Neat iPhone apps

[WheelsVT]

Game Dev Story had me hooked this weekend. Good game, but once I built up capital it became a quest to get game of the year and build a console (which I just found out means converting one of your employees to Level 5 in all jobs to open that job option). Still fun to play though and come up with game names.

It's the first iPhone app I've ever really gotten hooked on. Now I'm looking for that next fix...

[WheelsVT]

dola, I'm also finding that my 3G can't handle higher powered games well. Red Alert just freezes. Any recommendations on a Diablo-like game?

[FrogMan]

Death Worm is free today if you want some mindless arcade fun. Been playing for 20 minutes now and it's a good timewaster.

FM

[Raiders Army]

Hey Wade, it's your turn on Disc Drivin'.

[samifan24]

I've tried Disc Drivin' with Frogman and Terpkristin and I'm not really a fan. It's slow and difficult to control. I guess I'm the only one not having fun with the game since it seems like everyone is still playing it.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I've tried Disc Drivin' with Frogman and Terpkristin and I'm not really a fan. It's slow and difficult to control. I guess I'm the only one not having fun with the game since it seems like everyone is still playing it.

I'm with you on this one. My wife and I tried it some, but got bored with it pretty quickly.

[Raiders Army]

I had to say enough on my iPhone 3G for Disc Drivin. It was too slow for me too. On my iTouch, however, it works great.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I've tried Disc Drivin' with Frogman and Terpkristin and I'm not really a fan. It's slow and difficult to control. I guess I'm the only one not having fun with the game since it seems like everyone is still playing it.

It's definitely not my favorite game, I'm not sure if I suck because I have yet to find the touch or if it's just hard to control.

But as a multiplayer diversion, it's not too bad.

I really suck.

/tk

[Raiders Army]

hrm. I really suck at carcassonne.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

I had to say enough on my iPhone 3G for Disc Drivin. It was too slow for me too. On my iTouch, however, it works great.

My iPhone 3G is probably the problem. I can't wait to upgrade to a Verizon iPhone 4 or the AT&T iPhone 5.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

hrm. I really suck at carcassonne.

nah, you just need to practice more. Speaking of Carcassonne, TK and I jus played each other to a 103-103 tie. Talk about being even.

As for DD, I really like it. Maybe it simply works better on a Touch like RA said.

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, also about Carcassonne, my wife and I went to a good toy store with a nice selection of board games today and I was all happy to point Carcassonne to her, saying "you know, it's that game I'm always playing on my Touch"

They had something like 6 or 7 expansions and from what the developers said, they would try to make them available as in-app purchases. Thinking about it, it wouldn't surprise me that they could discount the price of the main game to coincide with the release of a new expansions. Will keep you guys posted if I see something as I really like playing this game and would really like to have more FOFCers to play it with.

FM

[WheelsVT]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

dola, also about Carcassonne, my wife and I went to a good toy store with a nice selection of board games today and I was all happy to point Carcassonne to her, saying "you know, it's that game I'm always playing on my Touch"

They had something like 6 or 7 expansions and from what the developers said, they would try to make them available as in-app purchases. Thinking about it, it wouldn't surprise me that they could discount the price of the main game to coincide with the release of a new expansions. Will keep you guys posted if I see something as I really like playing this game and would really like to have more FOFCers to play it with.

FM

Ok, I've been tempted to try it. I'll try it out tonight. At $10 it would be the most expensive app I've bought to date, and I have no idea how it's played. But everyone seems to really enjoy it.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by WheelsVT

Ok, I've been tempted to try it. I'll try it out tonight. At $10 it would be the most expensive app I've bought to date, and I have no idea how it's played. But everyone seems to really enjoy it.

gulp, well, I can't speak for everyone but I certainly love playing it. Let's see, I've played 14 games with online friends (i.e. with FOFCers), 7 more with bots (although this will likely go up in a flash as I'm warming up to them), 6-7 solitaire games and one quick play online game against a complete stranger (and this also might go up in the coming days)*. I'm still learning how to play and find new little twists during almost every game.

See my post on the previous page to read a bit about what the game is about. You can also read the official board game manual on the Rio Grande Games website. The game has won many prizes as best board game, mainly in Europe I believe and its port to the iDevice is just well done. The multiplayer's push notifications work perfectly and you can play many games at once and get text notifications on your screen when another table is ready for you to play your move...

FM

[FrogMan]

just finished my second quickplay online game of Carcassonne. Lost it badly but still had fun. Opponent's ELO was around 1370 while mine is only at about 1170. Game took 21 minutes to play.

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, realizing I don't think I ever explained how the qick online play works. When you ask to start a quick online game, a timer appears showing how long you've been waiting to be matched to another player of similar level to you and an estimate of how long it should take to find you an opponent. In my case the estimate was 33 seconds byt it actually only took 18 seconds or so for me to be ready to start. I was matched with someone from Germany although we had to chat to know that as the game doesn't show where you're from. In the game each player has 90 seconds to place his/her tile. We placed our 72 tiles in 21 minutes or an average og 17.5 seconds per tile. As I said, it was fun.

FM

[samifan24]

FrogMan, the Carcassone iPhone developer should pay you for marketing their game. I don't want to buy a $10 game without trying it first and even I'm itching to buy the game to try it out and see what everyone is all excited about.

[Izulde]

I do have $30 in iTune gift cards, but I'll wait till it's on sale.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by samifan24

FrogMan, the Carcassone iPhone developer should pay you for marketing their game. I don't want to buy a $10 game without trying it first and even I'm itching to buy the game to try it out and see what everyone is all excited about.

yeah, but that part in red is making me nervous. See, I love the game and I assume the others playing with me do to. TK and I have played games back and forth and the minute we finish one I don't even have time to challenge her to a new game that she sends a challenge back. I just wouldn't want anyone to absolutely want to get this game, especially at its price point, on my word alone.

There are plenty of positive review though, so here are a few:
Carcassonne Review | Touch Arcade
Carcassonne Review – Games, Reviews, iPhone Apps and Games – 148Apps – iPhone App and Game Reviews and News
Carcassonne Review | iPhone and iPad Games App | Macworld
FingerGaming » Review: Carcassonne - Gaming on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
Carcassonne in review – more confusing to spell than play | TouchMyApps
Carcassonne iPhone Game Info - Slide To Play

I am also sending an email to the developers, asking for some sort of a demo. Doesn't hurt asking.

FM

[Subby]

RunKeeper is normally $9.95 but they are giving it away for free this month.

Great GPS-enabled, socially-connected running journal. Available iun the App Store.

Here is the website: Track Your Running, Measure Your Fitness, and Improve Your Training | RunKeeper

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Dola,
If you like pinball, I'd recommend Pinball HD, which is 99 cents. It includes the Wild West pinball table (I've mentioned the standalone Wild West app, made by the same people), The Deep table, and the Jungle table. It's a fantastic pinball app.

/tk

Wild West Pinball is free today. Just downloaded it.

FM

[PadresFan104]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

See, I love the game and I assume the others playing with me do to.

FM - I love Carcassonne, it was my favorite iPhone game, and is now my favorite iPad app. Last night I finally broke onto the Quick Play High Score Board. #236, having played 371 games and winning 59.6%.... Play at least 2 games every night....

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by PadresFan104

FM - I love Carcassonne, it was my favorite iPhone game, and is now my favorite iPad app. Last night I finally broke onto the Quick Play High Score Board. #236, having played 371 games and winning 59.6%.... Play at least 2 games every night....

oh, wow, congrats! But now, you just scared me out of asking for a challenge.

Oh what the heck, PM me an email addy and we can get something going.

I also have two other people outside of FOFC (husband and wife) that I know play the game but I've been way too afraid to challenge them. Maybe now's the time I let loose

FM

[PadresFan104]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

oh, wow, congrats! But now, you just scared me out of asking for a challenge.

Oh what the heck, PM me an email addy and we can get something going.

I also have two other people outside of FOFC (husband and wife) that I know play the game but I've been way too afraid to challenge them. Maybe now's the time I let loose

FM

Will do! Looking forward to it!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by PadresFan104

Will do! Looking forward to it!

invite sent. Looking forward to gettin destroyed.

Or maybe I'll learn a thing or two.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

invite sent. Looking forward to gettin destroyed.

Or maybe I'll learn a thing or two.

FM

and we played that game in its entirety in one sitting last night. Was pretty cool and I didn't get destroyed too much. Lost it 98-66 or something like that after failing to seal one big city. Was a pretty strategic battle to get control of that city. Take a look below. With only 6 tiles remaining in the game, he got the one he really want (it has a blue color around it on the table) and was able to connect his blue meeple from the bottom to the the rest of the city, giving him control with 3 meeples to my 2 meeples. I still would not have won if we had shared control of that city since we both would have received equal points for the city (19 or so).

As I said, it was a lot of fun and we battled it out until the last few tiles.

FM

[FrogMan]

just realized that SoundHound, a music recognition app for which the free version used to have a limited numer of searches per month now comes with an unlimited number of searches. I find it pretty handy since my wife is into hip hop dancing and often she hears a song on a dance show but we can't figure out who it's from.

FM

[Pyser]

im not too happy that this thread became all about games. i wouldnt mind if we split the threads up

anyway, in that vein, bigger companies that i just got around to getting the apps for:

Bing - just use it to check their maps. the new google one in the iphone hasnt been too right on travel time for me lately

Redbox - worked as advertised. easily rented a movie from a kiosk a few hours before i was able to get there and pick it up

Paypal - finally downloaded it. still creeps me out to put bank info and stuff on there, but havent heard any horror stories, unless you guys know of any

[DataKing]

Originally Posted by Pyser

Paypal - finally downloaded it. still creeps me out to put bank info and stuff on there, but havent heard any horror stories, unless you guys know of any

Just make sure you avoid using the app while on unsecured WiFi.

[Pyser]

Originally Posted by DataKing

Just make sure you avoid using the app while on unsecured WiFi.

what about 3g? or even edge? are those secure?

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by Pyser

what about 3g? or even edge? are those secure?

more secure in the fact that someone can't be running a wifi sniffer and see your data.

[Raiders Army]

Just so FM, tk et al knows, I left my iTouch at work. I won't be playing Disc Drivin or Carcassonne tonight. It'll be tomorrow when I can do my turns. Sorry.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Just so FM, tk et al knows, I left my iTouch at work. I won't be playing Disc Drivin or Carcassonne tonight. It'll be tomorrow when I can do my turns. Sorry.

good to know I have not scared you away from Carcassonne yet

FM

[Raiders Army]

Hey I was winning at one point! (I think before it was your turn...)

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Hey I was winning at one point! (I think before it was your turn...)

FM

[terpkristin]

I'm definitely digging Carcassone (still). And Word With Friends. And though I'm getting "better" at Disc Drivin', it's still not my favorite. What I think is driving me a little nuts is that it's hard to figure out exactly what the touch should be in the swipe. Sometimes it feels like I barely touch it and it rockets away, others I try to do a controlled move and it bounces left and right weirdly. Oh well.

If anybody wants to play Words With Friends or Carcassone or DD with me, my user name is terpkristin and my email is kpilotteATgmailDOTcom

/tk

[terpkristin]

Dola,
I was going through the iTunes store, looking at the app recommendations.

From the "Apps Starter Kit" section, I have the following:
Amazon Mobile
CameraBag
Facebook
Movies by Flixster
Netflix
Pandora
Shazam
Twitter

Of the above, the only ones I don't think have been mentioned much here are CameraBag and Flixster, both of which I recommend. Another nifty camera app is Hipstamatic.

From the Games Starter Kit section, I have the following:
Plants vs. Zombies
Angry Birds (still not my favorite game)
Homerun Battle 3D (still one of my faves)
Canabalt
Words With Friends

The only "Apps for Shopping" app I have is the aforementioned Amazon one, but I might look at the REI app, since i'm virtually addicted to that store.

I also like the IMDb app in the "Hall of Fame" section.

Some of the ones in the "Rest and Relaxation" category look interesting, like timers for meditation and yoga and such. One there, called "White Noise" is great if you like white noise (or a variety of other sounds) to listen to while trying to fall asleep or while trying to work.

One thing I wish the app store had was a better way to highlight great games, except by rating and stuff (because I never really trust ratings).

/tk

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I'm definitely digging Carcassone (still). And Word With Friends. And though I'm getting "better" at Disc Drivin', it's still not my favorite. What I think is driving me a little nuts is that it's hard to figure out exactly what the touch should be in the swipe. Sometimes it feels like I barely touch it and it rockets away, others I try to do a controlled move and it bounces left and right weirdly. Oh well.

If anybody wants to play Words With Friends or Carcassone or DD with me, my user name is terpkristin and my email is kpilotteATgmailDOTcom

/tk

glad you dig Carcassonne as you are the person with whom I play the most and I would like to keep playing with you for a while...

I also agree with the unresponsiveness of controls for DD. The game is fun, but yeah it can be frustrating.

I've wanted to install Words with Friends for a while now. Care to explain how it's played?

FM

[terpkristin]

Words With Friends is a Scrabble clone for 2 players, either locally (passing the iPod back and forth) or over the internet. Whoever starts the game goes first (which is slightly different from regular Scrabble) and if you make a word that's not a word, it doesn't make you lose your turn. It's very much like Carcassone in that there's no time limit or anything, and there's a chat feature to send messages to your opponent. Letter tiles are worth various amounts of points and the TW (triple word), TL (triple letter), DW (double word) and DL (double letter) are all just like Scrabble. Also just like Scrabble, if you use all 7 letters in your hand for a single word, you get a "bingo" bonus of I think 35 points.

Right this moment I have games going with:
Dodgerchick
my mom
my sister
two friends from work (separate games)

Also just like Scrabble, some of the words that are allowed drive me nuts (like "ZA" is a legit word, or "QI"), but I love word games and this is no exception.

/tk

[FrogMan]

Interesting, I should probably give this a try. Could help me build some more vocabulary.

I remember seeing that the ad-free version was on sale fo 99cents and it seems to still be the case. Might give it a go when I get home... Will let you know.

FM

[samifan24]

I can't believe you haven't played Words, FM, you are like the iPhone game king in this thread. It's a great game.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I can't believe you haven't played Words, FM, you are like the iPhone game king in this thread. It's a great game.

yeah, I know but you see, English is not my first language (shocking, no?) so word games are not the first games I go to although I do have 8 word games already installed on my Touch: Moxie (free), bookworm, cash roulette (more a wheel of fortune type game), moblox, wordwarrior, textropolis, wordsalad and word ace. Admittedly, I think I have only tried out Moxie more than once, and Cash roulette, but as I said, it's more a spin the wheel and guess a sentence kind of game than a "find words" kind of game.

Anyway, Word with Friends is downloaded and I'll sync it to my Touch when I get back from my parents' place later tonight. Gotta go fix their Thunderbird. Looks like my mom might have messed up something somewhere in their computer.

FM

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

yeah, I know but you see, English is not my first language (shocking, no?) so word games are not the first games I go to

If it makes you feel any better, my wife is also English second language, but some games she kicks my butt. We have found that Words with friends heavily allows in various english variants of foreign words including Spanish, french, Japanese, etc. In the end the game seems to come down to who gets lucky enough to get the triple and double word squares usually wins.

Either way, pretty fun multiplayer game especially for free.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

If it makes you feel any better, my wife is also English second language, but some games she kicks my butt. We have found that Words with friends heavily allows in various english variants of foreign words including Spanish, french, Japanese, etc. In the end the game seems to come down to who gets lucky enough to get the triple and double word squares usually wins.

Either way, pretty fun multiplayer game especially for free.

interesting, thanks for the info. Game's installed now and fwiw, I went with the ad-free version that's still selling at the reduced price of 99cents.

FM

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I can't believe you haven't played Words, FM, you are like the iPhone game king in this thread. It's a great game.

I know! This is shocking

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

I know! This is shocking

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, and indeed, Words with Friends is fun.

FM

[QuikSand]

Do I need an email addy to Play MP carcassonne? If anyone wants to play me, drop a pm or email invite to msanderson 313 at gee-mail

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Do I need an email addy to Play MP carcassonne? If anyone wants to play me, drop a pm or email invite to msanderson 313 at gee-mail

sent you an invite to that addy. It includes a link but I think you have to copy/paste it into safari for it to start Carcassonne. From that point on, I'll be listed in your friends to start future games.

Looking forward to playing with you.

FM

[samifan24]

I have a gift card and am thinking about Carcassone. Has anyone disliked it after trying it? Can you still have fun if you're only playing the computer or is it mostly a multiplayer game only?