Pocket Academy is weird. At least to Anglo-American eyes it bears little resemblance to what a school is like and is all the better for it.
For example students regularly clean the floor for “exercise”. They also raise crops and livestock for you (the school) to sell.
Classes are few and far between. Most of the time students do “self study” IE: they read books and teach themselves while the teachers wander around the school picking crops or maintaining the power systems (the children also maintain the furnace etc).
Occasional you can spring on them ‘special tests’ which if they pass enables you to charge more fees to new parents wishing to enroll their kids.
Passing tests is helped by spiritual points which can be created by the delicate placement feng shui like of bushes, pools and shrines.
Anyway due to a vast cultural gap between how Japanese and Anglo-Americans view school kids I am having a blast.
Definitely a kairosoft game, definitely an acquired taste.
Oh there is a lite version so you can test the demo.
Vesper
4962
Ascension is really well done. Please send me Gamecenter friend requests if you’d like to play. GC name is Vesper6.
I neglected to mention earlier when I spoke highly of Ascension that I was playing on an iPad. Have played several more games and I really like it.
Oh, question: there seem to be quite a few cards that can be used to banish cards from your own hand or your discard pile, but I only real one card that gives you a reason to want to do that. Does this give some benefit?
Banishing is incredibly important to get the worthless starting cards out of your deck once you scoop up some better ones. This game is all about increasing the likelihood that you’ll draw a powerful hand each turn, and keeping starter chaff in your deck poisons every draw.
I played several games today on both iPad and iPhone and would recommend it on either, although the extra screen real estate of the iPad makes it easier to keep track of what each card does. The highest-level AI puts up a decent fight and most games are pretty close, although I’ve had a few blowouts both for and against me (much as when playing against a human, if you invest in cards that blow for getting stuff in the center row because of what turns up there you’re completely hosed. For example, if you build a combat-centric deck and monsters never show up in the center, you’re stuck killing crappy cultists round after painful round).
For anyone on the fence, this is really easy to learn and there’s plenty of variety in this base set of cards. It’s a steal for $5, and there’s plenty of discussion at www.boardgamegeek.com if you want in-depth reviews and discussion.
I noticed a new expansion is available for the board game version, so with any luck it will work it’s way over to this as DLC. Really nice to see a game this solid get such terrific treatment as an app.
Vesper
4965
I can’t seem to invite people to a private game - does this mean none of my Gamecenter friends own it yet?
Oh thank you for explaining that. It seems slightly counter-intuitive from the stand point that you are decreasing the honor value of your deck (which is obviously why this is calculated at the end of the game) but I get it.
This game is really great. My back was killing me yesterday, so I ended up playing this more than I intended.
Maybe it’s just complete luck, but of the 5 or so games I’ve played, it seems like the deck has been front-loaded with monsters early. I’ve been playing with the easy AI. I did lose once in a 3-player game where there where lots of high value cards in the center early and I had a difficult time acquiring cards.
I think I prefer 2 players because the center row can change so much between turns if you have more than two. Either way, I really love it so far. This game is kind of like a CCG for people that don’t like CCGs.
The starter cards have no honor value, so there’s even less reason to keep them around. This trashing mechanism is one of my favorite things about these deck-building games because it lets you start with adequate resources and shed them later. No more mana-lock :)
Vesper
4968
Tracy, whats your Gamecenter name so we can play some multiplayer?
Ascension sounds an awful lot like Dominion… is that about right? For those that have played both, how does it compare?
Vesper
4970
Ascension is very much like Dominion, except where the pool of cards you can buy is constantly changing. It’s also got a much better theme, IMO.
OrfBC
4971
Puzzle Agent 2 is out today for $4.99. It’s $9.99 on Steam, and I thought the first game was superior on iOS anyway. It’s creepy Professor Layton.
I’ve never played any of these. I like the changing pool, though. What is Thunderstone like?
Yeah I need to get Puzzle Agent too. Enjoyed and finished the first.
Vesper
4973
I’ve never played Thunderstone, but these deckbuilding games all kind of work the same. I recommend reading the rules for Ascension to get a sense for how it works. Ascensions’ rules are really quite easy. www.ascensiongame.com
The two big differences are that in place of Dominion’s unvarying decks over the course of a game, after a card is purchased in Ascension a new card takes its place, and in Ascension there are a fixed cache of victory points that you earn for various actions throughout the match. For example, there is always a cultist card that you can defeat for a VP, and playing certain action cards (which, unlike in Dominion, remain in place through the match until an opponent dispels them) may grant VP when certain cards are played.
I’ve not played much Ascension yet (dismissed it as a Dominion clone before playing it on iOS), but at the moment I think I might like it more than Dominion. The constant flux in cards available adds a little more strategy, I think, and I like being able to build a permanent set of bonuses up. On an aesthetic level it’s maybe a little prettier, though it’s tough to judge on the iPhone. I’m looking forward to a few more games so I can see how it holds up.
I prefer Dominion/Thunderstone because the ability to mix available cards keeps the game fresh longer. In Ascension the cards you use are always the same, but the order they appear in is variable. This makes it harder to plan your deck, especially when you’re learning the game and don’t have a good feel for the card distribution.
That said, Ascension is a no-brainer for $5. It plays so quickly when the computer does all the bookkeeping.
My Gamecenter name is How Kola.
Vesper
4976
Really puzzled by this invite thing on Ascension. Despite getting a few more invites from QT3ers, only one of them shows up for invite in game. Maybe both sides have to have fired up the game since the friend connection was established or something.
I picked up Ascension, don’t make me regret it! ;)
Vesper
4978
It appears that you have to be online at the same time as opponents at least once to get their name to show up on the invite list. I think I’ll email the developers about it.
MGS Touch dropped to a dollar. Is it any good?
