iOS Games Thread

Rod_Humble · 2013-06-24T16:48:29.000Z

Jeremy Johnsen:

PWN just dropped to free in the App store. I think it’s been mentioned a few times upthread.

Whats PWN?

Thanks!

Rob_O_Boston · 2013-06-24T17:18:36.000Z

Wholly Schmidt:

Well I’ve never played XCOM on another platform (or X-Com, or xCom, or X-whatever, any of them), and the iPad version allows for a clever loophole in my “Don’t buy more console games until you finish the ones you own” rule. So I’m loving XCOM on the iPad. Hooray!

I’ve only played Terror from the Deep, one million years ago, so I am really enjoying this version. I enjoy customizing the soldiers. My wife is a crack sniper and the highest ranked officer on my team (just like real life!). I work very diligently to keep her alive, with medkits and flak vests. My brother, on the other hand, was killed in action (unlike real life). After that I stopped naming the soldiers after family members. I use movie actors instead. Elijah Wood is an enormous heavy. I never knew he had that kind of acting range.

I totally understand why there is very little replay value because a big part of the enjoyment is researching new things and encountering new aliens and solving whatever mystery they’re weaving. But the first time around is a pretty great ride.

Gus_Smedstad1 · 2013-06-24T17:28:16.000Z

PWN: Combat Hacking is a game where you try and capture nodes faster than your opponent. I got it the last time it was free, and didn’t care for it at all. Mainly because it’s real time, and the pace was such that I felt I didn’t feel I had any time to make decisions. It’s roughly on par with the hacking minigame in Deus Ex: HR, though with more special powers and with less time to think.

JoshL · 2013-06-24T20:45:17.000Z

I’m curious about the sealed mode in the new magic game, but it doesn’t seem like the demo includes it? Am I missing something? Or, has anybody played it, and can explain how it works? Is it multi-player only?

Rod_Humble · 2013-06-24T22:40:02.000Z

Gus_Smedstad:

PWN: Combat Hacking is a game where you try and capture nodes faster than your opponent. I got it the last time it was free, and didn’t care for it at all. Mainly because it’s real time, and the pace was such that I felt I didn’t feel I had any time to make decisions. It’s roughly on par with the hacking minigame in Deus Ex: HR, though with more special powers and with less time to think.

Thanks!

Tony_M · 2013-06-25T06:07:22.000Z

JoshL:

I’m curious about the sealed mode in the new magic game, but it doesn’t seem like the demo includes it? Am I missing something? Or, has anybody played it, and can explain how it works? Is it multi-player only?

The setup for the sealed deck stuff sounds pretty good, but they’ve killed it with bullshit IAP.

A sealed deck starts with 6 random boosters, and you unlock 3 more boosters as you play a mini tournament against the AI decks. You can also change your land count. That all sounds great, the catch is that you only get 2 sealed deck “slots”, and new slots cost $2 each. You can’t reset your used slots.

Heres a Sealed Deck preview video, and a FAQ from the Wizards forums:

http://youtu.be/3R2-ReQmzPs

Wizards Forum Moderator:

the game will come with two available slots for players to start Sealed Campaigns, with more slots available afterward for $1.99 each. These slots will store your progress in the Sealed Deck Campaign, the card pool you’ve accumulated from Booster Packs, and all the changes you make to your Sealed deck.
When starting a Sealed pool in a new slot, you’ll start with 6 Booster Packs. As you play through the campaign you’ll unlock 3 more Booster Packs that can be added to your deck. You can edit your Sealed deck as many times as you like, swapping cards to and from your card pool, adding or removing colors, adjusting your Land, etc.
Each slot will have its own unique pool assigned to it from opening Booster Packs, and the slots cannot be reset to generate a different/new card pool. This was designed to resemble Sealed Play in paper Magic as closely as possible, where a lot of the enjoyment comes from opening a 6-Booster card pool and figuring out how to make the best possible deck with the limited resources at your disposal. With that in mind, a single slot in Magic 2014 is like sitting down to a single Sealed game and starting a new experience. Each slot’s Sealed deck and card pool will stay available after the Campaign is beaten so you can continue using it against the AI and other players, but the card pool itself won’t change unless you switch to a different slot.

Ephraim · 2013-06-25T08:15:23.000Z

I can’t stop playing Scurvy Scallywags. Whoever recommended it upthread: damn you to hell!

nKoan · 2013-06-25T09:35:14.000Z

Ephraim:

I can’t stop playing Scurvy Scallywags. Whoever recommended it upthread: damn you to hell!

Its terribly addicting. And it gets real challenging, doesn’t it?

Ephraim · 2013-06-25T09:37:51.000Z

nKoan:

Its terribly addicting. And it gets real challenging, doesn’t it.

Yup. I perma-died for the first time, and I didn’t even hesitate to drop $1.99 on gold to resurrect my pirate. I’m that attached. And I never feel bad giving back to a developer that gives me that much enjoyment.

JoshL · 2013-06-25T09:48:56.000Z

Thanks Tony for the info on the Magic sealed stuff. Sounds pretty bad. Oh well.

Tyjenks · 2013-06-25T09:49:49.000Z

I am at about level 14 or 15 and I have burned out. It has gotten a bit too repetitive and tedious for me.

nKoan · 2013-06-25T09:58:20.000Z

Tyjenks:

I am at about level 14 or 15 and I have burned out. It has gotten a bit too repetitive and tedious for me.

I get burned out in a single session myself sometimes and quit. But always find myself coming back later. Around level 20 or so, it becomes a real tough grind where you are constantly dodging monsters more often than not. After finishing a level, I sometimes don’t want to move on to the next one because I know it will be such a battle. But it is satisfying to have it actually feel like an accomplishment.

The death thing isn’t that bad really. You get to keep stats and gear (power is important IMO) so you breeze back up to where you were pretty quickly. I think I’ve had 3 or 4 pirates up around level 20 so far.

BobM · 2013-06-25T10:21:02.000Z

JoshL:

Thanks Tony for the info on the Magic sealed stuff. Sounds pretty bad. Oh well.

Really? It doesn’t sound that bad to me.

Basically, they charge you $2 to start over. It’s a $10 game.

Still cheaper than actually playing MTG.

JoshL · 2013-06-25T19:59:29.000Z

“cheaper than playing MTG” isn’t a good criteria for anything. But seriously, it’s basically pay $2 every time you want to play a sealed tourney against the AI. I definitely won’t buy a game where I have to pay money every time I want to play. And since sealed is the only feature I’m interested in (I already have the previous game, and don’t play it), I won’t be buying.

Misguided · 2013-06-25T21:04:47.000Z

Ephraim:

Yup. I perma-died for the first time, and I didn’t even hesitate to drop $1.99 on gold to resurrect my pirate. I’m that attached. And I never feel bad giving back to a developer that gives me that much enjoyment.

I love match-3 games, and the production values are strong, but there seems to be very little variety. I have played a fair bit, and it’s nice enough, but not as compelling a I’d hoped.

tomchick · 2013-06-25T21:58:13.000Z

JoshL:

…it’s basically pay $2 every time you want to play a sealed tourney against the AI. I definitely won’t buy a game where I have to pay money every time I want to play. And since sealed is the only feature I’m interested in (I already have the previous game, and don’t play it), I won’t be buying.

I think someone explained this to me before, but I’ve forgotten why this is objectionable to anyone who just wants to play sealed deck tournaments against the AI. Can’t I just play a tournament, and then delete the deck and start over when I’m done? Why do I care about only being able to have one deck at a time if I don’t want to play online?

-Tom

Tony_M · 2013-06-26T02:06:17.000Z

Tom Chick:

I think someone explained this to me before, but I’ve forgotten why this is objectionable to anyone who just wants to play sealed deck tournaments against the AI. Can’t I just play a tournament, and then delete the deck and start over when I’m done? Why do I care about only being able to have one deck at a time if I don’t want to play online?
-Tom

See the Wizards Moderator quote above:

slots cannot be reset to generate a different/new card pool.

JoshL:

“cheaper than playing MTG” isn’t a good criteria for anything. But seriously, it’s basically pay $2 every time you want to play a sealed tourney against the AI. I definitely won’t buy a game where I have to pay money every time I want to play. And since sealed is the only feature I’m interested in (I already have the previous game, and don’t play it), I won’t be buying.

I’ll still be buying it. As far as I know Duels 2014 still has most of the gameplay types of the previous Duels games. Ie Themed decks you can add one card at a time to. That mode was fun in the previous games, and I expect it to be fun again in 2014.

I’m just disappointed that the new sealed deck feature amounts to 2 sessions, and then you pay $2 every session thereafter (assuming you finish the 6 opponents off in one sitting). I’m guessing that someone will figure out some workaround that allows you to uninstall and reinstall the game to get your 2 free slots back, but I couldn’t be bothered doing that, since it would also reset your progress in other game modes.

I’ll be happy if I’ve misinterpreted the moderators comments. But he seemed to come into that thread specifically to make that point.

Tony

EDIT: Heres what the Sealed deck campaign screen looks like, I take this to mean that you win 6 games and you’re done. Thats a perfectly acceptable reproduction of a sealed deck tournament, but I’m not paying $2 to do that every sitting. (Note you start with 6 boosters and unlock 3 more as you play):

Misguided · 2013-06-26T09:01:19.000Z

Some interesting things due out tonight, including an adaptation of Colin McRae Rally 2.0 and a new spinoff game from the Professor Layton series.

slantz · 2013-06-26T11:23:00.000Z

Tony M:

EDIT: Heres what the Sealed deck campaign screen looks like, I take this to mean that you win 6 games and you’re done. Thats a perfectly acceptable reproduction of a sealed deck tournament, but I’m not paying $2 to do that every sitting. (Note you start with 6 boosters and unlock 3 more as you play)

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. You get 2 sealed deck tourneys for free with your purchase, and they’re $2 each afterwards.

You can keep shifting cards around and playing the AI (or other humans?) within a given card pool. But it’s $2 each to start from scratch.

While that’s both disappointing and icky, it’d suck for people to overlook the game as a whole, which is a still a great bargain. This is a new mode added on to an otherwise stellar deal.

I think what’s got me the most upset is all the pre-release marketing touting this mode, only to find out it’s very limited without paying to play more. I feel a bit hoodwinked by that. It’d be different if the pricing model was baked into their marketing from the beginning.

Sten_Friberg · 2013-06-26T14:06:00.000Z

Misguided:

Some interesting things due out tonight, including an adaptation of Colin McRae Rally 2.0 and a new spinoff game from the Professor Layton series.

Layton? I’m a sucker for those.
What’s it called?