Great iPhone chess "game" apps
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Jan 1, 2017
0
#3
Has anyone tried "Really Bad Chess"? What do you think? I was pretty skeptical before trying it, but a friend of mine convinced me to at least give it a go... and I must say, it's pretty interesting. Two advantages is has going for it (in my opinion) are that 1) it's sooooo ridiculous that it's impossible to take too seriously, so you can just have fun with it, and 2) the ranking system keeps it interesting in that if you keep winning, the board setups (although always random) will systematically get harder, until you start losing, at which point they progress back towards getting easier. You can challenge yourself to see how hard of a board you can beat.
Jan 1, 2017
0
#4
Scotty-Mac wrote:
Has anyone tried "Really Bad Chess"? What do you think? I was pretty skeptical before trying it, but a friend of mine convinced me to at least give it a go... and I must say, it's pretty interesting. Too advantages is has going for it (in my opinion) are that 1) it's sooooo ridiculous that it's impossible to take too seriously, so you can just have fun with it, and 2) the ranking system keeps it interesting in that if you keep winning, the board setups (although always random) will systematically get harder, until you start losing, at which point they progress back towards getting easier. You can challenge yourself to see how hard of a board you can beat.
Do you have any hand in developing or promoting these apps? Truth! Just wondering.
Jan 1, 2017
0
#5
No, none at all! I'm a professional forester, actually. I was just curious what other people thought of this quirky app...
Jan 1, 2017
0
#6
Oh, I see now that you were asking about all of the apps I mentioned right from the start... same answer - no, I have nothing to do with promoting these apps. But I can see why you might wonder that given the level of detail I included (developer names, etc.). I have just found these apps to be a lot of fun, and wanted to make it easy for other people to find them if they wanted to try them... Just spreading the word on a personal level only! 
Jan 1, 2017
0
#7
@LouSteule - have you tried any of these apps yourself? If so, what do you think?
Jan 1, 2017
0
#8
Besides the app version of this site, I enjoy playing on "Chess with Friends" by Zynga (same developer that made "Words with Friends"). Though it has no tools for skill development, it is great for the casual player and is a nice option for those who don't always have time for live games. If you log in with your Facebook acct, the app will show you all your FB friends who use it and makes it easy to issue challenges. I have many friends that play chess that I was unaware of until using this app. I will say, however, that the Android version has more features than the iPhone version and for people like me who have changed phone OS's and have experienced both, that is a disappointment. I have left reviews in the App Store constantly that they need to make the Apple version identical to the Android one, but to no avail. Regardless, I recommend this app to anyone looking to play chess for fun against folks you actually know.
OK - right off the bat, this topic is potentially confusing, so let me explain... I'm talking about apps (in the "game" genre) for the iPhone that are based on the concept of chess, but are not, themselves, chess. They usually take on some form of "chess solitaire". I currently have (and enjoy playing) the following 3 apps:
I've listed the developers, because I find that's often the best way to search for a specific app on Apple's App Store (or at least the best way to confirm you're looking at the correct app), since many haves have very similar names.
The first two are quite challenging, with lots of levels that increase in difficulty as you go. The third app is just the Knight's Tour. That being said, I tried at least a couple dozen "knight's tour" apps (most of which were terribly implemented!!) until I found this wonderfully designed and bug-free version of the popular chess board challenge.
I'm very interested to know if anyone has found other "chess game" apps that offer a nice chess-based non-chess experience. Some people would say that these "games" have nothing to do with "real" chess, but I'm of the opinion that, 1) they're fun, so who cares, and 2) at the very least they should improve your innate understanding of the interplay between the various chess pieces and there positional relationship to each other on the board (surely this is a transferable skill to the "real" game of chess).
So, if you've found something fun and interesting, let's share the knowledge around (and help support chess in all its incarnations at the same time!).