Kingdom Builder by Donald X. Vaccarino - Board Game Conversion for iPad

[currymutton]

Update 1.1 is out. Fix translation and online game crashes, etc. I am waiting for you guys' feed backs.

[AlteaineDranix]

So does this update really fix all the lag and typographical errors? I really want this, but I never buy shoddily implemented apps.

[sizzlakalonji]

Originally Posted by AlteaineDranix

So does this update really fix all the lag and typographical errors? I really want this, but I never buy shoddily implemented apps.

I never experienced any lag, so I can't speak to that, but there weren't any typographical errors AFAIK. They changed the font to something a bit more "professional" on the menu screen. I love this app. I'm having a blast with it.

[AlteaineDranix]

Originally Posted by sizzlakalonji

I never experienced any lag, so I can't speak to that, but there weren't any typographical errors AFAIK. They changed the font to something a bit more "professional" on the menu screen. I love this app. I'm having a blast with it.

I did some further reading, and it seems like the lag was [still is?] on retina devices. Which isn't a problem on my iPad 2, yay.
I don't have a gripe with the old font; as long as it's legible, I don't mind overmuch. What I would never tolerate is spelling errors, though. And the app display name is kind of annoying, but I'll live with it.

I did buy it anyway, because it sounds like the kind of game I'd love. Haven't had the time to sit down with it yet, though.

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by sizzlakalonji

I never experienced any lag, so I can't speak to that, but there weren't any typographical errors AFAIK. They changed the font to something a bit more "professional" on the menu screen. I love this app. I'm having a blast with it.

I just played my first full game vs. the Easy AI. I can testify it still has a few minor rough bits (at least one typo in the tutorial, an instance of a moved settlement still leaving an image at its original location, some stuttered animations on my iPad 3, and a few bits of the font having rough edges), but works overall and I have confidence the devs will get this right. To me, at least from what I've seen so far, the only issues are of a pretty superficial level.

Beyond Builder Kingdom simply being a GREAT board game by the guy behind the Dominion series of games, something these devs DO deserve credit for is a very detailed end game breakdown showing exactly how/where all of your points were earned (although this is also one screen that could use a little sprucing up on the retina displays). I also love the game's detailed local game stats even just against the AI and NOT relying on a connection to GC.

[Baracus]

Originally Posted by LordGek

I just played my first full game vs. the Easy AI. I can testify it still has a few minor rough bits (at least one typo in the tutorial, an instance of a moved settlement still leaving an image at its original location, some stuttered animations on my iPad 3, and a few bits of the font having rough edges), but works overall and I have confidence the devs will get this right. To me, at least from what I've seen so far, the only issues are of a pretty superficial level.

Beyond Builder Kingdom simply being a GREAT board game by the guy behind the Dominion series of games, something these devs DO deserve credit for is a very detailed end game breakdown showing exactly how/where all of your points were earned (although this is also one screen that could use a little sprucing up on the retina displays). I also love the game's detailed local game stats even just against the AI and NOT relying on a connection to GC.

Thanks for the insight as always LG
So is it an OK tutorial for players that don't know the game? Someone above said you'd just be left with open questions if you don't know the game already.

And how long would you say the games are against say 2 AI? We talking 15 mins, 30, 45?

Pretty tempted to give this a go but I've been less than enthralled by the last few board game apps I bought...

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by Baracus

Thanks for the insight as always LG
So is it an OK tutorial for players that don't know the game? Someone above said you'd just be left with open questions if you don't know the game already.

And how long would you say the games are against say 2 AI? We talking 15 mins, 30, 45?

Pretty tempted to give this a go but I've been less than enthralled by the last few board game apps I bought...

I was able to pick it up fairly quickly having never played it myself either, but just to be on the safe side I had first skimmed the physical board game rules here before even grabbing the game:

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/70...-english-rules

As far as time it takes to play. Hard to say. The gameplay amounts to pretty much just placing 3 little settlement markers each turn on the currently selected land type (chosen by the random flip of a card), but the tricky stuff comes by way of understanding how to best situate these settlements according to the 3 randomly chosen victory conditions and how best to take advantage of the given map's various specialty buildings. So while the first couple of games might take as long as 30 minutes with that above setup, once you know how all of these factors work together, future games will go much quicker.

Also, at the game's end, if you click on any of those point totals shown, the game will whisk you back to the map showing you EXACTLY how all of the points were earned according to that rule in the game just played. Very handy for visualizing some of these victory conditions if the text description wasn't entirely clear.

[currymutton]

Originally Posted by LordGek

I was able to pick it up fairly quickly having never played it myself either, but just to be on the safe side I had first skimmed the physical board game rules here before even grabbing the game:

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/70...-english-rules

As far as time it takes to play. Hard to say. The gameplay amounts to pretty much just placing 3 little settlement markers each turn on the currently selected land type (chosen by the random flip of a card), but the tricky stuff comes by way of understanding how to best situate these settlements according to the 3 randomly chosen victory conditions and how best to take advantage of the given map's various specialty buildings. So while the first couple of games might take as long as 30 minutes with that above setup, once you know how all of these factors work together, future games will go much quicker.

Also, at the game's end, if you click on any of those point totals shown, the game will whisk you back to the map showing you EXACTLY how all of the points were earned according to that rule in the game just played. Very handy for visualizing some of these victory conditions if the text description wasn't entirely clear.

Thank you.

So, should I get it?

Actually, I think La Havre should have such feature breaking down the points and show how I actually lost. Yup, I still lose to the basic AI, but that is pretty much another story.

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by currymutton

Thank you.

So, should I get it?

Actually, I think La Havre should have such feature breaking down the points and show how I actually lost. Yup, I still lose to the basic AI, but that is pretty much another story.

Same here (regarding to losing to basic Le Havre AI).

I like it and also appreciate that once you understand how the various buildings work and vitory conditions are scored, the gameplay itself is fairly simple. Not at all like Le Havre where each turn all of your various action choices can be almost overwhelming.

[sapphire_neo]

No GameCenter mp, no sale.