Streetfood Tycoon World Tour is more of the same … until you get to Day 16 (and from there it gets crazy-awesome)

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 15th, 2013

UPDATE: It’s out! It’s out! Download Streetfood Tycoon World Tour at the iTunes store!

So I’ve been spending a little bit of my on-the-go free time with Erick Garayblas’ latest masterpiece .. the sequel to his smash hit, Streetfood Tycoon. Presenting: Streetfood Tycoon World Tour. In a nutshell, World Tour reflects Erick’s brilliance by taking what was awesome about the first game and topping it (pun intended!) with a juggling act behind the counter.

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Instagram is not selling your photos. Please go back to taking photos of your cat. But something else concerns me…

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 19th, 2012

For a photo sharing app, Instagram is getting a lot of flak for the confusion with their Terms of Service. Apparently, legalese is way beyond the comprehension of the common man so Instagram had to re-publish and re-clarify what it had meant in its previous ToS. It’s here if you want to read it.
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Google releases Google Maps App for iOS

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 13th, 2012

It’s no secret that ever since Apple removed the native Maps app powered by Google with the previous version of iOS, users went clamoring back for it. Apple’s Maps replacement for iOS 6 wasn’t so great — in fact it even led to people getting lost in the wilderness in Australia by providing bad directions.

Well, that nightmare is over now as Google has released an official Google Maps app for iOS 6. Thing is, it is only available in the US store as of late so if you have a PH account, the app won’t show up in the store.
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porTable Table Top Games: Definitely a MUST HAVE on your iOS device

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at October 11th, 2012

There are iOS games you remember fondly and there are iOS games that you know you’ll keep in your device forever. When discussing the former, it’s usually the game you end up buying for USD $0.99 and then play it once or twice then forget about it the next day. And then, there’s the latter — games that you end up downloading to play again and again. porTable is such an app and the biggest irony is that although it is marketed as a card game, it really isn’t. That’s because the game itself doesn’t have any rules of play. All the rules come from the players so you’re not limited to the type of card game to play.

porTable Table Top Games is a card and domino simulation where it makes use of multiple devices to create a playing environment for cards, dominoes and even poker. The only catch is that to play this game, you will need several iOS devices, preferable an iPad to serve as the virtual table and each player holds his or her own iOS device for the “virtual hand.”

If you look at it, it really isn’t a game by itself as all the app does is simulate a casino environment and gives you a deck of cards to deal out. This means that you can play ANYTHING with your deck of virtual cards or dominoes.

Best of all, it’s free!

DOWNLOAD LINK: porTable Table Top Games

The team behind porTable is also developing a poker update for their app. Virtual poker is nothing new as the poker party has always been played online. Below is the screenshot of the prototype:

Trailer: Summoner Wars for iOS

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at May 11th, 2012

I can’t stress it any more: iOS is the platform of choice if you’re a fan of modern (and classic) board games.

Summoner Wars is a fast-playing, action-packed 2-4 player card game. Players take on the role of Summoners: powerful beings who harness the power of mysterious Summoning Stones to lead their race to conquest on the war-torn planet of Itharia. These Summoners wield terrible magic on the battlefield, freezing their foes in place, draining their enemies of power, and even bringing rains of fire down from the heavens. But most notoriously, they summon their great race’s hordes of warriors to the battlefield, to clash in the never-ending struggle for supremacy. A Summoner is both mage and general, and must combine their wizardly might with clever tactics to defeat the enemy Summoner on the opposite side of the battle. [BoardGameGeek]
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An Interview with Erick Garayblas, Creator of Streetfood Tycoon

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at May 7th, 2012

It was really great catching up with Erick Garayblas (@egarayblas) last week over coffee. We talked about the success of Streetfood Tycoon and how his life as a mobile game developer has evolved with the rise of the Apple App Store. We talked about a ton of things so here’s a more organized version of the interview.

** Ed’s note: Not mentioned in the written interview is how Erick was able to have his ‘kwek-kweks’ in many baskets. He noted how he’s shifted from an ad-driven business model (free to play but ad supported) which earned him a ton of money a month into in-app purchases which, although earns less, is more stable as the latter relies on Google’s Adsense platform which can be subject to a lot of technicalities.

1. How did Streetfood Tycoon come to be? What’s your thought process in designing a game?

Streetfood Tycoon came from my penchant for playing simulation and business-related games. I’m a huge fan of Lemonade Tycoon and Sim Tower. I “borrowed” a few mechanics from these two games and presented them in my own unique way w/in the game. I normally don’t follow a “thought process”, I just browse through my list of ideas (which come from dreams, reading books/comics, playing “other” games and talking to friends), try to mix them up, create a prototype and see how it goes from there. A lot of prototypes get shelved while the good ones become full blown games.
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Can’t wait! Nightfall for iOS Coming Soon

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 27th, 2012

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: I love the Android mobile platform but when it comes to this little niche of board game / card game titles, iOS is always first to market. If you’re a board game geek, you’ll be pleased to know that Nightfall is coming to the App Store very soon. I previously did a short overview and unboxing of the Nightfall: Martial Law a standalone expansion on GeekOut and if you read closely, the physical card game, albeit fun can bring about a huge impediment with the setup process as there are over 300 cards to organize. Bringing the game to iOS removes this hassle!

Added bonus: Check out this interview with Playdek and AEG.

Streetfood Tycoon: Local iOS game allows you to control your own Jolly Jeep

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 22nd, 2012

[Download Streetfood Tycoon for iOS -- FREE]

I’ve known Erick Garayblas since my “way back” days in the old MaPalad.org and Pinoy Windows Mobile forum groups. Back then, he was already rocking the mobile gaming scene with hits like Traffic Jam and the highly addicting Tower Mogul that ran on both the Palm OS and Windows Mobile, the top two “advanced” mobile platforms at that time.

Just yesterday, Erick released another home-grown game for iOS under his new development house, Kuyi Mobile. Streetfood Tycoon is a strangely addicting “Jolly Jeep” simulator where you have to fulfill orders from walk-in customers by combining ingredients in the right order. Other than the time limit given to complete each order, you have to deal with restocking your ingredients, upgrading your facilities and buying better ingredients.
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My (Growing) iOS Board Game Collection

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 17th, 2012

Last week, I met up with my staple group of high school friends who play board games semi-regularly. And one of them was really surprised to see me with an iPhone 4s when I swore by my Android-powered Galaxy S II last year (LOL!).

Well I still have my S II and would never trade it off. I feel that for PIM and multitasking, it’s hands-down Android. They have better means to help you stay productive on the cloud. Despite Apple’s iCloud, I don’t feel it as much (unless if you probably own several iDevices). But because Android is powered by Google and Google has just become so ubiquitous, you can’t go wrong.

There is ONE thing that Android doesn’t have though. And it’s a huge collection of board game ports into iOS. I’m not referring to Monopoly or Scrabble. Or Words with Friends. I’m talking about the geekier ones you can find on Board Game Geek which are so hard to come by locally. On iOS, a huge chunk of these titles are readily available for a fraction of the price. With multiplayer online support via GameCenter.

Here’s a roster of some of my growing collection above:

Hive Online – A hex based strategy game where you need to surround your opponent’s Queen Bee.It’s kinda like Chess.

Carcassone – A classic tile-based kingdom builder that has become one of the pillars of Euro-themed board games.

Ticket to Ride – Another classic. It’s fairly simple to play: each team has to build the longest railway system. You get points for completing train routes. It was free for some time.

Bang! The Bullet HD – This is one of my all-time favorite card games (featured back in 2010). One sheriff, two deputies, one renegade, and three outlaws. The twist is that the roles are hidden from all players except the identity of the sheriff. Game ends when the sheriff and his deputies kill the outlaws or vice versa. The “renegade” wild card wins if he’s the last man standing.

Kard Kombat – From Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: The Gathering. It’s Mortal Kombat .. with cards. Sort of.

Ascension – One of the world’s most popular deck building games similar to Dominion and Thunderstone.

Caylus – A popular Kingdom builder Euro-themed game, Caylus is a race to build and expand King Philip the Fair’s castle and make France strong!

Puerto Rico HD – Puerto Rico is still newly discovered and it’s your job to dominate the island. This is a popular role-playing board game that’s also kingdom-builder themed.

Neuroshima Hex – A hex based sci-fi combat game that’s honestly a lot more fun than Hive Online.

7 Wonders Scorer – This is a scoring app for 7 Wonders, a board game that is coming soon to iOS!

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Are any of you guys fond of board games? The experience of playing with cardboard vs digital is very different, but one thing’s for sure — the digital version beats cleaning up afterwards!

Any other games to recommend?

Ticket to Ride (Pocket) is FREE today. Get it, quick!

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 9th, 2012

If you’re a big fan of board games and own an iOS device, I highly suggest you download Ticket to Ride Pocket (that’s the iPhone version) because it’s free. Ticket to Ride is one of the best selling board games in recent history and the port to the iOS is just plain amazing. You know it’s a good game when you consistently see 5-star ratings in the comments section.

If you’re not into board games, I still suggest you pick it up because it’s not at all pretentious and rather easy to pick up for the family.

Ticket to Ride [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Student makes 3D version of Arkham Horror. Help her beta test it!

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 25th, 2012

Imagine that, to complete your Bachelor’s degree you design a 3D version of one of the best board games ever made: Arkham Horror.

I’ve been so wanting to get into it, but the sheer number of expansions, time to invest coupled with finding people to actually play with hinders me from this awesome experience. If you ever drop by Hobbes & Landes or Neutral Grounds, you’ll see rows and rows of Arkham Horror core sets and expansions. I really did want it but chickened out for reasons mentioned above and instead got Betrayal at House on a Hill which doesn’t live up to par, but at least doesn’t have a steep learning curve.

Well, anyway.

I emailed this amazing lady (her name is Andi) to ask if I can participate as a beta test and she sent me the game! in exchange for feedback. The game is about 80% polished (as the YouTube vid states) and I’m just so amazed at what she was able to do.

For those asking, this isn’t an official port of the game by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG). It’s by a student. She plans to present this project to them and get an official endorsement. If you’re wondering whether this holds as copyright infringement, well .. it doesn’t. Because this is a school project, it falls under Fair Use Policy in Europe. Wow. Just wow.

If you love Arkham Horror but hate the setup process, I suggest you send her an email. She’s accepting beta testers till the 5th of February 2012.