Favorite 4: Games that can Save Anywhere
Anyone who takes the bus, train, or subway to work has had this problem at least a few times: You’re in the middle of a game and before you know it you’ve arrived at your stop. You hurriedly close out the game, turn off the screen, stuff the iPhone into your pocket and bolt out the door. Once you have a moment to start it back up you realize that your progress has been wiped. Bummer. If only there were some iOS games that allowed players to save whenever they wanted!
Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer
Ascension was quite honestly the first deck-building game I’d ever played, and it totally made me fall in love with the concept. I also fell in love with the way it saves all the time. No prompts and no menus to browse. The game automatically saves progress at the start of each hand, and it can do so for multiple games whether they’re solo or against other players.
Solitaire by Backflip
I’ll admit that most solitaire iOS games will keep track of a player’s progress at all times, but I like Backflip’s offering so that’s what I’ve decided to go with. Again, there’s no need to do anything in order to save a game and come back to it later. Simply exit the game and the next time it’s started up things will be just as you left them; most likely a step or two away from failure and needing to start another round.
Aliens Versus Humans
It’s an homage to one of the greatest strategy games of all time, and it faithfully reproduces many of the mechanics that even the new contemporary remake has done away with. But more important than that - and the sheer enjoyment of fending off an alien attack without losing a single soldier - it allows players to save their game at any time. Whether they’re in the middle of a mission or on the Geoscape, opening up the options menu and quickly saving progress is always an option. Reloading after getting a soldier named after loved one killed is also just as fast.
Junk Jack
Aside from the fantastic art style and clever adaptation of the block/world-building ideas popularized by Minecraft, Junk Jack also brings constant saving to the table. Pausing the game saves progress. Quitting the game saves progress. It does prevent reloading after losing some favored items or getting killed, but it also makes hopping off the bus or train in a hurry far less detrimental.
