I too picked up Baldur's Gate, but haven't started it yet. Also, I picked up Final Fantasy Dimensions. It's a new-ish Final Fantasy game from SqEnix very similar to FFIV, and it's episodic. Until 12/14, you can buy all of the episodes for $16.99, down from close to $30 or something. I started playing, but I think I'm getting an iPhone 5 this week, and it doesn't appear that there is any "cross-device sync," so I'll probably hold off on playing until I get that.

More and more, the lack of cross-device sync drives me nuts. Jetpack Joyride, the NYT Crosswords app, and Carcassonne do a great job with it, syncing via iCloud or GameCenter. My recollection is that Tiny Tower does it, too, as it did it when I switched from my iPod Touch to my iPhone 4 (but I'll see if it's like I remember when I go to the iPhone 5).

I was going through my stack of old game CDs (lots and lots of great memories) and came across Hooves of Thunder. I had lots of fun with that game (but it won't install on my PC). Are there any good horse racing sims for iPhone?

I don't think so

Starters Orders but I have no idea how good it actually is.

Stock Market Board Game would be a game I love to play but it's for iPad only. Does that mean it won't be playable on the iPhone?

yes, that's what it means. iPhone only apps are playable on the iPad, although on a simply double scaled screen, while apps that are called "universal" are native on both the iPad and the iPhone screen.

FM

MobileDay 1 touch conference call app

MobileDay for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

two fairly big name RPG are free for the time being: Aralon Sword & Shadow HD and The Bard's Tale.

FM

Carcassonne developer TheCodingMonkeys has announced they're adding another expansion to the iOS version, Traders & Builders. I'm stoked, I really love this game (admittedly, I *get* this game a lot more than I *get* TTR and infinitely more than I *get* TTR: Europe but my issue with TTR: Europe is that I don't get the new features and the tutorial sucked/skipped over them). So yeah, stoked about another Carcassonne expansion, it will be $1.99 and is in the app approval process: Carcassonne for iOS getting Traders and Builders expansion, Lost Cities on sale | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog . It seems obvious I'll buy the expansion...

Apparently these guys ported another board game I've never played, Lost Cities. It's on sale for $1.99 now, or so the above link indicates.

I'm digging Final Fantasy Dimensions. Also, all the games I had going ported over quite well to the iPhone 5, including Fairway Solitaire and FF: Dimensions, not losing my place. Don't know if that's because the backup restored everything properly or iCloud, though...

/tk

that's cool TK, I'm digging my going back to Carcassonne. Will get the expansion the moment it's out...

FM

just read on TouchArcade that FMHi 2013 is coming out tonight, that is big news!

FM

Kristin, for whatever it is worth, I like lost cities better than carasscone. I have the board game of carasscone but don't really play that or the iPhone version, lost cities is a much different game though, it is more of a quickie type game where you play numbered cards to try to get points.

There is also a thread here about it. :D


Thanks for the info, I'll check it out. Can't hurt to try, plus I like the developer.

And I just read on Touch Arcade that Fluxx is also coming out for iPhone "tonight," too. I love love love this card game, I'm hoping the iPhone version is good. And that I have people to play with.

/tk

What kind of games are Lost Cities and Carasscone?

Can't speak to Lost Cities aside from anything Alan said, but Carcassonne is a table-top game where you pick up tiles and place them to build roads, cities, and fields. The idea is to get the most points by strategically building these, stealing other peoples' fields/cities/roads, and forcing the cities/roads/fields to get closed off before points can be scored (thereby reducing their ability to use their pieces to get more points later). I'm describing it poorly. I guess amongst board game enthusiasts, it's considered one of the least challenging games...but I really like it. The core game is a pricey $9.99 (well-worth it, it's a beautiful port and is a universal app, working seamlessly between all your iDevices), with a free Rivers expansion, and then the Inns & Cathedrals expansion as an IAP for 99 cents or $1.99 and soon to have the Towns & Builders expansion for another IAP for $1.99.

Also, I really came here to post that I just saw that Google's iOS maps app is apparently also coming out tonight: Google to Release iOS Maps App Tonight - Mac Rumors

/tk

There's a decent Facebook app for Carcassonne, FWIW. I'd be happy to meet anyone on there to play.

yeah, well, this thread here is almost all I find time to read on FOFC anymore, might visit the FMH thread then...

I also bought Lost Cities.

And Buc, I'm thinking you should love Carcassonne...

FM

Out now worldwide (and also on Android as well as iOS).

Thank you tk and FM. I looked at the screenshots and saw really small text. Some games you can get by without reading the tiny stuff because you know what's going on but it seems in this one, you would need to read everything?

Thanks for this. Downloading now.

Oh by the way, Kairosoft released Pocket Clothier for iOS. Not sure when. Just realized now I hadn't checked in a few months so searched to see if there was anything new, and sure enough there was.

good thing i got the 64 gig iphone5.

1.3gb for bard's tale.

Is The Bard's Tale x-compatible with iPad? Because the screen is so small and dark on the iPod touch it's impossible for me to play.

Yes, it's a universal app.

Is been out over a month or two now

Funny thing is, I'm enjoying Pocket Clothier more than any other Kairosoft title in a long time. Cafe Nipponica had potential but it just didn't grab me for some reason.

If I had to rank Kairosoft's iOS titles:

1. Game Dev Story - has that same incessant replayability that Hollywood Mogul 2 had.

2. Mega Mall Story - Love this one, too, and also still fire it up now and again.
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3. Hot Springs Story - This would be on the same level as GDS and MMS, were it not for the fact that the end-game is so irritating. I keep getting so close to that #1 spot for a couple magazines and keep failing. Were it not for that annoyance, it easily pushes into the upper level and might even beat out MMS for #2.

4. Grand Prix Story - This game actually ranked lower for a while, but the more I played it, the more addicting it got. It's hard to get to the highest levels with enough time to win it all, but it doesn't irritate me the way HSS does.

5. Pocket Clothier - Yep, I'm enjoying this one so much it breaks the top 5 and the second level. I don't know if it has quite enough depth to go higher, but still very enjoyable.
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6. Pocket League Story - I know a lot of people loved this one. I liked it, but there was something a little missing from it. Hard to put my finger on it, but it felt like a grind after a while, and there's a major, major gap when you get to the international level that I didn't feel like putting much effort into closing.

7. Pocket Academy - This is one I keep thinking has the potential to go higher, but it falls just short. I'll give it another try I'm sure to see if it can go up the rankings.
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8. Dungeon Village - It's okay, but now is where the quality really starts dropping for me. It's passable, but not something I've played all the way through or more than once.

9. Cafeteria Nipponica - It has the ability to be much higher than I'm currently ranking it. I just haven't had the chance to really study it or go into much depth with it. OTOH, I haven't felt the inclination to play it again either.
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10. Oh! Edo Towns - Now we're getting into the games that either bore me or I plain just don't like. OET is the most frustrating Kairosoft game to date - it should be great, but it's just lackluster. OTOH I've actually played this a few times, trying to get into it, so maybe it should be up a level.

11. Epic Astro Story - Part of this is me not being a big fan of space games, but a bigger part is that it's just boring. So boring I'll never play it again and only keep it on my iPD to maintain a complete collection.

12. Venture Towns - Take everything I hate about OET. Now put it in a generic, confusing, boring modern-day setting, and you have VT. This is the one that almost made me give up on Kairosoft as an auto-purchase, though I still will support them.

Android Exclusive Wishlist Rankings
1. World Cruise Story - I want this game on iOS more than anything. Loved the demo on Android but don't like Android phones for game playing so didn't get it there. Here's to hoping.
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2. The Sushi Spinnery - Looks pretty lightweight, but one of my favorite meals in Japan was at a conveyer belt sushi place, so I'm intrigued to try this one out.

3. Beastie Bay (FREE ON ANDROID) - I might actually get this on the phone since it's free. Originally I wasn't too keen on it, but after skimming through the text and the screenshots, it's worth a look.
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4. Kairobotica - This looks honestly terrible. Which of course means this will probably be the next iOS port. :D

Hey tk and britrock,

I upgraded to iOS 6 today and now the profile that is on my phone barring multiplyer won't even let me play TTR at all. So, I'm switching to the iPad. I won't be taking turns as quickly.

I don't have the right to complain.

Is this the correct place for iTunes questions? My wife went to help my daughter buy some new games for her iPod, and had to start by getting the iTunes 11 update. Since they rearranged the entire interface, she can't find things, and is having the following problems:

1) It synched EVERYTHING to the iPod, not just the apps/music that we had told the previous version to.
2) All the "Device" context menu items were grayed out, although it appears that she got another update last night that has them active, but not properly working.
3) She is having a lot of trouble getting it to recognize her iPhone at all, and hasn't been able to get it to update the apps on it.
4) All the "help" related to this on Apple's support site shows instructions for iTunes 10.

We have just the two devices: her iPhone 4 and our daughter's iPod Touch, and with the old version she could easily pick and choose (via the context menu) what to install to each. Now she is completely lost trying to figure out how to manage each device from the one iTunes install. We may end up having to go with two separate accounts, which we don't really want to do just yet.

Any suggestions for managing multiple devices with the new iTunes 11?

Ok, I love the new IOS port of the card game Fluxx so much that I bought the card game as well for someone for Christmas. No idea which of my kids will be getting it, but I will give it to one of them just so I can have the opportunity to play it with them :)

Oh this is great to hear! Is there online multiplayer? I LOVE Fluxx but don't have anybody local to play with. I'd LOVE to play with some FOFC'ers if the iOS version supports it...

/tk

There is online and offline multiplayer options. I don't know how the online works though, I have not tried it. I tried offline with my wife and it was ok, but it was alot of passing back and forth of the ipad (since you don't want to see the other person's cards) and that loses a little bit of the flow of the game, plus alot of the fun of seeing the new rules or actions played. Maybe that is better in online multiplayer since you can watch your screen the whole time.

I'm not sure how exactly you guys are managing things, but I have multiple devices set to sync manually on my one install of iTunes. I did have to do a few things to make iTunes 11 "look" like the old iTunes, basically as outlined here, it made things significantly more manageable: iTunes 11 for old fogies: goin' back to the way it was | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Also, I have all my iDevices (iPod Touch, iPad, iPhone 4 that is being phased out, and new iPhone 5) set to "Manually manage music and videos." I've had the occasional error (on Windoze) where it doesn't seem to recognize my iPhone (which I hook in WAY more often than my iPod Touch). I find that unmounting it and then restarting iTunes usually clears that up. The "manually manage" is probably more than some people want to do, but I use smart playlists extensively so it's pretty straight-forward for me, and allows me clear delineation and flexibility of what's where.

Don't know if that helps, but if nothing else, you may find it useful to make the new iTunes look like the old..

/tk

Well, if you want to play, my GameCenter ID is terpkristin (original, I know!). I'd be up for it. :D

/tk

Thanks, I will pass the info along and see if it helps.

I am in the middle of a looooong game using exactly this setup and do find it more challenging (thanks!). I don't know if I am going to win but will probably do so since I can manage my trades better. For the record, though, I have seen the AI buy skip cards.

What's the best Texas Hold'em iPhone app to play against the AI?

Bike Race is a lot of fun.

If anyone wants to play
HaveHunting

Good question - would like to know this too..

My brother just told me about Great Big War game, which is IGN's Strategy Game of the Year. He said it was a combination of Civ and Risk. Any thoughts on it?

from iTunes 12 days of Christmas (www.itunes.com/12days), I picked up this goal scoring game simply called Score!

Score! Classic Goals for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

It's a sort of line drawing game where you replay famous goals from past international soccer matches. The animation is very well done. Who doesn't like a well shot goal? :)

FM

Don't.

Great Little War Game is free today. Played it for a little bit and it's ok.

Also picked up Cook, Serve, Delicious and Air Tycoon 2 for the ipad. CSD is my wife's new addictive game. I like AT2 as a strategy game. It's like Pocket Planes but way more hardcore.

I asked and got the definitive answer. Lol

I'm getting too many big games like civ, Carcassonne, pirates, psf, GBWG as well as looking at some of the tycoon games. But instead of playing those, I keep playing trade mania. I actually had lost a couple games under the house rules so it becomes even more addicting. I blame raiders army.

Sorry about that Bucc (not really). It's a very strange game in that I won't play it for a week, but when I play it, I play it for hours. I also come back to it. I really wish they would create more cities for it.

So, what does it take to make Trade Mania interesting? For me, it's weird -- I like pretty much ingredient in the recipe, but I don't like the soup when it's done.

With house rules - does it just become harder, or actually interesting?

I'm playing a New york game against 4x hard opponents, and have already turned the corner and now have unlimited cash and it's just playing out the tedious final 40-60 minutes of gameplay until I win. That's not really exciting - even if I'm mostly using it as a time waster diversion while on an exercise bike.

Not buying cards does make it harder when there are deadly properties and the dual tax spots in NYC. And what cards I do get from the spins are few and far between. I have found that if my opponents and I have about the equal amount of properties, then success is not assured. It is when I get an early lead of 6 to 3 or 8 to 4, then I could not lose. But QS is correct in that even with a huge lead, you want to play it out and see which property will provide the knockout blow. The only other house rule I thought of is not to use any cards by choice, even if you got them by the spins.

I still love this game and totally got my $'s worth. Also, I am sure I will play it once in a while, but there is no difficulty and no real strategy to the game. It is like a roller coaster ride. Get in and here we go. I say this because we all would make the exact same move with every spin of the wheel. If you have the $, but the property or build it up. The goods trading is also fun, but simplistic. House rules give you a slightly greater chance to lose, but it is not any more fun really.

If Quik and I played and the spinner rolls were predetermined, our games would play out exactly the same. There is no point in the game where you have to think about what to do.

Still love it though.

I think there are some minor decision making on most turns - whether if its worth buying any commodities or to reduce your cash to a risky level. But as been said, you do the obvious and its hard to go wrong. Adding more cities wouldn't necessarily help but adding one more of risk/reward certainly would.