I love games. I have friends that love games. Some of my friends love games on a screen and some like them on a board... a very few of my close friends like a board-game on a screen. For my friends who are also the subsect of the Venn diagram which includes fanatacisom with various apple mobile products... there is Carcassone. If you have not played it. You should. Its simple and creative and German. Like a well crafted driving machine, it is an elegantly simple game with increasingly creative permutations.
A great training tool would be to play it on an iPod-esque platform... the iPad's visual real estate gives it even more of a board-game feel. The iPod-Phone allows for extreme mobilty for those times you are waiting for a bus or a passing stool. A generally great game on either iProduct.
The real gem is playing with others. You can play a timed game with strangers (or friends) or you can play a game with your friends taking as much time as you want. Turns can be made in the next available free moment after you hear your iProduct say "Its your move" in a very euro accent, or when the push notification pulls the message up on your screen. You can then take a look at what your so-called friend just did with the piece you have been waiting at least three turns for. You then can apply strategy or tactics and then set the game aside, getting back to your regularly scheduled programming.
What do you do when you complete the Macbook (Pro), iPhone, and iPad trifecta? iTunes lets you put the Carc app onto both of your mobile delivery systems, but how do you move your profile to the other piece of hardware?
You simply try and initiate an internet game. There will come a point where it will prompt you to create a screen name and associate it with an email account. Simply type in your current Carc screen name in the approprate text box.
Click on "That's Me" when the app recognizes the screen name and you will get an email in your mail client.
If you are using the mail app on your iProduct, you are right back farm jumping, as the profile is automatically loaded.
If you are like me and have an email account for all your anticipated spam. You know, when you register for a site, buy something, or need to give an email addy to strangers on the street. I use Hotmail and on my iProduct I access the evil empire by using the Safari app. I get the Carcassone Profile confirmation email but clicking on the link does nothing. Nothing changes, nothing loads, and when you open Carc you come to that same register page.
No fear, simply forward that email in your web-based email client to your email account associated with your iProduct.
Now if you accidently registerd a new name because you fogot how your old one was spelled or created a new one to "fulfill that gaming fix as soon as possible but you want to recontinue that game with your bro's", you can simply delete the app and then redownload it to reset. Then go through the aforementioned steps.
So there you have it. Mateo thinks I have too much free time on my hands.
