All Articles Tagged strategy

UniWar [$4.99 - iTunes link] is a turn-based strategy game for the iPhone and iPod touch that provides a great challenge and three races to choose from.

UniWar is quite the little gem of a strategy game. You have four modes of play: Online, Campaign, Solo and Vs. and three species to choose from: Sapiens, Titans and Khraleans. The variety of  units is very diverse. You have units that can bury them selves underground and move a space at a time to units that can teleport across the screen. One of the great things I enjoy about this game is the plethora of maps you have to play; 50+!!! That is plenty to keep me busy. As of this writing, I have only played about 10 maps, so I have a long way to go!

This game is very polished and I have lost many hours playing it. If you like StarCraft, this is an excellent diversion to keep you busy. The developers are quite active in delivering updates (they are up to 1.0.4 already). They have also added the little extra touches that can make a difference such as the ability to play in portrait or landscape in real-time; just rotate your iPhone. Nice.

When you play online you register on the UniWar website and it keeps track of your stats and even has a ladder to see your ranking. You also have the ability to save multiple active games and resume them at your leisure.

If I were to mention some areas of improvement it would be the AI’s time to play; it can be lengthy at times (I once waited 20 seconds). Though trivial, I think with the modern hardware of the iPhone, that the AI can be sped up a bit for mobile gaming. Also, though the graphics are good, the animation appeared to be a bit jerky. Perhaps this could be improved with more animations per unit. If i had to guess, there are only a few frames of animation each. The fluidity of movements would make the play that much more immersive.

Overall, if you like Sci-Fi turn-based stragatey games, this is a steal at $4.99! Check it out now! Sreenshots after the break! Read the rest of this entry »

As many of us eagerly wait for Twitterrific 2.0 to hit the iTunes App Store, developer Craig Hockenberry has provided an interesting insight into the mind — and strategy — behind one of the most high-profile development houses in Apple-dom. Says Hockenberry on being Trendy:

As software developers we often fall into the “just one more feature” trap. We want a 1.0 release to be awesome, and that one more thing will only take a day or two, and people will love it, so why not?

Because that awesome feature could be a very good thing to generate buzz and sales for a 1.1 or a 1.2 release. And by not “doing it all” in the first release, you get your product to market faster. You’ll be making money while you implement that cool new feature.

And holding back can have another advantage: you might find that your users want something different than what you had planned. Their input can often change your idea, so don’t waste time doing something without feedback.

The rest of the article is a worthy read, as is his blog Furbo.org in general.