Our Favorite App Ever! (This Week): Deep Green
It’s time for our new Friday tradition, picking out an amazing app we can’t live without and sharing it with all you wonderful folks. This time around we’re showcasing one of the classiest, and most classic of games, chess. There are many apps out there devoted to one of the most time-honored and revered strategic board games ever, but this week’s nominee takes it to an entirely new level. So read on to learn all about the best way we’ve found so far to play chess.
Name: Deep Green
Nominated by: Dhaval Trivedi
What Does it Do?: It’s chess! Really doesn’t get much more straightforward than that.
Why It’s Our Favorite App Ever: If Deep Green sounds familiar to you that might be because it made its first appearance on the Apple Newton quite a few years ago. Now designer Joachim Bondo has brought his same attention to detail and stunning design to iOS and the finished product is downright breathtaking. Deep Green features pieces which appear as though they are cut from actual ebony and ivory, with the wood pieces sporting realistic-looking fibers and grain, while the ivory pieces sport genuine Schreger lines that prove the stone they’re cut from is the real thing. On top of all that, the playing surface itself appears scratched and worn, with dents made from years of (virtual) forceful play and tense matches. What you have is the most elegant and attractive chess set that you’ve ever not actually owned.
Bondo has a very specific vision for his projects, and summarizes his goals very succinctly. “Simplicity was, and still is, the overall design goal of Deep Green. Simplicity = beauty (how things look) + elegance (how things work).” The design is also applauded by John Gruber, who states, ““Deep Green exemplifies my fundamental rule for iPhone UI designers: Figure out the absolute least you need to do to implement the idea, do just that, and then polish the hell out of the experience.” This isn’t a game that tries to be pretentious by creating a lot of specialized camera angles and animated pieces; but is rather a simple, straightforward chess app which is focused on great design and marrying form with function.
Looks alone make this app great, but there’s also plenty going on under the hood that impresses us as well. While experts will definitely enjoy the experience, the game is also newcomer friendly, including the ability to undo every single move made during a match all the way back to the very first turn. That way, when things have gone horribly awry and you find yourself beaten it’s easy to backtrack through the game and pinpoint the moment when your fortunes failed. This option is a godsend for beginners, as it allows them to instantly learn from their mistakes and deploy a better strategy the next time around. It’s the little touches like these which make this an app not just for hardcore players who can appreciate the nuances, but also for those looking to get into the game.
While Deep Green may be a bit more expensive than some other chess apps out there ($7.99), we truly feel like it’s worth every penny. Nothing else brings the same level of polish and sheer amount of options to this storied game. We absolutely love it, and hope it will be your Favorite App Ever! (This Week).
