What IOS games have you been playing? ARCHIVE

Necronomicon Horror is out. First impression after a few minutes of playing... Very disappointing to discover that it's Dungeon Solitaire, in essence, only with a lot more luck and fewer meaningful choices (if any). And as I said earlier in the thread, I didn't like Dungeon Solitaire very much. This has the same basic system as DS (almost to the point of copying it) but doesn't have the movement or special ability aspect when there are ties, which at least gives DS some choices (though they may not matter, anyway, in many games). I'll continue to play through and see if it gets better, but so far it seems to be a big letdown. Too bad, as it looks incredibly fantastic and sounded so good in the initial description.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I like DUNGEON SOLITAIRE, but I don't need another one...disappointed.

JOURNEY OF FORTUNE: DRAGON'S FIRE came out for the l'il iDevices. It sucks. It's a roll and move with a big ol' spinner. One track, and weird, "we don't know shit about board games" rules like having to roll a one before you can leave the start space. It _looks_ awesome though, it's got a pinball table style.

But RA is also out, and it's freaking great. AI is strong, the interface is perfect, and it's a great way to play one of Knizia's best. Definitely worth five bucks.

Michael Barnes wrote:

I like DUNGEON SOLITAIRE, but I don't need another one...disappointed.

JOURNEY OF FORTUNE: DRAGON'S FIRE came out for the l'il iDevices. It sucks. It's a roll and move with a big ol' spinner. One track, and weird, "we don't know shit about board games" rules like having to roll a one before you can leave the start space. It _looks_ awesome though, it's got a pinball table style.

That's really disappointing to hear about Necronomicon and Journey of Fortune: Dragon's Fire as they both sounded like awesome games.

More board game designers need to be designing games specifically for digital devices.

So I wanted to sync up my iPod to a second computer... installed iTunes on it, authorized it with the same account... and got a warning that it would delete all of the apps on my iPod if I did that. I thought, wtf... that can't be right. Why on Earth would it do something insanely evil like that? And I looked it up online and a few people said, no, that won't happen. Well, it did. Granted, I could easily re-install all of my apps from my original computer, but of course, re-install means everything that was saved in terms of games got lost. Most notably, after a week or so of intense Sword & Poker 2 delving, I was on the final level, on the next-to-last floor of that level. Arrrrrrrrghhhhhh! Much as I love that game, there's no way I have the patience to go all the way through again (though I suspect I'd do a lot better this time).

Anyway... I played Necronomicon all the way through. So disappointing. It's an absolute A+ in terms of the graphics and visual style and presentation. Really very impressive work all around there. But for what purpose when there's no game? As I said before, the first part is Dungeon Solitaire minus most of the decisions that DS has (which aren't many). And that goes on and on, and then you finally finish it and walk through this map, which again looks terrific and functions very well for what it is, but it's all completely random. Nothing matters other than rolling a die and moving around to eventually find some books to return to the library. Didn't really see the point of that at all, other than to waste your time. And then there's a final battle, which is strictly rolling a d20 against Cthulhu, who rolls a d20. Survivor wins. Supposedly something you did earlier in the game will give you more hit points for this, but since the eariler stuff is all random, anyway, who cares? At least in the final battle of something like Monsters Menace America, which is also just a roll-off, how you did during the game has more of a direct effect and you can work for those things specifically to get more hit points and power tokens and mutation cards that will affect how the final battle goes.

I hate to use phrases like "epic fail", but that's what this seems like, only because of the high expectations from the tremendous artwork and the great video trailer. The thing is, I'm a fledgling game designer, at best... no Knizia or Konieczka, by any means... but given the material here, the graphics and the layout and even the cards exactly as they are, I know I could come up with a system of rules that would have some actual choices and be a lot more entertaining to play. I don't mean to bag on the guy's efforts, as obviously there is a great potential for his work if he's able to put something so stunning together, but I think he needs to enlist some game designers and focus more on the presentation side of things.

So all that pinball talk in some other thread. There's a good amount of pinball games for the iDevices. Are any of them good?

Also roguelikes. Are any of them good?

Choice of Romance is great, and $1 right now or free if you go to the website instead. Gamebook Adventures 2 & 3 are $2 off right now and look good. I am making my way through the first two Fighting Fantasy books which are good fun, although the annoying maze in the first is resisting my efforts not to map it. Seriously, there should be an auto-map. Yes, I'm incredibly lazy.

I have stalled out on the last level of Sword & Poker 2. I just can't do any more. Good fun, though.

What does the (+) mean next to cost in the app store? Never noticed it before.

What does the (+) mean next to cost in the app store? Never noticed it before.

I think that means it's a universal app (i.e. for iPad too).

So all that pinball talk in some other thread. There's a good amount of pinball games for the iDevices. Are any of them good?

Eh, not really. I have two of the Gameprom ones (THE DEEP and WILD WEST) and they kind of suck. The table layouts are weird and the ball physics are floaty and strange. They're considered the best of them, too. They also have a Slayer one (as in Slayer, the band) that's supposed to be good, but I dunno.

The old Amiga games PINBALL DREAMS and PINBALL FANTASIES are probably the best bets...but they're really old and dated.

Pinball just isn't much fun on iPhone, come to find out.

Also roguelikes. Are any of them good?

Oh yeah. You can get NETHACK, ROGUE, and SLASH'EM. As in, the exact same games as the PC versions. Interface can be a little awkward, but they get the job done.

SWORD OF FARGOAL is one of the best, it's a redo of the old Commodore 64 game. I also really like 100 ROGUES, and they're _constantly_ updating so that's good.

The gamebooks are pretty neat, I saw that there's a science fiction one out now too.

Me, I'm just playing RA, MEDICI, and KINGDOMS..._perfect_ games for the format.

Pinball just isn't much fun on iPhone, come to find out.

That...doesn't make any sense. Hopefully someone will conquer it.

I saw that there's a science fiction one out now too

Ooh, what's the name?

Ra is pretty good. A little slow...maybe I can up the speed in the options.

Ra and Samurai are $6, which is a whopping $1 over my 'will buy' threshold for apps.

How do people track when apps drop in price? (where is Loiter when you need him.)

appshopper.com
Great site for price drops and update notifications.

Dungeons & Such: An unpretentious micromanagement timewaster that I found oddly therapeutic. Try the 'Lite' version to see if it scratches the same itch for you.

The Quest: A little more in depth, an RPG in the style of Dungeon Master, Captive, Eye of the Beholder, etc. I've just started this one and it's quite absorbing. Again, there's a 'lite' version.

I've been playing a lot of Helsing's Fire . An amusing puzzle game with a different kind of mechanic; you use a torch to light up certain areas to take down horror monsters. Different skill levels, random puzzles, and multiple modes give high replayability. More than worth the dollar.

I'm now over 100 games of Neuroshima Hex on my iTouch. Had my first mutually assured destruction around game 80 where me and the AI killed each other in the final battle. I suck at playing whatever the green army is. Seems like I just never draw good stuff with them. Overall its a nice quick strategy game and I look forward to playing the board version of it still.

Bullwinkle wrote:

I've been playing a lot of Helsing's Fire . An amusing puzzle game with a different kind of mechanic; you use a torch to light up certain areas to take down horror monsters. Different skill levels, random puzzles, and multiple modes give high replayability. More than worth the dollar.

Definitely. Thanks for the recommendation. This is very clever, and the little hand shakes and asides are hilarious.