ToG #205 – Magic The Gathering Duels and Adventures of Pip

In this episode, Jared and Todd talk a bunch of news and some upcoming games they are excited for and some current things they are not so excited about.

They also talk about a lot of games:

Let’s start with Jared’s list of games:

Magic The Gathering Duels (Free, iOS, Wizards of the Coast) – Jared is enjoying the game and liking the flexibility of deck construction. Todd cannot play it – not compatible with iPad 4. Bummer.

Adventures of Pip (Tic Toc Games, $14.99, iOS) – Jared really likes this innovative platformer and MFI support is the sweet, sweet icing on this lovely gaming cake. Todd is again bummed out…not compatible with iPad 4. We also talked about its price point.

Alphabear (Free, Spry Fox iOS and Android) – a neat and charming little word puzzle game that Jared recommends folks check out.

Don’t Starve ($4.99, Klei Entertainment, iOS) – a Steam darling comes to iOS and gets a really nice port. Jared loved a lot about this challenging rogue-like but he wishes it offered save points or some carry-over stat boosts because playing for 2++ hours, dying, and having to start over from scratch is not always that fun.

Story Warriors: Fairy Tales ($2.99, Thumbstar Games, iOS) – Jared likes this very innovative interactive story book and it could be a fun way to teach your kids to read…or to keep them interested in reading.

Rumble City (Avalanche Studios, Free, iOS and Android) – an interesting strategy game. Jared needs more time with it before handing out a review.

Todd’s new games:

Todd mostly gave updates on games from the last few weeks.

He only played 2 new games; although that would have been 4 if he had a newer iOS device.

Shooting Stars ($2.99, iOS, Noodlecake) – a tongue in cheek, pixel art SCHMUP. Todd digs it but is not head over heals about it. It tries too hard (or not hard enough; depending on how you look at it) with its humor. It is worth trying if you are craving something thematically different in the SCHMUP genre.

Down the Mountain (Free, iOS, Umbrella) – Crossyroad meets Q-Bert. Todd likes, but does not love, this game. It has some very fun elements but that Q-Bert game play style of only being able to jump “down” can really add to the frustration here. Why not innovate and allow the player to jump “up” the map? It would help a lot. Nevertheless, it is free, does not have too many ads, and has some fun game play elements that may grab others more than it grabbed Todd. Try it and see.

And that is all.