Needs Improvement, Has the Potential – Old Maid Review

I have been waiting a long time for an Old Maid game for my iPod Touch, as it was one of my favorite card games as a kid. While I am glad to have this game available, it is pretty disappointing. You have only one option when you open this game: Play. No game rules, how-to, options, etc. This application is begging for an update, and I would suggest the following: 1) Rules of Play: Not everyone grew up on this game and knows/remembers how it goes. 2) How to Play: The extent of the game instructions is during actual gameplay; when it is your turn, a box in the top-left tells you to make as many pairs as you can. Doing away with this and having a menu option for Game Instructions would be much better from a design and usability standpoint. 3) Options/Settings: At the very least, include options for the volume of background music and SFX (which are kind of cheesy). An option to listen to your own music instead of the game's music would be a welcomed addition as well. 4) Characters/Players: WiFi play would be a very nice option. However, before that is added I think more importantly you should be able to not only name your own player (you are actually nameless in this game), but choose your other players from a set of CPU characters with varying, silly characteristics. You should also be able to choose how many players are in the game--every game is a group of 4 players (yourself, plus 3 others named only as Player 1, Player 2 and Player 3, without any faces or anything, just text). Old Maid can be played with 2-8 players, and that should be an option. 5) Levels: A feeling of "advancement" when you win a round, perhaps by sending you to a new setting/background/scene. The game gets very stale after playing the same exact round every time. 6) Graphics: While they aren't terrible, they aren't all that great either. The card characters look very much like cheap free clipart sketches dating back to the 80's, and not in a nostalgic way. They could definitely use some refinement or, better yet, replace them altogether with cute, more-modern graphics to match the look of the rest of the game. The background during gameplay and the main "menu" have a distinct style to them and the cards look out of place inside all of that. On the main menu, when you touch the two trees, they "bounce"... for no reason at all. An unnecessary and somewhat confusing effect that can be discarded altogether. Again, it's good to see this game finally made it to the iPod Touch/iPhone. I hope the developers work to make it even better. I don't want to be too harsh, but I honestly don't think it is worth 99 cents in its current version. Some well-planned updates could drastically change that and make it a steal for 99 cents. Lots of potential here!
Review by RachMarie22 on Old Maid.