Monthly Archives: March 2013

TableTop Day 2013 Wrapup

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Everybody (hosts and guests) had a great time.

[Note that house rules dictate that winner (or new guest) chooses next game.]

… and now we are even better equipped for our next Game Night!

TableTop Day 2013

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Digital Gamecraft supports TableTop Day.

TableTop DayThis Saturday, March 30, 2013, is International TableTop Day, a day devoted to playing games.  It was created by Geek & Sundry as an extension of their TableTop web series, in which Wil Wheaton (*) introduces viewers to various board games and, of course, the fun to be had by playing.

“On March 30th, 2013, we ask you to go to your friendly local game store, neighborhood coffee shop, school auditorium, community center, or host a game day at your home and play more games.”

This is a cause that Digital Gamecraft supports 100%.  This date corresponds to our (semi-)regular Saturday game night here at the office/home, so we will be hosting an International TableTop Day party, just a little larger than our usual gathering.  If you are in the East Lansing [Michigan USA] area and would be interesting in attending, email me (seelhoff@sophsoft.com) for an invitation.

TableTop Day 2013

Small sampling of TableTop and traditional games available.

We will have several of the games featured on TableTop in the past, including Ticket to Ride [Europe], Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Fluxx (we hope!), Dixit, and (new arrival) Zombie Dice, as well as honorary member, Cards Against Humanity, which we discovered through a Wil Wheaton tweet, plus other favorites such as Bohnanza, Apples to Apples, and many more.

(*) When I met Wil Wheaton (once), back when we were both a bit younger, we talked for quite a while about video games (in particular, ST:TNG, “A Final Unity“, on which I was Senior Software Engineer) and I never realized his love for table games, nor he mine, obviously.  [Look for a separate blog entry in the future.]

Wherever you are, please take the time this Saturday to play games, in person.

International TableTop Day 2013

A Little Solitaire Touch Edition 1.0

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Our first iOS title is now available in the App Store!

On Friday, Apple approved A Little Solitaire, our A Little Solitaire Touch Editionfirst Solitaire game for iPad (of several), and it is now available in the App Store for only 99 cents!

A Little Solitaire is, as suggested by the name, a small collection with 9 of the most popular computer Solitaire games.  This includes Klondike (a.k.a., Solitaire) [4 variants], FreeCell [2 variants], and Spider, with its Spider One Suit (easy) and Spider Two Suits (average) variants.  The product includes 3 different card sets, as well as 16 back designs, and features all of the quality gameplay you expect from Goodsol Development (and our implementation 🙂 ).

Over the weekend, A Little Solitaire has hovered just outside the Top 50 in its category, Card Games (i.e., Games->Card), where it remains (for the moment) on the front page.  It has a few reviews, but I am particularly pleased by this 5 Star review:

“Wow — I have been waiting so long for this app for the IPAD. Nicely done as I would not expect anything else from this developer. I have the Mac games and THANKS for the IPAD version. Will look forward to more apps and graphics are nice, game play is like it should be played. THANKS!!!!“

This makes me feel that the effort to make a quality game was appreciated.  A mediocre review based solely on games that a reviewer would rather have…  not so much.

Check it out, and please let us know what you think.

DemolishPairs.com

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The spiders already have it, so it is announced.

Demolish! PairsToday, we unofficially launch our brand new web site, DemolishPairs.com, in support of our upcoming release, Demolish! Pairs.

Demolish! Pairs is an arcade/puzzle game, initially for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, where players remove pairs of bricks (or other blocks) and attempt to entirely clear the grid for each level.  Players compete in either Arcade Mode or Zen Mode, depending whether they want a challenge against the clock or a more relaxing experience.

So just how new is the web site?  It is so new…  Only a couple of pages were published when Google stopped by and added it to their database (#1 for “Demolish Pairs”), caching the main page in the process.  Because of that unexpectedly accelerated schedule, the number of pages that are actually ready will depend on how quickly you visit the site. 🙂

iPhone screen shot of Demolish! Pairs

Demolish! Pairs on the original iPhone [8 x 5, 4 colors, ‘Brick’ block set, ‘Darkness’ background, toolbar hidden]

What I can say with some confidence is that there will be a call for beta testers within a few days.  In the meantime, if you have any comments about or suggestions for DemolishPairs.com, they will be greatly received at webmaster@digitalgamecraft.com.

Not-so-Free Agent

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There’s a hole in my schedule, Dear Liza, Dear Liza.

For the first time in years, my game development time is entirely my own.  Today was the first day of business since late 2001 on which I did not have a time obligation to a consulting client.  Feels weird. 😉

Having made arrangements with our largest client to take a short hiatus (while we weather the vicissitudes of App Store reviewers), we did have an interesting quasi-game project penciled into the schedule.  Unfortunately, as happens all too often in this industry, as we were warming up the fountain pen, the prospective client proved to be yet another “tire kicker” not actually serious about having the project produced professionally.

So, this means that…

You, yes you, can retain a professional game developer with more than 30 years of industry experience to design, program, or consult on your project.

Currently, I am actively working on Windows, Mac OS X, and iOS projects, with C++ and Objective-C code, though my abilities range far beyond those.  I have particular knowledge of quality control, artificial intelligence, and traditional games.  For more information [serious inquiries only]: seelhoff@sophsoft.com

Of course, I am actually reveling in having the extra development time for Digital Gamecraft projects, starting with Demolish! Pairs, for which there will be a number of announcements in the coming days and weeks.

The only thing (and the real point of this post) is…  I need to get used to having all of my time for these projects.  At the moment, I still habitually kick into time management mode, making sure that I stay on top of everything that needs to be done for each client.  For now, I suppose, I am my only client.  That works. 🙂

Solitaire for iPad… almost.

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After months (years) in development, it is nearly here.

Mystery Icon for iPadToday, Goodsol Development (almost) announced our upcoming iPad games in their newsletter (issue #176).

In the “iPad Versions Coming” section, Thomas Warfield indicates that there are now development updates at http://www.goodsol.com/ipad.  The first two planned releases are still called “App 1” and “App 2” (not their actual names 🙂 ); for a little bit of intrigue and fun, I have included the iPad icon for the former above.  Feel free to submit your guesses for the actual name.

“And, by the way, I think the iPad games are going to be very good.
We’ve spent a long time trying to make them up to the standards of our
Windows and Mac games.”

As another Gamecraft exclusive, I can tell you that the app attached to the above icon has now entered “release candidate” status, as we prepare to run the gauntlet of Apple App Store submission.  Stay tuned…