Carcassonne
Excellent German tile game and one of the best board games the app store has to offer. A beautiful adaptation that is faithful to the physical game in every way. Challenging AI, 5 players on one device, and ranked online play included. Free iPad update coming soon. I implore you, check this one out.
Catan
Another superb German game. This is however a terrible version of it. Good if you’ve never played before, but if you’re like me and you own the physical copy and it’s many expansions, the iPhone version is underwhelming in it’s scope.
Ingenious
Fun two player game involving collecting colors by drawing and matching tiles. Well done and great for killing time.
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Small World 2
Another excellent port of the physical game. This game is nerdy and overwhelming on the surface, but it is incredibly enjoyable and you’ll be hooked after your first game. The mechanics of the game provide for variability that make continued play enjoyable.
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Reiner Knizia’s Knights of Charlemagne
2 Player game that involves competing for colored and numbered castles with knights. Easy to learn and the app features three levels of AI difficulty.
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Reiner Knizia’s Keltis Oracle
Another Knizia game …. I think he had something to do with ingenious as well. This is probably my favorite of his stuff. It involves moving pieces around the board by playing colored and numbered cards in ascending or descending order. Complex but not challenging to learn.
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Reiner Knizia’s Money
Excellent card game. The app lacks multiplayer which is a huge bummer.
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Swarm SG
A really cool hybrid of chess and … Soccer? Gameplay involves moving three ranks of pieces around a board composed of hexagons. The three ranks move differently and your moves are determined by how many “dice points” you roll. Points are scored by capturing opponents pieces or moving your pieces out through the goal. Excellent gameplay with infinite strategies for winning.
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Blokus HD
I was surprised not to see this elsewhere. Fun game. This is not a fantastic version of it, but it works.
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Tafl
If the Vikings played it, it’s good enough for me.
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