Eclipse on iOS

You need to have a table to play the game above it.

If your game doesn't give a shit about the metagame, then I'd almost always rather play it on iOS.

So how are people liking Eclipse iOS?

Picked this up, but the online stuff seems weird. Anywhoo, I signed up as SaMoKo, but I'm not sure if it's even possible to set up a game with people or set up friends lists. Why couldn't they just use GameCenter, dammit?

The interesting thing is that it really plays less like a board game and more like a simplified 4x game...it seriously feels like a Master of Orion/GalCiv but seriously pared down and with the board game elements played up.

There's some really neat implementation concepts, I love how the combat is displayed.

Overall, it's really fucking awesome. The online...yeah, WTF, no Gamecenter.

Anyway, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Add me. Somebody.

I like playing MTG both online and in person, but for different reasons. I like playing in person with friends and family because, well, I like the company of my friends and family and it's fun to share the experience of wild things in a Magic game. But as serious competition, they mostly don't cut the mustard, and I've got to go online to find opponents good enough for that. Of course, I could also go to big tournaments for that, but the reason online beats that is because I can play during whatever time window I want. Even playing with strangers, though, if the time-slot issues were irrelevant, I'd rather play in person against high-quality strangers than play online against high-quality strangers.

So how do you play online? Do I need to use the email that's connected to my iTunes account? Or does any old email work?

Okay, so I have never played Eclipse before and have a general interest in trying it out. I love TI3, and kind of fear the heavy economics (read: dominating gameplay component?) of Eclipse. But again, I'm interested in playing it at least once. Is it worth my $7 to try out Eclipse? Or should I wait for some not-so-random encounter at a game store with someone breaking it out?

I don't think it's heavy economics, by any means... There's an aspect of that, but it's pretty balanced with the other stuff going on. I haven't played TI3, but many seem to think Eclipse is a tighter version of that, for better or worse. I love it, though, especially having played the app a dozen times now. I'd only played it twice before. Whether it's worth your $7 just to try is hard to say, but for the quality of the app and the game, it's a steal at that price, IMO.

I've beat it to death in other threads/articles but Eclipse sure as shit isn't going to scratch your TI3 itch. BUT what sucks about it is mostly stuff that isn't as big a deal in the digital world and you still get the full enjoyment of the bits that are awesome (ship building, the way the economy works). If you want to play it, don't waste your real life time playing it at a game night cause you'll have a worse time and take way longer.

MattLoter wrote: I've beat it to death in other threads/articles but Eclipse sure as shit isn't going to scratch your TI3 itch.

Agreed. They're completely different games that scratch different itches. I like both games, but I think I'd rather just play Master of Orion or Space Empires IV than an iOS version of either one. It's like reading a book based on a movie that was based on a book. Just read the original book.