Update 1.1 is out. Fix translation and online game crashes, etc. I am waiting for you guys' feed backs.
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.
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.
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...
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/70570/kingdom-builder-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.
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.
I have to say I believe that queen games has shot themselves in the foot by not including Game Center with this release. Instead, you are taken to some German board game sight, which is cool and all except there is never anyone to play there. At least with Game Center, you could play asynchronously and not have to wait around for someone to show up. I have been on there every day for the past week at all different times and only managed to rustle up one single two player game. That's ridiculous. If I had my friends list from gamecenter, I would already be involved in multiple games with many of my friends, having already shot them links to dl the game. I hope they fix this because its broken as is. Other than that, the game is fantastic! No crashes on an ipad2, challenging ai, easy to explain (yeah the tutorial sucks but just play two games and you'll understand everything yourself), about 15 minutes playtime with 4 people....it's really really good except for no real multiplaye to speak of....bummer Don't have much time anyway cause of beta testing through the ages hehehe
An update has just been released. I was hoping for a temporary price drop in conjunction with the update, but no decrease in price, at least not yet. The description of the update includes: "This update mainly focuses on the online mode. The user guidance was fully re-worked and enhanced by a lobby section. A chat was integrated within the game as well as in the lobby. These and the new features like resuming, restarting and many more make online gaming so much easier! Needless to say that further features were improved or established: Detailed tutorial for even easier introduction. Optional acceleration of final scoring. Quick start possibility for the next game immediately after the scoring."
Updating... I hope the new tutorial is clearer as I still have not really figured out how Kingdom Builder works yet. EDIT: The new tutorial is loads clearer than the original one, but it still needs work. The tutorial boxes do not appear properly when counting the victory points associated with the cards and even the animation of the houses being counted just simply stops with just the points increasing and leaving the player mystified as to where these points are accruing from. At the end of the tutorial, it invites the player to click the "i" icons next to the scores to see how these scores were scored, but all it does is flip back to the gameboard. I suspect that it was meant to return to a gameboard that highlights the houses that scored those points, and again, it does not show...
At game end, the previous version showed where the points were gained -amazing that such an obvious bug slipped through their testing procedure. Also, the graphics (on occasions) are a bit stuttering. I see that there is now a free version available which takes you through the tutorial and provides a limited number of moves vs the easy AI.
I am just wondering if all the single player bugs are fixed (since I am going to play solo only). Is the buggy/glitchy graphics on Ipad 4 fixed as well? I love the boardgame, but just wanted to make sure that my $6.99 is well spent on the port, since I heard that the game was extremely buggy initially and it has many bad itunes review for the recent version. Thanks!
It is impossible to squash all the bugs. With the release of iOS 7, more bugs will be created. Maybe you could work out a Software Assurance contract with the developer to address the bugs you find troubling.
You don't get my point! I just wanted to ask if there are still a lot of annoying bugs as claim by the reviews, since I am planning to buy it. Just wondering how does it work on the new Ipad as well?
Could anyone help me out here? I am on the fence about this game, because of all the impressions given by reviewers on Itunes and Gamezebo claiming that there is a lot of annoying bugs in this game.
I like the game, and myself, haven't noticed any bugs after the update. But the online multiplayer, a critical element in my view, is either not working or impossible to get games started. But if your a board game geek like me it's definetly worth it as the ai playes a good game or else I'm terrible at the game, probably the latter.
See my post (above your first post) from 26th April. I contacted the developers and was told that they're fixing the problem and improving the graphics. No information when though! Really enjoy the game - I certainly don't regret buying it.
