What IOS games have you been playing?

aerodynamics wrote: Ran through the tutorial and my head pretty much exploded.

The basic problem is that the tutorial is complete and utter crap. It's a barrier to entry rather than a gateway.

But the complete rulebook is in there ... unlinked, of course. So be prepared to swipe 17 times to find that nugget of information on page 18.

Oh, and no one can seem to get online multiplayer working, either.

Other than that, Playdek knocked it out of the park ...

You've got to go into online before anyone else can invite you to play online. weird, but that's how it works.

TheDukester wrote: The basic problem is that the tutorial is complete and utter crap. It's a barrier to entry rather than a gateway.

But the complete rulebook is in there ... unlinked, of course. So be prepared to swipe 17 times to find that nugget of information on page 18.

The tutorial could definitely be better, but I think you are blowing the usability of the rulebook way out of proportion. Each of those pages takes at most about 10-20 seconds to read through and grok, and it walks you through the information in a way that makes sense. You're talking about 5 minutes worth of reading at most.

What they should have done is guide you to the rulebook first, then the tutorial (which is much more about the UI than anything, and have it default to the slow game speed. I too was confused after going tutorial first, but once I read the rulebook, changed the game speed and ran the tutorial again I had a much better understanding about what was happening and why.

And Metalface has the online right- Ascension is the same way. I believe that is a Gamecenter issue, not one from the app itself.

This Elder Sign: Omens update is great. The new investigators, adventures, and campaign are good, but the best part is that they seem to have upped the difficulty considerably. The base campaign (Azathoth) has gone from a near-certain victory to a toss-up, and most wins and losses are by the skin of your teeth. And the Cthulhu campaign is even harder.

BLOKUS HD is on sale today if anyone's interested.

It's FREE.

I've been enjoying playing the iOS 4X space exploration game, Dangerous .

I'm thinking of buying a new iPad. But I can't decide between the newest version and this $8 million iPad 2 . Now with dinosaur bones! No, really.

Bullwinkle wrote: This Elder Sign: Omens update is great. The new investigators, adventures, and campaign are good, but the best part is that they seem to have upped the difficulty considerably. The base campaign (Azathoth) has gone from a near-certain victory to a toss-up, and most wins and losses are by the skin of your teeth. And the Cthulhu campaign is even harder.

Big-time agreement.

My former Azathoth winning percentage: 60 percent, +/- 5-10 percent. My current Azathoth winning percentage: 15 percent? Maybe? It's brutal.

And the Cthulhu campaign? Yikes. I came close the other day, but a juicy +3 Doom tokens wiped me out. And those +3's seem to be coming up a lot ...

I downloaded Elder Sign from my Android phone, but baulked at the many pages of rules and lack of a tutorial. I don't watch videos. Is it likely a good idea to try and read the board game rules first on a PC as a sufficient grounding in how to play?

MattDP wrote: I downloaded Elder Sign from my Android phone, but baulked at the many pages of rules and lack of a tutorial. I don't watch videos. Is it likely a good idea to try and read the board game rules first on a PC as a sufficient grounding in how to play?

Have you looked at it since the update? I think it has tutorials now.

Just want to chime in and agree on the ELDER SIGN update. They really juiced it, and it's pretty awesome. Still has the same rolling-rolling-roll--aw-fuck-I'm-dead gameplay, but there's more meaningful decisions along the way, especially with the CTHULHU expansion. I just steamed to the Pacific in no time (3 doom counters?) in one game and was rocking cocks over there with the red charm and the green super tome, but despite two solid cracks at the big feller, he just annihilated my party at R'lyeh. Great times.

MattDP wrote: I don't watch videos.

You need to re-think this. Sort video instruction such as found in Elder Sign is the absolute perfect way to learn a new app.

I sincerely wish every app developer would follow FFG's lead here: short videos paired with rules topics that never require scrolling.

TheDukester wrote:

MattDP wrote: I don't watch videos.

You need to re-think this. Sort video instruction such as found in Elder Sign is the absolute perfect way to learn a new app.

No, I cut that short because I couldn't be bothered to explain. It's more that I can't watch videos. I spend most of my gaming time on my phone huddled under a blanket in my toddler's bedroom so she can't see the screen light while I wait for her to go to sleep. The noise of a video would disturb here even more. Of course I could watch it later, but my free time is precious. So I'd rather have a play-through tutorial if I can get one.

MattDP wrote: I spend most of my gaming time on my phone huddled under a blanket in my toddler's bedroom so she can't see the screen light while I wait for her to go to sleep. The noise of a video would disturb here even more.

Wouldn't headphones solve this problem rather easily?

Bullwinkle wrote: Wouldn't headphones solve this problem rather easily?

Possibly. But I feel the need to be able to hear what's going on, since I can't see, in case she's sick or somesuch. Could turn the volume down I guess.