What it says on the tin!
Pure Crokinole. This is an excellent digital version with outstanding physics down to the slight black hole effect around the 20 edge and the edge of your seat slow downs right before one disc touches another. The sensations of flubbed shots, hyped take outs, and blasting a cluster full force are here and complimented with pleasant and sometimes subtle audio effects. The two shooting methods are very easy to understand and allow for single handed play while holding or laying the device on a table. While the flick takes a few shots to get used to it feels good and contributes to the "little bit of random" element every shot has a chance of having that gets lower and lower the higher your skill. The pull and release has a very clever mechanic that shortens the shot projection line the higher the difficulty so you can't tell with absolute certainty where it's going to end up but you have a good idea. When it gets down to a round deciding stress shot the projection and power is obscured even further for more tension.
There's so much this game is getting right I have very little to offer in terms of ideas for improvement but some nice-to-haves would be to see the CPU line up its shot with the angle and power so you can anticipate the action (added in 1.2!). A button to reset the board back to center would be handy after zooming and panning around. This may be something to get used or I'm going too fast but I find myself holding one finger on the disc trying not to release a shot while using the other to hit the reposition button after changing my mind (new easy implementation since 1.2!). Probably outside the scope but having unlockables/achievements and cross platform live/asynchronous multiplayer could be amazing.
The only bug I may have encountered is the 20 related stats not updating. I've played multiple difficulties and the arcade mode so not sure if it's tracking it from something specific but it remains at 0 for now. (After playing a game after an update, this is working for me as of 1.2)
As it is, this is a fantastic way to not only get a taste of Crokinole if you're curious but experience some of the same sensations of amazing takeouts, forehead slapping mistakes, and outright fun to be had with the physical version. A quality tournament board is an investment but I'd wager most players that own one would say it's worth every bit of what they paid. The price of this app is very reasonable to find out if you enjoy the game enough to get one for yourself (or if you already have one and want to scratch that shuffleboard disc flicking itch.)
A job very well done!
Update 1.2
The repositioning of your disc with the pull method has been made even easier: just slide your finger back on top of the disc until it says "cancel" on the power meter. There's also an automatic board shift to give you more room for the pull back shot. Very nice!
When playing against the CPU, you get to see where they place the disc before the shot (thanks for adding this!)
There's also been some nice effects and animations added or adjusted. The discs disappear in a little wisp of smoke, placing a disc has a transparent track around it to make it a little more clear it's in placement mode, there's a round and match end summary...lots of little niceties that really add up.
The automatic shifting of the board with 1v1 local games with someone else on iPad is a very nice feature, especially for the pull method of shooting.
The new doubles is awesome: with an option to set any player to a human or CPU you can play co-op style or competitive with one, two, three, or four people on the same iPad. Maybe the cutthroat variant is a possibility in the future? Perhaps because it's an iPad mini, it was a little challenging to get a shot off with the pull method if you're one of the long side players. Maybe the new automatic board shift feature could help?
New arcade mode as well, if you've got open 20's dialed in, now you can add timing to the mix with rotating pegs.
The new power meter and shot guide will take me some time to get used to. Not sure what it was about the single white line that doubled as a power meter, maybe the simplicity of not having them separated, but I had found a pretty good rhythm with it and was able to line up shots a little better. Could just be me.
I think the guide, like from medium to expert, shrank a little more from expert to impossible which is likely why I'm finding it more difficult. It could be nice to have some options for this UI down the line though if it's not too complicated!
The added impossible difficulty has been fun with some hilariously good shots from the CPU that have left me slack jawed. I've been playing on expert up until now but once I get used to the new changes for taking shots hopefully I can improve my win/loss against impossible :)
All in all, a great update! Thank you for the continued work and improvements!
There's so much this game is getting right I have very little to offer in terms of ideas for improvement but some nice-to-haves would be to see the CPU line up its shot with the angle and power so you can anticipate the action (added in 1.2!). A button to reset the board back to center would be handy after zooming and panning around. This may be something to get used or I'm going too fast but I find myself holding one finger on the disc trying not to release a shot while using the other to hit the reposition button after changing my mind (new easy implementation since 1.2!). Probably outside the scope but having unlockables/achievements and cross platform live/asynchronous multiplayer could be amazing.
The only bug I may have encountered is the 20 related stats not updating. I've played multiple difficulties and the arcade mode so not sure if it's tracking it from something specific but it remains at 0 for now. (After playing a game after an update, this is working for me as of 1.2)
As it is, this is a fantastic way to not only get a taste of Crokinole if you're curious but experience some of the same sensations of amazing takeouts, forehead slapping mistakes, and outright fun to be had with the physical version. A quality tournament board is an investment but I'd wager most players that own one would say it's worth every bit of what they paid. The price of this app is very reasonable to find out if you enjoy the game enough to get one for yourself (or if you already have one and want to scratch that shuffleboard disc flicking itch.)
A job very well done!
Update 1.2
The repositioning of your disc with the pull method has been made even easier: just slide your finger back on top of the disc until it says "cancel" on the power meter. There's also an automatic board shift to give you more room for the pull back shot. Very nice!
When playing against the CPU, you get to see where they place the disc before the shot (thanks for adding this!)
There's also been some nice effects and animations added or adjusted. The discs disappear in a little wisp of smoke, placing a disc has a transparent track around it to make it a little more clear it's in placement mode, there's a round and match end summary...lots of little niceties that really add up.
The automatic shifting of the board with 1v1 local games with someone else on iPad is a very nice feature, especially for the pull method of shooting.
The new doubles is awesome: with an option to set any player to a human or CPU you can play co-op style or competitive with one, two, three, or four people on the same iPad. Maybe the cutthroat variant is a possibility in the future? Perhaps because it's an iPad mini, it was a little challenging to get a shot off with the pull method if you're one of the long side players. Maybe the new automatic board shift feature could help?
New arcade mode as well, if you've got open 20's dialed in, now you can add timing to the mix with rotating pegs.
The new power meter and shot guide will take me some time to get used to. Not sure what it was about the single white line that doubled as a power meter, maybe the simplicity of not having them separated, but I had found a pretty good rhythm with it and was able to line up shots a little better. Could just be me.
I think the guide, like from medium to expert, shrank a little more from expert to impossible which is likely why I'm finding it more difficult. It could be nice to have some options for this UI down the line though if it's not too complicated!
The added impossible difficulty has been fun with some hilariously good shots from the CPU that have left me slack jawed. I've been playing on expert up until now but once I get used to the new changes for taking shots hopefully I can improve my win/loss against impossible :)
All in all, a great update! Thank you for the continued work and improvements!
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Best Crokinole on the App Store
The game is amazingly polished. An excellent digital version of a great, fun game that goes under the radar. If there was one thing I would recommend it would be possibly giving the option to remove the Reposition button in “flick” mode. Seems a bit more intuitive to just be able to move the disc without hitting a button again.
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Great game!!
Pleasantly surprised and impressed i was actually able to flick the way you would in a real game. Took me a minute to get the hang of it but when it clicked, it was very natural. Really appreciated the real game feel of the app and felt like i was able to get good practice i can transpose to the board!
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Finally. A Crokinole game with flick mechanics
This game has a great feel and recreates the fun of Crokinole. I enjoy 1-player vs the Ai on my phone. 2-player (in-person) is the closest I’ve come to a satisfying game without hauling a board around. Highly recommended for both Crokinole lovers and the Crokinole curious.