Pretty Good Solitaire Mini 1.10

The best iPhone Solitaire game on the market just got even better.

Pretty Good Solitaire Mini icon

Pretty Good Solitaire Mini (for iPhone) has been updated to version 1.10, which is now available on the App Store for the unbelievably affordable price of only $1.99 US. This is the best Solitaire software value to be found anywhere!

Pretty Good Solitaire Mini 1.10 now contains 800 games, adding 50 new games (and still has 100 bonus games).

In addition to the new games, the entire program has been reworked to support iOS 15, including dark and light modes, and to (continue to) work on the latest iPhone models; all known bugs (most introduced by iOS updates) have been resolved.

Pretty Good Solitaire Mini launch screen

Development

This is the first update of Pretty Good Solitaire Mini ever, since the first version was released almost three years ago, becoming Goodsol Development‘s first (and, thus far, only) iPhone title. That version has a perfect 5.0 rating on the App Store (out of only 12 reviews 🙁 ), and as I write this, the new version is climbing up the charts (according to Apple).

Best Solitaire Game

I have played the Mac, iPad and now iPhone games and this is the best solitaire game out there.

Labtech89 (app store review)

The only real issue with this game is that it is a rip-off… for the publisher and developer. We work hard to make an excellent game, and there is almost no chance that it will ever recoup the cost and effort put into developing and maintaining it. It costs the customer less than a quarter cent per game, and still not enough people are buying it to justify maintenance.

Nevertheless, we continue to do so. Of course, after this amount of time, it is no surprise that Apple has completely rejiggered the internals of the iOS operating system, including the eliminating of the concept of screen orientation entirely, so there was plenty to update to resolve problems created by their aggressive (and unnecessary) deprecation.

You can read about most of these issues in my post from about a year ago, Pretty Good Solitaire Touch Edition 1.60, where I detailed how I first dealt with these (same) issues. For the iPhone version of the Goodsol Solitaire Engine, when compared to that iPad version of GSE, the engine (i.e., model) code is identical (as it also is on Windows and Mac); that is its whole point. The controller code is very similar, but requires a review of all changes, rather than a wholesale code replacement, but that was much less effort than it could have been.

The view code, however, is very dissimilar. On the iPad version (i.e., Touch Edition), the interface consists of key screens and several popover views. On the iPhone version (internally, Phone Edition), a smaller screen and no popover support requires that the interface is constructed in a different manner, with only two main views, supported by 3 tab bars and 10 various tab views. While the low level code to display images, fill tables, and whatnot, is nearly identical, all of the surrounding view code is incompatible, and it was much of this code that was affected by the deprecation. The best we could do was establish certain templates for the types of changes that had been necessary in PGSTE and use those to both identify places where changes were likely necessary and guide us in making the necessary alterations.

I say “we” and “us” but, of course, I am the only programmer working on either of these products, which fact, frankly, probably makes it a little easier to coordinate, though all of the programming work (and a lot of testing) falls to me.

There were a couple of minor positives to this development process. First, the bugs I accidentally introduced in PGSTE 1.60 had been fixed in PGSTE 1.61, so they never entered the code base for this update in the first place. Second, the fact that the iPhone version necessarily has no popover support means that we completely avoided the double deprecation problem that we experienced with the iPad version development.

The most amusing item was that just prior to development on this update commencing (and after its originally planned start date), hence about 2.5 years after the last release, Apkmonk Blog did a very nice review of Pretty Good Solitaire Mini. Right up front, the very first screenshot is (embarrassingly) a background missing the intended game preview. The writer actually (unknowingly) makes lemonade out of this bug: “Don’t worry about the plain look of the app when you first open it“. They go on to give a very nice review (with the odd factual mistake here or there) and rate the game 5 stars (out of 5).

Now what really happened is that the game worked perfectly when released, showing a game preview image on that first (“plain”) page, or a splash image if no game is currently selected. Then, as so often happens, Apple makes unnecessary changes to iOS and breaks things. In this case, it changed the process for initializing a view and its subviews in a way that broke the code we were using to show these preview images (and a few minor images elsewhere).

Specifically, what happened was that Apple made changes to the layer objects of general views after the viewDidLoad method was called. Our previews were not image views (deliberately), and in that method we initialized the contents of the layer object associated with the subview, resulting, as expected, in the preview images displaying properly. When a later version of iOS changed the way that (and when) Apple did this initialization, the preview images stopped displaying. In the end, we had to convert to image views and implement our other behavior on those. It looks like Apple introduced a bug into their system, and though they could argue (illegitimately) that we were not using a sanctioned method, the fact remains that they should not have been messing with view initialization in this way in the first place!

January release: check. 🙂

Happy Birthday, Demolish!

Demolish! Pairs celebrates one year since its launch on iOS.

One year ago today, Digital Gamecraft launched the original iOS version of Demolish! PairsDemolish! Pairs 1.11 is a challenging puzzle/arcade game for iPad and iPhone.

Demolish! Pairs 1.11 for iOSDownload and play Demolish! Pairs now!

Here are the top 5 reasons that you should get Demolish! Pairs:

  1. It is fun to play for gamers of all ages.
  2. It exercises your brain to help keep you mentally sharp.
  3. It provides relaxation during less interesting activities (such as watching Nigeria versus Iran in the World Cup).
  4. The programmer just got hit in the forehead by a fallen tree and could use any sympathy and support that he can get. [*]
  5. It is FREE (for one day only)!

As promised, to celebrate this anniversary, Demolish! Pairs 1.11 is completely free for TODAY ONLY.  There are no strings attached, though when you do take advantage of this special offer, it would be nice if you would rate and review it on the App Store.

Also, for those who already have the free-to-play version, Demolish! Pairs FTP 1.0.1, all in-app purchases are free for today only as well.

For more information on the game, please visit DemolishPairs.com.

[*] Medical Update: The injury was not at all serious, causing no extra brain damage. 🙂

 

Please… Download and Enjoy!Demolish! Pairs on the iOS App Store

Demolish! Pairs 1.11 for iOS

Another update to our challenging puzzle game is released.

Digital Gamecraft has published Demolish! Pairs 1.11 on the App Store, where you can buy it for only $3.99 (US). This is, of course, a free upgrade for all existing customers, downloadable from the ‘Updates’ tab on the App Store.

Demolish! Pairs 1.11 for iOSDownload and play Demolish! Pairs now!

Demolish! Pairs 1.11 is an upgrade that simply lowers the minimum version of iOS to 5.1.1, making it (again) playable on the original iPad. For more information on the game, please visit DemolishPairs.com.

Please… Download and Enjoy!Demolish! Pairs on the iOS App Store

Demolish! Pairs 1.10 for iOS

An update to our premier arcade/puzzle game is available.

Digital Gamecraft has published Demolish! Pairs 1.10 on the App Store, where you can buy it for only $3.99 (US).  This is, of course, a free upgrade for all existing customers, downloadable from the ‘Updates’ tab on the App Store.

Demolish! Pairs 1.10 for iOSDownload and play Demolish! Pairs now!

Demolish! Pairs 1.10 is an upgrade that updates the program interface for iOS 7.x and adds 64-bit support.  For more information on the game, please visit DemolishPairs.com.

While supplies last, readers of this Gamecraft blog may receive a code for a free copy of the game simply by sending an email request to marketing@digitalgamecraft.com.

Please… Download and Enjoy!Demolish! Pairs on the iOS App Store

Demolish! Pairs 1.0 for iOS

Our arcade/puzzle game has been released!

Digital Gamecraft has published Demolish! Pairs on the App Store, where you can now buy it for only $1.99 (for a limited time only).

Demolish! Pairs 1.0 for iOSDemolish! Pairs represents a true milestone.  This is the first truly self-published title we have released in more than 23 years, and at the same time, it is the very last title on which we worked with our late friend and partner, Rick Tumanis, who did most of the artwork, and all of the sounds, for this game prior to his passing in 2011.

We are providing a limited number of free review copies to press (traditional or online) and, indeed, to the first three people who send an email to us at support@digitalgamecraft.com and tell us you read about Demolish! Pairs on this Gamecraft blog.  [Editor note: Press copies are still available, but the giveaway codes are gone.]

Please…  Download and Enjoy!Demolish! Pairs on the iOS App Store

Seeking a few great Beta Testers

We need people to playtest our arcade/puzzle game.

Demolish! Pairs for iOSToday, Digital Gamecraft is making an open call for iOS beta testers to help us test Demolish! Pairs in preparation for its upcoming release on the Apple App Store.

Anybody with an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch is eligible to join our team and get early access to this fun game, while helping us make it as good and solid as possible.  All you have to do is play the game (and then tell us about it 🙂 ).

For more information, and to sign up, see our call for iOS beta testers on the Demolish! Pairs site.

DemolishPairs.com

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.

Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me

My iPod is Dirty.

A couple weeks ago, we ordered our latest toy, I mean, tool for development. We got a new iPod Touch, deliberately choosing the smaller (8G) model available and receiving it before the iPhone 3.0 Software Update was automatically installed.

Initially, the intent was to familiarize ourselves with the technology, from a user perspective, but this device turned out to be much more than mere technology. I am astounded at the design (and/or happy coincidence) that went into the iPod Touch (and, presumably, the iPhone). It arrives in a plastic box the width and length of a 3×5 index card, and only about an inch thick. By “it”, I mean everything that one needs: the device, the USB (data/charging) cable, a set of ear buds, a cleaning cloth, the Quick Start guide, and two of the ubiquitous Apple stickers. Also, the device comes fully charged, like other Apple products and unlike most other battery-operated devices. The first impression is just brilliant.

The iPod Touch itself is about 2.5 x 4.25 inches, and only a quarter inch thick, but it has enough heft to feel substantial. Shiny does not hurt at all (and ordering directly from Apple allows one to personalize the back with two lines of laser engraving). The genius of the device, however, is not in the specifications, but in how everything works together to create a physically satisfactory experience. One wants to pick it up, hold it, use it, even if there is not that much to do with the default applications. (I suppose that if it were an iPhone, we would be making unnecessary phone calls, too.)

The pre-installed software is sufficient to show off the basic features, and I imagine that most users try almost every application at least once and probably even make an excuse to use some. (I tried the alarm clock feature to avoid a four foot journey to the real alarm clock.) However, these programs are quickly exhausted, so the “App Store” becomes important for finding something else to do, another justification for playing/working with the iPod Touch. I believe that this contributes greatly to the success of this channel.

One thing that would be a great application for playing with the curiously magnetic iPod Touch would be a solitaire game (or many) that worked particularly well with this hardware. Speculation about the possibility of a top brand of solitaire coming to this platform would be entirely justified.

(with apologies to Richard O’Brien)