Roger Fingas
Firaxis has released Mac and iPad versions of Sid Meier's Starships, an anticipated turn-based strategy game, while 6 Wunderkinder has updated the Mac and iOS editions of its popular to-do list app, Wunderlist, with folders and a revised design.
Sid Meier's Starships
Set in the same universe as Civilization: Beyond Earth, Starships has players assemble a fleet of customized spacecraft as they look to explore and expand their federation. Expansion requires diplomacy and exploiting planetary resources, as well as combat against threats such as pirates and rogue artificial intelligences. Victory can be achieved through diplomacy, combat, or science.
The game is separate from Beyond Earth and deliberately faster-paced, but Firaxis promises unspecified connectivity between the two titles.
Both the Mac and iPad versions cost $15. The former is available through Steam, and requires at least OS X 10.9. The iPad edition runs on iOS 7.0 or later.
Wunderlist gets folders, new design
With folders, users can now gather lists together, decluttering the main menu and making it easier to find related items. Along these lines, a general design change involves color-coded pictograms, making it simpler to differentiate between folders, lists, smart lists, and the inbox.
One iOS-only improvement is Quick Add. Tapping a blue circle makes it easier to add a new reminder or due date, particularly through support for natural language recognition that detects details as a person types or speaks.
All editions of Wunderlist are free to download, though pay subscriptions are available for extra features. The Mac client requires OS X 10.9, while iOS users must have an iPhone or iPad running iOS 7.0.
Marko Zivkovic
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
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Andrew O'Hara
12 Comments
I was thrilled to see Starships on the Mac App Store so quickly. A definite buy for me.
Bought to play on my iPad. So far I like it a lot. If I would have bought it for my Mac I would have been disappointed. Just does not seem "deep" enough for Mac/PC...perfect for iPad. Very tough to find quality games for iPad. I have found when you pay $2.99-$20.00 for a game it is much better than the get for free and pay out your nose to continue to play a shallow game model.
Bought to play on my iPad. So far I like it a lot. If I would have bought it for my Mac I would have been disappointed. Just does not seem "deep" enough for Mac/PC...perfect for iPad. Very tough to find quality games for iPad. I have found when you pay $2.99-$20.00 for a game it is much better than the get for free and pay out your nose to continue to play a shallow game model.
Does anybody know if is it almost exactly the same game on both platforms (aside from necessary UI differences)? Are there any noticeable graphical differences?
I saw something online that said it was near identical...I would wait until you have a user confirm this though.
It's a shame that Apple doesn't offer something similar to SteamPlay for dual iOS/OS X releases.