The trouble is, my wife really dislikes "complex" board games like... well, pretty much all mentioned so far.
We got Blokus (which we own the physical version of and she likes), but imaging my surprise when there was no real 2-player mode.
Actually, I'd be up for any 2-player offline recommendation. We've been playing Orbital's face-to-face mode to death...
EDIT: Oh, for you who don't have as picky significant others as me, you should check out "Small World", which is holy shit beautiful, and even has a face-to-face mode!
EDIT 2: Went searching and found that Reiner Knizia's Samurai is available, which my wife actually liked back on OS X (which we can't play anymore because of lack of Rosetta). Unfortunately, the iPhone version changes the symbols so it's much more difficult to read and get a good overview of what's going on.
Here are the list of iPhone apps that have pass-and-play that I have played and enjoy. Some are better suited for iPhone and/or pass-and-play than others, but I would suggest looking it up on BoardGameGeek.com and seeing if the game interests you first. You can deal with the poor interface if the game is good enough.
Knizia games: Samurai - Fairly polished, and has asynchronous online multiplayer. Charlemagne - 2player card game. Simple, but tense. Ingenious - Abstract strategy, but slightly more complicated than Blokus. Ra - Great auction game with fast turns. Keltis Oracle - The only game on this list that I haven't played in the physical version. I like the game, but the interface is bad.
Others: Zooleretto - Cute family game. Needs at least 3 players. Carcassonne - A classic that is fun, but pricey. Also includes asynchronous online multiplayer, as well as a solo mode. Caylus - A medium weight worker placement game. Great game, not so sure about the app, yet. Tigris & Euphrates - The deepest strategy game on this list. Not for someone new to board games. Tikal - See previous posts about it. BANG! - A card driven, shoot-out game where there is one Sheriff and the rest of the players are either deputies (kill all outlaws and renegade), outlaws (kill the sheriff), or a renegade (be the last man standing) but in secret. Best with a large group. Wabash Cannonball - Zero luck (besides turn order), and zero hidden information makes this one a good fit for pass-and-play, but it has a rough learning curve. Roll Through the Ages - A dice game that is mostly solitaire, but works well on the iPhone. Ascension - Not the best deck-building game, but the best one currently available for iOS, and with a slick interface. Ticket to Ride - Simple, classic, and everyone seems to enjoy it to some degree.
I apologize for not having the time to add neither BoardGameGeek nor iTunes links for these right now. Note that I do not have an iPad, so I can't comment on upscaling or whatever, and there are some games that I can't get like Small World. Though, I have that actual board game and I know it's a good one!
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3DS: 5026-4424-9805
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admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
The iOS Caylus is quite solid, though the framerate on my iPad 1 is not great.
Here are the list of iPhone apps that have pass-and-play that I have played and enjoy. Some are better suited for iPhone and/or pass-and-play than others, but I would suggest looking it up on BoardGameGeek.com and seeing if the game interests you first. You can deal with the poor interface if the game is good enough.
Knizia games: Samurai - Fairly polished, and has asynchronous online multiplayer. Charlemagne - 2player card game. Simple, but tense. Ingenious - Abstract strategy, but slightly more complicated than Blokus. Ra - Great auction game with fast turns. Keltis Oracle - The only game on this list that I haven't played in the physical version. I like the game, but the interface is bad.
Others: Zooleretto - Cute family game. Needs at least 3 players. Carcassonne - A classic that is fun, but pricey. Also includes asynchronous online multiplayer, as well as a solo mode. Caylus - A medium weight worker placement game. Great game, not so sure about the app, yet. Tigris & Euphrates - The deepest strategy game on this list. Not for someone new to board games. Tikal - See previous posts about it. BANG! - A card driven, shoot-out game where there is one Sheriff and the rest of the players are either deputies (kill all outlaws and renegade), outlaws (kill the sheriff), or a renegade (be the last man standing) but in secret. Best with a large group. Wabash Cannonball - Zero luck (besides turn order), and zero hidden information makes this one a good fit for pass-and-play, but it has a rough learning curve. Roll Through the Ages - A dice game that is mostly solitaire, but works well on the iPhone. Ascension - Not the best deck-building game, but the best one currently available for iOS, and with a slick interface. Ticket to Ride - Simple, classic, and everyone seems to enjoy it to some degree.
I apologize for not having the time to add neither BoardGameGeek nor iTunes links for these right now. Note that I do not have an iPad, so I can't comment on upscaling or whatever, and there are some games that I can't get like Small World. Though, I have that actual board game and I know it's a good one!
Why don't you mention Dominion? WHY!!!??? Is it because it doesn't have pass-and-play? That's a terrible reason not to mention it. It's unofficial, but allowed by the designer until the official version comes out. It's free and implemented fairly well. Online multiplayer, though I haven't tried it yet. I just keep playing game after game against 3 AI opponents with random cards. I can play a game in 5 minutes and it keeps stats for you. So much fun.
He didn't mention it because I specifically asked for pass-and-play games.
The unofficial Dominion port is quite messy, though. I hope that the real version has better polish.
Thanks for all the tips, btw!
Oh, I know. I was just trying(and failing) to be playful. So to make up for it, I'll add a bunch more games to the list. Small World is very well done and lots of fun. Also, Army of Frogs is a fun abstract and implemented very well. Mother Lode just came out today and is getting pretty good reviews. Through the Desert is another good Knizia game with pass-and-play. If you like trivia, Time Line is really fun and polished. Smart Go is good if you like Go. If you want something heavy like Caylus, Puerto Rico is a great choice.
He didn't mention Dominion because the Dominion app is pretty much theft. A stellar example of Apple's sloppy approval process.
Except the designer himself said it was fine as long as he doesn't make money on it and pulls it when the official one shows up. As long as he pulls it when the official one arrives, I don't see the problem.
I going to go ahead and throw out Monopoly: World Edition for the iPad out there as a boardgame that translates REALLY well from physical to digital. My wife and I play it on 2 ipads but there is a pass and play feature I believe. Turns aren't all that long since a lot of the rent receiveing and such are automatic.
Couple months ago it was on sale and my wife and I got it for free.
Theres a pretty cool new boardgame out on ipad called Mother Lode. Its a clone of an older board game called Survive: Escape from Atlantis (which I hadn't played) with some additional rule tweaks. Basically, you put your little space miner dudes on a planet thats slowly falling apart. The longer they stay on it, the better the chance that they can mine precious ore (which improves your score), but also the more dangerous it gets. By the end of the game, the board will be full of space pirates, ore worms, and giant space squids. The coolest thing about the game is the system they have for tabletop multiplayer.
Basically, each corner of your screen has a little button which when you push it, will display your secret ability cards in a way that is easy to cover with your other hand so people cant see. There are a couple little niggles with the game design (like turns taking a little too long) but the designer has already confirmed updates which will improve the game greatly.
Yes, all of those reasons for me omitting Dominion are applicable. The main one being that pass-and-play was a prerequisite for my list, but also it wouldn't have made it because of the poor implementation and the official version should be out soon. (Note: soon could mean anything from months to years.)
Through the Desert is a good pick! Basically, I opened my board game folders and went through the ones I have that include pass-and-play. I have not bought the Through the Desert app, but the board game is good and I can't imagine them messing up the interface too badly. Turns are super short, however, if that is an issue for pass-and-play.
I've heard bad things about the Puerto Rico app, but I haven't played it myself. Great game, though!
Downloaded Samurai Bloodshow over the weekend since it was on sale. It's a pretty fun card-based tower defense game that uses lanes like Plants vs. Zombies. I'm enjoying it a lot so far as it has a good amount of challenge without feeling cheap.
It does have IAP for cards but from what I've read, people don't feel they are necessary to beat the game.
I don't know what the consensus on Slide To Play's reviews are, but they gave it a 4/4. It also has competitive multiplayer but I haven't tried it yet.
Sword & Sworcery is having a birthday sale. Universal version is getting retina display soonish
Thanks, I was hoping for a sale on the universal app. It's been in my Appshopper wish list for a while, and I have yet to be notified of the sale, so I'm glad you posted it and I'm kinda disappointed in Appshopper.
Dangnabbit I bought the iPhone version by mistake.
Just nabbed the iPad version - do they do refunds?
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admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Ya, but only through iTunes. Find your purchase history and click "report a problem." There's no official policy on refunds, but anecdotal evidence would suggest they're pretty lenient.
Ya, but only through iTunes. Find your purchase history and click "report a problem." There's no official policy on refunds, but anecdotal evidence would suggest they're pretty lenient.
I've gotten 4 refunds in 4 attempts. Once because I bought the wrong version, like the poster above, twice because the app was just CRASHTASTIC, and once because I just thought a game sucked. Badly.
They were prompt and obliging each time.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
So, I have to say....I friggin love nethack/rogue...but on the i/os its just damn near unplayable. I understand its not the app's fault, and sure its free so why complain, just dont expect it to be at the level of awesome you would have with a keyboard's worth of buttons to press instead of scrolling through command lists much less memorizing all the touch guestures. They woulda been better off just having a keyboard pop up.
Sword & Sworcery is having a birthday sale. Universal version is getting retina display soonish
Awesome, had my eye on this since I started stockpiling apps a couple weeks before my iPad arrived.
Make sure you wear headphones. And crank the volume. It's so worth it.
Speaking of, the soundtrack can be bought for a price of your choosing right now.
Bought without listening to it, based solely on the recommendations on how good the music is, and because the "pay what you want" thing should be encouraged.
From what I've seen, it looks even more random than the first game. The original did a decent job of making it SEEM like you had control over what happened (when you didn't); Space seems to throw that out the window.
Is the Space version going to require something other than random trial and error? I never understood why the first one took off so well.
I never understood it either. Especially since it's a 2D version (or "rip-off") of Boom Blox which had bloody Steven Spielberg behind it, and yet it bombed.
The world is a weird place.
Heard the proposition that RIAA and MPAA should join forces and form "Music And Film Industry Association"?
minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
How is Angry Birds random? I'm not even that obsessive about it, and I can reliably cause identical chain reactions time after time by using the same bird/angle combo. It's a physics game. The birds and obstructions both obey the (in game) laws of physics. With the exception of the explosions, it's very easy to predict exactly what your shot will do.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
edited March 2012
Also, my god, the Sword & Sworcery soundtrack is so fucking good. You all need to go buy it.
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Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
How is Angry Birds random? I'm not even that obsessive about it, and I can reliably cause identical chain reactions time after time by using the same bird/angle combo. It's a physics game. The birds and obstructions both obey the (in game) laws of physics. With the exception of the explosions, it's very easy to predict exactly what your shot will do.
Exactly what I was going to post. I can tell not only what my shot is going to do, but what it will do if I adjust by only a degree or two.
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The trouble is, my wife really dislikes "complex" board games like... well, pretty much all mentioned so far.
We got Blokus (which we own the physical version of and she likes), but imaging my surprise when there was no real 2-player mode.
Actually, I'd be up for any 2-player offline recommendation. We've been playing Orbital's face-to-face mode to death...
EDIT: Oh, for you who don't have as picky significant others as me, you should check out "Small World", which is holy shit beautiful, and even has a face-to-face mode!
EDIT 2: Went searching and found that Reiner Knizia's Samurai is available, which my wife actually liked back on OS X (which we can't play anymore because of lack of Rosetta). Unfortunately, the iPhone version changes the symbols so it's much more difficult to read and get a good overview of what's going on.
EDIT 3: Holy crap... http://ipadboardgames.org/
Knizia games:
Samurai - Fairly polished, and has asynchronous online multiplayer.
Charlemagne - 2player card game. Simple, but tense.
Ingenious - Abstract strategy, but slightly more complicated than Blokus.
Ra - Great auction game with fast turns.
Keltis Oracle - The only game on this list that I haven't played in the physical version. I like the game, but the interface is bad.
Others:
Zooleretto - Cute family game. Needs at least 3 players.
Carcassonne - A classic that is fun, but pricey. Also includes asynchronous online multiplayer, as well as a solo mode.
Caylus - A medium weight worker placement game. Great game, not so sure about the app, yet.
Tigris & Euphrates - The deepest strategy game on this list. Not for someone new to board games.
Tikal - See previous posts about it.
BANG! - A card driven, shoot-out game where there is one Sheriff and the rest of the players are either deputies (kill all outlaws and renegade), outlaws (kill the sheriff), or a renegade (be the last man standing) but in secret. Best with a large group.
Wabash Cannonball - Zero luck (besides turn order), and zero hidden information makes this one a good fit for pass-and-play, but it has a rough learning curve.
Roll Through the Ages - A dice game that is mostly solitaire, but works well on the iPhone.
Ascension - Not the best deck-building game, but the best one currently available for iOS, and with a slick interface.
Ticket to Ride - Simple, classic, and everyone seems to enjoy it to some degree.
I apologize for not having the time to add neither BoardGameGeek nor iTunes links for these right now. Note that I do not have an iPad, so I can't comment on upscaling or whatever, and there are some games that I can't get like Small World. Though, I have that actual board game and I know it's a good one!
Why don't you mention Dominion? WHY!!!??? Is it because it doesn't have pass-and-play? That's a terrible reason not to mention it. It's unofficial, but allowed by the designer until the official version comes out. It's free and implemented fairly well. Online multiplayer, though I haven't tried it yet. I just keep playing game after game against 3 AI opponents with random cards. I can play a game in 5 minutes and it keeps stats for you. So much fun.
The unofficial Dominion port is quite messy, though. I hope that the real version has better polish.
Thanks for all the tips, btw!
Oh, I know. I was just trying(and failing) to be playful. So to make up for it, I'll add a bunch more games to the list. Small World is very well done and lots of fun. Also, Army of Frogs is a fun abstract and implemented very well. Mother Lode just came out today and is getting pretty good reviews. Through the Desert is another good Knizia game with pass-and-play. If you like trivia, Time Line is really fun and polished. Smart Go is good if you like Go. If you want something heavy like Caylus, Puerto Rico is a great choice.
Best Buy has 20% off iTunes gift cards, which can be used in the App Store. The codes are delivered digitally.
EDIT: deal is now dead.
Except the designer himself said it was fine as long as he doesn't make money on it and pulls it when the official one shows up. As long as he pulls it when the official one arrives, I don't see the problem.
Couple months ago it was on sale and my wife and I got it for free.
Basically, each corner of your screen has a little button which when you push it, will display your secret ability cards in a way that is easy to cover with your other hand so people cant see. There are a couple little niggles with the game design (like turns taking a little too long) but the designer has already confirmed updates which will improve the game greatly.
My board games -->http://www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/cpugeek13
My BGG wishlist --> http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wishlist/cpugeek13
It bears mentioning that if you don't buy Sword & Sworcery you are a bad person.
Through the Desert is a good pick! Basically, I opened my board game folders and went through the ones I have that include pass-and-play. I have not bought the Through the Desert app, but the board game is good and I can't imagine them messing up the interface too badly. Turns are super short, however, if that is an issue for pass-and-play.
I've heard bad things about the Puerto Rico app, but I haven't played it myself. Great game, though!
It does have IAP for cards but from what I've read, people don't feel they are necessary to beat the game.
I don't know what the consensus on Slide To Play's reviews are, but they gave it a 4/4. It also has competitive multiplayer but I haven't tried it yet.
http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/samurai-bloodshow-les-vagues-blanche-les-nuages-rouges-review
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/samurai-bloodshow/id434555831?mt=8
Thanks, I was hoping for a sale on the universal app. It's been in my Appshopper wish list for a while, and I have yet to be notified of the sale, so I'm glad you posted it and I'm kinda disappointed in Appshopper.
Just nabbed the iPad version - do they do refunds?
I've gotten 4 refunds in 4 attempts. Once because I bought the wrong version, like the poster above, twice because the app was just CRASHTASTIC, and once because I just thought a game sucked. Badly.
They were prompt and obliging each time.
Awesome, had my eye on this since I started stockpiling apps a couple weeks before my iPad arrived.
Make sure you wear headphones. And crank the volume. It's so worth it.
Speaking of, the soundtrack can be bought for a price of your choosing right now.
Bought without listening to it, based solely on the recommendations on how good the music is, and because the "pay what you want" thing should be encouraged.
I never understood it either. Especially since it's a 2D version (or "rip-off") of Boom Blox which had bloody Steven Spielberg behind it, and yet it bombed.
The world is a weird place.
Exactly what I was going to post. I can tell not only what my shot is going to do, but what it will do if I adjust by only a degree or two.
Hunters 2 and Angry Birds Space tonight. Also: Swordigo looks sorta good. (hyuk, hyuk)
Control, I'd imagine. They want people to use their app.