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?