Munich, Germany – Reiner Knizia is probably the most famous board game inventor ever. His latest work “Qin” is being presented to the public at the current Game Fair in Essen.
The kicker: Elately has in recent month been working tirelessly on the iPad implementation of the game. While the board game by Eggertspiele is being presented on October 17th at the Game Fair – the iPad version by Elately is already available in the App Store on October 16th.
Ewgeniy Oganian is co-founder of the App-Schmiede Elately, which is going to adapt the german “Games of the Year” for 2004 and 2005 – “St. Petersburg” and “Niagara” – for the iPad. He states: “This is the first time ever that a digital version of a large board game appears simultaneously with the launch of the board game.”
“Reiner Knizia’s Qin”: Who will unite the Old China?
“Reiner Knizia’s Qin” is a strategic board game for two to four players. The iPad replaces the game board and is best placed in the middle of the various players. It is also possible that a single player challenges the artificial intelligence of the computer or invites friends via the Internet or the Game Center to a match.
The rules are pretty straight forward; the correct implementation is – as always with Reiner Knizia’s games – quite tricky. The players find themselves in the old China of over 2,000 years ago. The empires are fighting each other for power and land. The player’s job is to try to unite old China by colonizing the back country, establishing new provinces and incorporating remote villages into his own realm.
Each player receives pagodas, whose number depends on how many players participate in the game. Whoever places his last pagoda on the board immediately wins the game and establishes his own Qin Dynasty. However, as earlier mentioned, it is not that easy to master the strategy-game.
Colored tiles are placed on the game board in order to increase the player’s influence, and to help him take over new territories. The journey to new villages leads past bodies of water and across steppe-like fields: anyone that plays skillfully enough may establish a province and place a new pagoda. Nevertheless, the opponents are not idle. They can take over someone’s region, tear down pagodas and replace them with their own.
“Reiner Knizia’s Qin”: Beautiful HD graphics and several levels of difficulty
The iPad version uses the same graphics as the board game. It relies on high-resolution graphics with lots of details. Ewgeniy Oganian: “It was very important to us that the iPad version ‘feels’ like the original board game. A great advantage of the app is that the game is ‘set up’ in no time at all, that cheating is not possible and that a willing opponent is always available. The artificial intelligence of the game may be adjusted in several steps, depending on someone’s playing ability.”
Elately introduces the iPad game at the Game Fair in Essen, germany – at a joint booth with Eggertspiele. The booth features number 12-84 and can be found in Hall 12.
Important: as of October 16th the first part of a major interview with Reiner Knizia is available on the homepage. The second part follows on October 20th; the third part shortly thereafter.
In a nutshell:
* New app release: “Reiner Knizia’s Qin”
* Mobile iPad game for 2-4 players
* Released in sync with the board game by Reiner Knizia
* Large-scale game plan with 72 tiles and 96 pagodas
* Suitable for players age 8 and up
* One game takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes
* iPhone version will be released at a later time
Device Requirements:
* Compatible with iPad
* Requires iOS 5.0 or later
* 104 MB
Pricing and Availability:
The iPad app “Reiner Knizia’s Qin” 1.0 (approx. 100 MB) is available right now. It can be found in the App Store in the category “Games” and is priced at $ 4.99. An iPhone version is in the works.
Reiner Knizia
Reiner Knizia’s Qin 1.0
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Elately was co-founded in 2012 by Ewgeniy Oganian. Elately is an international team of tech-savvy creatives. Our main passion is bringing you the highest quality in gaming and educational apps for smart phones and tablets. With branches in New York, Munich, Hong Kong and St. Petersburg, we’re ready to work with people all around the world. We’re always interested in opportunities to publish outstanding apps, so get in touch – we’d love to hear from you! Copyright (C) 2012 Elately. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.