At the Kitchen Table

There are many iOS apps available for magic players, to do a range of things from simple life tracking to deck building and draft simulation. Some of these are free and some are for sale.

I have recently taken the plunge to set myself up in the business of writing iOS (and eventually OSX) apps, focusing specifically on games and gamers. My first “for $” app appeared in the app store on Jan 11.

A couple days before my app hit the store, WotC announced their official iPhone app. For free (although you will need to buy new card sets for the deck builder. I wonder if they’ll do it a random booster at a time? ).

The same week, Monday Night Magic talked about it and about me and my upcoming app. The gist of part of that discussion was “poor Dave, it must suck to have WotC release a free app just as his is coming out.” I thought about that and am writing this as a response.

Official, corporate apps like the WotC app and the SCG app are largely a marketing expense for the companies. They are either branding (as is the case of the WotC app) or tie in with other services (e.g. content and retail access for the SCG app). There’s nothing at all wrong with this. I really appreciate having a good way to read SCG articles and do price checks on my iPhone.

If these apps serve your needs, excellent. You win. But I do encourage you to have a good look at the alternatives from the smaller, independent developers, though. Yes, developers like me. But also developers like the folks behind Decked Builder and the many other good independent apps.

Here are a few things to consider that occurred to me as I thought about this.

1. These ‘official’ apps are often free, but can always be considered a marketing effort by the companies. In contrast, apps for independent developers are part of their income. If they make enough from app sales, they can continue improving their existing apps and creating new ones.

2. Independent developers often write apps that they want, or that relate somehow to something they love, e.g. Magic: the Gathering. As a result, you can expect them to put a lot of care and effort into their work. It’s the whole labor of love thing.

3. They are also part of the magic community, and we need to support the community. The Magic community is broad and vibrant. In it are musicians, artists, card alterers (be it painting or 3D), software developers, and even the occasional adult entertainer. These people use their abilities to create things for the rest of the community to enjoy and use. As part of that community we need to support their efforts, because it’s partly those efforts that set this game apart from many others.

4. Finally, you typically have a direct line to independent developers. If you have suggestions, requests, or bug reports, you can often shoot the author an email and get a quick response. And they’re probably on twitter so you can interact with them even more directly. They may even be sitting across the table from you at an FNM or PTQ. That’s exactly what happened with my MTGLife app. I was testing it at FNM and showed it to my opponent after our round. He suggested adding a turn counter (for when a game went to time). I added it when I got home that night.

So, I’m not saying don’t use the WotC, or SCG, or similar apps. I am saying to give some thought to the advantages of buying and using an app from an independent developer. Sure, maybe you can get the same thing for free, but this is a game/hobby where you happily drop $3 for a booster, what’s $3 for an app?

I’ll download the WotC app, but mainly to see where it can be improved on so that I can write a better app. I did the same with the SCG app. I found the life tracked overly complex and cluttered and I haven’t really liked other life tracking apps, so I wrote my own.