Domino Box HD

Dominos was my favourite game as a kid (heck, it's still in my top ten now). The idea is simple: you have to match one end of a domino tile to another end on the board. For example, if there's an open "5" on the board then you can only put another domino that has a "5" on either end of it by that particular domino. If your tiles don't match anything on the board, you'll have to take more dominos until you have a match somewhere. Once you've reached a certain number of points - the amount of which is customizable - you've won. Getting rid of all your dominos will get you points.

Domino Box HD keeps things easy - the gameplay is refreshingly simple. Whenever you tap on a domino in your own box, the game highlights where it can go. You tap on the space where you want it to go and it sorts out the rotating and positioning for you. Although you could theoretically "cheat" with this method, it is the same technique employed in similar games. An ability to drag a domino manually, and rotate it manually, would resolve the issue altogether.

The game can be played in single player against a bot, or by multiplier with three other friends. Each friend's tiles are hidden once they've made their move, as the idea is you pass the iPad around. There are three sets of rules to choose from, each explained within the application: draw game, international and points by 5's.

The dominos and board are customizable with mix and match. There are five different boards to choose from - wood, chalkish and red, blue & green carpet. Dominos can be in black with white spots, wood with black spots or wood with coloured spots. The sounds are optional, and you can choose to play your own background song through iTunes.

And that's really all there is to it! You aren't faced with a myriad of options or configurations, the focus is on simplicity and gameplay. Resultantly, there aren't any structural flaws to the application. Its only drain is its re-use value - like any game, after a while it gets repetitive. With the limited amount of action in Dominos, that feeling of repetitiveness does come quicker than usual - even to a domino lover like myself. There's no online play, meaning your stuck against a single AI - an ability to play against multiple AI wouldn't have gone amiss.

Overall, Domino Box HD is a nice addition to your iPad - it's fun, simple and brings back fond memories to those of us who used to play the game long before even the iMac was around.

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