What better way to celebrate this February than by strengthening the bonds that matter most, the love of family game night. Recent studies have shown that families and couples who game together experience a unique sense of togetherness and happiness. Let’s dive into the joy of shared experiences with our spotlight game of the month, Farkle Dice!

How to spend a family evening playing Farkle Dice together by using the pass-and-play method.

iPhone & iPad

  1. Launch Farkle
  2. Tap “Players” on the title screen
  3. Tap “Player 2”
  4. Tap under “Play Human”
  5. Enter player’s name
  6. Exit menus
  7. Tap “Play Local” on Title Screen
  8. Gather round start playing (Please note, I tried pass-and-play with my cat with mixed results ????)

Android

  1. Launch Farkle
  2. Tap “Players” on the title screen
  3. Uncheck “Play Against the Computer”
  4. Tap “Player 2”
  5. Enter a name for Player 2
  6. Exit “Players” menu
  7. Tap “Play Local”
  8. Gather round start playing (Please note, I tried pass-and-play with my cat with mixed results ????)

You can download the latest version of Farkle Dice here:

iPhone / iPad          

Android


As we navigate February, let’s embrace the joy of shared adventures and laughter. Grab your loved ones, start a game of Farkle Dice, and let’s make this February one for the books. Happy gaming, happy bonding!

Thanks a million for being part of our gaming journey!

Todd A. Sherman

PM, QAE, Casual Gamer

Smart Box Games

Want to learn more about  the positive results of gaming together?


???? Help us spread the joy of gaming! ???? Please forward this email to your friends and co-workers who share your passion. We rely on you to grow and your word-of-mouth means the world to our small company. Thank you for being a crucial part of our journey.

Wait There’s More

Support: I love hearing from you! Use our support page to send me your ideas. Your comments are sent directly to me.

Farkle Dice iOS/Play Network. Mark your calendars. I host a Network Play Extravaganza, the first Tuesday of every month, between 6:00 – 7:00 PM Pacific Time. If you see a player named Smart Box Games, you are playing against me.

We hope this message finds you in great spirits! 


As part of our commitment to providing an unparalleled gaming experience, we are thrilled to announce that all our Android games have received exciting updates, ensuring seamless performance on the latest phones and tablets.


To take full advantage of these enhancements, simply click or tap here to visit the Google Play store


Once there, explore our diverse collection of games and choose the ones that resonate with you. Whether you’re a casual gamer or a dedicated enthusiast, we have something for everyone!


Update or install ALL your favorite games effortlessly and embark on a gaming journey like never before. Your entertainment is our priority, and we can’t wait for you to experience the thrill of our latest updates. Happy gaming!

Thanks a million for being part of our gaming journey!

Farkle Dice, WordPop! Farkle Solo

Smart Box Games Android Icons

Threeze – A Numbers Combination, Farkle Diced, Farkle Dice DLX

Smart Box Games Android Icons

One more thing, we need your help.


Your support fuels our growth, and we’re incredibly grateful. Today, we’re asking you to be a true game-changer by sharing the joy of our games with your family and friends.


Your recommendation is invaluable, a key to expanding our gaming family. Ready to make a difference? Share the excitement now. Your word of mouth is our most powerful asset, helping us craft unforgettable gaming experiences.


Thanks for being a crucial part of our journey!

Introduction

Embracing asynchronous work can be a game-changer for distributed teams, enabling increased productivity and efficiency. What truly brings this concept to life are real-world examples. In this article, I’ll briefly describe one of our Smart Box Games projects to demonstrate the power of asynchronous collaboration using the simplest of tools, email.

Background

Our most popular game, Farkle Dice for Android, enjoys a global player base. Over the past two years, Google has progressively limited Android device backward compatibility for apps that use Google AdMob and other SDKs. Initially, they used the carrot approach and encouraged updates for better device performance, but then switched to the stick to enforce compliance by threatening app removal from the Google Play store.

Our team is spread across the globe: our Art Director, Jim, resides in Tokyo, our lead Android Engineer, John, is in Bozeman, Montana, and I serve as the Product Manager and QAE and I live in Bellingham, Washington. We embrace asynchronous work due to our experience and confidence in this approach.

Tools We Utilized on the Project for Asynchronous Collaboration:

  1. Email
  2. Google Docs and Sheets
  3. Bitbucket
  4. Firebase for app testing distribution
  5. Google Play Console

Our Project Goals

Our journey began with a high-level email outlining the basic requirements:

1. Update the code linking in the newest SDKs

2. Convert all HTTP links to HTTPS across all app languages

3. Allow players to opt out of Google Play login (we use Google Play for high-score sharing)

4. Modernize launcher icon

5. Integrate Firebase Crash Analytics

6. Address all issues found during testing

Progression of the Project

John took the lead by updating all relevant SDKs and then addressing all errors and warnings until he successfully built the project. He also updated the copyright information, URLs, and menus. 

During this process, John discovered Google had made significant design changes in how Google Play integrates with app, which he communicated via email, seeking input from the team. We installed the latest build from John and collectively examined the design changes to better understand the user experience. After exchanging a few emails with images we arrived at a design that John swiftly implemented.

As the day ended for John and me, it began for Jim in Japan. He researched how to create full-size launcher icons and by the time we started our day, provided us with educational YouTube links to get us up to speed. Jim then handed off new art to John. After a few iterations, the new launcher icon was integrated into Farkle Dice, and wow, it looks great.

The majority of testing was regression, validation and verification. Testing occurred on each build, with any issues found sent to John, with images and steps to repeat.

Once all issues were addressed the final chapter was distribution and user communication. Wearing both my Project Manager and Quality Assurance hats I wanted to limit risk and decided to do a gradual rollout release, starting at 10% and ramping up daily to 100%. Release notes were added to Google Play and a push notification is scheduled for next week.

Key Takeaways for Successful Asynchronous Work

Clear Communication: Effective asynchronous communication hinges on accurate descriptions with images and links to videos. I avoid abbreviations or acronyms. For example I always wrote “Firebase” and never “FB”, because in my brain “FB” = Facebook. 

Visual Aids: Enhance issue reporting by incorporating screenshots with prominent annotations (I’m a fan of using large red arrows), making it easier and faster for team members to understand and address problems.

Organization: Keep conversations focused by retiring resolved email threads and initiating new ones for fresh topics.

Encourage all team members to collaboratively edit documents for clarity within Google Docs. (I am thinking of switching to Notion or Confluence to take advantage of their comprehensive editing tools).

Time Zone Advantage: Leverage time zone differences to your advantage, if possible, by scheduling overlapping working hours for quick responses. For instance, 4:00 PM Pacific Time is 8:00 AM in Tokyo.

Trust Your Team: There were times I was tempted to send John a Slack message on an issue I found because it felt urgent. In reality, it was important but not urgent. Not dm’ing John and sending him an email instead prevented interruptions to his coding flow and allowed him to manage his time to its fullest efficiency. 

Conclusion

Our project progressed quickly without the need for any meetings. The entire software development life cycle was efficiently navigated through asynchronous collaboration. Now, we’re ready to replicate this success with our remaining five apps, with Farkle Halloween and Farkle Solo already underway. 

We have used asynchronous tools in the past and we are always reviewing new and interesting solutions but no matter the tool it is people who make great software. 

I encourage all teams, especially dispersed ones to embrace asynchronous processes to unlock your team’s full potential.

Triples Game Screen

As a Project Manager, one advice I always give to my clients is to get to screen quickly. No matter how great the specification or how well the wireframes and mockups show the flow, getting the app up and running will:

  1. reveal problems early when they are inexpensive to fix
  2. generated feedback to improve the app
  3. create a common vision for the team and stakeholders

But most of all, it is incredibly exciting to see something working. It will energize you, your team and the stakeholders.

Taking my own advice, Wyatt Webb, our lead iOS engineer posted the very first build of Triples, a new strategy board game. Below is a screenshot of the first internal release and a polished mock-up from Jim Patterson on where we want to wind up.

By getting to screen early we are able to:

  1. Test the ease in moving and placing pieces
  2. Test capturing opponent pieces
  3. Test the relative size of the board
  4. Test horizontal vs. vertical layouts
  5. Test how robust the code is on key devices

But most important, I can test this and future builds with players and get important feedback on how they interact with the game. Players might move pieces differently then what I imaged. Players might prefer one orientation over another. The more you test these early versions with people the more you can improve the app.

This first build is human vs. human, the next build will have the first pass of human vs. computer. Leveling the different computer levels will be a challenge so the sooner we start on that process and get feedback the better.

Don’t wait for your team member to say they want it perfect or polished before they show their work. The goal is to get to screen early then learn, iterate, repeat, improve, and have fun.

If you would like to try Triples and give us feedback, you can sign-up at https://smartboxgames.com/support. Simply fill out the form provided on the page.

Please share this article with your team members and clients. Thank you.

I am a freelance Project Manager, wire-framing aficionado and QA Engineer. If you are in need of a Project Manager please contact me through LinkedIn or email me at todd@smartboxgames.com. I love designing Android, iOS and Web Apps.

Farkle Solo

Earning today’s top score is just a tap away in the new Farkle Solo for Android release. We updated the app to run great on all new Android phones, including the new Nexus 6. We rewrote How to Play and we integrated Farkle Solo with Firebase from Google which allows us to improve the game through error reports.  Thank you to our players for the great suggestions and bug reports. Our goal is for you to have the best gaming experience and we couldn’t do it without you. Let us know what you think by sending us an email.

We recommend you update as soon as possible.

We rely on word-of-mouth, please let your friends and family know about Farkle Solo.

Release Details

  • How to Play – It now includes several images to clarify game play and you can now printable.  The latest version of Farkle Solo links to the improved How to Play. Scroll down to access the Print button.
  • Notifications – We want to make sure you know when new versions are available. This is an optional setting that you can turn on or off at any time.
  • Error Checking – Google’s Firebase sends us a report on how our code is doing. This report will tell us where our code is not running as efficiently as it could or if Farkle Solo had problems executing on a new CPU. Since there are thousands of different Android phones and tablets worldwide we appreciate the report. Now when you purchase a new phone Farkle Solo will still run correctly.
  • Android Studio – This is an entirely new set of tools released by Google to develop Android apps. Switching to it was a significant amount of rework of the code. But the change resulted faster and smoother game play