Can't wait to play it, honestly. It'll add to the show-off factor of the iPad. One more thing on the list on what the iPad can be (a board for games!)
I really like the look and the idea of having all these games in one place is a pretty good one but I wonder how much appeal it will have without the ability for solo play. With that many games in the box I can understand why you didn't decide to do any AI at all but I think a lot of people will consider that a huge omission. Play by mail is a great idea though and that might just be enough to tip it over. Particularly if some ingenious soul implements a play-by-mail-bot that's capable of playing against you on one or more of these games. Are you planning on adding other games as well in future updates? EDIT: It serves me right for not reading all of the posts before chiming in. I see that you've already addressed most of these concerns in other replies. Good luck to you. It looks great. And to all of you guys who want something with a great AI: go get Mü! (shameless plug)
Hello again! I'm here to answer a bunch of questions regarding the way we're handling certain features and such with respect to BoardBox and the way it is played: 1) How will email multiplayer work? We tried to make this as seamless as possible. And it pretty much is. Here are the total steps: - Make a move, tap email, tap send. In order to make a move, once you've opened the email, - Tap the link in the email, make a move, tap email, tap send. The recipient also gets a nice graphic right from the game showing them the board, rendered on the fly from within BoardBox! Perhaps this is better illustrated in pictures, so I have more screenshots for you! 2) What are the plans for the future? Jeez, let us release the game first! Actually, we're thinking about the future just as much as you are. We've got a bunch of new games planned (and yes, we're taking your suggestions into consideration), some tweaks to make gameplay better, international localizations, and some other cool stuff that will elevate BoardBox further. Stay tuned! 3) What's the deal with no logic engine or artificial intelligence to play against the computer? We wanted to make this game the best quality that we could. Focus on gameplay and make a great multiplayer game. The iPad is a huge screen that can be shared with people a heck of a lot easier than an iPod touch or iPhone. Second, there simply wasn't enough time to develop a logic engine, but even with that said, the point was to create a fantastic multiplayer experience, and we think we've done that, and included worldwide email multiplayer to boot! If you have any questions, feel free to ask and hopefully we'll be able to answer them for you! BoardBox hits the iPad App Store soon, and we can't wait for everyone to play along! Take a look at some more drool candy while you wait, including our first look at the menu system, and our Old School Chess set with plastic pieces!
Since the iPad has a powerful speaker and microphone, could you add sound recognition. Then it'd be wizards chess! (I know it's near impossible but would be one of the coolest things)
Gorgeous graphics. This will probably be a purchase for me on launch day. Have you considered adding any solitaire type game specifically mahjong (the pair matching type)? There are some nice implementations on the iPhone, but all of them suffer from small pieces. the iPad would be a great size that should make that problem obsolete. Good luck with your app!
Thanks to everyone for the kind words! I don't see voice recognition in the near future, unfortunately, but that wizard's chess idea isn't too bad!
Hi again everyone! Carter Dotson over at The Portable Gamer and I had a chat about BoardBox hitting the App Store, with some conjecture about the iPad launch and the origins of our company thrown in for good measure! Check out the podcast now at http://theportablegamer.com/2010/03/portable-podcast-episode-26/ Or head over to iTunes and check it out here!
I can officially confirm that BoardBox will be available at launch (which was somewhat unknown previously)!
Hi movile. What do you think of Tabletop Checkers ? It's not entirely the same, but I had the same idea when I started it. I was going to call it GameBox! But Board Box is a better name it says it all. Anyways like you I had to cut out some things to make it by launch and I focused on some other features instead. It looks like we might be competing in the future (Competition is a good thing. It will make both our games better). Anyways just wanted to give you a shout and say good luck with your app!
Hi Paul! You've got some really good ideas, especially with regards to being able to create themes and such. User content creation is very powerful. I played around with it and it works pretty darn well! Take a look at BoardBox and let me know what you think! Good luck with Tabletop Checkers!
This is one of those ideas (like a "piano app") that is an obvious application for the iPad, and I expect to see a lot board game collections trickling into the AppStore in the future. Given the fierce competition that already exists, the one likely to snatch the top spot in the long run will most likely have the following: - $0.99 price point - beautiful, but functional graphics (look to "Game Table" for a good example - I like its version of chess pieces better than the top-down view in BoardBox, as they're more readily distinguishable). - include detailed rules - enforce rules with explanations - support head-to-head play - include AI for local play - support remote play without forcing users to exit out to email
