YAHTZEE With Buddies is an officially-licensed YAHTZEE game for Android, developed with Hasbro’s blessing and all. A simple, yet addictive way of playing YAHTZEE on your Android smartphone or tablet no matter where in the world you are. It allows players to compete against other players all over the world and have multiple games happening at any one given time, as well as some more competitive challenges against the Dice Masters. These are more difficult challenges that players can compete in to earn in-game currency to unlock custom dice and so on. On top of this there are Dice Tournaments to take part in and players will love customizing their Dice to show how good they’ve become. While free-to-play, YAHTZEE With Buddies does feature some in-app purchases as well ads. With that said, let’s take a closer look.
Just like other board games on Android, this official YAHTZEE game can be downloaded from the Play Store and once players have it installed, they can go ahead and get started with it.
When players first get started with YAHTZEE With Buddies, they’re introduced to the gameplay style with an interactive game that starts off nice and easily, giving players a good opportunity to get used to the interface and such.
Players that have completed the introduction can choose to start a new game, enter a tournament and more.
When choosing someone else to play against, users have the option to choose or pas to see if there are other players to play against.
Playing against another opponent is fairly simple, the interface is easy enough that the vast majority of users should have no problem understanding how to play the game. You just need to roll the dice and then choose which – if any – of your dice you won’t to hold back from another roll.
This is where things get interesting, as I have the choice of either playing my four sixes on sixes, or use four of a kind, this is sort of strategy that players need to go through in order to beat other opponents and to score higher. YAHTZEE With Buddies features achievements for all players to unlock as they play, and it also gives them the opportunity to take a look at your stats, too.
Playing online with others is much of the appeal with the YAHTZEE With Buddies, and the notifications do a good job of letting players know that they have a game to take a turn in.
Players can sign in with their Facebook account in order to find more people to play against, but there are also the Dice Masters that players can compete against, too. These are special, more challenging computer opponents, that offer a tough challenge everyday.
YAHTZEE With Buddies also has a lot on offer in terms of achievements and such to give players something to work towards and when these pop up it does feel fairly rewarding.
A key part of the experience here is that players can, fairly easily, choose a set of custom dice to make the experience more like their own.
YAHTZEE With Buddies is, perhaps unsurprisingly a board game for Android that will only appeal to fans of YAHTZEE, for the most part anyway. This is perhaps not a bad thing of course, as this is a game clearly designed for fans of the venerable dice game, and it goes beyond just giving these players a way to play on their smartphones. Being able to play multiple games with people from all over the world is a powerful thing, and signing in with your Facebook account can further personalize the overall experience, which is something not a lot of games manage these days. It’s not all perfect however, players take a long time to return a turn, and it seems almost impossible to do anything extra like getting fancy custom dice and such without paying out real money. Each of those in-app purchases does get rid of ads as well however, so there is some extra value there as well.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – The game itself runs well, but playing against other players can take some time for a turn to be played.
- Theme (4/5) – The interface is easy-to-follow and the graphics have a nice charm to them as well, especially the Dice Masters dressed up as well, dice.
- Features (4/5) – This isn’t going to be a game for those looking for fun and exciting graphics, but more those in the market for a fun and classic game that can be played online against others and is great for all ages.
- Overall (4/5) – With some nice extras and a solid all round experience, YAHTZEE with Buddies gives players a great online YAHTZEE experience that they might not have had access to before. It looks good, plays well and gives players a competitive platform.
Pros
- Simple and easy to use interface makes this a board game that can be played by all ages without any issues.
- Playing against others online is great fun, and the chat option gives players a way to connect even further.
- Dice Masters and Tournaments give experienced and competitive YAHTZEE players something to work towards and test their skills with.
- Neatly and effectively tells players when it’s their turn next and lets players play more than one game at a time.
Cons
- Doesn’t seem to allow players to get access to much of the extras without paying real cash.
- Custom dice do nothing but the change the way they look for a short space of time, there’s no theming the rest of the app.
YAHTZEE With Buddies is well worth checking out if you’re either an experience YAHTZEE player or someone looking for a simple board game that has a competitive side to it. It’s easy to play, doesn’t ask too much of its players and is completely free to download and try out. The custom dice and such are nice options, but they don’t seem to do much in the long run. The Dice Master and Tournaments on the other hand do give players a lot to work towards and pose a tougher challenge as well.