I admit it – I love games. Games games games. They were part of the draw of computers in the first place, long long ago. I wasn’t a healthy teen and wasn’t able to do the sports thing and such, so video games (and pool and bowling and D&D) were what I did. That has never changed, and I still love to relax in a game, sometimes too much. Here is a rundown of my current favorites for iPad:
X-Plane 10: Not really a game, more of a simulator – it’s beautiful, and I’ve also always loved airplanes. There are several good flight sims out there, but this one has become my favorite. The upgrade prices are a bit steep, but the quality is top-notch and it plays smoothly on my iPad Air. That’s more than I could ever say about my many attempts to get good performance from a PC with MSFlight!
Battle Supremacy: A World of Tanks like game, where you control/drive/shoot a WWII tank through various missions and online against other players. It is very pretty and well done, and a great time killer. It’s easy to play, the missions are relatively short so that you can run through one during a break from the real world.
Mad Bullets: I was looking for a goofy shooter kind of game and stumbled across this one. It brings to mind the old light-gun shooting ranges of my youth, with lots of breakable objects, pop-up bad guys and good guys to be avoided, and fun challenges. It does get kind of repetitive over time, but I keep coming back to it for brief breaks. I highly recommend paying to remove the ads, as they are persistent and annoying, but other than that you’re set.
Scrabble HD: What can I say? I love Scrabble, and this is a well done copy on the iPad.
Ticket To Ride: If you like board games, this is the king. It plays great, looks great, and is fun solo against the multiple computer players or against your friends. There is even a pass-and-play option.
Carcassonne: Another solid board game for the iPad. From the basic game you get a good solo challenge against multiple levels of computer opponents, you can play against others online, and there are many expansions available if the basic ruleset gets dry. I really recommend trying with Fields turned off. Fields can be hard to track against the harder computer opponents, and it really changes the way you plan your game.
So there you go. I have quite a few more on my iPad, that get swapped and exchanged with other titles all the time. These are a few of those that I just can’t seem to let go, and they have provided me with hours and hours of relaxation and fun. The iPad is a tool with incredible uses, but darn if gaming isn’t a blast on it as well.