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[Stumpokapow]

If I asked for a game without tilt control, or one without a virtual d-pad, that would be okay, but if I get ask for a game without IAP the defence force trots out.

People are going to agree with your criticism when they feel it's merited. It's not a "defence force" and frankly it's super obnoxious when anyone on GAF tries to marginalize someone else's opinion by grouping them into a category, insulting the category, and declaring victory.

There are games with unacceptable IAP out there, but there are also games where it's simply not a thing. Jetpack Joyride has consumable IAP, but why buy any of it? Tiny Tower has consumable IAP, but why buy any of it? Run Roo Run has consumable IAP, but why buy any of it? In all these cases, you will be able to play the game to 100% completion, and get the maximum out of them, without buying anything consumable. Jetpack Joyride does have the coin doubler IAP which is actually "useful", but it's also not consumable, it's buy-once use-forever. You might feel rubbed the wrong way by the concept, and that's fine, but if others don't share your immediate revulsion, they get to express themselves too.

 

[FrontalMonk]

my 2 cents on IAPs and IAP Coins:

I played the hell out of Infinity Blade and never had to buy a single coin, I always had enough coins to buy the next blade or armor piece up on the totem pole and then some.

Infinity Blade 2 on the other hand has several times made me hit a brick wall where I max out the exp on an item and can't afford the next one down the line.

When IAP coins are part of the structure of the game and it becomes difficult to progress without it, that's a big problem for me. I stopped playing IB2 even though it was a fantastic game, and went over to other games, like King of Dragon Pass, which has no IAPs at all.

 

[nym]

my 2 cents on IAPs and IAP Coins:

I played the hell out of Infinity Blade and never had to buy a single coin, I always had enough coins to buy the next blade or armor piece up on the totem pole and then some.

Infinity Blade 2 on the other hand has several times made me hit a brick wall where I max out the exp on an item and can't afford the next one down the line.

When IAP coins are part of the structure of the game and it becomes difficult to progress without it, that's a big problem for me. I stopped playing IB2 even though it was a fantastic game, and went over to other games, like King of Dragon Pass, which has no IAPs at all.

This exactly mirrors my experience with IB2 as well. I don't mind IAP except when they break the flow of the game.

 

[Captain N]

That's weird. If you go into Settings there's an entry for RetinaPad - is FFT selected in the options for it? Works fine fore me, looks gorgeous.

Is RetinaPad something thay only works on iPad 2? I don't see the option on iPad 1.

 

[McBacon]

Is RetinaPad something thay only works on iPad 2? I don't see the option on iPad 1.

It's a jailbreak thing

 

[Sotha Sil]

If I asked for a game without tilt control, or one without a virtual d-pad, that would be okay, but if I get ask for a game without IAP the defence force trots out.

How is that comparable? Some IAP are completely tolerable, some are downright shameful. Take Hero Academy: free tactical game with ads between each turns; buy a new team to take them down. Frankly, I'm feeling kind of guilty for only spending one meager dollar on this magnificent game.

If you asked for a game without invasive, game-breaking IAP, though, that'd be totally understandable.

 

[GeekyDad]

People are going to agree with your criticism when they feel it's merited. It's not a "defence force" and frankly it's super obnoxious when anyone on GAF tries to marginalize someone else's opinion by grouping them into a category, insulting the category, and declaring victory. ...

Ironically, that's what I was referring to when I said that people here on GAF often respond with zealous defense. Rather than discuss the pluses and minuses...and "doodoo," people are often all too quick to jump to the defense of publishers/developers, especially if the game is good. The gameplay can be fun and the game still have shit you don't like. No one's insulting a category, but I think it's fair to categorize a certain behavior we see commonly here on GAF and elsewhere on the Internet. And like I said, it's an argument that always seems to go nowhere, so I don't think anyone is attempting to claim victory either way.

 

[Slacker]

Anyone play Yoot Tower? I had never heard of the PC version, but I guess it's a sequel of sorts to Sim Tower. Looks interesting, but it has never budged from its $7.99 price and it only updated once in the year it's been out. Anyone check it out?

 

[dock]

People are going to agree with your criticism when they feel it's merited. It's not a "defence force" and frankly it's super obnoxious when anyone on GAF tries to marginalize someone else's opinion by grouping them into a category, insulting the category, and declaring victory.

I should apologise, I didn't mean to be dismissive. I appreciate your feedback on the topic, rather than Dynamite Shikoku calling people 'Retard'.

Infinity Blade 2 on the other hand has several times made me hit a brick wall where I max out the exp on an item and can't afford the next one down the line.

When IAP coins are part of the structure of the game and it becomes difficult to progress without it, that's a big problem for me.

This is my problem. I don't trust games to resist this type of spike, and I feel players don't express whether or not there are these types of spike. I don't trust Roo Roo Run to not have artificial difficulty spikes in there to squeeze some extra IAP cash out of certain players.

Games like Jetpack Joyride are clearly about competing with scores, and players will presumably do better if they collect more coins for better items or options or whatever. The coin doubler is one thing, but they also sell bags of coins directly, so they're obviously relying on some players to jump straight into wanting to compete.

Maybe I'll try some of these games in the future, and I know it seems petty to avoid game design approaches such as these, but more often than not I've come away feeling irritated by the game begging for money during gameplay.

Even normal IAP can be annoying, especially when developers clutter the regular menus with the locked/paid content. For a similar example: I don't enjoy the xbox 360 as much as other consoles because of the annoying adverts (the dashboard) before I can get to the games I own. It's like a nice restaurant where the waitress farts on your table when taking your order.

 

[dock]

Some IAP are completely tolerable, some are downright shameful. Take Hero Academy: free tactical game with ads between each turns; buy a new team to take them down. Frankly, I'm feeling kind of guilty for only spending one meager dollar on this magnificent game.

If you asked for a game without invasive, game-breaking IAP, though, that'd be totally understandable.

I generally ask for games without consumable IAP, but that confuses people, because they feel that in-game-coins aren't a consumable.

Paying to remove adverts is one of the nicest uses of IAP, and it's been soiled by the prevalence of coin-packs and similar methods.

 

[Sotha Sil]

I generally ask for games without consumable IAP, but that confuses people, because they feel that in-game-coins aren't a consumable.

Paying to remove adverts is one of the nicest uses of IAP, and it's been soiled by the prevalence of coin-packs and similar methods.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I agree.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Not sure if you guys have mentioned PuzzleJuice, but it looks cool, and is by a friend of my best friend that went to Iowa State too and made Solipskier.

EDIT: Looks like you've been playing it! I'll be picking it up tonight.

http://www.edge-online.com/reviews/puzzlejuice-review

Puzzlejuice absolutely resists any attempt at reverse-engineering. While it’s patently the product of combining three existing games – Boggle, Tetris, and, to a lesser extent Bejeweled – the end result feels nothing like any of them. Sort falling blocks, transform them into letters, and then match those letters into words: it’s simple in theory, but if you play it on the hardest difficulty – which you should - it leaves your brain with no time to settle on any one element. The puzzle doesn’t lie with the words or the blocks or the colours, then – the puzzle lies in switching your attention between the three at speed.

8/10

 

[GeekyDad]

Epoch. is on sale for $0.99 (in the U.S. anyway). Down from $5, I believe.

 

[Tobor]

I generally ask for games without consumable IAP, but that confuses people, because they feel that in-game-coins aren't a consumable.

Paying to remove adverts is one of the nicest uses of IAP, and it's been soiled by the prevalence of coin-packs and similar methods.

I have absolutely no problem with consumables as long as they are optional and handled correctly, as in Tiny Towers, or Triple Town.

 

[Wario64]

Epoch. is on sale for $0.99 (in the U.S. anyway). Down from $5, I believe.

Wow, nice sale. I'll definitely try at that price. I skipped when it was $3 a while ago

 

[cws]

Wow, nice sale. I'll definitely try at that price. I skipped when it was $3 a while ago

Same here and it seems like it was the right decision.
I hope It'll run at least decent on my iPhone 4.

 

[Of All Trades]

Anyone play Yoot Tower? I had never heard of the PC version, but I guess it's a sequel of sorts to Sim Tower. Looks interesting, but it has never budged from its $7.99 price and it only updated once in the year it's been out. Anyone check it out?

I have a vague memory of it coming out and some people saying it was bad for some reason, possibly interface or bugs.

my 2 cents on IAPs and IAP Coins:

I played the hell out of Infinity Blade and never had to buy a single coin, I always had enough coins to buy the next blade or armor piece up on the totem pole and then some.

Infinity Blade 2 on the other hand has several times made me hit a brick wall where I max out the exp on an item and can't afford the next one down the line.

When IAP coins are part of the structure of the game and it becomes difficult to progress without it, that's a big problem for me. I stopped playing IB2 even though it was a fantastic game, and went over to other games, like King of Dragon Pass, which has no IAPs at all.

IB1 isn't as bad as IB2 but it's still bad in that the game is clearly designed to push the player into buying consumable IAP coins if they want to see the "free" additional area without excessive grinding to get the necessary weapon.

 

[bubnbob]

Will try Epoch as well when I get home

 

[bob page]

Just ran out of moves in Triple Town.

Urghhhhhh. Must. Play.

 

[LuchaShaq]

IB1 isn't as bad as IB2 but it's still bad in that the game is clearly designed to push the player into buying consumable IAP coins if they want to see the "free" additional area without excessive grinding to get the necessary weapon.

Agree 100% on IB2. Despite it being the best looking, and imo best use of touchscreen controls on any game on ios I regret buying it due to how IAP are structured with the balance of the game. If the game was free with iap like this or 15 without any iap I'd be much happier.

 

[FrontalMonk]

I have absolutely no problem with consumables as long as they are optional and handled correctly

This.

My thoughts on IAP is that I don't have a problem with it so long as you can feel like you're really progressing without leaning on the crutch of "just buy more coins". In something like Tiny Tower, it's always there, but it's not really necessary from what little I experienced of the game (I only made my tower like 8 or 9 stories tall). In IB2, you hit this "pay up" wall in a couple hours of play. I'm not okay with that. There's a really delicate balance in the in-game economy to hit for me to be interested for any stretch of time.

Also, for the record, IAP Expansions and Ad-Free IAP? No problems whatsoever. Excellent implementation of the system.

I like to think that my views on IAP are in the majority, but it'd be pretty egotistical of me to make a claim like that, so I'll just say that's my thoughts, and I'm stickin' to 'em.

 

[bryehn]

Puzzlejuice is awesome.

 

[Slacker]

Wow, just realized the unofficial Dominion app works on the iPhone too, and actually works really damn well. The official client (supposedly coming within three weeks) suddenly has a high standard to live up to.

 

[EleventhDoctor]

Plants vs. Zombies is a fantastic game-then they added the option of IAP. It's purely optional-I didn't need it as I already had a ton of in game cash-but does the addition of that feature negate it's greatness? Was it a great game before IAP, and now it can't be "Trusted"? :/

 

[NorrenRadd]

I have bought unlimited turns for Triple Town on my IPad and then just clicked "Restore unlimited Turns" in the Game. Now i have unlimited turns on both devices but on the Iphone i'm prompted to enter my Itunes account password every time i play the game.

This is not my experience. I just tested it now.

Do you have 2 accounts on your iPhone?

 

[Dacvak]

Wow, just realized the unofficial Dominion app works on the iPhone too, and actually works really damn well. The official client (supposedly coming within three weeks) suddenly has a high standard to live up to.

Official Dominion app? Where'd you hear this!?

 

[dream]

I like to think I'm pretty open minded when it comes to gaming business models but I can agree that there's a pretty tacky connotation associated with IAPs. I love TripleTown but buying the unlimited turns unlock left me with a slightly dirty feeling that wouldn't have been there if I just bought the thing upfront.

Which is weird to me because this type of unlock is really no different from shareware -- which I was totally fine with.

 

[Of All Trades]

Also, for the record, IAP Expansions and Ad-Free IAP? No problems whatsoever. Excellent implementation of the system.

My problem is that I consider it a decent implementation of a bad system. I recently bought Real Sports Simulator (when it was a buck) and was immediately presented with IAP just to access the stuff in most of the screenshots in the App Store. I didn't have a problem with the final price ($3), but at the same time it created a low-information market because half the reviews (which I tend to ignore for a variety of reasons) were complaining about the existence of IAP, the bait-and-switch method, or other random garbage, when the whole thing could have been solved by simply charging $3 for the game or at least having the IAP purchasable from the App Store itself.

Another, much larger issue I have though is that the low-info marketplace makes it hard to determine if IAP expansions are even worth getting. Settlers of Catan has expansions, but there's no way to see what I'm buying within the App Store or the app itself, and I can't comparison shop or anything from within the App Store, nor is there any indicator as to how popular the IAP is if it's multiplayer based.

 

[Slacker]

Official Dominion app? Where'd you hear this!?

BGG had the announcement last last year, saying it was coming Q1 2012. Here's a Rio Grander commenting on the unofficial app a few days ago:

http://boardgamegeek.com/article/8299657#8299657

Just to clarify things on this issue if I can at this point. Over the past two years, RGG has been approached by a number of people asking to do a "casual" and free app for Dominion. In such cases, we have usually said yes with the stipulation that once the "official" Dominion app became available that the free app would be removed. Cory is one of those who asked and, as with others, we gave him permission to develop a free Dominion app, which I understand he has finished. I admit some surprise as it has been months since we last spoke and I had assumed he had decided not to complete the app. In any case, as long as it is free, it is allowed, at least for a few weeks until the licensed app becomes available.

I can't fathom why the guy who wrote the unofficial app did so much work to get it going when it's (a) free and (b) only available for a few weeks, but hey. I'll enjoy it until the real deal hits.

 

[dream]

Yup, no argument here. Even the best implementation of IAPs makes the shopping, buying, and usage processes far more convoluted and kind of violates the spirit of the App Store. This thread sees someone ask if previously purchased IAPs can be restored on a new device almost every week and it's not their fault for not knowing; it's just a very unintuitive thing to wrap your head around.

 

[Dacvak]

BGG had the announcement last last year, saying it was coming Q1 2012. Here's a Rio Grander commenting on the unofficial app a few days ago:

http://boardgamegeek.com/article/8299657#8299657



I can't fathom why the guy who wrote the unofficial app did so much work to get it going when it's (a) free and (b) only available for a few weeks, but hey. I'll enjoy it until the real deal hits.

Well, shit, I'm having a blast with this unofficial one so far. Haven't played any online games with it yet, but the offline games are great.

Except for the fact that Remodel doesn't work right - when you gain a card with Remodel, it's supposed to go into your discard pile, not your hand.

 

[Slacker]

Well, shit, I'm having a blast with this unofficial one so far. Haven't played any online games with it yet, but the offline games are great.

Except for the fact that Remodel doesn't work right - when you gain a card with Remodel, it's supposed to go into your discard pile, not your hand.

Yep I noticed that too. Hopefully the real app will get it all right (and have expansions for a reasonable price).

Also FYI, Race For The Galaxy is on its way to iOS soon too.

 

[Dacvak]

Yep I noticed that too. Hopefully the real app will get it all right (and have expansions for a reasonable price).

Also FYI, Race For The Galaxy is on its way to iOS soon too.

I've never tried that. Good? Also, it Ticket to Ride worth getting?

 

[InaudibleWhispa]

Also FYI, Race For The Galaxy is on its way to iOS soon too.

As far as I'm aware, it has been delayed.

I've never tried that. Good? Also, it Ticket to Ride worth getting?

Ticket To Ride is great fun. Very simple to play, but never boring. Neuroshima Hex is another fantastic iOS board game I've been having a lot of fun with lately.

 

[Pachimari]

Epoch is on sale for 99c, both on iPhone and iPad.

 

[Gamecocks625]

Reckless Racing 2 trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhLz1MwgFzI

so so so good. Can't wait.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Puzzlejuice is great! A combination of Tetris and Spelltower. Has a very nice addictive mix to it.

My favorite is still WELDER and Bookworm, but I'd gladly add Puzzlejuice to my list of favorite and addictive word puzzlers.

 

[cws]

Played the first two stages of Epoch and ir runs surprisingly very smooth on my iphone4. The loading times at the beginning are a bit long for my taste, but it looks good - i`ll get back to it on the iPad though.

 

[Dog Problems]

Some possibly decent stuff coming out this week. Paper Monsters, One Epic Game, and Speed Blazers all have my interest.

 

[Slacker]

I've never tried that. Good? Also, it Ticket to Ride worth getting?

Race For The Galaxy is excellent. I'll be playing it constantly if the iPad version is well put together.

And Ticket To Ride is awesome. Easily my most played iPad game - at least 100 games so far with no end in sight. HIGHLY recommended. You can play online against other iPadders or players using the PC client from daysofwonder.com. I've never waiting more than about 30 seconds to find a good game and everyone who plays online knows what they're doing so every game is a challenge. I usually play the 1v1 "mega" game on the U.S. map. Lots of tickets so the games are high scoring, and a fast 1v1 game usually plays out over about 15-20 minutes.

Pass-and-play works great too, so my wife and I can pass the iPad back and forth and play a quick game without dragging out the physical board game.

Note that there is an iPhone version too, but it's the base U.S. map only, with no online multiplay. The iPad version has U.S. by default, and 1910, Europe, and Switzerland as IAP.

 

[Pachterballs]

Took myself 2 months, but finally beat kings cashing

whats this game? Is it called kings cashing?

all 4 games were free few weeks back. Looks good but the combat is too slow for my liking. didn't last long playing it. Maybe that's not it - its the zenonia series. I also got this game though. Again, got bored.

 

[Milla]

Are we gonna see Sidhe on Vita soon or are you guys now smartphone-only?

Rugby Challenge has been announced for PS Vita.

 

[Therealbeatris]

ugh, Tiny Tower all over again.

 

[blackflag]

Well, shit, I'm having a blast with this unofficial one so far. Haven't played any online games with it yet, but the offline games are great.

Except for the fact that Remodel doesn't work right - when you gain a card with Remodel, it's supposed to go into your discard pile, not your hand.

Throne doesn't work right either. I doubled a throne with a throne and then it had me only choose 1 more action which it didn't even play twice.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Anyone play Yoot Tower? I had never heard of the PC version, but I guess it's a sequel of sorts to Sim Tower. Looks interesting, but it has never budged from its $7.99 price and it only updated once in the year it's been out. Anyone check it out?

Yoot Tower, the PC game, is great. The Tower series is in my top ten of all time. Just a wonderful blend of sim elements and accessible fun.

Yoot Tower, the iPad port, suffers from a poor interface and sluggish performance. I'm not sure if that one update fixed those issues, because I never went back to it after my sour first experience.

 

[Zeth]

I really hope Puzzlejuice gets an update that adds some kind of button to drop blocks to their preview position. I suck at sliding them down and invitably ruin every game I play by moving to the wrong column, to the point that I don't want to play.

Edit: people should definitely jump on Epoch. I payed full price and it was worth it for me. I played the hell out of it until I was farming the final boss on the hardest difficulty to get all the gear. Really great little game, I hope they do something new with the gameplay system they built. Don't know how the game sold though.

 

[Pastry]

I really hope Puzzlejuice gets an update that adds some kind of button to drop blocks to their preview position. I suck at sliding them down and invitably ruin every game I play by moving to the wrong column, to the point that I don't want to play.

Edit: people should definitely jump on Epoch. I payed full price and it was worth it for me. I played the hell out of it until I was farming the final boss on the hardest difficulty to get all the gear. Really great little game, I hope they do something new with the gameplay system they built. Don't know how the game sold though.

How long is epoch? I'm probably buying it anyway but just curious.

 

[raiot]

This is not my experience. I just tested it now.

Do you have 2 accounts on your iPhone?

No, i only have one account. I have to try this with the recent update.

 

[bob page]

Wait, Triple Town turns don't regenerate when the app is closed? What the hell kind of bullshit is this.

 

[Zeth]

How long is epoch? I'm probably buying it anyway but just curious.

Might only take 20-30 min(or less) to run through once but it's a lot like Infinite Blade. You want to keep playing through to unlock newer/better gear. There's not much to it, but I find the core gameplay extremely enjoyable. Actually a decent amount of depth when you start learning the enemies and perfecting your timing and mixing damage over time weapons, lazer, and explosive. There are also corresponding armor types for each ammo type for you and the enemies.