The iPhone/iPod Touch Multiplayer Gaming Bible

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (11/22/2009): the article below has officially been deprecated. Please read Everything you’ll ever need to know about multiplayer games instead. This thread remains only as an update catch-up thread as is also explained in Chapter 6 of the new article.

Original article follows:



Some of you may know I’m the author of the Windows Mobile Multiplayer Gaming Bible. This is why I decided to publish one for the iPhone/iPod Touch too, particularly because:

1.) to my knowledge, there isn’t any REAL comparison (or even listing) of as many multiplayer games as possible. The biggest ones I know of (see for example THIS) consist of 27 titles. Other lists (e.g., THIS) are even shorter. There aren’t many titles discussed in the dedicated TouchArcade threads either; nevertheless, these are still worth checking out. (More online multiplayer games this year! – pretty good list; Best Online Multiplayer Game? - F.A.S.T. 1st, Star Hogs 2nd, UniWar 3rd – no votes for Fast and Furious or Tap Tap Revenge 2; Best online game?)

2.) I also wanted to elaborate on the 3G S compliance of these titles. (I have some good news in this regard. In the 100+ titles I’ve tested, I’ve only found, if I recall correctly, two titles not compatible with the 3G S – at least not in multiplayer mode.)

The comparison chart is HERE (click the link!). Most of the columns don’t require much explanation (if you, however, do need an explanation of the different networking models, check out my old WinMo guide. Note that, on the iPhone, one’s life is much easier – there aren’t different Bluetooth stacks, there isn’t a distinction between BT PAN and native BT access etc. That is, iPhone gamers have a much easier life than WinMo ones.). Note that I’ve added a column on the number of players in online lounges for lounge-based games so that you can see how many other players can you reliably expect to play when choosing a given title, if you don’t want to go the always-available buddy route. I’ve also noted the date and time of the testing so that the results are more comparable. (There may be peak times when e.g. American people traditionally play on their handsets.) The timezone I used is CET.

I recommend checking out the last two columns for my recommendations and direct comparisons. You can find all the Itunes links in the second (or, in cases, first) column. I’ve also listed the version number of all titles so that you know, should I fail to update a given game’s record in the future, whether these records are still up-to-date.

Note that not all MP titles are in the chart. I’ve left out some purposefully till I get an answer from their developers regarding some problems / bugs. As usual (see my other, past full roundups and bibles – the IM one, the Web browser roundup or the radio client one), I’ll try to keep this list / chart as updated as possible. I will also post a lot of additional info when I have the time. I will too greatly enhance this introduction / text when I have some more free time (now I don’t as I have to work a lot this week; however, you may still like the contents of the chart).

Note that I didn’t bother with reviewing (or even listing) Storm8’s and PlayMesh’ (numerous) titles. They are considered very bad by many (including me); see for example THIS, THIS and THIS.

The developers of the following games promise wireless multiplayer functionality (I’ve also added the version number where this promise was (or is still) readable in the AppStore. In the meantime, new versions may have been released – iPhone gaming articles / roundups age VERY fast):

Warfare Incorporated by Spiffcode, Inc. 1.5
Battle Dot by DKM Labs 1.0 (BT MP in 2.0)
Uncross It by Schiau Studios SRL 1.1 (MP in 2.0)
Sparta by Pocket Monkey Games 1.3
Big2 Poker by Hug Life Inc 1.0
The Plateau by SpoonJuice 1.1
Tux Rider World Challenge by Barlow Software 1.0
Armageddon Squadron by Polarbit 1.0.2
Rows 3D by Pixeltin 1.7 (currently hotseat)
Top Trumps by der.heckser 1.0
Real Shuffleboard by Trapp Media, Inc 1.0.3
Snake XT by Sookie Solutions, LLC 1.3
Serpents by IMAK Creations 1.0
Jass by Yminds 1.2.1 (hotseat already supported)
Orbo by Chiedozi Acholonu & Paul Thurlow 1.0
Big 2 by GoGoalSoft Limited 1.1
memory + by Pearl Fisher Games 1.0
Mummys Revenge by Apptastic Apps 1.1
Castle Conflict by Broken Kings 1.05
Arcade SpinBall by MegaNudge Entertainment 2.3
Dead Man's Dungeon by collabtools 1.3
War 3100 by Gamer Outfit (turn-based strategy)
NFL 2010 by Gameloft 1.0.3 (will receive MP in the next update) $8
iPongo by Keith Domenicucci 1.2
Blocks2 by Florian Zitzelsberger 1.1
StickWars by John E. Hartzog 1.6
Squared by Fravic Fernando 1.01
Tank Wars by T-bone (Tank Wars 2 will support BT MP)
Anytime Pool by Electronic Arts 1.1.0 (only supports Facebook MP; no plans for true MP)
Archon by React Games 1.1
Quantum Collapse (RTS) by Javier Davalos 1.1 (MP version with voice chat will really soon be released) – also see reviews HERE
Ballz! by PurpleZoo Productions 1.0
iMobsters by Jeff Witt 1.1
Ace Tennis Online by Eurocenter 1.3

Many of these games have on-device hotseat or two-player modes. So do the following titles:

Pictoplay+ by Digital Chocolate, Inc 1.0.0 ($1, pretty funny and addictive)
Classic Tic Tac Toe by Lima Sky 1.3.2
Killer Pool by Sauce Digital 1.1 : hotseat only
Deluxeware Darts by Handmark, Inc. : hotseat only
Nukeball by Lubos Kulisek 1.0: hotseat only
Wurdle by Semi Secret Software 2.0
Playman Track & Field by RealArcade 1.1.1 (a C64 Summer Games-alike; not bad)
Guinness World Records by Warner Bros. 1.0
Pocket Mini Golf 2 by Chillingo Ltd 1.02 $3
Kamikaze Robots by Digital Chocolate, Inc. 1.0.0
Tap Memory by Cory Kilger 1.1.1
Vertigo by Underworld Entertainment Limited 1.0 - $1 ($2 otherwise)
Sound Match by spokko 1.16 ($1, very simple sound matching game, not very interesting)
Zen Pinball: Inferno by Publisher X 1.0
Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima by Namco Networks America Inc. 1.0.0
Miss Trivia by Iron Square 1.2
Plong by Daniel Schroth 1.0 (also with online scores)
War of the Dragon Lords by A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games 1.0
Johnny Crash by Digital Chocolate, Inc. 1.0
LD50 by Prehiti Labs LLC 1.2.1
MicroFight by Hart Woolery 1.0
Pub Darts by Vivid Reflection 1.0
iNetMania by TechPad Productions 1.0
iBacteria by Rob Evans 1.0.1
Lumina by CrossComm, Inc. 1.3
Neverputt ME by Lazrhog Games 1.4.0.2
Time Bomb by Stormy Productions 1.1
Trivial Memory by Trivial Technology 1.0.3
Deluxeware Bowling by Handmark, Inc. 1.00
Catapult by HiB 2.1.1
Spot It!: Animals by National Geographic Society 1.0
Fritz Chess by Gammick Entertainment 1.1


The devs of the latter titles, however, don’t promise any kind of wireless multiplayer, as opposed to the games in the previous group.

[Menneisyys]

Reserved for future updates

[zacharace]

Nice guide, Menneisyys. I know quite a few people who would kill for something like this. Nice job!

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (08/13/2009 01:46):
1. I’ve added the following titles to the chart:

Virtual Pool Online by Celeris Inc. 1.97 (a definitely recommended pool game costing $3. When it comes to the number of average other online players, it's by far the best. In addition, according to some pool buffs, it has an excellent pool engine – much better than anything else on the market.)

NanoMechs by Theorian 1.0 (a 2D Platform shooter costing $1. IMHO, WiFi Warfare by Jesse Starks is better in that it also supports remote play (and a lot of online players all the time). However, I like the graphs of this title better and the, IMHO, much superior control.)

Armageddon Squadron by Polarbit 1.0.2 (a dogfighting combat costing $4 (3 euros). IMHO, F.A.S.T. Fleet Air Superiority Training! by SGN is a better choice, particularly if you want to play others (not your buddies) online. It has, generally, far more online players. Also, (now), it's way cheaper.)

Ace Tennis Online by Eurocenter 1.3 (a tennis title costing $4 (3 euros). Recommended, if you do like tennis and/or want to play remote players (Real Tennis 2009 by Gameloft, my personal favorite, can only play local games)). Note that, in the original article, I’ve listed this (along with Armageddon Squadron by Polarbit) as a hotseat-only game.

I’ve also added a video for “Attack PRO – Wireless Bluetooth Spaceship Battle by Poulet Maison 1.0.1” showing the communication problems between the iPhone 3G and 3G S.

I’m continuing adding titles to the chart; for example, I’ll add Reign of Swords (both Episode I and II).

2. I also plan to write a more thorough elaboration on the different networking models of multiplayer games. (Just like the one in my Windows Mobile multiplayer bible.) For the time, suffice it to state the following:

- Bluetooth (BT for short) is the cleanest solution if you’re next (in the same room) to your friend. Then, you won’t need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi access point. (Which is a must with the pre-OS3 form of Wi-Fi only, local multiplayer.) Note that Wi-Fi access doesn’t work over cellular connections either, which entirely rules out playing e.g. while commuting and you have cellular data connections only (or nothing at all). This is especially useful in vehicles, schools without a public Wi-Fi network where the two of you can connect to at the same time etc.

The disadvantages of this solution are as follows:

a. It doesn’t work on 1st generation iPhones or iPod Touches (it does between the iPhone 3G, the 3G S and the 2nd-generation iPod Touch)

b. At times, you may have to disable Wi-Fi for Bluetooth to work better (and vice versa, particularly on the 3G S, where disabling Bluetooth altogether may result in significant Wi-Fi connection speed increase.) This requires a lot of additional tapping (unless you install / use Cydia-only [requiring a jailbreak] shortcuts like SBSettings).

c. BT gaming has only been introduced in OS 3. That is, if you don’t want to upgrade your 3G or iPod Touch 2G to OS3, you won’t be able to make use of it at all.

- Wi-Fi local connections requires the two (or more) of you to be connected to the same Wi-Fi access point. As opposed to the BT approach explained in the previous bullet, it works on even OS 2.x and on the first-generation iPhones and iPod Touches as well. However, it’s way more restricted than BT; for example, if you don’t have a Wi-Fi access point to connect to, you won’t be able to play. This completely rules out playing your friends / buddies in, say, a vehicle, a bus, a train etc. It won’t work even if you have cellular data connection.

- Lounge-based remote play allows you to play anyone from anywhere in the world. The advantages are as follows:

a. If you don’t have a buddy around to play but / or would like to play a stranger (instead), you may want to go for this option. If you use a more popular game with more online players (e.g., Galcon and a lot more), you have a big chance to run into someone to play you.

b. Note that you can play your local buddies too, even if both of you are connected to the same Wi-Fi access point. This needs to be kept in mind when playing a game only offering remote (lounge)-based play but not local Wi-Fi (or Bluetooth) one.

(Incidentally, note that, should you want to play your buddy, I’ve elaborated on whether you can select your buddies to play in the lounge of the games. With most titles, manual opponent selection is possible. With the rest [that is, games not offering manual opponent selection but using automatic matching instead], you can still make sure the both of you join the multiplayer server at about the same time to maximize the chances of the server matching the two of you.

The inherent disadvantages of this approach are as follows:

a. When the lounge server is down, you won’t be able to play. Upon testing, I haven’t ever run into problems like that. This, however, doesn’t mean the case will definitely be the case after three or five years. Developers may exit developing and even supporting their existing games, including running their proprietary servers. That is, don’t take being able to play forever for granted. (This also means you should ask / force game developers adding some kind of local games – preferably BT-based so that it can be played anywhere – to their games.)

b. As the connection is generally routed through a lounge server (some games do try to build up a direct, much faster and more reliable connection between the two devices but it’s only a minority of the titles), the lag will be considerably more than with local games. This is why few for example first person shooters or racing games support internet (lounge-based) play – most of them are Wi-Fi (or, lately, BT) only – with them, even 300-400 ms lag can result in a totally unplayable game. No such problems exist with less demanding game genres like board games (chess and the like).

- Direct IP entering. The three approaches explained so far also involve auto-discovery. That is, the two (or more) phones (iDevices) magically and automatically find each other. (Physically, this is done by for example using broadcast discovery protocols over Wi-Fi and the inherent discovery mechanisms built into Bluetooth.) Some (VERY few) games, however, also allow you to enter the direct IP of your buddy. (And one of them, namely, Quartz 2, mandates you to do so.) This can be particularly useful in situations like being connected to the network via cellular data only and the given game doesn’t have a lounge doing the automatic discovery. In these cases, you just enter the IP address (which is always displayed on the other party’s device) of your buddy and off you go. Note that this only works if your buddy isn’t behind a firewall.

[Menneisyys]

I've posted the following to the existing TouchArcade threads discussing MP games. It has a lot of additional info you may find useful.


Guys and gals,

don't forget to check out my bible of multiplayer games.

It's still a work-in-progress but already has a great deal of nice info and, what is more,

- thorough (!) iPhone 3G S compliance reports
- with lounge-based (online) games, the number of opponents you can realistically hope for
- comparisons between titles of the same genre (e.g., bomberman etc.) - you'll hardly find anything similar in anyone else's comparable multiplayer game roundup

etc.

Don't forget that

1. it's the chart ( http://winmobiletech.com/sekalaiset/iPhoneMPchart.html ) that has most the game-specific info, NOT the main article. Use Ctrl-F to quickly find your favorite game genre or title if you find the deal of information overwhelming (which it is, as I've included more than 100 games in the chart).

2. it's a work-in-progress and I'm still adding titles, both old and new. Nevertheless, if you think a very important title is missing, let me know and I'll devote some extra time and effort to evaluate it, compare it to the alternatives (e.g., quantitive measures like the number of online players; iPhone 3G / 3G S compliance etc.) include it in the chart as soon as possible.

[garykirsten63]

Oh man. You have such a good passion. I could not completely read your whole post. It's so lengthy. Anyway nice review & update. Thank you for sharing.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (08/16/2009 0:19 CET):

1.) iFPS is currently available for free. Go get it if you’re into multiplayer first person shooters. While I don’t recommend it at its regular price point, it’s still nice to have for free. You might also want to check out the user comments HERE.



2.) Let me also elaborate on the most advanced multiplayer feature: inviting buddies via the new Push feature of iPhone OS3.

If you read my Instant Messaging (IM) bible, you become aware of the brand new and revolutionary feature of the new iPhone OS: Push. It lets you notified of certain events even when the phone is suspended (by, for example, pressing the Power button – this will only work via cellular connections, not Wi-Fi ones; that is, iPod Touch devices won’t work in this state). With IM apps, these can be, among other things, new messages sent to you by your buddies.

Some (unfortunately, not all) multiplayer games also incorporate Push notification. This lets the players send out game requests in real time that will surely be received as soon as you issue them. This also means you don’t need to use the traditional, manual ways (email, IM, giving them a call etc.) of notifying your buddies of your invitation. Much cleaner, it involves much less effort on both (but, particularly, on the person that invites the other – no need to fire up an IM / mail client and enter your invitation etc.) sides and, as opposed to e-mail, it surely gets read by the invited buddy at once. That is, the person sending out the invitation can safely stay in the game: if his (her) buddy does want to play, he (she) will see him (her) joining the game in 1-2 minutes at most. The situation on the invited buddy’s side is equally easy: when an invitation arrives, he’ll be notified right away. Then, he (she) only needs to tap “Play” and will be immediately taken to the game. (Unfortunately, for example UNO doesn’t take you to the game started by your buddy – you must search it yourself. Nevertheless, this doesn’t really ruin the easiness and simplicity of the concept.)

Currently, very few games support Push invitation: currently, of the tested games (this doesn’t necessarily mean I haven’t missed one or some!) UNO by Gameloft, the excellent musical instrument game Leaf Trombone: World Stage by Smule, the excellent and free poker app “Live Poker” and, finally, Storm8’s titles (which I don’t really like – but, again, your mileage may vary):


(Here, “Racing” and “Vampires” are Storm8 titles.)

Hope that, currently now that I’m recommending this for game developers, more of them follow suit and implement this functionality.

Let me show you some examples of how this works. First, let’s create a game and tap “Invite”:



There, tap the buddies (here: Menne2) to invite. An invitation will be sent out to him; at the same time, on the inviter’s screen, “Waiting for Menne.” will be displayed:


Your buddy’s iPhone (assuming it’s not switched entirely off [by pressing and holding the Power button and slide the “Power off?” slider], has cellular coverage and Push isn’t disabled), a new dialog will be shown telling you you’ve been invited for a game:



(Note that, here, “Menne2” should be the inviter instead. I didn’t want to swap iPhones on the sync cable and collect screenshots from two of them – instead of one -; this is why I show you a screenshot of an invitation coming from another iPhone and not the state of it)

Just tap Play and, then, navigate to online play (again, UNO doesn’t automatically take you to the game created by your buddy – you need to find it manually) and select the game created:



Finally, note that, in order to make a certain UNO instance know of another player, you will be required to send a Friend request to your buddy and approve it from inside the “mailbox” at “Gameloft Live” (accessible from the main menu). These mails aren’t delivered to your regular e-mail address but will only be accessible here. (I don’t think this is the best [read: most newbie-friendly] solution: a regular e-mail with an online activation / “make friends” link would have been much easier.):

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (08/17/2009):

a. A brand new Scorched earth / Worms clone, KIL.A.TON, has just been released. It has lounge-based multiplayer (albeit, at the time of writing, it’s still empty, which may change in the future). A decent alternative to, for example, Star Hogs by IUGO and Iron Sight by Polarbit; particularly if you take into account that, in KIL.A.TON, you can have up to six players (while in Star Hogs “only” up to four, and, in Iron Sight, only two) . See THIS for more info.

b. iFPS is free now. Nevertheless, it’s not really that good.

c. I’ve played a lot with Reign of Swords Episode 2. Frankly, I didn’t find the graphics of the first part any good and, consequently, passed it. The second part seems to be a lot cooler. I’m still in the process of learning to play the game and playing through “A Timely Resuce” in the Sabbi Amar. Currently, at least in single player mode, it (EP 2) seems to be a keeper. I can’t really comment on the multiplayer functionality as yet; that is, how it compares to e.g. that of UniWar, which uses an excellent asynchronous approach. Some people stated it’s really nice in multiplayer – far better than the first episode. That is, it seems you can safely purchase this game if you’re bored with UniWar and want some challenge. I’ll later comment on whether EP2 can be mastered without playing EP1 first.

d. Unfortunately, it seems the excellent card-based strategy game Orions won’t receive any update

e. A new version of Galcon (one of the best multiplayer games) has been released:

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (08/20/2009):

The following multiplayer-enabled games have been released in the meantime:

Office Tanks by ET NETERA 1.0 (highly recommended for local Wi-Fi players)

Bust-A-Move by TAITO Corporation 1.0.0 (kinda like it but I think it’s overpriced and it isn’t really multiplayer [only a competitive / parallel one])

Along with evaluating an quickly reviewing these titles, I’ve also reviewed a recently released title, Tank War - Bluetooth Battle by 6tags.com 1.0.
Please see the last four rows of the chart for more info.

Also, in the meantime, the following titles have been updated:

NanoMechs by Theorian to version 1.1 (now, it’s playable on all devices)

Attack PRO – Wireless Bluetooth Spaceship Battle by Poulet Maison to version 1.0.2. (two new levels). Unfortunately, it is still suffering from the same bug when playing between an iPhone 3G and a iPhone 3G S.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (8/21/2009):

ShapeShape by inXile Entertainment 3.0 is on a 66% sale: now, it costs $1 only. For this price, it seems to be a pretty good choice. In multiplayer, you need to collect the starts as quickly as possible (instead of your opponent) and, then, exit the map. Then, your opponent will have 3 seconds to exit the field. I’ve added the dedicated row in the chart.

10 Pin Shuffle™ (Bowling) by Digital Smoke LLC 1.20: a pretty cool bowling game with (of course) parallel gameplay and pretty flexible (local) play supporting both Wi-Fi and BT.

I’ve also tested AlloWin Pool by Eurocenter 1.1: it, unlike all? most? the other Eurocenter titles, doesn’t offer remote (lounge) multiplayer, only hotseat one. As it isn't very cheap ($3), I'd go right for another MP-enabled title like Virtual Pool Mobile - or Adrenaline Pool Online 2, which still only costs $3 – quite a bargain if you ask me, particularly because of the voice chat features.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (08/22 19:52 CET): iMech released!

I've quickly made a video demoing it in multiplayer on both the 3G and the 3G S at the same time. See YouTube - iMech multiplayer on the iPhone 3G and 3G S (3G S on the top, 3G on the bottom).

As you can see, it isn't the best on the 3G – it can be around 15-16 fps. On the 3G S, however, it's working flawlessly.

Given that there're so few FPS games and iFPS, while it's free, is pretty lousy and the only similar multiplayer game I know of, RoboFighters by Team4000 Software LLC, is way worse (while it costs exactly the same), I can recommend this title. Unless, of course, you plan to wait for a price drop

It uses lounge-based (remote) play. On the West/East-American coast, I've seen two players some two hours ago.

Also see 'iMech' – Flying Dino's Online Deathmatch 3rd Person Shooter | Touch Arcade for more info.

[Menneisyys]

(UPDATE 08/23 12:14 CET): Reign of Swords Episode II: an excellent multiplayer turn-based strategy

If you like(d) UniWar’s multiplayer (in which UniWar is exceptionally good), you’ll love Reign of Swords Episode 2 (AppStore link) too. Why? It’s simple: it’s a great strategy game with particular emphasis on multiplayer. That is, something painfully (still?) missing from titles like the otherwise excellent Mecho Wars – and, of course, Orions.

Note that, in this quick review, I only discuss the recently released second episode (Ep II for short), not the first one. The reason for this is that Ep I has a vastly inferior multiplayer mode – something more of a joke but definitely not belonging to a decent strategy game. (Please consult the reviews in the last section for more info on the weaknesses of the multiplayer.) That is, if you do want to play multiplayer, go for Ep II (otherwise, the much cheaper ($2 as opposed to $5) Ep I (AppStore link) may do). You will NOT need to play through Ep I either – it won’t teach you any tricks (similar tutorials can be found in Ep II.) The only advantage of playing Ep I through is that you will be able to import the army you create / build / collect in it into Ep II. I, however, didn’t find this essential at all: you can safely build up a decent army without having to play Ep I through at all. Just play through “The Wizard’s Palace” historical battle at least three times (in addition to playing through the other offline games at least once) and you already have a nice, decent army you can already send to even online games. (Other historical battles have considerably fewer spoils of war and, after some practicing, “The Wizard’s Palace” is impossible to lose; that is, it’s probably the quickest way to build up your army.)

Playing the game is far from trivial for a newbie. I too took at least a day (!) to read through the built-in help (which doesn’t seem to have any info on how the multiplayer works and has only vague remarks on what missions need to be completed for multiplayer to become available), replay the tutorials and the intro missions at least three times, until I understood how it needs to be played and how multiplayer should be used. (In addition, due to the bug (?) on the iPhone 3G S, I tended to continuously lose a lot of my progress. It was only later than I found a fix for this.) Both UniWar and Mecho Wars are far-far better in this respect – they have a much more logical single (and, with UniWar, multi-) player interface and tutorials. (Just as a comparison: I’ve played through the entire (!) original [that is, before it receiving a completely new, second part of campaign] Mecho Wars in 4-5 hours after purchasing it and most of the campaign missions of UniWar, particularly on a 3G S where the slowdown of the AI isn’t an issue on large maps with more than, say, 20-30 units used by the computer.) In this title, you are told vague remarks about your “army”, but the game doesn’t really make an attempt of actively trying to explain you how you can systematically build up your army; what the advantage is in re-playing at least twice some of the historical battles (most importantly, “The Wizard’s Palace”) in order to gain as many different, powerful spoils of war as possible. (Of course, you’ll also get some spoils when playing multiplayer games.)

Basically, multiplayer looks like that of UniWar. After, in War Plans, you’ve played through the tutorials (Combat Training) and the raids (Fields of Vuldyne and Palace Assault), a new group (Online Battles) will be displayed. Here, click any of the records:




Then, you create a game (by selecting “Issue new Challenge”), to which you can accept anyone (or your rivals or pre-added friends only):

(After deploying your troops, you can select the type of the game challenge / announcement)

(Creating an open game)

(Creating a game only for a specific buddy)

(The challenge has been registered by the server; now, depending on the settings you’ve used, your buddy or everybody will see it.)

When your would-be opponent (or friend) notices he’s been challenged (instead of “-“, he’ll see “Challenged” in the “Online battles” section of “War plans”), he or she can accept the invitation by selecting Accept challenge:


A welcome dialog of the battle:


If he or she does this, the game starts.

In a pseudo-realtime multiplayer game, basically, currently, there’s not any kind of announcement telling the other gamer you’ve finished making your steps. In this regard, UniWar is far better: in there, “Switch to next game” or “Next turn” becomes immediately available when (any of) your opponent(s) finish(es) his (their) turn. Also, there isn’t any kind of advanced notification features either. While UniWar supports sending out traditional e-mails for notifying your opponents (or you) about their (your) turn, there aren’t such features here. There isn’t Push notification either – unlike in Live Poker or UNO. (Please see bullet 2 in the “UPDATE (08/16/2009 0:19 CET)” section HERE for more info on how it’s working.) Currently, the only way of get notified of your opponents’ finishing their turn is starting up the game, logging in and check the state of your games in either the “Online Battles” section in War plans. If you see a “Your turn, as in the following screenshot, you’ll know it’s your turn:



Also, pressing the sword icon in the upper right corner takes you to a list of current games:



This dialog conveys more information than the “Online Battles” section above; therefore, you may want to prefer it to the former one.

I really hope the developers do introduce some kind of advanced notification scheme (e-mail, OS3 Push etc.) some time.

Currently, if you don’t exit a game you’re playing (because you know your opponent will make his/her turn as quickly as possible; that is, in almost realtime), you need to keep tapping the “Refresh” icon in the upper left corner of the screen:


(after having ended your turn)

(here, you can see the Refresh button in the upper left corner)

Unfortunately, there’s not any kind of in-game or in-lounge chatting. (UniWar is capable of this.) The in-game multiplayer menu:



And, finally, the stats after finishing a battle:


Verdict

This is an excellent game, particularly in multiplayer, assuming you are ready to actively devote some time to learning the physics of the game. Remember: if you are completely lost, you can freely ask for help from me in a public comment (but NOT in a private message).

3G S networking problems

I’ve found the game to continuously become unable to access the net (to synchronize mission data – that is, your new war spoils and the like) on my iPhone 3G S. (OS version 3.0, jailbroken, official, non-pirated copy of the latest (version 1.2) Reign of Swords Episode II, connection via either both 3G and Wi-Fi or via 3G only.) Interestingly, I haven’t run into any problems like this on my iPhone 3G (OS 3.0.1, jailbroken, official copy, Wi-Fi connection only). Then, after finishing a game, when the phone tries to synchronize the new army / inventory state with the server, it fails. Continuous retries (tapping Retry after the timeout) won’t work.

Fortunately, I’ve been able to come up with a decent solution – at least for jailbroken devices only with Backgrounder also installed. Just send ROS Ep II into background (by long-pressing Home until you see “Backgrounding enabled”; if you do it too late, Voice control is activated. Just cancel it and, when you’re automatically returned to the game, just press Home once.) Then, start Sfari or any other Web browser (I’ve also tested this with iCab Mobile) and load any page. When the connection is restarted, you can safely kill the Web browser and go back to the game (by tapping its icon). Then, just select “Retry” in the “no connection” dialog and voilá – the new stuff will be synchronized.

Other reviews of the series

pocketgamer.co.uk

Older reviews (of Ep I)
pocketgamer.co.uk
App Advice
Game FAQ’s (it’s a user review; note that the multiplayer in Ep II has been hugely improved from Ep I)
Side to Play (they also elaborate on the weaknesses of the multiplayer mode of Ep I)
IGN Mobile
TA's announcement

[stevetamis]

Hello Menneisyys,
You have given such a amazing reviews and updates for iPhone. Your updates are really good. Its a nice update to share here. Thanks very much for sharing this information.

[Menneisyys]

(Multiplayer) gaming news (09/23/2009):

There have been several multiplayer game releases in the last month (that is, since I’ve published my last major update to the iPhone Multiplayer gaming bible)

In THE MAIN CHART of the roundup, starting with “Aera by iChromo 1.0”, I’ve listed all the new, wireless multiplayer-enabled games released lately. There are some 13 of them.

In addition to the new releases, Attack Pro has received a fix to the 3G vs. 3G S Bluetooth problems; that is, now, it’s working perfectly between these two types of iPhone.

[Menneisyys]

UPDATE (09/24/2009): UniWar, the, in my opinion, multiplayer-wise (along with Reign of Swords Ep II – see review above, in the update posted at 08/23 12:14 CET) best enabled turn-based strategy game has just received Push notification for much quicker opponent notification. Note that, of the new games recently reviewed, Real Soccer 2010 by Gameloft (even as of the initial, 1.0 version) also supports Push notification. See the second bullet of the update posted at 08/16/2009 0:19 CET for more information on how it should be used.

There are some other goodies the new version, 1.0.5, offers:



Also note that, now, this game only costs $1. It’s an absolute steal for the price.