Can’t work on iOS 14
Please update the game. I loved it on my old phone but I want to play it on my new one.
Wow
The most complicated mode of chess I have witnessed or played. Serious mind fcuck. Lots of fun, but seriously mind warping.
Fun
It's good because people can look over my shoulder and ask what I'm doing and then I feel smart
One problem
Cannot attack when in "check". Please fix? Great game! I love it.
Great visual concept
This is an excellent adaption of chess, but what it gains from the design and execution, it loses from complexity. Possible moves are very difficult to understand without the "preview". Auto-rotation sphere after computer turn is confusing, too quick and should toggled on/off. Flipping pieces which are on the underside is cute but adds to the confusion.
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Very fun, quite addictive
Ummm...settings? Difficulty levels? Ability to store old games or at least game results? There are no settings or preferences of any kind. It seems like a no brainer to at least be able to choose difficulty. Unless I'm missing something.
Otherwise very fun, transfixing even. Rotation of the sphere is fluid and easy. Pretty hard but I beat the computer on the 2nd game, I hope it stays challenging.
One other gripe, every time the computer plays the view shifts very fast to where you last played. Too fast, it's disorienting. It would be great if it transitioned a lot more slowly, maybe even be able to adjust the speed.
Otherwise very fun, transfixing even. Rotation of the sphere is fluid and easy. Pretty hard but I beat the computer on the 2nd game, I hope it stays challenging.
One other gripe, every time the computer plays the view shifts very fast to where you last played. Too fast, it's disorienting. It would be great if it transitioned a lot more slowly, maybe even be able to adjust the speed.
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Almost THE BEST Brain-game I've seen
This game is fantastic on many levels. It's:
- Unique (though "inspired by chess" as authors posit)
- 3D
- Challenging
- Easy to play, fast/responsive gameplay
- Stylish : light shading, opacity, color scheme, subtlety of UI
All of these, as well as the fact that it's TEEEENY-TINY (less than 1MB for version 1.0), demonstrate that the developer(s) are immensely skilled in design and development.
It has not crashed on me in over an hour's play (I'll update this if it does).
It took me about ten minutes to figure out the legal moves for a few pieces (e.g. pawns, bishops, and the queen). After a total of 15 minutes, I won the first game I played (admitting I had to undo a half-dozen times because I didn't understand how my and the opponent's pieces moved). So it's not terribly difficult once the pieces get spread out. The AI seems to be a simple n-look-ahead" algorithm, going forward only 2 or 3 moves.
Great as it is, I can't give it 5-stars because the "Rules" info is insufficient as a tutorial on how to move pieces. The game needs another page to describe how pawns and diagonal moves work. For pawns, it's important to understand what's its front, backs, and sides. Likewise, diagonal moves can be initially confusing since it's nothing like chess. The pentagonal nature of the board makes things just different enough - but still doable and fun. Once a good tutorial is added, I will happily increase my rating.
I would also like to see a Hint ("Suggest my move") button to let newbies learn and master the game.
The popularity of this game also becomes stunted by the spherical "board". So I suggest adding a second (easier) board that's a semi-sphere... This would alleviate concerns raised by other reviewers about having to "watch your back" as well as the difficulty in forming defensive-lines, as chess allows.
I welcome the developer(s) to add online gameplay, against random or selectable (named) opponents -- which would give the app significant longevity. Without this, most users will tire of it.
I recommend you also improve the AI if you make the suggested board changes. Games like this, and their likeability depend greatly on how "winnable" it appears. If users are intimidated by the game's/board's/AI's complexity, they won't come back (no one willingly enters a no-win arena). So keep balance between the games difficulty of play/comprehension & its AI ability.
Again, big kudos for a very good app -- in pretty much every sense.
- Unique (though "inspired by chess" as authors posit)
- 3D
- Challenging
- Easy to play, fast/responsive gameplay
- Stylish : light shading, opacity, color scheme, subtlety of UI
All of these, as well as the fact that it's TEEEENY-TINY (less than 1MB for version 1.0), demonstrate that the developer(s) are immensely skilled in design and development.
It has not crashed on me in over an hour's play (I'll update this if it does).
It took me about ten minutes to figure out the legal moves for a few pieces (e.g. pawns, bishops, and the queen). After a total of 15 minutes, I won the first game I played (admitting I had to undo a half-dozen times because I didn't understand how my and the opponent's pieces moved). So it's not terribly difficult once the pieces get spread out. The AI seems to be a simple n-look-ahead" algorithm, going forward only 2 or 3 moves.
Great as it is, I can't give it 5-stars because the "Rules" info is insufficient as a tutorial on how to move pieces. The game needs another page to describe how pawns and diagonal moves work. For pawns, it's important to understand what's its front, backs, and sides. Likewise, diagonal moves can be initially confusing since it's nothing like chess. The pentagonal nature of the board makes things just different enough - but still doable and fun. Once a good tutorial is added, I will happily increase my rating.
I would also like to see a Hint ("Suggest my move") button to let newbies learn and master the game.
The popularity of this game also becomes stunted by the spherical "board". So I suggest adding a second (easier) board that's a semi-sphere... This would alleviate concerns raised by other reviewers about having to "watch your back" as well as the difficulty in forming defensive-lines, as chess allows.
I welcome the developer(s) to add online gameplay, against random or selectable (named) opponents -- which would give the app significant longevity. Without this, most users will tire of it.
I recommend you also improve the AI if you make the suggested board changes. Games like this, and their likeability depend greatly on how "winnable" it appears. If users are intimidated by the game's/board's/AI's complexity, they won't come back (no one willingly enters a no-win arena). So keep balance between the games difficulty of play/comprehension & its AI ability.
Again, big kudos for a very good app -- in pretty much every sense.
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Nearly perfect
Love the simplicity for such a complex strategy game. Would be perfect if it retained its simple commands and layout but also had a challenge online friend option with no limit on time... But requiring a server would probably cost money, but I wouldn't mind paying $ for the app. I would give it 5 stars for online, or if it had its own elo-esque rating and/or challenges like 2 move problems.
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Too Hard
It's pretty hard, but I'm not going to take it out on the rating. I am against writing bad reviews just because you are too stupid to understand a game's controls. But I will tell you one thing, learning this game won't happen overnight.
crashed midgame
me n my dad were playing a game and 15 minutes thru it like reset itself and crashed
Sucky Game!
This game won't even start up at all, so I don't even know if it's good or not.
Excellent
The best thing about this is the option to take back a move. It also makes me feel like I'm in a scifi universe. Love it!
Great Idea
The game idea is great!
I really admire you create Esfera for inspiration!
Your original idea develop traditional chess to a new level!
I like it so much!
I really admire you create Esfera for inspiration!
Your original idea develop traditional chess to a new level!
I like it so much!
really well done
I was searching google for board games that take place on a sphere and found this. I love the smooth control and graphics. Very fun! And free!!
Fun!
It is a fun game!!!
Very awesome!
This game is really fun to play. Well worth the .99 cents. A few things that I wish they would add in an update is to be able to change the difficulty of the computer and also update it to be able to play friends online. That would be amazing. Otherwise great job. I'm glad I spent the money!
Interesting...
Awesome graphics and controls, but gets old fast; I mostly just use it as one of the apps I show people to demonstrate the awesomeness of my iPod.
Nice 3D Chess
Oh yes, this is very nice. I've been waiting for someone to come out with a truly interesting version of chess for the iPad, and this is it! 1-2 players, AI is challenging, real chess strategy and thinking needed to win this game, as it should be. Spinning the sphere 360 is a breeze, and moving pieces is easy. You can also play your own ipod music, which is essential since the game is silent. In the future, I would like to see more options added, the other reviewer Aaron made some great suggestions to add optional gameplay modes. Regardless, this a nice 3D take on chess.
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Changes the rules...
The spherical board really changes how you play this - so, "inspired by chess" is an appropriate way to put it because many of the normal chess tactics wont work as you have to keep watching your sides and back as well as front. Its a very good idea for a game.
I would like to see it get some more options - for example, a preference setting for whether the sphere is transparent, ability to zoom in and out, perhaps some choices in how many hexagons comprise the board to make it a bit bigger or smaller... What would be *really* cool is to have an option to play on a partial sphere so that some of the spaces are randomly "knocked out" and you have to play around them (yes, the chess in me wants some kind of barrier to put my back against since I don't have an edge of a board) - this would also make it more interesting to keep playing the game as you could get a different board each time. Maybe even make some spaces disappear throughout the game (again, an option)... Perhaps the ability to change pawns into "wall spaces" one to create some kind of "defensive perimeter"... Just thinking out loud...
I would like to see it get some more options - for example, a preference setting for whether the sphere is transparent, ability to zoom in and out, perhaps some choices in how many hexagons comprise the board to make it a bit bigger or smaller... What would be *really* cool is to have an option to play on a partial sphere so that some of the spaces are randomly "knocked out" and you have to play around them (yes, the chess in me wants some kind of barrier to put my back against since I don't have an edge of a board) - this would also make it more interesting to keep playing the game as you could get a different board each time. Maybe even make some spaces disappear throughout the game (again, an option)... Perhaps the ability to change pawns into "wall spaces" one to create some kind of "defensive perimeter"... Just thinking out loud...
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Fun!
This is a fun , unique, and challenging form of Chess. Controls work great too.