Friday, July 27, 2012

Played Lately: iOS Gaming

  • Having gone over to the Dark Side, I thought I'd seeing the grass really is greener over here. In the dark. Pardon me while I work out my metaphors.

  • Ascension - After all of the hype and discussion about the game, it should come as no surprise that this was the first I downloaded and played. Ascension is every bit as good as people say. The game looks beautiful, it's fun to play, and I keep wanting to go back to it. Surely a sign of a great game. The card art is quirky and I get why some people don't like it. Although I understand the rules, I have little grasp on the strategy. Sure, I know that banishing my weak cards makes the good ones pop up more, but what else is there? But I'll keep playing until I learn.

  • Elder Sign: Omens - Although iOS is well known for its board game ports, this is the closest I've come to purchasing one. Elder Sign: Omens is a dice pool game with a lot of flavor. I actually won my first game was and pretty smug about it because everyone says how hard it is. Then I figured out that I had played the new easy scenario and I wasn't so smug any more. It really is incredibly hard, but it does an amazing job making you feel like the world is going to end.

  • Button Men - Have you heard of Button Men? It is a pretty simple dice game that I've never played in real life. I picked it up on iOS because I was curious about it. I have learned two things from this game. First, there is a lot of strategy for such a simple mechanic. Second, there is no excuse for having an unpolished game when even as small a game as Button Men can look this good. No excuse.

  • Summoner Wars - The biggest game release after we bought our phones was clearly Summoner Wars. Like Ascension, it is a beautiful game, I'm just not sure if I like it. Maybe it's just the weak-ass Phoenix Elves that come with the trial, but I'm not feeling it. For a strategy game, the heavy swings in favor make it feel out of my control. Hell, I even lost the tutorial game, for goodness' sake. I'm sure if I bang my head against it for a while, I can figure it out. But I'm not about to pour any money into something I'm not enjoying.

  • Nightfall - And then there was this one. It sure looks beautiful, but I have no idea what is going on. I need to try it more before I pass judgment. However, I find myself avoiding it since Ascension is right there.

  • This may be an exaggeration, but I feel like I've alread spent more time gaming on my iPhone than I ever did with the Incredible. When my contract comes up again, I'm going to weigh all my options. But it might be hard to go back to Android if the gaming situation doesn't improve.

© 2012 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.

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