You've played Chess with Friends, now here's Checkers with Buddies
's "With Friends" franchise already allows mobile gamers to challenge their friends to games of Hangman and versions of Scrabble and Boggle, but if all of those games take too much critical thinking or time, you can now try out a game in a similar series: Stofle Designs' Checkers with Buddies, which is available to download for free on iOS (it's universal, meaning you can play it on either your iPad or iPhone without losing quality).
The game is setup much as you'd expect. You can start games via Facebook or text message invites to your friends, play against random opponents, search for someone via their username (you can either create one within the game or create an account using Facebook Connect), or even use local pass-and-play with two players on the same device.
Gameplay itself is standard turn-based Checkers, as you'll try to move your red or black pieces across the board, "jumping" over your opponent's pieces until only one color remains on the board. The "King Me" mechanic is here, allowing your pieces to move in either direction once reaching the other side of the board, but unfortunately, you'll be forced to make a jump over another piece if it's physically available to you, even if you may not want to (say, if you jumping over a piece means that your piece will be removed on the next turn as a result).
This is the most disappointing part of the game, other than the simple fact that playing for long periods of time will often result in games that are "Draws," as neither player will want to purposefully put their pieces in risky positions, so the games can go on indefinitely (unless someone chooses to resign).
%Gallery-145996%
The game tracks your stats (win and loss ratios, number of times you've resigned and so on), and allows you to chat in real time with your opponents. The game works well enough technically, with this free version being supported by ads after each turn and a small banner at the bottom of your device's screen. You can also purchase a premium, ad-free version of the game for $1.99.
While I don't personally see Checkers with Buddies rocketing its way up the Free Apps Charts, it does give you another option for competitive online play between your friends, if you're tired of the other options you're probably already playing on your phone. For that, it's worth the free download, don't you think?
Download Checkers with Buddies (Free) on iTunes --->
What do you think of this multiplayer Checkers game on iOS? Have you already started beating your friends in this classic and simply multiplayer game? Sound off in the comments.
