iOS Games Thread Catch All

Maybe Touch Arcade? I haven't used their app in like a decade but the website seems decent enough

BlackSabre wrote:

So after my iPad died last year, I went for the new 12.9 M1 iPad. Given the power of this thing, are there any really must have games that are great to play on it?

Without knowing what you prefer in games:
XCom 2 by Feral Interactive just got a major update with graphics options. Most of Feral Interactive’s work is solid and will perform very well in the M1.

Divinity 2: Original Sin is solid and beautiful.

There are a bunch in Apple Arcade as well.

BlackSabre wrote:

Also, is there a good place to go to browse all the games while I wait for it to arrive? I can't browse the app store as it just takes you to an "about the app store" kind of page.

I usually use appshopper.com and Toucharcade.

athros wrote:
BlackSabre wrote:

So after my iPad died last year, I went for the new 12.9 M1 iPad. Given the power of this thing, are there any really must have games that are great to play on it?

Without knowing what you prefer in games:
XCom 2 by Feral Interactive just got a major update with graphics options. Most of Feral Interactive’s work is solid and will perform very well in the M1.

Divinity 2: Original Sin is solid and beautiful.

There are a bunch in Apple Arcade as well.

BlackSabre wrote:

Also, is there a good place to go to browse all the games while I wait for it to arrive? I can't browse the app store as it just takes you to an "about the app store" kind of page.

I usually use appshopper.com and Toucharcade.

These sound right up my alley, thank you! Turn based sounds good. Things like this and also Civ would be good I'm thinking.

jamos5 wrote:

Maybe Touch Arcade? I haven't used their app in like a decade but the website seems decent enough

Cool, will check this one out, thanks!

BlackSabre wrote:

These sound right up my alley, thank you! Turn based sounds good. Things like this and also Civ would be good I'm thinking.

With Civ6 in particular, there is a way to get better graphical options with it via config files (Reddit thread) so it will upscale beautifully. It is behind the PC version in terms of patches - the last major release on iOS was Gathering Storm, and nothing since - so be aware before buying. Outside if that it is the full experience. There are also regular sales in case the price is too much.

Retro Goal is out today from New Star Games, the developers of the superb Retro Bowl.

Have a 3 month Apple Arcade subscription. Played through FANTASIAN which would frankly justify a $30-60 purchase by itself. But otherwise, I’m not really seeing much else I should jump into before my subscription runs out. I’ve never been that big on the typical time-waster games. Tried Grindstone which everyone seems to love but was bored pretty quickly. Put time into World’s End Club which is alright but then I have Danganrompa 2 on my backlog so I should just play that instead. Another EDEN looks cool but that’s not even an Apple Arcade title.

Any recommendations for stuff I should try?

Not on Apple Arcade, however, I revisited SteamWorld Quest and it is a great AA deck builder TPG. Highly recommended. I bought on switch but was distracted when released.

I really enjoyed Assemble with Care.

chooka1 wrote:

Not on Apple Arcade, however, I revisited SteamWorld Quest and it is a great AA deck builder TPG. Highly recommended. I bought on switch but was distracted when released.

Yep someday I will check that out, I've been interested in it since launch. My (new) phone is the first platform I have that it's available on.

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

I really enjoyed Assemble with Care.

Downloaded!

I also remembered there is that Layton spin-off game, Layton's Mystery Journey. I enjoyed the first two games back in the day but ran out of steam on the series about half way through the 3rd. Will be interesting to see if I can get back into it with this. I still have the DS carts of the 3rd and 4th games.

farley3k wrote:

for me, it has been a long time since there has been a really great iOS game. Is there anything wonderful that is fairly new?

I wrote this a year ago and I am not sure I have even bought one game in they last year. I wonder what happened.

Have AAA games just stopped coming or am I just missing the great stuff?

Moncage just showed up a yesterday/a few days ago and is pretty neat

That looks gorgeous! Thank you for posting it.

Happy Holidays!

Just what everyone wanted, playing Alien: Isolation on their phones! I shouldn't judge, that may be the only way it is bearable for someone. When I first saw thinking it was being put out on PSVR and I'd be compelled to play it again in that format.

Long, long time since there has been something worth saying about iOS games!

Today I downloaded Diablo Immortals. It is Diablo on a pad. I honestly felt like I was playing D3 with slightly worse controls than I get with the Swtich. I only played about 5 minutes but I can't see much reason to keep going rather than boot up D3.

I was enjoying it on my phone until I finished the first area and everything “unlocked.” The chat box and a couple other hud elements that appear at that point make the screen feel too crowded and the other players that show up in the common areas sometimes make things too busy for a phone screen. Other players can also appear in the combat areas which I personally find off-putting, especially when some guy kept spamming me with party requests while I was trying to finish a quest.

I didn't even try it since I hate F2P mechanics and I heard it is riddled with them. What are your guys' experience?

Just like Ruhk said, it starts out good, but then the tutorial ends and you’re immediately bombarded with a cramped UI, unnecessary solicitations for micro-transactions, and other players that are - in the small and fairly linear maps - more of an annoyance and hindrance than anything else.

There are a lot of them, but they aren't hard gates so far (I'm up to level 23 or so).

edit: I think toggled some options to hide chat/group requests, but not 100% sure about that. I don't recall getting any at any rate.

It supports controllers. How hard would it have been to put it on Apple TV also?

I tried it on my iPad and even that felt like the wrong environment. Oh well.

I am quite enjoying it on my ipad pro. It's a little cramped on the phone but works well enough for me so far (not past the tutorial, though).

More concerning (for me) than the f2p stuff explicitly is they're already throwing incentives at me to replay stuff I've already done. Like if I stick with it, I guess I would be glad that's there, but don't throw that at me before I've even beat it the one time.

I’ve been enjoying the hell out of Diablo Immortal, no pun intended.

Hit level 43 last night on the DH, 28 with the Monk and 11 with the Necro. I’ll be sticking with my first two characters.

Mobile controls are the best. Put in a lot of time on the PC client and the controller inputs need a lot of work. Too much lag at the moment. On the iPad it’s been very fluid.

So nice to have a breezy, even more streamlined version of Diablo 3 plus more group oriented activities like dungeons and raids.

I’m not a stranger to splashing a bit of money into F2P games and Immortal was no different. Bought the battle pass and the monthly login boon thing.

Camera zoom level could be pulled up just a touch but that’s a minor quibble. Really do hope the controller stuff is fixed and they support higher resolution on the PC client because it can be a legit experience in the big screen.

Over the weekend, I have seen at least 7 or 8 different articles all claiming you would HAVE to spend over $100,000 to fully upgrade your character. Actions like these from game producers are nothing short of greedy and predatory. As good as the gameplay is, I would have gladly paid for the game, but fun or not, I can’t support a game built on that paradigm. I would highly urge the rest of you to do the same.

https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/diablo...

I bought the $4.99 battle pass. I plan on playing until I have to spend more money to get enjoyment out of it. If I get 2 weeks or 3 weeks for $5, I'll consider it a win. I understand the money-grab in the game but I don't see that it's necessary until later in the game. For now, it's fun so I'll take it

I've been reading all of your comments here on Diablo Immortal and hemming and hawing about whether to download. Then I see my teenage son who is in FINALS WEEK is already playing! Apple-->tree.

When it comes to discussing the monetization in Immortal, I feel like I need to walk a very fine line. The current uproar in the Diablo community is a bit silly but also understandable. Content creators have been whipping their audience up into a frenzy non-stop since the mobile and PC beta releases, and rightly so. That's their job.

I casually watched Asmongold do a first playthrough while tracking his own spend. By the time he reached Level 20 with his Barbarian he had already spent $347 USD. This...is ridiculous. I understand Immortal is a goldmine for video content right now but doing a let's play like this to demonstrate the merciless money-grabbing monetization etc etc is disingenuous at best.

The first 30-35 levels of progression go by in a breeze. Unless you are playing a super squishy class you could probably hit level 30 with your eyes closed. I noticed the progression started to slow down a bit at Level 34 but once I got to Level 38 or so, the next few level ups came rather fast & furious.

On the other hand... yes I do understand PC gamers who don't know much about mobile gaming beyond Clash or Candy Crush will be repulsed by the in-game store and various calls to action to spend real money in Immortal. People acting like Immortal ushered in some era of terrible F2P monetization strategies when it is treading very well worn ground has been amusing.

It doesn't make it right/wrong just because it's "always been this way". Companies need to be monitored and consumers should always exercise their right to reject a product or complain about it - it's the only way big changes can happen much of the time. If you've had spending issues in the past with other F2P games and you're a big Diablo fan, please go in with both eyes wide open. It's a lot like buying tobacco or alcohol: use with care, use responsibly.

Why could they not have emulated Path of Exile and made Fashion Wars the focus of spending? No pay to win, just rewarding the devs for a job well done with cool cosmetics? Sigh...