Archive for Mark Webb
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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Name: Goblin Market
Device: Android
Launch Price: $0.99
Players: 1 Player vs 3 AI
Multiplayer: No
Seller/Developer: Brian Newtz
Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.newtzgames...
Based on BGG Entry: Goblin Market
Notes: Brian Newtz (datac0re on BGG) has released his Android app version of the card game Goblin Market, an auction game by P.D. Magnus (pmagnus on BGG) that uses the Decktet card game system.
From the app description: Quote: Goblin Market is a unique, addictive card game with an amazing amount of depth! Players take turns bidding on auctions of 1 to 3 cards. There are six suits available and each card may have one or two suits. You only score points for the top three suits you possess at the end of the game, and LOSE points for any others, so be careful what you bid for or you may find yourself at the bottom of the scoreboard! At the start of the game the goblins will help by giving you coins to get started, but as the game progresses they get more reluctant to part with their hard-earned wealth. Once that happens, you'll have to rely on the other players for more coins.
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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Name: Korean War
Device: Nook
Launch Price: $1.59
Players: 1-2
Multiplayer: Pass and Play
Seller/Developer: DK Simulations
Barnes and Noble Nook App: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/korean-war-dk-simulations/11...
VGG Entry: http://www.videogamegeek.com/videogame/111835/korean-war
Notes: The Nook Color and Nook Tablet are both devices that run Android behind the scenes of their e-reader. The Nook devices use Barnes and Noble's own store for selling apps instead of the Google Play Store, meaning that developers have to release their apps to the Nook Store if they want their apps to appear on those devices, regardless of if it has already been released to Google Play.
DK Simulations, developer of a series of wargames for Android has released their first game, Korean War, as an app for the Nook. Korean War is already available on the Google Play and Amazon App Stores. According to David Kershaw (kerpob2) of DK Simulations, their other apps Rommel in Africa,Napoleonics: Quatre Bras, and Napoleonics: Waterloo are planned to make their way to the Nook as well.
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dk.koreafu...
Amazon App Store: http://www.amazon.com/DK-Simulations-Korean-War/dp/B006C6I7V...
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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• Phase 10 Released - March 27
• Draw Something Updated - April 18 • Uniwar HD Updted - April 18 • Urban Rivals Updated - April 17 • Words with Friends Updated - April 15 • Phase Out Updated - April 14 • Elder Sign: Omens Updated - April 13 • Tichu Updated - April 11 • Card Ace: Casino Updated - April 8 • Blokish Updated - April 7 • Cabals Updated - March 30 • Rage of Bahamut Updated - March 29 • Pax Regalia - Triage Updated - March 22 • Briscola HD Updated - April 14 • Uno (Free version) Updated - April 4 • Androminion Updated - April 4 • Scramble with Friends Updated - April 3
Mostly updates this time. There is one New Release.
• Phase 10 Released - March 27 Last time, I mentioned the game Phase Out, a game similar to Phase 10. About a week after my last article, developer Magmic released the official Mattel licensed version of Phase 10. Some features include three difficulty levels, 15 player avatars, and available in English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. $0.99 in the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.magmic.pha... Lite version, which plays 3 of the 10 phases, Free in the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.magmic.pha...
On with the updates:
• Draw Something Updated - April 18 OMGPOP recently acquired by Zynga, pushed an update to its hit app Draw Something. Besides the notice stating that this app is now "governed by the Zynga Terms of Service", this update adds the ability to send a message to your guessing partner so you no longer have to chat via your pictures. Also added is the ability to undo the last pen stroke. $0.99 in the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.omgpop.dst... Ad supported Free in the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.omgpop.dst...
• Uniwar HD Updted - April 18 Several fixes come with the April 18th update of Uniwar HD. Quote: Fix chat issue. Fix battery drain. Fix orientation crash. WarReport now shows info about the map author. Added ability to delete your own maps. Fix the list of rated maps, many were missing. Fix Moving dialog, only Map filter is now movable. Fix wrong message displayed when Publishing a map. Fix wrong title displayed in TextEditor. Fix Swiss flag that was not square as It should. Fix login screen button being too small. $4.99 in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=android.uniwar
• Urban Rivals Updated - April 17 Card based fighting game Urban Rivals, by developer Boostr pushed an update on April 17th. The new version updated the Account window, changed how large screens were handled, and made English the fallback language for any languages not supported by the app (Chinese for example).
This app had already been released by the time I had found it in the Google Play Store, so let me include a bit of the app description so that you get a feel for it. Quote: Discover hundreds of awesomely designed characters who gain experience after each fight, improve their stats, unlock powerful abilities and change their physical appearance as they level up. Join tournaments, win prizes, trade characters and complete missions. ... FEATURES - Intense and strategic fights - Over 700 characters available - Numerous game modes - In game tutorial to easily learn the rules of the game - A market to trade your characters with other players - 19 million registered users means you'll find opponents online 24/7 Free in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.boostr...
• Words with Friends Updated - April 15 The April 15th update brings a much improved notification system to Words With Friends. Until now, only the iOS version notified you when your opponent played, a feature completely missing from the Android version. This update brings that functionality, along with performance enhancements, and recommendation of friends to play as opponents. Free in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zynga.word...
• Phase Out Updated - April 14 Phineus Media released ver 1.6 of Phase Out, which included over 30 achievements to earn, as well as squashing various bugs. $0.99 in Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crimi.phas...
• Elder Sign: Omens Updated - April 13 Fantasy Flight Games brings out a large update for Elder Sign: Omens. First, if you own the app, coming with the update for free is:
Quote: An exciting Yig campaign Five new Yig monsters and four Yig adventures An unlockable investigator (after defeating Azathoth) Performance improvements and other technical fixes Second, the update also enables "The Call of Cthulhu" expansion available for an in game puchase of $2.99. This expansion adds:
Quote: "The Call of Cthulhu," a new campaign Over 30 new adventures, four new Investigators, and 12 new monsters New inventory items, a new map, and new game mechanics An unlockable investigator (after defeating Cthulhu) Fantasy Flight also recommends that you delete the app and the com.fantasyflightgames.ESAndroid folder in your file system on your device before downloading the update. 3.99 in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fantasyfli... Expansion $2.99 as in app purchase
• Tichu Updated - April 11 New features come in the 1.4 version of Tichu. Included in this version are :
Quote: Added partner passing conventions and ability to set conventions Added passing stats Added achievements Changed AI to be more helpful at completing Tichus Moved position of Pass button to prevent accidentally passing Added setting to turn off Pass button when selecting cards to play Added setting to prevent calling Tichu unless you hold down the button and/or confirm it Fixed lag at the end of the round
$2.99 in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mystcmage....
• Card Ace: Casino Updated - April 8 The Hold 'Em and Word Ace game interfaces receive a redesign, as well as improved menus and player profiles in this update to Self Aware Games's Card Ace: Casino
Free in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.selfawareg...
• Blokish Updated - April 7 Open Source Blokus clone Blokish updates to version 1.8, which includes the following fixes and enhancements:
Quote: Added a drop down animation when a piece is moved by the machine, so you can see last move in action. Removed dependency to the social game network, introduced in last release for tests. Added link to YouTube demo in help page. Free in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.scoutant.b...
• Cabals Updated - March 30 The latest version of Cabals brings four new cards, 2 new maps, and a number of fixes, including fixing the "Clone/Mimic" bug.
Free in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kyygames.c...
• Rage of Bahamut Updated - March 29 Rage of Bahamut was release back in February but we have since learned about it through the latest update on March 29th. Not too much described as part of the update. Here is a bit from the App description:
Quote: Battle other players in a trading card game for the ages. With over 1 million players in Japan, Rage of Bahamut comes to Android for the first time! FEATURES Hundreds of stunning cards to collect, with more constantly being added Fast & easy battles on the go with stunning and alluring characters Daily updates to continue to expand your deck Live single and multiplayer action from a seemingly endless database of battle hungry foes! Quests to claim your place in Rage of Bahamut history Free in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobage.ww....
• Pax Regalia - Triage Updated - March 22 After the initial release of Pax Regalia - Triage, the developer Anders Tonfeldt pushed an update to version 1.12 on March 22nd. Here is what was changed. Quote: Drastic performance increase across the board, especially for tablets I didn't have access to during the initial development of Triage. Thank you everyone who submitted performance logs, you made this possible. Substantial rebalancing of number of diseases vs resources. I hear you, it was a bit brutal initially. Just tell me if you think it's too easy now (Thank you to everyone).
2.96 in Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.digitalevol...
These all fall under the heading of "miscellaneous fixes". Not too much information about the updates given by the developers.
• Briscola HD Updated - April 14
Quote: Fix bug with Scoreloop platform $1.30 in Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.darthsith....
• Uno (Free version) Updated - April 4 Just listed as "Bug Fixes" Paid app not updated. Free in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameloft.a...
• Androminion Updated - April 4
Quote: Possession! Additional translations: Now supports French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish Bugfixes and UI enhancements Free in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mehtank.an...
• Scramble with Friends Updated - April 3
Quote: UI support for Galaxy Note We addressed some minor issues in order to improve the user experience. 0.99 in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zynga.scra... Free (ad supported) in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zynga.scra...
Some other notes: BGG user Jost Schwider (JostAusSoest) has released a game timer supporting up to eight players, for chess games, or perhaps to discourage analysis parallasys. Free in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.schwider.mu...
Last news article, David Kershaw (Kerpob2) brought to my attention that I had missed the release of his app, Napoleonics Waterloo. If you like wargames, check out that one, and his other wargame apps in the Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=DK+Simulatio...
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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• Shadow Era Updates, add card set
• Pax Regalia - Triage Released • Skywords Released • Mastermind Released • Blokish Updated • Zynga Pro Poker Released and Zynga Poker Updated • Hanging with Friends Updated • Scramble with Friends Released • Kairn (Caveman Curling) price dropped • Farkle Solo updated • Tichu Updated to version 1.3 • Phase Out Release • Draw Something Released • Cabals Updated • Scopa HD Updated • Android Market Renamed to Google Play. • Games Mag goes digital in Zinio App
• Shadow Era Updates to adds Call of the Crystals set - March 9 Wulven Game Studios updates Shadow Era to add the Call of the Crystals card set. They say this first set of 200 cards is complete and won't change, and has been balanced and clarified with consistent wording. Free in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wulven.sha...
• Pax Regalia - Triage Released - February 28 BGG user Anders Tonfeldt (TFeldt) released his cooperative resource management game where the goal is to disinfect the four star clusters of viral pathogens. Available only for tablets, not phones. More info in the forums at this thread. $2.89 in Android Market https://market.android.com/details?id=se.digitalevolution.tr...
• Skywords Released March 6 Lonely Star Software has released Skywords on March 6. Skywords is their version of Upwords the word crossword game that allowed stacking of tiles in addition to normal Scrabble-like play.
Quote: App Description: Sky Words is the tile-based game with a twist: you can stack letters on top of existing letters to create new words! The higher you stack the higher you score, so Aim for the Sky! Play Single Player Play Pass and Play with up to 4 players Play Online with your friends or random opponents In-game chat messaging for Online Games Push notifications tell you when it’s your turn (on supported devices) In-Game help guides you though the rules
$2.00 in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lonelystar...
• Mastermind Released February 21 The classic code breaking game Mastermind comes to Android thanks to developer roel0, member of the phone developer's forum site XDA-Developers. 2 Player or AI play. Free in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mastermind...
• Blokish Updated March 1 Blokish, an open source implementation of Blokus, pushed an update that adds an optional social feature using the Heyzap gaming community and Sweedish language support. Free in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.scoutant.b...
• Zynga Pro Poker Released and Zynga Poker Updated - February 23 & 25 Zynga updates its free poker app, Zynga Poker on February 25 with miscellaneous fixes and stability enhancements. Adding to its poker lineup, they also released Zynga Pro Poker on Feb 23 for $4.99. The pro version adds some features not available in the free version, including unlimited sit-n-go tournaments, elite rooms, and high-stakes tables. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zynga.live...
• Hanging with Friends Updated - February 26 Zynga puts out an update with "miscellaneous fixes", but does add the ability to rid yourself of ads with a $1.99 in app purchase. Free in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zynga.hang...
• Scramble with Friends Released - March 8 Zynga has been busy... They release on March 6, Scramble with Friends, which enables you to search for words in a grid of letters to find as many as you can, similar to the game Boggle. Free in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zynga.scra...
• Kairn (Caveman Curling) price dropped - February 27 Developer Forgenext drops the price of Kairn to $1.41 from $2.84.
• Farkle Solo updated February 28 Smart Box Games, who have a series of western themed Farkle games, update their single player farkle game, Farkle Solo. Here are the updated features Quote: Added New Leaderboard: Today's Best Round Added New Leaderboard: Today's Best Score Improved the "End of Game" poster Added a new achievement Added more sound effects Various bug fixes and tweaks to the art for Tablets and Phones
Free in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smartboxde...
• Tichu Updated to version 1.3 - March 4 Originally released in February, BGG user Christopher Holdren updates Tichu for Android. The update description lists the following improvements and fixes:
Quote: Added better layouts for large screens Added sound effects Lower skill levels now have more differences Added ability to change player names Improved Expert AI Corrected Toast message issue for Android 3+ Bug Fixes: A computer bomb before calling Tichu would cause cards to disappear from the game Could not undo first passed card Longer straight flushes now beat smaller straight flushes $2.99 in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mystcmage....
• Phase Out Release - February 23 On February 23, Phineus Media releases Phase Out, a rummy game, similar to shanghai rummy, or Phase 10. More info from the app descriptionQuote: Make your way through various stages, satisfying unique requirements for each stage to progress. Be the first player to complete all of their stages to phase out your opponents and become the winner! -Go head to head with up to 3 other players -Challenge the computer, or pass and play with your friends on one device -Choose from two preset game modes, or tweak the rules to create your own unique experience -Save your favorite game modes and easily replay them whenever you want -Need to take a break during a game? Save your game and pick up right where you left off later! $0.99 in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crimi.phas...
• Draw Something Released - February 4 Mix Pictionary with Words with Friends, and you get Draw Something, an app where you draw pictures to have your friends guess the secret word you are trying to portray. Also on iOS as mentioned in a previous iOS news post, this hit the Android Market on February 4, followed up by bug fixing updates on the 8th, 22nd, and 23rd. $0.99 in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.omgpop.dst... Free (ad supported) in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.omgpop.dst...
• Cabals Updated February 21 We have mentioned the online CCG Cabals on this blog before. On February 21, Kyy Games pushes a new update adding many new features:Quote: The update introduces 4 new hero cards, 1 for each cabal, and a number of other changes and improvements Four new hero cards. Unit abilities can be targeted more freely. Players also gain experience and get card rewards for multiplayer matches. Improved matchmaking. New victory screen with more information.
Free in the Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kyygames.c...
• Scopa HD Updated February 26 & March 10 Cowlab, developer of Scopa HD, release a couple of updates...One added support for the Galaxy Nexus phone, and the other fixing some online features. $1.36 in Android Market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brainet.ga...
• Android Market Renamed to Google Play. Google has renamed the Android Market to Google Play. This seems to be a continuation in the effort to consolidate apps, music, movies and books into one experience. We have already seen market updates to pull the selling of all four together into the market apps on our devices, now the branding is being updated to match that. The app urls do change: play.google.com instead of market.android.com, although the old links are being redirected. More info from Google.
Similarly, Google is trying to tear down the walls of platform, by encouraging cross platform technologies, and combining their various gaming platforms into one label of Google Games. From this article comes the following quote from Google's Google+ Product Manager:
Punit Soni wrote: By next year, we will not be here talking about Google+ Games, Chrome Web Store games, Games for Native Client and Android games. We will be talking about Google games.”
• Games Mag goes digital in Zinio App I saw this originally on the Dice Tower News site that Games magazine is getting the digital treatment thanks to Zinio. While not a stand alone app, it is nice to see this piece of the gaming world be available on our phones and tablets and other electronic forms. Zinio says this is available for Android, iOS, WebOS, Blackberry, Windows 7 and Adobe Air. http://www.zinio.com/browse/publications/index.jsp?sch=true&...
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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Name: Khet
Devices: Android Phone & Tablet
Launch Price: $3.99
Players: 2
Multiplayer: Yes, Pass & Play and Network Play.
Seller/Developer: Schogini Systems Android Market: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.schogini.KHET
Based on BGG Entry: Khet 2.0
Notes: A month after the iOS release, on Sunday the 26th Schogini Systems brings us the Android release (and updates the past two days as well) of Khet 2.0. The app supports 4 levels of AI, as well as the ability to play over network or pass and play with friends.
App Description wrote: The Award Winning game with AI Engine by Don Dailey (World Champion Chess Engine Creator!) Mensa Select Award winning board game & Toy of the Year 2011 finalist as an App Now! ** NOW ** 4 AI LEVELS: Powered by the Artificial Intelligence based Game Engine by Don Dailey (developer of KOMODO 4 world's leading Chess Program) It's the game that combines lasers with classic strategy. Players alternate turns moving Egyptian-themed pieces having two, one or no mirrored surfaces. All four types of pieces (pharaoh, anubis, pyramid and scarab) can either move one square forward, back, left, right, or diagonal, or stay in the same square and rotate by a quarter twist. Each turn ends by firing the real laser diode built into each player's Sphinx piece. The laser beam bounces from mirror to mirror; if the beam strikes a non-mirrored surface on any piece, it is immediately removed from play. The ultimate goal is to illuminate your opponent's pharaoh, while shielding yours from harm! The Khet Rules: http://www.khet.com/rules.htmYou can buy the Real Khet at http://www.khet.com/store/index.htmlFEATURES: * Artificial Intelligence Engine by Don Dailey (developer of KOMODO world's leading Chess Program). * 2 PLAYER mode to battle among friends to show them WHO OWNS THE GAME!! * Thrilling difficulty levels like NOOB, ANUBIS GUARD , PHARAOH and KHET MASTER to provide perfect challenge. AI levels require an active internet connection. * CLASSIC, DYNASTY, IMHOTEP - 3 unique arrangements ensuring exciting gameplay. * Play ONLINE and challenge a friend or create an open challenge. * Play with the invincible game engine to enhance your tactical skills. * PUSH NOTIFICATION made available to inform player's turns. * Interrupted games are instantly SAVED. * Cutting-edge graphics with highly contrasting backgrounds. * Stunning sound effects and striking interactions. * Simple to use interface. * Simplified multiplayer gaming with option to play with iPad, iPhone and other Android Khet players. * All games get automatically saved and you can resume the game if you want so! Pieces: *PHARAOH has no mirrored sides, it is the most vulnerable piece of the game *PYRAMID has one mirrored surface, it is mainly used for defence. *SCARAB has two mirrored surfaces and hence cannot be eliminated. *ANUBIS is weak at all sides but shielded from the front. *SPHINX that fires lasers. Rules: * Every piece can either move one square in any direction or stay in the same square and rotate by a quarter twist. * Use mirrored surfaces for reflecting laser beams off the pieces * Non-mirrored sides are vulnerable to laser attacks. * There are silver and red game pieces on board. Silver starts first. * SPHINX at the corner of the board can make a quarter turn. It is the only immovable piece on the board. Simple as that, this game demands strategic thinking from players. With every new move or turn, WATCH OUT, the lasers could even eliminate your own pieces. Infinite possibilities, gripping gameplay and ever so entertaining this game is an INSTANT Youtube: http://youtu.be/7LQJ8wnifRA
Wed Feb 29, 2012 12:37 pm
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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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
Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:05 pm
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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The Stats:Compatibility: Android Phone & Tablet Current Price: $4.99 Developer/Publisher: EA / Hasbro Multiplayer: Pass & Play AI: Yes Market Link https://market.android.com/details?id=com.eamobile.monopoly_...
The Good: -Two apps, tablet and phone for the price of one -Many options and house rules. -Stats and Log features -Tabletop Tablet UI The Bad: -Phone UI is lacking.
Gameplay: Monopoly is a property buying and trading game that started life as an example of an economic theory, as The Landlord's Game, and has over the years evolved into a cultural icon.The object: Bankrupt the other players and be the last one left at the end. You do this by rolling dice to travel around the board buying property in order to charge the other players rent. If you manage to collect all of the properties in the same color group, rents are doubled on those properties, and you have the ability to erect houses and hotels in order to charge more. Besides the properties, the board also has some other assorted spaces: Community Chest and Chance spaces give cards with random events to the player who draws them, Go, which represents your regular salary, giving $200 every time around the board. Other spaces include two spaces to levy taxes against the players, Jail, and a space to send you there, and Free Parking, which is just a safe place to land on, but has no purpose.
Monopoly is no without its detractors. Parker Brothers, Monopoly's publisher now part of Hasbro, originally rejected Monopoly because it had a large list of flaws. Fifty-two to be exact. Many of the other complaints about the game come from the game draging on forever, usually as a result of people not playing by the rules, or developing their own house rules. Putting money on Free Parking usually allows hurting players back in the game with an unexpected windfall. Other house rules also have the same effect of putting cash into the game where the object is to take cash out. Love it or hate it, Monopoly is a rather mainstream game in most non-gamer closets. Also reaching the masses has been many, many software versions of this game, ranging from NES, Genesis, N64, Playstation,PC, Gamecube, and other video games systems, including a protoype made for the Atari 2600. Let's see how the Android version measures up.
Implementation: The experience you get with Monopoly on the Android platform will differ depending on what type of device on which you are running it. The Android Market allows the developer to specify different binaries for different devices. As long as you are using the same market account on various devices, if you have bought the game on one, you have bought it on all of them. On a lot of games I have seen, some developers just supersize the phone version of a game for a tablet...Not so with Monopoly. Here you get a fully matured tablet version The phone version, however looks like it had to be a compromise for size. I can't speak for the developers at EA, but it looks like they did a superb job on the tablet version, and then looked to see what they could cut, resize, redo to fit the smaller form factor on phones. More on that later.
The Tablet version: When I first ran the tablet version after the typical screen paying homage to the developer, you get a very bright white screen clad in all things Monopoly, but in an elegant, not tacky way. Very clean, very polished. Three play mode buttons are listed, but the one that jumped out to me was "Tabletop Mode". Tabletop mode is designed to put your tablet down between the players flat on the table. The board stays where it is, but the screen prompts and buttons are rotated around to the orientations of the players that you setup before the game, so that no one has to read upside down. Equally impressive was the overall look of the board and virtual setting the board was in. Similar to Jenga where its developers, Natural Motion Games, put the game in a rendered living room with couches and paintings on the wall, so did EA put Monopoly on a virtual table next to a virtual sofa in a living room. All very clean and crisp, looking like the graphics were well inside of what the device is capable of. Even when playing, the animated moving of the pieces were smooth and jitter free. Yes, by the way, you can turn the animated pieces off. Personally, I don't need to see the race car drive to Boardwalk, but it is nice that it can if I want it to.
The "Play Now" mode is the same as the table top mode, except that the prompts are always oriented the same way, facing the bottom of the device. No differences in gameplay, just the assumption that you are not flat on a table top. Good for playing versus the AI, or in a true pass and play situation. Teacher mode is again the same gameplay as the other modes, except with Pop-up Video style tips, like when you land on an orange property saying, "Did you know that the orange color group is the most landed on?". Other tips are also oriented towards understanding the app's user interface. One confusing bit about the teaching mode is that the tips are not always presented when they are needed for someone that would truly need to learn the game. For example, the tips about what button to press to buy a property are not presented the first time you buy a property, but another time when the buy property box comes up. Granted, some of that may be self explanatory. But trying to think like someone that actually needed to learn the game, the advice was lacking, as why someone would want to take actions, such as buying properties or not.
As I had mentioned before, the Android Market allows developers to supply different versions for different platforms, both tablets and phone models. However, this does have a downside, is that the developer can decide not to support your model of phone, even though it is Android. It will not show in the Android market on your phone if it is not supported. If you do have the phone version, you will find because of the ability of the phone it is scaled back a bit. The board and graphics surrounding the gameplay is very similar to the tablet version, except for the user interface. Buttons that were presented with a nice looking icon and description on the tablet, are now square, and not as nice looking. To analogize, it is similar to comparing a Windows 7 icon matched up with a Windows 95 icon. Both show the same picture, but there is a difference in the level of style and complexity of the drawings. Also missing is the description on these, so you may need to poke and try on icons to see what they do if the phone is your only exposure to this game. Other than the icons, some menu screens are different looking, but with the same information. Also, Tabletop mode not present in the phone version either, but admittedly, I didn't expect it to be. A phone is not ideal for a tabletop experience.
I recently reviewed The Game of Life, and was disappointed that there was nothing "extra" included. This was the opposite of what I experienced with Monopoly. Without any additions, this game would have a nice looking Monopoly port. However, EA threw in the kitchen sink... They added eight house rules to turn on or off prior to starting the game. They also added the ability to turn on something called Sleight of Hand where each player gets three one-time abilities, which include choosing a dice roll, one free house when you go to build on a color group, and reducing a rent bill by half. I myself am a Monopoly purist, and don't play with such options, but the house rules are ones that are commonly played with, so it makes sense to include the possibility to play with them. Also added was a feature that surprised me. It was the inclusion of a play log. While playing, you can examine what has happened, opening the log to read: Iron rolled a 6. Iron bought Marvin Gardens for 280 Battleship rolled a 4. Battleship landed on Go To Jail In addition to the detailed play log, the game also keeps statistics on Total wins and losses at each of the AI skill levels, Highest money earned and total number of houses and hotels built. Lastly, the game also keeps dice rolling stats.. How many dice rolls there have been, and how fair the human and AI rolls have been compared to the standard 2 die distribution of probability. To prove that the AI isn't cheating getting abnormally good dice rolls, I guess?
Summary: Overall, Monopoly is a decent experience. It recreates the gameplay of the actual game very well, and the graphics and user interface on the tablet only seems to help, not hinder things. I have even found myself showing off this app, partially for the looks, but also for the addition of the table top mode. I know this is not the only app to offer this kind of view in this way, but it seemed to bring a spark of added interest from gamers and non gamers alike. The phone version, was not as appealing. I do think the UI hurts the phone version a bit, but still a decent play if you have a family vacation or a long bus ride with your phone as the only entertainment.
Rating: 3/4
  
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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• Neuroshima Hex for Android finished
• Words with Friends updates and adds store • Condado updated to version 1.1.0 • Drisk updated to 1.4 • Fire and Dice updated to version 3.2 • UniWar updated to UniWar HD • Shareholder updated • Kairn (Caveman Curling) Released • Loot and Scoot Released
• Neuroshima Hex for Android "finished" - February 2 According to their twitter feed (@neuroshimahex), the Android version is finished, but not released as they are looking for a distributor. We will pass along more info as we get it. Source: https://twitter.com/#!/neuroshimahex/status/1651177579968020...
• Words with Friends updates February 1 & December 29 Latest updates to Words with Friends include Quote: What's in this version: The Count is now available in the Words with Friends Store! Tons of improvements to performance and stability! Loads of bug fixes! We’ve got more great features on the way, so let us know what you’d like to see next!
Did you notice the part about the Words with Friends Store? That was the update on December 29th that added the ability to buy enhancements to your Words with Friends games. One enhancement is the ability to block ads, but more controversial by some commentators is the ability to buy features to give advantages that your opponent does not get. One is Tile Pile, which tells you quantities of letters remaining. The Count, tells you the score of your words as you put them down, and before you submit. Lastly, Word-o-Meter tells you a strength of your word compared to other ones you could make with your rack. Yes, a player could always figure these type of items by other means, but what do you think about buying these type of advantages? Android Market Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.zynga.words
• Condado updated to version 1.1.0 - January 28 Developer Kevin Quan updates Condado, an unofficial version of Andreas Seyfarth's card game San Juan. This update changes the following:
Quote: Bug fix: Should not be able to long press cards in hand while waiting to switch to another player in multiplayer mode. Bug fix: Prevent Paris from crashing the game if Earthquake is played at the beginning of the game. Don't ask to select a building if you have nothing to free build. Show level of AI during game setup. Add a titlebar to a couple of screens. Android Market Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kevinquan.condado
• Drisk updated to 1.4 - January 28 Drisk, an implementation of Risk for Android (which is chocked full of maps, by the way) updates to Version 1.4. This update includes the following
Quote: moved to a new multiplayer server added mountains added 1,3,5 troops option added random map selection other minor UI tweaks fix for AI hanging issue new maps: Star Wars: Trilogy, Blasted Lands (by smarmy J) Android Market Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.game.drisk
• Fire and Dice updated to version 3.2 - January 27
Quote: Now supports OpenFeint! - Removed Bar at the Bottom! Added new "Key to the City" feature! New Menu System! OpenFeint Leaderboard System! OpenFeint Achievements! Various Bug Fixes Removed all loading screens! Android Market Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.SPS.FAD
• UniWar updated to UniWar HD January 16th and various dates TBS Games updates it's online turn based strategy game to version 1.5.0 on January 16th, which updates the graphics to HD quality good for all phones and tablets. Since then, incremental updates have been pushed every couple of days. These updates include the following:
Quote: New race colors per theme Improved theme and units graphics Filter maps by rating, theme, author, feedback. Support any resolution even higher than 1280x720. Neutral bases now supported in Map Editor. Coming soon: Replay feature Android Market Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=android.uniwar
• Shareholder updated with bugfixes to prevent app crash - January 5 TwinFeatsKGS Software, developer of Shareholder, an Acquire clone updates their app to version 2.5 which should solve force close errors some were experiencing. Android Market Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.twinfeats.sharehol...
• Kairn (Caveman Curling) in Android Market. - December 22 Developer Forgenext releases Kairn for Android, which is Caveman Curling that was published by Blackrock Editions in association Le Scorpion Masqué, and Eagle Games.
Here is part of the app description:
Quote: On a frozen lake, two prehistoric men's tribes are in confrontation in a KAIRN match (pronounced "KHÈÈRN"), the palaeo-sport.
Kairn is for one or two players, the purpose being to be the team which will throw its stones the farthest on the lake, while getting the nearest possible of the cave’s hearth. To help you, you will be equipped with very thick bludgeons and with particular powers... Android Market Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.forgenext.kairn
• Loot and Scoot by Victory Point Games Released - December 13 Victory Point Games brings their fast paced dungeon game to the Android platform. Gather a party, enter the dungeon, and kill monsters, get loot. Supports phones and tablets. Requires Adobe Air to be installed.
Android Market Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=air.com.victorypointga...
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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The Stats:Compatibility: Android Phone Current Price: $4.99 Developer/Publisher: EA / Hasbro Version: 1.204 Size: 12MB Multiplayer: Pass & Play AI: Yes Market Link https://market.android.com/details?id=com.eamobile.life_na_w...
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Mark Webb
United States Verona Pennsylvania
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The Stats:
Game: Pool Break Pro / Pool Break Lite Current Price: $2.99 / Free Developer/Publisher: Kinetic Bytes Version: 1.8 Size: 2.3 MB Multiplayer: Pass and play, Public and Private Network Play AI: Yes, 4 skill levels Android Market: Pro - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kb.Carrom3DFull Lite - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.kb.Carrom3D
Also on iOS: Full Game $2.99 - http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=Smq3RC8yf5I&offe... Lite Free - http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=Smq3RC8yf5I&offe...
The Good: - Graphics look amazing, but can be scaled for those on older devices - Physics work well. - Many different games to play The Bad: - Almost no bad points, only things I wish the developer added
Gameplay: One may question this app's inclusion on a boardgaming blog. Yes, pool is not a board game, but this app not only has pool (and lots of it), but also features Carrom and Crokinole as well. All three games have common roots which involves colliding objects into each other or off of the playing field of the game. Eventually some of those objects are removed by hitting them into holes or pockets, or off of the playing surface.
Crokinole, is a game where discs are shot towards a center hole. Small posts make a circle around the inner part of the playfield for the discs to bounce off of. The rules require players to contact each other's pieces if they are present. Pieces that are shot into the center hole are scored and removed. Other pieces are scored based on their position on the board.
Carrom is very similar to 8-ball pool. The equipment is a bit different. Discs instead of balls, 4 pockets instead of 6, and a portable wooden board instead of a large slate table. Pocket your color of discs before your opponent pockets his. Discs are hit with a striker, whose purpose is to hit the other object discs, similar to a cue ball in billiards games. You must also pocket a queen disc, akin to the 8 ball, except can do that anytime between your first and last piece pocketed, and you must pocket another of your pieces in the same pocket to "cover" the queen.
Pool and Snooker There are many variations on billiards games. This app has eleven different pool and snooker variations. I will not detail their rules here, only list them. This app includes, 8-ball, 9-ball, UK version of 8 ball, straight pool, one pocket pool, three cushion billiards, pool drills, place and shoot practice, snooker, snooker 6-reds, and snooker 10 reds.
Implementation: Because of the similarities in these games, Pool Break has been able to present a similar interface to playing all of them. Instead of flicking for carrom and crokinole, all of the games are played with cues, but in my opinion that allows a visual way of aiming and measuring the amount of force you will apply to hitting the disc. The look of this game reminds me very much of the Virtual Pool series of games that was on the PC many years ago. 3D rendered tables, the ability to rotate around the room and zoom in and out were part of the interface of the game. Unlike Virtual Pool, where you had to stoke the cue, usually with the mouse, to make your shot, Pool Break uses the cue more as a measure of the force to be applied. Pull the cue back a little bit, it will deliver a little force. Pull it back a lot, it hits hard. You can move around, line up your shot, pull the cue back, readjust if needed, and then hit a button to deliver your shot. Also similar to Virtual Pool, Pool Break also has the ability to turn on and off tracking lines that show where balls or discs will go.
This app is visually great...It is nice that the developers can get such nice images out of a phone. As I had mentioned in a previous review, I have a phone that is about a year old, and had no problems with any of the physics or graphics processing while playing with all graphics options turned on. Although I had no problems, the developers offer options for both the graphics and the physics. So if the 3D is too much for your device, you can turn down the detail, turn off the background scenery, eliminate shadows, even remove the shine off of the balls.
This app is chocked full of options. You can select to play pool on either the standard rectangular table, or a hexagonal table. Carrom offers square, hexagonal, or circular tables. There is also an unusual option to play the disc games with balls, which is interesting if only for the novelty. I also mentioned options for the physics. While I don't think I will ever need to mess with these, there are settings to change sliding friction, rolling friction and mass ratios of pieces and the coefficient of restitution (whatever that is). I imagine if you want to try to make your crokinole game more realistic, and you are familiar with these terms, you can change these if you want. I think it is cool that the options are offered.
Opponents include the ability to pass and play, or play an AI opponent. The AI has four difficulty levels. Also available is the ability to play via the network. The app connects back to a central server to connect players for live play via the internet. Players can join public games, or supply a name to create or join a private game with someone who has been given the same game name. There is also a chat facility built in, to chat with your opponent. Most interesting is that the game is also cross platform. Kinetic Bytes also makes an iOS version of Pool Break, which connects to the same online games. There are only slight graphical differences between Android and iOS version. They very well could be just the differences between how the OSes interpret the graphics commands the apps give them. No big differences between the two OSes, in fact, I found it very easy to play a game between myself and a friend live, with very little lag between the two clients.
I have mentioned the amount of options. I could not find a flaw or error to point to when evaluating this app. I did have a couple of "I wish it could do..." thoughts, but even without those items, I would buy this app in a heartbeat. I do have to give the developers a lot of credit putting all of the options they have into this apps, as that broadens the appeal to me. (see my postscript below) One wishlist item is that they offer multiple variations of pool and the ability to play on a hexagonal table, yet bumper pool is not part of this app. I also wish that they could put other variations to carrom or crokinole into the app. The instruction manual I have for my carrom set has a lot of different variations and spin off games.
Although I didn't experience this, there are reports of certain models of phones freezing when running this app. Because this is specific to certain models, the developers have created a setting to use if you have that problem. The developers also have a support email on their website and say that they welcome comments and problems to make their app better.
So far, I have been referring to the Pro version on Android. There is also a lite version, that limits the online play to 8 Ball pool only, and limits the many games playable down to only the following: US 8 Ball Pool, 9 Ball Pool, Pool Drill, Place-n-Shoot Pool, Regular Snooker, Regular Carrom, Crokinole
Conclusion: I originally heard about this app from the Games for Android Geeklist. After only about 5 minutes, I was compelled to buy the full version because I was that impressed with the app. Second only to Words with Friends, this is the game that gets a majority of my gameplay on my phone. The graphics are quality. The games are fun. The motion is fluid and not jerky or prone to lag, even when playing on the network The amount of different games available in this app is a major plus.
Rating: 4/4 One of the Best
   
Postscript: There was one game of the play modes, carrom billiards (aka three cushion billiards) that came as part of an update months after I bought the app. Played on a table with no pockets, and only three balls, it is a game where you must hit the two balls with the cue ball and hit three cushions in between. If this sounds familiar, you may have seen Donald Duck learn three cushion billiards in Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land. I don't know of anywhere I can play on a table with no pockets, so the ability to play three cushion in the app was an interesting, bonus treat.
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