[iOS/MOBILE] Boardgame Adaptations Catch-all

Natus wrote:
manta173 wrote:
Pacman wrote:

Actually all the Playdek games are on sale for $0.99 currently. So Summoner Wars, Ascension (expansions also), Nightfall, Penny Arcade, Flux, Can't Stop and Food Fight are all on sale. I'm thinking this means I will give Flux a try. I've gotten so much time out of Ascension and Summoner Wars that I feel like I need to find some way to give them more money :-p

Since I don't have an ipad are these playable on the iphone? or is it just not enough screen space?

I may be in the minority, but I LOVE Ascension on the iPhone because that means I can play it anywhere, and I don't feel it suffers from the smaller screen.

Thanks! I'll take a look at it when I get home.

Anyone have advice for the penny arcade or summoner wars games on iphone as well?

il dottore wrote:

Haven't tried any of the expansion armies, that kind of model always makes me worry I'll pay for a crappy set (see even Summoner Wars). Any tips?

I would put Neojungle (green) at the top of the list easily, it's lots of fun. Then Smart (white). Light blue is okay. Brown And purple are less fun, save those for last depending on how much you like the game.

Michael wrote:
il dottore wrote:

Haven't tried any of the expansion armies, that kind of model always makes me worry I'll pay for a crappy set (see even Summoner Wars). Any tips?

I would put Neojungle (green) at the top of the list easily, it's lots of fun. Then Smart (white). Light blue is okay. Brown And purple are less fun, save those for last depending on how much you like the game.

First expansion: New York is very versatile, and NeoJungle is a steamroll faction in the right hands.

2nd Expansion: Vegas is a great army, since they convert people, turning defenses on their head. Smart has some serious tricks up their sleeves, and the Steel Police like to lock you down while they beat on you.

Honestly, you can't really go wrong with any of them. It's all superbly balanced.

manta173 wrote:

Anyone have advice for the penny arcade or summoner wars games on iphone as well?

I play pretty much exclusively on iPad, so I can't give any direct feedback. I know in Summoner Wars, there is a mechanic where you have to drag from the left side of the card to use a special attack versus the right side to use a normal attack that has given some people problems on iPhone. Penny Arcade seems like it should be fine to me, as there are many fewer cards to learn, so you should get to the point where you don't need to double tap that often pretty quickly. But that is pure conjecture on my part...

Penny Arcade plays much like Ascension on iPhone. Smaller cards, you can double click anything to get the full card, but once you know the artwork you're good to go.

McIrishJihad wrote:

Penny Arcade plays much like Ascension on iPhone. Smaller cards, you can double click anything to get the full card, but once you know the artwork you're good to go.

PA plays like Dominion, not much like Ascension. If you're talking about software application, rather than gameplay, sure, they're similar.

Thanks!

Random double post Thanks!

cyrax, I was talking about implementation on iOS, as manta173 was asking - not gameplay/mechanics.

But I also disagree with you on gameplay/mechanics - to me, PA is basically Ascension with two center rows made of static draw piles. You may randomly choose which 2 bosses and 12 card piles go into the middle at the beginning of the game, ala Dominion, but you're still playing your whole hand and buying the best you can afford/fit your engine.

In all three games, there are VPs tied to cards, but in PA and Ascension there is not a separation between VP cards and "engine" cards.

PA and Ascension have two different economies, Dominion really only has one direct economy.

All three, as deck building games, have a focus on tuning your engine via trashing, but I feel that PA has the best implementation via its cards. Ascension usually only lets you discard if you go down the Void path, and Dominion forces you to slow your engine to get specific cards just to let you trash out other specific cards (and hope you have the actions to do more than trash, and the draw ability to get both cards into your hand at the same time).

At the end of the day, I like all three games

A constantly changing center draw pile, and constructs, are the heart of Ascension, and why you're wrong.

I wasn't too engaged with PA from the tutorial I played last night, but I also don't think I felt strongly about Ascension first either.

Dominion, Ascension and Penny Arcade(PA) are all obviously related. I would tend to agree with Cyrax that PA is closer to Dominion because of the static central row. PA and dominion are more about devising a higher level strategy from the initial card selection, nd then implementing it. Ascension is about constantly adjusting to the changing center row and adapting your strategy throughout the game. There are other similarities and differences (e.g. The two economies in PA and Ascension versus one in Dominion), but to me that strategy aspect is the most defining one.

With about 50 games under my belt on PA now I think I am starting to have a better feel for the strategic options. I like it, but at this point not as much as Ascension. If anyone is looking for games, there is a league going at quartertothree (also Ascension and Neuroshima Hex). Just starting the league for the second half of the month, so a good time to join.

I picked up Penny Arcade and Fluxx. I like the quality that Playdek put into their games.

athros wrote:
Michael wrote:
il dottore wrote:

Haven't tried any of the expansion armies, that kind of model always makes me worry I'll pay for a crappy set (see even Summoner Wars). Any tips?

I would put Neojungle (green) at the top of the list easily, it's lots of fun. Then Smart (white). Light blue is okay. Brown And purple are less fun, save those for last depending on how much you like the game.

First expansion: New York is very versatile, and NeoJungle is a steamroll faction in the right hands.

2nd Expansion: Vegas is a great army, since they convert people, turning defenses on their head. Smart has some serious tricks up their sleeves, and the Steel Police like to lock you down while they beat on you.

Honestly, you can't really go wrong with any of them. It's all superbly balanced.

I'll echo these sentiments. The game plays great regardless of army.

I've never played NSHex multiplayer, but feel free to hit me up as TheHermbot on GC.

I've never played NSHex multiplayer, but feel free to hit me up as TheHermbot on GC.

maverickz wrote:

I'll echo these sentiments. The game plays great regardless of army.

That's precisely what I was hoping to hear (and seeing the disagreement between the previous posters only makes the point clearer!). Vegas looks like good fun though!

Dang. I missed the Ascension sale. I've been curious about it, but I'm cheap.

obirano wrote:

Dang. I missed the Ascension sale. I've been curious about it, but I'm cheap.

Eminently worth it, even at full cost.

il dottore wrote:
maverickz wrote:

I'll echo these sentiments. The game plays great regardless of army.

That's precisely what I was hoping to hear (and seeing the disagreement between the previous posters only makes the point clearer!). Vegas looks like good fun though!

For the record, I purchased all the armies. There is certainly variation in units and some variation in play styles. Which is separate from whether they are all fun or not. I think getting them was worth it, but not necessary.

Just played Ticket to Ride Pocket for the first time last night. That's very well done! I got it awhile ago when it was free, but finally was enticed to try it out after playing the physical board game for the first time.

So, what's wrong with the iPad version again?

firesloth wrote:

Just played Ticket to Ride Pocket for the first time last night. That's very well done! I got it awhile ago when it was free, but finally was enticed to try it out after playing the physical board game for the first time.

So, what's wrong with the iPad version again?

iPad version doesn't have async, not even sure if it has any online multiplayer.

I think Penny Arcade is possibly closer to Thunderstone than Dominion or Ascension, since it has the static piles (like both Thunderstone and Dominion) but also the mechanic of fighting the boss decks (which is more like Thunderstone's dungeons than anything in Dominion or Ascension).

Cragmyre wrote:
firesloth wrote:

Just played Ticket to Ride Pocket for the first time last night. That's very well done! I got it awhile ago when it was free, but finally was enticed to try it out after playing the physical board game for the first time.

So, what's wrong with the iPad version again?

iPad version doesn't have async, not even sure if it has any online multiplayer.

It has online multiplayer through the DAYS OF WONDER servers. You can play against other people who are on the PC, IIRC.

Online Play (WiFi or 3G) against other iPad, Mac and PC gamers with Game Center and Days of Wonder Online support

No async, though.

On the plus side, the iPad version has gorgeous retina graphics and offers a few additional map/track/expansion options. If you have an iPad, want to pass-and-play or play against people on the PC/Mac, and can't stand 2X graphics, it's definitely worth buying. The iPhone version is cheap enough (and has been FREE often enough) that it's worth getting both. Unfortunately, the IAPs don't transfer between apps.

Ticket to ride seems like the worst possible game to play Async, though. The turns are so short that it would take forever, no?

Dysplastic wrote:

Ticket to ride seems like the worst possible game to play Async, though. The turns are so short that it would take forever, no?

It's no worse than Carcassonne asynch. Honestly, I'd play more TTR on my iPad if the iPad version had Asynch support. The pocket version seems cramped by comparison.

McIrishJihad wrote:

All three, as deck building games, have a focus on tuning your engine via trashing, but I feel that PA has the best implementation via its cards.

Really? I find the PA implementation, slow, clunky, and situational. Maybe I'm missing something, but there are only 2 or 3 cards that let you trash things, and they're all green. Only 1 that I can think of lets you delete anything in your hand. In both Dominion and Ascension, I feel like I can measure the quality of my game by how many of my original cards are still in my deck; in PA, I don't think I've yet managed to void myself of any significant number of cards while still having a deck that did anything.

McIrishJihad wrote:

Ascension usually only lets you discard if you go down the Void path,

There are also Mechana constructs that let you, and a couple of Enlightened cards that let you trade or hide cards you don't want.

McIrishJihad wrote:

and Dominion forces you to slow your engine to get specific cards just to let you trash out other specific cards (and hope you have the actions to do more than trash, and the draw ability to get both cards into your hand at the same time).

... which I like because it makes your strategy have an actual cost.

At the end of the day, I also like all three games.

Hmm...now you've all got me rethinking my take on PA. I just went back through the card deck, and you're right - there's only 2 green cards that let you delete (one is top card, the other is from your hand), and one red card (from your hand). One of the Virtues of the Tube loot cards has a delete on critical, and one of the Deadly Sin of Gaming loot cards is reveal four, delete two, draw the other two.

Man, seriously thought there were more deletes/trashes in the game...

So I bought Fluxx for cheap and gave it a shot just yesterday.

I don't think I've ever played a worse iOS boardgame. It's just absolutely horrible. Not the port, mind you, which is fine, but the game itself. What little decision making there is is so random and inconsequential as to be meaningless. But more importantly, the game just DRAAAGS. In the first game I played after the tutorial, the discard pile got shuffled back into the deck three times without a winner. Everytime I had the card in hand to win, a new goal popped up. Every time I accumulated a bunch of keepers, a limit to the keeper amount. There's just no point whatsoever. People, avoid this game like the plague.

Is that any different from Fluxx itself? Fluxx is a random game of stupid randomness. You either drink up and get on board or just avoid it. As a fan of actual game design AND drinking, I find better games to enjoy

Dysplastic wrote:

Stuff.

Yes, that is FLUXX. Enjoy.

I'm not a huge fan, but many other people seem to enjoy it as a light filler-type game-- there are dozens of other versions, and even TARGET carried/carries a version of it in their general games section.