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Hi!
Did you enjoy Monday’s Mac event? It’s nice to see Apple going full throttle on Apple Silicon, it’ll end up in iPads, after all. New AirPods too, I’m looking to replace the ones I use for working out.
Anyway, this week’s newsletter isn’t about Macs, obviously. It’s time for another Game Day installment, so get ready to try some gems to kill the time.
Clap Hanz Golf
I’ve spent a lot of time with Clap Hanz Golf the last few weeks. I played it a bit when it launched on Apple Arcade (yep, you’ll need a subscription to play this one), but then fell out of it. It’s gotten several updates since then, and whatever the reason was to stop playing this game, it’s seemingly gone.
If you recognize the style of Clap Hanz Golf, you might’ve played another golf series called Everybody’s Golf or Hot Shots Golf, depending on your region. Clap Hanz is the developer of said series, which was (is?) published by Sony for various PlayStation platforms. They’re great games, especially the two that was released for PlayStation Portable.
Clap Hanz Golf isn’t the same, however. Here, you collect and level up golfers, which you can use for various types of competitions, one golfer per hole. I didn’t care for it at first, mostly because I really wanted a new Everybody’s Golf, but now, I think it works just fine. In fact, it’s a nice format for mobile gaming, and addictive enough for longer sessions with your iPad. The iPad mini has proven to be the perfect device for this, which is one of the reasons I’m playing it so much.
And yes, Clap Hanz Golf has controller support, but it’s a weird control scheme that sort of mimics your movements on the touchscreen. I don’t like it, it’s not there for me, and prefer to play this one sans controller. That’s not something you’ll hear me say often, that’s for sure.
I recommend you to give Clap Hanz Golf a go, if you have an Apple Arcade subscription. Who knows, you might get as hooked as I am!
Grand Mountain Adventure
I’ve just started playing Grand Mountain Adventure, and I love it. It’s an open world skiing (or, in my case, snowboarding) game where you explore the mountain, finding slopes and finishing challenges. I’ve barely scratched the surface on this one, so I’m not sure how much equipment and other things will play into this game, but I’m looking forward to unlocking new boards at least. I’m also looking forward to trying this one with a controller, there’s supposed to be support for it, hopefully better than for Clap Hanz Golf…
Grand Mountain Adventure is free, with the first mountain unlocked, but if you want more, you’ll have to pony up $5 for the full game. Which I did after fifteen minutes with the game, it feels totally worth it.
Chess.com
There are plenty of chess apps on the App Store. I’m using Chess.com’s app, which you can find both on Apple Arcade (for some reason), and — a bit more fleshed out — as a regular app. It’s a pretty simple app, but it gets the job done. You’ll want to sign up for a Chess.com account, add some friends, or just let the app match you with someone else for a friendly game of chess. You can control how much time each player to make their move, be it minutes or days, which means that you can play the game at your pace. Or you can just play against the computer, obviously.
It’s not just regular chess games, though. There are also puzzles, and you can upgrade your membership to get access to tools that’ll evolve your game. For me, the free version is fine, though. I typically have two or three games running simultaneously, so it fits the bill.
Chess.com is a lot more than just playing chess, though. If you want to, you can watch chess games, interact with other people in the community, and watch other player’s games. There’s a lot for the chess fan, here.
Chess.com is free, and so is the account. Paid memberships start at $5/month or $30/year.
What are your favorite iPad games? Let me know, preferably on Twitter.
Until next time, play safe.