I agree with Gus that Tigris & Euphrates is one of my favorite board games but it’s just not fun with AI and the implementation on iOS makes a confusing board game even more confusing. I have Le Havre and though it’s gotten good reviews here (it is a good implementation), I found the game pretty dull after a few plays. Ra is a great board game and while I haven’t played the iOS version, auctions can’t possibly be fun against AI and I can’t see how the game would work asynchronously, so I’d guess that’s a pass. I also didn’t care for Nightfall. I’ve heard the Dominant Species iOS implementation is not so great, but the board game is a lot of fun.
Looks like you don’t have Through the Desert. I’ve never actually played the physical version of this game but it’s somehow ended up being my favorite iOS board game to play with AI, so I’d recommend that.
I actually have two copies: the Hans Im Gluck version (“Euphrat & Tigris”), and the Mayfair Games edition (“Tigris and Euphrates”). The international version has English rules, but the reference cards on the player shields are in German, and if any game demands examples in front of new players all the time, it’s Tigris and Euphrates. It never did catch on with my wife & mother-in-law, though. Too abstract, and the difficulties of understanding the ebb and flow of external conflicts too great. If I hadn’t played it with a group of gamers, I’d have no appreciation of how rich a game it can be.
opkopk
1683
I actually do have that one. I played it once and pegged it as a typical Knizia game of scarce resources and internal tension. Perhaps I’ll give it another shot as it seemed pretty capable of asynchronous play (if I remember correctly).
I’ll just chime in on the Summoner Wars love. It is a great game, and being a Playdek game the implementation is pretty great too (although I think is definitely better on iPad than iPhone, especially when you are learning the cards).
I’m not sure I feel like there are huge balance issues with the races, they can all be played very effectively by someone who knows what they are doing. Some of them are just much trickier to learn, so there are fewer people that play them well. There are also just some specifically bad matchups, like Phoenix Elves vs Jungle Elves. Usually the Phoenix Elves are one of the stronger sides, but Jungle Elves are uniquely talented at exploiting their weakness (fragile summoner). The only side I think might be too strong is the dwarves (magic drain + reinforcements + Gror).
There is a lot of variety available in the game, but it is more dependent on the players to provide the variety than a game like Ascension. It is easy to fall into ruts of choosing the same race/deck and using the same tactics repeatedly. Also it is more player skill driven than Ascension, so things tend to stratify into the same players finishing in similar spots repeatedly. I think those two factors are why the league died out last fall/winter.
Put me down too as loving the game. I also think another problem for new comers is the dice. You have to plan on failing a lot of your roles and always have backup plans. Too often new players just assume some flat amount of hits and leave units out in the open after the dice go wrong. This tends to leave bad feelings about the game in general. I would love to jump back into a summoner wars league. Heck, I’d even run the spreadsheet if it would get folks to play.
Bold statement. I really don’t know which game is more driven by player skill, but both games have a degree of random. In Ascension it is a community pool of purchasable cards as anytime you spend resources on a card, a random card will replace it which might be quite the boon to your opponent. In Summoner Wars it is more obvious as combat can miss on a roll of 1 or 2 (on a 6 sided die). The general feeling over time here seemed to be the die roll form of random was deeply frustrating and the card replacement form of random seemed near invisible to many. Perhaps it is the difference between the emotional impact of having your move negated by a die roll versus handing someone else a good hand.
In my case, I found Summoner Wars a much more strategic experience, but the mind numbing pace and disconnected shards of game instances found in asynchronous gaming kept me from enjoying either as a multiplayer game.
Yeah, I think the balance is as good as can be expected from in a game with so many factions. Playing as the cloaks or fallen empires is usually a handicap though, compared to the dwarves or tundra orcs which have no bad matchups. One thing with the previous league though is that I always use a generic deck, since I have no idea what the opponent is picking – I’m curious to see what the game is like if you can pre-plan.
I started a league! Even if it doesn’t take off we can get some random games in.
I’m not sure about the house rules, we’ll probably just play without them since they do change the game considerably. I’ve just always liked the way Summoning Surge encourages the game to move forward, as opposed to Magic Drains that encourages waiting for the perfect hand to push.
This was my frustration with it (and most tabletop RPGs as well) . I like when randomness happens before players choose actions, not after. I’m totally fine having something like Ascension, or Magic: the Gathering, where randomization happens, then you perform actions from the randomized pool. I find it extremely frustrating when games have you choose actions and then randomly determine whether the action was or wasn’t successful. Both methods of randomizing allow for a lot of strategic depth, but I prefer a game where I might get a hand of bad actions to a game where what actions I choose might randomly not matter.
To me, Ascension and Nhex are all about coping. The random element is too vast to count on any one/few cards/tiles for any strategic planning (I guess it’s possible in NHex, near the end of the game, but that’s difficult to do in async.) I think SW does offer a lot more options to the player at any given time, and rewards planning, bluffing, etc.
HOLY CRAP you looked straight into my OWN HEART and spoke for me. Thank you! I could not put my finger on it, and now you have.
That’s a really interesting way to look at it. I’d have to think about it more to see if I can think of any counter examples.
Ascension’s problem was it became too routine for me. I lost interest once I understood the near optimal choices in just about every hand. Not saying I was the best player, I just didn’t feel like I was making big decisions like I was at the start of the game, which was an awesome feeling. There are a few more variables in Summoner Wars, so it probably disguises the optimal move.
The great mitigating factor about the randomness in Neuroshima Hex is that even when I thought I was doomed after I saw my opponent’s hand, I almost always had a counter of my own in the next hand. Occasionally you get bad draws, like nets at the wrong time. But all these games are frustrating in their own little ways.
Hm, I think Summoner Wars is a lot more open than you give it credit for – compared to Ascension, it’s a whole different order of complexity. I venture that your perceptions may be coloured by the fact that you only played with the two factions (phoenix elves and dwarves, right?) where a particular strategy is hard to beat :) If you were to try, say, Cloaks or Fallen Kingdoms, I think you would have a harder time coming up with any optimal strategy. I agree with what Pacman said above – a lot of the variety is player dependent.
Yeah I was trying to say something similar.
sclpls
1695
When I think about Star Command compared to FTL I find it very ironic that it’s Star Command that has the more drawn out combat sequences of the two games. I’m enjoying Star Command quite a bit, although it isn’t especially deep, and there are a lot of pretty simple mistakes that seem like the mark of a novice game designer. But I haven’t sunk very much time into it because Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol has pretty much sucked up all my iOS attention. I basically love everything about that game which is odd since I’m not much of a WWI guy or much of an airplanes dogfighting guy, but I really enjoy the system where leveling up your pilots is how you learn new maneuvers.
Ninyu
1696
Frozen Synapse IOS releases Thursday!
opkopk
1697
That brings up something I’ve been meaning to ask the elite around here.
I’ve heard good things about FS. I’ve bought FS on some steam sale/bundle thing. I’ve played the tutorial. I have never successfully played a game or even executed a proper kill. Am I a complete idiot? Well, assuming I’m a complete idiot is this a common occurrence?
I hear word that this used to be a common game around here with even league play for a whiles I it must have redeeming qualities. It looks like its perfectly situated for the games I like. Any advice on how to get over this insane learning curve/stumbling block I’m stuck on?
biosc1
1698
Play MP games. You will lose, but you will learn. The AI is tough, but can be predictable. Human unpredictability will be the best learning tool.
Tips
[ul]
[li]Cover cover cover[/li][li]If you are unsure if you are covered, sim the movement of an opposing player and see if he can shoot you.[/li][li]Bringing me to my next point, sim sim sim…you don’t want to die because you assumed something and were killed by something you could have picked up in a sim.[/li][li]Never end a turn out in the open. Having said that, DO end a turn, in the very last millisecond, looking around a corner or some obstacle so you can see placement of the enemy (if playing Dark) without getting killed.[/li][li]Understand your guns and the guns your opponent is using, each has its strengths and weaknesses[/li][list]
[li]Machine guns, inaccurate over far distances, but can lay down good cover fire and get some kills in still. They are also slow to track and fire, so you can sneak from cover to cover without them firing on you[/li][li]Shotguns - no range, but brilliantly fast in close. Great for popping around corners for a quick shot, then jumping back behind cover.[/li][li]Rockets - deadly to you and the enemy in close. A viable suicide bombing option. If you want to hit ‘half-cover’ blocks, crouch before shooting. When facing a rocket, stay away from the environment. Hang around the border of the map or make sure there is something between you and him[/li][li]Grenades - they are slow to fire, but great for funneling people into traps or catching them when they think they are behind cover, but aren’t and then they die due to its great splash damage.[/li][/ul]
[/LIST]
Just remember, there is no rush. This game is more about the planning than how it plays out. The strategy is taking into account the options your opponent has and calculating the best options for you. Having said that, you want to act fast, single out the opponent’s men, make every opportunity count.
Hot damn is Frozen Synapse great, also. We did have a league back in the day, but so long ago that I can’t even remember how I ran it!
biosc1 has some great advice. I’ll add a simple tip that I found helped me a bunch. Start by playing your opponent’s characters each turn. Do what you see as their best move in the simulation. Now counter that exact move as best you can.
If you have the patience, try countering your counter with their units. Usually you can adjust your counter slightly to weaken a direct counter to the move you want to do while still destroying your opponent if they do what you expect.
