Seemingly every day, I'm finding new iPhone games through Apple's iTunes App Store that have me reminiscing back to my childhood. Following UNO, which I covered on Friday, I ran into a game called Yahtzee Adventures, from Electronic Arts, which brings the familiar dice game to the iPhone, adding some new wrinkles, letting you play against the phone, clear levels with experience and gain new challenges. And in a sense of near reality, you can even give the phone a quick shake to get the dice rolling.
I Got a Yahtzee! But... So Did My Opponent
Given this is the "official" Yahtzee game, and not some cheap knockoff, gameplay is robust, complete with plastic die-shaking cup, and 3D dice falling on a red felt-covered table. And like the old paper and pencil tracked game, all the rules are the same - you still need to get 63 points to get your 35-point bonus on the top half, and you can score big numbers by getting your full house, large and short straight, and of course, a Yahtzee!. Get more than one Yahtzee!, and you score a 100-point bonus.
New Challenges Open Up With Experience
As your completed games rack up, the Yahtzee! game turns into the rest of the title, the "Adventure". You can win awards and enter challenges against other characters within the game, as you progress from the level of apprentice, to the top level of sensei, beating the opponents along the way. It's all part of taking what could seem like a repetitive game whose rules never change and reducing the potential for fatigue. But to be honest, I've been playing Yahtzee! with my family for a good twenty years under the same rules, and it never gets old.
The game is $4.99 for your iPhone or your iPod Touch. Just promise me you won't jump up and down with your own customized Yahtzee! dance, should you get the much sought after five like dice. I've already got friends who do that, and your iPhone won't care.