5121

OK here’s the super secret mix:

The secret mix for Endless Mode

Ash, Boomstick, DeathCar, Archers, Pikers, Heavy Armor, Wiseman and Arthur.

5122

What are the best chess apps for the iPod/iPhone?

I’m not very good at chess, and I haven’t played in years. I figure I can go for a cheap or free game that has a crappy AI and I won’t notice the difference. Or I could splash out and get one with a decent AI and interactive learning features.

Anyone have thoughts on what I could go for?

5123

I have tChess Pro and it’s pretty decent. It has the ECO built in, so you can practice openings or it can give you hints on mainline continuations as you play.

Shredder is another option I hear a lot about.

5124

Is Let’s Golf the one everyone raves about? Let’s golf 3 is free today.

5125

Reviews indicate that it’s always free, but that they start requiring in-game purchases pretty quick.

5126

Lots of praise for Deep Green, but I haven’t tried it myself, and you’ll have to decide for yourself what kind of value you’re looking for. It’s $8, which is steep by some standards, but I’d shell out for it if I wanted a chess app.

5127

That’s right. It’s a fairly enjoyable golf game, but the freemium model turned me off pretty quickly. Having the option to purchase character customization stuff is fine, but you need 1 “energy” for every hole you want to play. Energy can only be banked up to 6 points, and recharges slowly (it’s supposed to be 1 per hour, but seems to be bugged and would often fail to recharge if I left the game).

I put an hour or so into it spread across a couple of sessions before deleting it, but it did succeed in making me want to grab Let’s Golf 2 the next time it drops to $0.99.

5128

Used to be a tournament player, used to teach chess to kids, reviewed every chess program ever made (almost literally) for the PC back when I use to write for the mags/websites. Info just so ya know where I’m coming from.

My two cents: get Shredder for the iPhone. It will be good for you as you learn, and will be good as you grow in your chess skills. $7 is a super deal for it (when I reviewed Fritz way back for the PC, it was something close to $100. ;) )

5129

Yes, Shredder is excellent. There’s a free “Lite” edition, too.

Army of Darkness Defense is surprisingly fun, too. One question: can you get rid of that annoying “Upgrade your smith” notice that pops up all the time? I already know that you can upgrade the smith, thank you…

5130

Let’s Golf 2 is fantastic, though the app is an unnecessarily fat 400 megs. Let’s Golf 3 is a cruddy freemium money grab.

5131

I have both shredder and t-chess and prefer shredder. If only because it will let me drag pieces, whereas t-chess enforces tap-to-move.

5132

Ahh, OK. Thanks for the info.

5133

I have seen newbies really like Shredder, in particular the ability to adjust its strength to your playing strength dynamically, to rate your play, and also it tends to make mistakes in a more human manner - hard to explain that, except that some programs, when you dial down their strength, will play well then thrown in the occasional really stupid move. Shredder is pretty good about making the kinds of mistakes a player at the level it is set at would make. So, for example, set to beginner levels, it will indeed make some real blunders, while at higher levels it may just miss a really good move you could make to hurt it, or just not make the best strategic moves.

5134

I can’t find the link in the app store. All I see is Let’s Golf 3.

5135

Huh. Looks like they pulled 1 and 2. That sucks. Now it’s either the freemium 3 or Real Golf, and their Real Golf isn’t nearly as fun as LG2 was. LG2 was basically the perfect port of Hot Shots Golf to iOS.

5136

Finally beat wave 50 in Army of Darkness. What a grind to get those last essential upgrades…

While I was looking at the Game Center leaderboards I noticed that everyone is listed by real name now. Isn’t there some way to show the handle/nickname instead? I don’t even know many of you people by your real names!

5137

So some people here are playing Kard Combat. Is it worth paying for Mages or a bundle?

5138

Probably depends on how much multiplayer you plan to play. I bought the 4-mages-for $2.99 bundle, and blew through the whole single-player mode with one of them pretty quickly and easily. Tried going back with another, but it just doesn’t vary enough to feel fresh, since the enemies don’t change and 4/5 of your card pool is the same with every mage.

I’d say to start with just one of the mages for $1, then if you like it so much that you want to continue, get the 4-pack that doesn’t overlap with the one you already have.

5139

Sims 3 World Adventures is free today. Turns out I already have it and I have no idea if it us any good.

5140

Someone play Ascension: Chronicle of the Something with me. I’m “Ananab Tilps” on Game Center.