Opetopic

If you follow me on Twitter you might know that I just got back from a 2 week excursion in Egypt. It was an amazing trip and really opened my eyes to the iPad’s capabilities. I have a longer blog post about my experiences with the iPad while traveling, but for now I just want to talk about IsoCards.

The best part of the trip was being able to use IsoCards as I intended for the first time. When I travel I use all modes of transportation, and they are usually not very comfortable. Whether it’s a cramped public bus from Cape Town to Bloemfontein South Africa or an overnight train from Bangkok to Chang-Mai, one thing these vehicles have in common is that they are bumpy, unpredictable rides and there is always a lack of flat surfaces. In other words, card playing hell. This really sucks because cards are the best way to pass time in transit. My trip was only two weeks yet I spent nearly 30 hours on buses, vans and 4WD Jeeps, and another 20 hours on trains.

Try playing cards while barreling across the Sahara in one of these...

Before leaving I made sure to load IsoCards on all of the iDevices we took (2 iPads, 2 iPhones), which meant that at least 4 people could comfortable play at once. It didn’t matter what kind of environment we were in, my girlfriend and I were playing poker, VC, speed, rummy, crazy eights, etc. There was no need to purchase a separate app for all of these games with the rules pre-programmed. I know the rules already otherwise I wouldn’t be playing.

1.3 Update

I have just submitted the 1.3 update for IsoCards. I nearly submitted it before I left for Egypt but I didn’t have time to thoroughly test it.

The update really only has 2 new features and a few stability improvements. This release provides compatibility with the free version of IsoCards, called IsoCards Hand. I realized that it might be difficult to convince friends to pay for the IsoCards app if they only want to use it for transferring cards to their iPhone/iPod. So IsoCards Hand is a free app that only facilitates transferring cards from the full version of IsoCards to your other iDevices.

I have also added an UNO deck to the free cards part of the game which makes it much easier to play UNO and UNO-like games (crazy eights, etc). These cards can also be transferred to iPhones/iPods via the Bluetooth connectivity, but make sure that all devices are running the newest version of IsoCards.

UNO in IsoCards

I will post back on this blog when IsoCards Hand is available and when the IsoCards update is approved. Until then be sure to check out IsoCards in the app store:

I just submitted an update to IsoCards for the iPhone and iPad. This release contains two new features, and a bunch of bug and stability fixes.

In this update you can now try any of the in-app purchases exactly once before buying. So far the most popular in app purchase has been Speed, so give it a try with a friend and see how much fun it is.

You can also now remove poker chips in “free cards” mode. This was a huge oversight on my part when I introduced poker chips. To remove a chip, just bring up the poker chips screen from the menu, and drop the chip into the “drop to remove” area.

The bug fixes and stability enhancements include:

• Cards that are face up when passed back and forth between devices will remain face up
• Poker chips are a little smaller.
• Fixed a bug where sometimes a card would go shooting off in a random direction if picked up and set down immediately.
• Improved “cup to reveal” detection.
• Fixed some misc. bugs and crashes.

The next release will contain a new suite of card games, both solitaire games and multiplayer games. If you don’t already have IsoCards, just click the big App Store button below. It’s a universal app for your iPhone and iPad.

The 1.1 update to IsoCards is now available. This update includes Bluetooth/WiFi connectivity, poker chips, and games with pre-programmed rules. See our previous blog post for all the details.

I just submitted the 1.1 update for IsoCards to the app store. This update contains a ton of new stuff, so first take a look at the video preview:

The most important new feature is Bluetooth/WiFi support with iPhones and iPods. Just download the app to your other devices, and you can transfer a player’s cards to the device. It’s very easy to set up, and you can see the exact process in the video above.

Next, IsoCards now comes with a whole suite of card games that can be downloaded (more will be added). Currently there are 11 solitaire games, including the usual favorites such as Klondike, Free Cell and Spider, but also some more obscure games that are quite challenging, such as Eight Off, Yukon and Baker’s Dozen. There is also one multiplayer game called Speed (although it goes by many names). It is a very intense game, and it works wonderfully on the iPad. I hope to release more solitaire and multiplayer games in the coming weeks.

The final big change is the inclusion of poker chips. From the main game menu you can pull up a tray of chips and drag out as many as you want to the table. It is fully multi-touch driven so you can use all 5 of your fingers to push chips around.

I’m excited to finally get this update out, and if you have any questions/suggestions please feel free to comment or email me.

I am pleased to belatedly announce that IsoCards has won the AppStar awards contest!

For the 2nd time AppsFire has held the AppStar awards contest that seeks new and innovative iPhone apps from small developers, and for the 2nd time I entered this contest. The first time my entry IsoWords made it to the finalist round, but ultimately lost the create-your-own scrolling shooter SketchNation Shooter.

I decided to enter IsoCards into the next installment of AppStar at the last minute. I was already rushing to meet Apple’s deadline, and then I decided to go to my “dark place” and whip together an entry for the contest. In fact, I made the entry video on the last possible day using only Quicktime and iMovie.

I didn’t think IsoCards had a chance at winning. I knew it was an interesting app, and people had responded very well to it, but it wasn’t a traditional game and the competition was intimidating. In fact, I was so sure that IsoCards wasn’t going to win that I didn’t even check the results of the competition when they were announced at 360iDev on Monday, April 12th. Instead, I found out the next day from an internet cafe in Brazil!

Well, now I’m back from Brazil and I have a lot of work ahead of me. Here is just a sample of what is in store for Opetopic:

1. A huge IsoCards update coming soon
2. The ad campaign for IsoCards from AppStar
3. A brand new game is in its nascent stages with a new collaborator

I will post more details on these subjects soon…

I have just submitted an iPad application (barely within the March 27th deadline), and its called IsoCards. It will be free for the launch of the iPad!

IsoCards is a card game without any pre-programmed rules. Its just a mulitouch-gesture and physics driven deck of cards that allows you to play whatever card game you want. You can throw cards around, double tap or pinch a card to flip it over, and the app works in any orientation you hold the device.

Now, having the app be just a deck of cards and expecting it to be usable is a lofty goal. In fact, it’s probably impossible. So, I’ve introduced a few elements to add a little bit of structure so that you can actually play card games. For example, you can add a “player”, which is just a glass shape that can be used to collect and organize cards. It will automatically fan out your cards and you can drag and rotate this holder to anywhere on the table. There is also a menu button you can press that allows you to show your cards to everyone, sort your cards, or remove the player.

The biggest problem with allowing multiple people play cards on the same device is preventing your opponents from seeing your cards. How do we solve this? Well, the iPad has a large enough screen that I thought maybe we could allow the players to “cup” their hand and place it at the top of their cards (like they do in poker), at which point the cards will flip over and be revealed. When you lift your hand your cards will quickly flip back over.

See your cards without showing everyone else

I wasn’t sure if this would be feasible, and having not actually tried it on an iPad I still can’t be 100% sure, but I was able to test on my iPhone, and I have to say it is magical. It is easy to use and very responsive.

Finally, there is a notepad that you can bring up at any time you can draw or type on, making it easy to keep scores.

IsoCards 1.1

There are 2 killer features that I worked on for IsoCards, but I was wary of releasing them without having tested them on an actual device.

Enforced Game Rules

Most of the difficulty in programming IsoCards was coming up with a intuitive, flexible engine to handle a deck of cards. An engine that could be used to program practically any card game very easily, while inheriting the fluid animations and multitouch gestures.

Now that I have this engine, I will be programming nearly every card game that I can think of with IsoCards and releasing them in updates. I will probably start with a pack of solitaire games, and then move to multiplayer games.

Bluetooth/WiFi connectivity with iPhones and iPods

Image you want to play a card game with a couple of people that requires a large pool of communal cards (think Gin Rummy, Go Fish, or my favorite, Tien Len). The device can get crowded pretty quickly. So, if you have an iPhone or iPod you will be back to “dock” you cards on the edge of the app and transfer them to their iPhone. You can then just flick your cards off your device and they will land on the iPad.

IsoCards: iPad + iPhone via Bluetooth

So… that’s IsoCards! I hope it is in the App Store for launch day…