Hasbro are the name in board games, their list of games includes Monopoly, Game of Life, Candy Land and one of my favorites Connect 4 and while they have dominated the board game market they are now looking to dominate the App Store as working with EA they have now ported Connect 4 to the iPhone.

For those of you that have never played Connect4 before, I guess there may be some of you out there, let me explain. The game is played on a vertical 6 by 7 grid and each player has a set of playing chips that they must alternately place by dropping their chips one at a time down any one of the 7 columns with the aim of getting 4 in a row. Just like all great games the premise is simple and makes it easy to pick up and play.

The controls are simple too; drag your finger across the top of the board to choose the row you want to drop your chip and release to drop it, and the navigation of the menu’s are equally as easy.

The port to an iPhone game brings everything from the classic board game and then adds a whole lot more. The classic game is a perfect representation of the real game from the unboxing of the ‘board’ at the beginning of each game to the sound effects of the chips falling into place, anyone who has played the real game before will feel perfectly at home. All of the varieties of the game, more of which later, can be played against the “computer” and against another person via the 4 different multi player methods, two of which can be played on a single iPhone/iPod touch and then via local wifi and Bluetooth and during approximately an hours worth of multi-player play connection was only lost once using Bluetooth and not at all over wifi.

But even with the quality of the classic game EA and Hasbro haven’t stopped there as for both the single player and multi-player mode they’ve added a variety of variations these include:

• Power Chips: Score more points than your opponent using the additional Power Chips which include multipliers, bombs and blockers to defeat your opponent.
• Max Score: Pretty much speaks for itself.
• Pop Out: Pop out your chips from the bottom of the stack to allow the stack move down one row.

But while these are nice diversions the best part of Connect4 is the Challenge Mode. A mini Connect4 board sets out 16 different challenges all against the clock. They all borrow from the previous listed variations of Connect4 but add challenges like, complete a pre-prepared game with one only one chip and a limited time, spin the chip and stop it on red 3 times in a row, reach 20 points in Power Chips before your opponent and 13 others. All of these are played against the clock and provide a fun and fast challenge.

And we still haven’t mentioned the 25 achievements that add even more value to the game and will keep you coming back again and again! EA have done a great job with this port and whether you’ve played Connect4 before or not I would highly recommend this game.

Price: $2.99

The Good

• Perfect port of the classic board game
• Simple controls
• Easy multi-player mode
• Enough content to keep you coming back for more

The Not So Good

• No ability to drop real chips into the iPhone/iPod touch to play the game!

Reviewed By: @CraigWillis

Connect 4: iPhone Game Screenshots

Battleship iPhone Game

EA Mobile have proved their forte in redefining and transforming classic board games for iPhone with popular games like SCRABBLE and Boggle. After the glorious success high action 3D games Rock Band and NBA Live EA Mobile is ready to rule the sea with Battleship for iPhone/iPod touch.

Battleship is popularly known as the pencil and paper guessing game where you and your opponent place battleships on a grid and win by sinking the enemy ships. In Battleship for iPhone you use touch screen controls to place your ships (red/white pegs), map your co-ordinates and fire at the enemy ships. Each shot destroys certain grids of the enemy ship and it sinks when all grids are destroyed. The game will ship with fun game modes including Quick-Fire Salvo, Heavy Duty Super Weapons. Battleship for iPhone will feature Wifi and Bluetooth multiplayer options to take on friends and prove your tactical superiority.

Key features

• Touch interface
• Different ways to play – Classic, Salvo and Super Weapons Modes
• Local two player Wifi and Bluetooth multiplayer

Battleship for iPhone: iPhone Game Screenshots