're completely unqualified to judge if the AI is good or not.


Which is why I made no attempt to do so. There is no need to be good at the game to know something is wrong; experience and skill are only required to determine what is wrong.

Also, I don't hold with the "sometimes the cards just fall correctly" argument when talking about an extended series game. I learned to play cribbage on a computer and while I scored heavily on a few hands, overall I got molested until I learned how to minimax the crib and the board. I would expect the same thing to happen in Tichu - I could get a brilliant result once and score 200+ points, but in a game of 6 or 8 or 10 deals, the masturbations should easily be outnumbered by the times I trip up my partner with misplays.

1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:36 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Malachi Brown
United States
Hermitage
TN
It's turtles all the way down.
badge
“Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself.”
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
One of the really neat, and often overlooked aspects of statistics is that it is, in fact, possible to flip a coin and have it come up heads 100 times in a row.
4 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Mon Feb 20, 2012 6:03 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Ron Parker
United States
Fort Wayne
Indiana
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
If only I could get it from the Amazon app store where I have gift-card credit....
2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:26 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Mark Webb
United States
Verona
Pennsylvania
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
There has been an update to the app...

Update Description wrote:
What's in this version:
Bug fixes:
Game crashed when computer player wished for invalid rank with Mahjong
Cards were incorrectly passed when you undid some passes
Resuming the game when the trick had ended never started the game back up
Some straights with phoenix were not recognized
Some consecutive pairs were not recognized
Added horizontal orientation
Added difficulty settings and player names
Added option to force players to make a wish
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Mon Feb 20, 2012 4:43 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
David Chapman
United Kingdom
Unspecified
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Malachi wrote:
One of the really neat, and often overlooked aspects of statistics is that it is, in fact, possible to flip a coin and have it come up heads 100 times in a row.


Another of the really neat and often overlooked aspects of statistics is that some possibilities are much less probable than others. If you put six 6-sided dice in a box and shake it, then are asked to guess what the total of those dice is, you are several orders of magnitude more likely to be correct if you say 21 than if you say 6. I cannot say with certainty that I didn't roll 6 because I didn't open the box, but it is still not unreasonable to believe I got a mid-range result rather than an outlier.
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:39 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Ryan Tullis
United States

Florida
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
I've been wanting to play Tichu for a while now! This might be a great opportunity to learn the game and see if I want to buy the physical copy. I'm very, very happy to see these games coming to Android. I hope they get bought. I want to see more.
2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:11 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Malachi Brown
United States
Hermitage
TN
It's turtles all the way down.
badge
“Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself.”
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Jedit wrote:
Another of the really neat and often overlooked aspects of statistics is that some possibilities are much less probable than others. If you put six 6-sided dice in a box and shake it, then are asked to guess what the total of those dice is, you are several orders of magnitude more likely to be correct if you say 21 than if you say 6. I cannot say with certainty that I didn't roll 6 because I didn't open the box, but it is still not unreasonable to believe I got a mid-range result rather than an outlier.

Yes, but it is still a possible result. It is very possible to have a run of 6 or 8 or 10 good hands or bad hands between partners. I have seen it happen many times. I have seen experienced Tichu players lose by a margin of victory in excess of 1,000 points due to bad deals and a few bad/desperate Tichu/Grand Tichu calls.

It may not be the most likely outcome, but it's not way out of bounds, either. To judge the AI base on one game seems to be short sighted. I have played a couple dozen games over this weekend and while the AI is not perfect, it does play with a fair degree of competence. I would not say that it is broken at all.

If anything, your complaint is one about the game Tichu in general. My personal gripe with it is that once all the players reach a degree of skill with the game, the quality of the player's hand usually dictates winning or losing and there are few interesting decisions to be made.
2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:49 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Curt Carpenter
United States

Washington
flag msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Malachi wrote:
My personal gripe with it is that once all the players reach a degree of skill with the game, the quality of the player's hand usually dictates winning or losing and there are few interesting decisions to be made.

A hand is way way way too short to be evaluating outcome to skill correlations. Better players do definitely win more than worse players. In every game with decisions that the case, of course, but admittedly with Tichu the win rate doesn't get too much higher than 50%, at least for individual hands. The best BSW players, for example, only have like a 55% win rate (based on hands, not games, which does lead to a higher rate for games). But even in the context of a single hand there's more than simply winning or losing it. Even with losing hands, better players can eke out a few more points, avoid the 1-2, etc. These things add up over the course of a game, or multiple games.
4 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:10 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Jeff Forbes


New Hampshire
msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
curtc wrote:
Malachi wrote:
My personal gripe with it is that once all the players reach a degree of skill with the game, the quality of the player's hand usually dictates winning or losing and there are few interesting decisions to be made.

A hand is way way way too short to be evaluating outcome to skill correlations. Better players do definitely win more than worse players. In every game with decisions that the case, of course, but admittedly with Tichu the win rate doesn't get too much higher than 50%, at least for individual hands. The best BSW players, for example, only have like a 55% win rate (based on hands, not games, which does lead to a higher rate for games). But even in the context of a single hand there's more than simply winning or losing it. Even with losing hands, better players can eke out a few more points, avoid the 1-2, etc. These things add up over the course of a game, or multiple games.


This.


Tichu has a LOT of luck. There are a lot of subtle interactions that are going on in the game, but there's enough luck that even a poor player is likely to be winning 40% or so of hands against competent players.

Luck is probably on par with Lost Cities, if you're looking for a baseline - but the level of skill involved is also higher. That skill just doesn't get you a whole lot.


Look at it like this:

Skill in chess affects win rate in an exponential manner against the same opponent. If you are slightly better than your opponent at Chess, you probably win 80%+ of the time. If you are significantly better, it is probably 99%, and if you are drastically better, the only way your opponent is going to beat you is if they are on crack, or their significant other was just diagnosed with cancer or something. If they can focus on the game, they will win. Making semi-random moves will not surprise them other than show off your stupidity.

In Tichu, making random moves is still driving you towards the end of the hand. As long as you don't do something like breaking apart a bomb, if you get a good, easy to play hand (2 aces + dragon + some kings/queens), all you need to do is play single cards to win. The order may matter a bit, but with a hand like that there's very little chance that you get beat if you keep control. As soon as you lose the lead, all bets are off of course. But any doofus can just sit there and dink out their lowest playable card and win with a good hand.

So In Tichu, an expert player may have a 55%-60% hand win rate against a competent player. And the competent player manages maybe 60% against a mediocre player. If they're lucky. There's still skill in it, but doubling your skill doesn't make your win rate 100%. It increases it from 50% to 53%. Furthermore, the experienced/good Tichu player is more likely to call a desperate grand tichu or tichu with a questionable hand when the game is going in favor of the other team, because in order to win you need to gain ground. But only a fool would do it with a queen high and no major runs/set combinations.

If you were to have a real skill comparison in Tichu, you would need to play a series of games in the style of contract bridge, where the hands given out are exactly the same, and the scores are compared for the teams in the same seats as you.
 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:47 am
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Malachi Brown
United States
Hermitage
TN
It's turtles all the way down.
badge
“Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself.”
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
I can't tell if you guys were trying to argue against my point or for it, but you explained want I meant nicely, thanks.

To circle back around, the reason I don't enjoy Tichu is that luck plays such a large role in the outcome of the game. I don't enjoy looking at a hand and knowing that there is no way I can go out at all, let alone first, or knowing that there will be little or nothing my opponents can do to stop my from going out first. (In the app, I had a 1-k straight with a spare king recently. Sure, it could have been bombed, but if it comes back to single cards...)

All that revolves around what people enjoy about playing games, which is very personal. I still don't think the app's AI is broken.
 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:50 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Jeff Forbes


New Hampshire
msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Not arguing. Discussing, and I felt the need to clarify things for some reason. That's all.

Most of the fun in Tichu is when you're playing it in real life, and you're trying to get your partner to help you, or trying to help your partner. It's more about silly stuff happening than winning - it's more of a social game than most.
 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:58 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Gareth McSorley
Switzerland
Zürich
Switzerland
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Doomfarer wrote:
Forward locked. crycrycry


I too feel your pain! cry
 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:00 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Kevin Maroney
United States
Yonkers
New York
designer
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
I happen to find Tichu interesting even when I know I have no chance of going out first, or even second; the mechanisms of the game are such that there are many interesting decisions to make even if all you're doing is minimizing the pain of a bad hand. But yes, the better players do not always win. In my group, there are 5 regular Tichu players; I was in a game where my team were probably the 4th and 5th best players, and we beat a team of the (probably) 1st and 2nd best by something like 650 points over the course of 10-12 hands.

I will also note that, contrary to what was said above, this particular app does have adjustable levels for the player AI, at least in the updated version published last week.
2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:03 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Malachi Brown
United States
Hermitage
TN
It's turtles all the way down.
badge
“Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself.”
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
womzilla wrote:
I will also note that, contrary to what was said above, this particular app does have adjustable levels for the player AI, at least in the updated version published last week.

Yes, that feature was added in the update a couple of days after release.
1 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:19 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Niklas Gidion
Germany
Freiburg
flag msg tools
Avatar
mbmbmbmbmb
Since its first release this app constantly gets better an better.

Now such spiffy things as configurable passing conventions ("seven spirits" for example) have been introduced! Nice to experiment with...

In my opinion the AI is quite decent. I win about 66% of the games and have played the game about 1250 rounds over the last months (and have played Tichu "live" intensively also beforehand). I think the AI is quite enjoyable.

If you like card games and haven't given this app a try yet - do so!
2 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Thumb up
  • Posted Tue May 8, 2012 9:21 pm
    • Choose your Dice
      • Roll
      • Comment (Optional)
    • Reply
    •  
    • Quote
Front Page | Welcome | Contact | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Advertise | Support BGG | Feeds RSS
Geekdo, BoardGameGeek, the Geekdo logo, and the BoardGameGeek logo are trademarks of BoardGameGeek, LLC.