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Just got an iPhone and have been trying to figure out how to play games on it.  It took me a couple days, but I finally realized that you can’t download games to the phone like you can on most other cell phones.  Instead, you have to go to the iTunes website and play these little web apps games directly from the Internet (assuming you can find the games, that is.  Trying to navigate through the iTunes website on the iPhone screen is like embarking on a Grail Quest–you really have to want to find the games sections to endure all the midget print and impossibly tiny links).

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My first issue with the games is the fact that you have to play from the Internet.  This means you have to be able to access the Internet.  I spend a lot of time in the subway here, and my phone has no connection with the outside world when I’m down there, so I don’t get to play games while I’m waiting for my trains to come, and that sucks.  My second issue is that the touch screen, while very responsive for simple things like typing or dialing numbers, isn’t quite fast enough to properly keep up with the frantic pace of some of these games.  Also, you have to have freakishly thin fingertips if you want to touch the screen with any precision.

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That said, there is this one game, called iPipes, that I’m pretty addicted to.  The goal is connect pipe pieces together before this toxic-looking ooze rolls through them.  Simple, but fun.  I was wondering if there are games available other than on the iTunes site, or if anyone has games that they would recommend?  Thanks!

I’ve found these games useful for passing time; especially at an airport waiting for the next flight:

• Digiwidge Reversi – Level of Play: Easy – This is my favorite IPhone game; only complaint; it’s too easy; I never lose.  The next version should have easy and hard play levels.
• Shredder Chess – Level of Play: Hard - I’ve never beaten this game; but I’m not a serious Chess player.
• SpinBlox – a match-three style game where you tap and move blocks around the screen to create rows and columns of three or more.

 

MacMost has lots of Iphone games. I’ve played missile command which works okay, except my cities seem to disappear before they get hit by the enemy.

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Another site for Chess, Reversi, Battleship, Checkers, etc. is IFonearcde.

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If you’re serious about chess, see iPhone Chess Clock for pointers on how the IPhone supports playing a blitz.

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See Trism for more on an upcoming game that uses iPhones built-in orientation detector to control game play.

The IPhone’s built in mapping service is a frequently used function that’s great at finding business locations. One favorite location is Norms Ale House in Fremont, Wa., but that’s a bit off topic.

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The next IPhone release, version 1.1.3, will include a new mapping service designed to show the phone’s current location by triangulating against cell phone towers. See Silicon.com and MacWorld for more.

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If the revised service works as well as current IPhone maps, my friends with dedicated GPS’s may be jealous. Their GPS’s don’t take phone calls.

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Feb 26, 2008:  iPhone version 1.1.3 is installed and Google maps are now equipped with positioning software from Navizon.  The map screen has a new button in the lower left corner.  Press it and the display will update with a blue circle approximating the position of the iPhone. It takes a few seconds for the circle to appear.  I’ve tested the locator while moving around Seattle and found it’s reasonably accurate. In the picture below, the actual position of the phone is the point where 41st Street meets the blue locator circle. I guess you could say it’s accurate to a city block.   

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Locator accuracy seems to vary from area to area.  In some spots the circle gets bigger and ranges from one to maybe ten city blocks. I’ve not  used the locator in areas with fewer cell towers but suspect accuracy deceases as the phone moves further away from areas with lots of cell towers.

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So far, I like the locator feature.  While moving through unfamiliar territory, it’s handy to press a button and see my current location.  And, it appears that a newer version of the software, Navizon version 2.0, adds a Slider mode which updates the position every ten seconds.  It will be nice when version 2.0 is availible from Apple.