MotionX Dice Plus

When iPhone OS 2.0 was released, one of the first apps I actually paid for was MotionX Poker. Through the first months of the App Store I played until I had every gem unlocked except one. It was a great experience and a great game to show family and friends. I've since purchased several other apps from MotionX and I've never been disappointed.

MotionX Dice Plus extends the functionality of MotionX Dice, their free dice application that enthralls my six year old nephew and regularly runs down my mother's battery. The dice rolling is basically the same as the free app, with both having 56 dice and 31 tables by default as well as the ability to mark dice and tables as favorites. Dice Plus extends the free app with the ability to create custom dice or tables with photos taken on your camera or images in your device's Photo Library.

MotionX Dice's free version is a lot of fun to have on your iPhone if you haven't felt the need to spring for Poker or PokerQuest (MotionX's Egyptian themed dice poker game). It's handy for things like Liar's dice or to use as a magic eightball. There's not a lot to the gameplay, but it's fun and free. Dice Plus doesn't so much extend that gameplay as enhance it. I suppose that a user could, when choosing lunch at the mall, shoot pics of food court options and then make custom dice on the fly. I find it to be particular fun when creating dice based on family members. My nephew loves the idea of his face on dice. Then there's the theme aspect that's available. Anyone with a penchant for Lovecraft could, for example, create a set of Elder Gods dice and roll to see how the world ends. As you can see, there are infinite options from Döner kebab to Yog-Sothoth (either of those can utterly destroy you). You can also create custom tables. Both dice and tables have several options for trim and each can be further customized so that they will sound like anything from metal to ivory when in play. Once created, the sets can be exported easily to family who have Dice Plus. They only have to click a link in an email on their iPhone.

[caption id="attachment_9439" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Joe Ledbetter\'s art is a favorite of mine and perfect for this context."]

[/caption]A lot of you are probably thinking that customized dice don't seem that exciting, but creating the dice is really a lot of fun. You gradually learn what sort of thing looks best and when something is produced that looks exceptional in motion, it's a great feeling.

I can see this being fun for everyone from young children to fandom enthusiasts to grandmothers who'd rather look at their darlings than standard pips on monopoly dice. It's really a creative step forward from the physics emphasis of their other games into the social arena. MotionX also seems to be developing a community push that should extend this past email. If they can develop that into something like what Smule has with their Ocarina music scores, it'll be a real asset.

I wish that DIce Plus had some sort of game mode. If any fun dice game could be added I think it would greatly expand the amount of people who would chip in and buy it. If I could import my dice to MotionX Poker, I'd be in heaven.