MotionX Poker Review

MotionX Poker from Fullpower Technologies is dice based poker game which challenges players to roll a better poker hand then the iPhone controlled dealer. Both player and dealer get a total of three rolls and can choose to hold or roll any of the 5 dice. MotionX Poker is similar to video poker in that you progressively try to build a better hand on each roll of the dice. Unlike video poker, MotionX lets you achieve hands that are not possible in real poker such as the elusive 5 of a kind, it’s more like Yahtzee meets Poker than straight up Texas Hold’em. MotionX Poker comes with some cool features like unlockable dice sets, achievement gems, a practice mode and a great statistics page. Fullpower Technologies is currently selling MotionX Poker for $4.99 from the iTunes App Store.

MotionX Poker is nothing if not polished. The sounds are great, the graphics are beautiful and the menu systems all look and work wonderfully. Game play is simple. Players shake their iPhone to roll the dice, tap the dice they wish to hold and compare hands after three rolls. Achievements can be collected for things like, winning 10 career hands, winning a hand off your initial roll, winning with the same hand twice in a row and so on. There are 14 gem achievements in all. The 39 dice sets do not change the game play but they’re all very well rendered and look great being rolled. MotionX Poker comes with 5 different tables 3 of which are unlockable. The bets on all of the tables are fixed with bonuses being payed out for for winning with special hands or under special circumstances.

Based on MotionX’s score at the iTunes App Store, I must be the only person with an iPhone that hates this game. Sure, it looks great and works well but its mind numbingly boring. The draw of MotionX Poker is the real dice feel you get when shaking your phone to initiate each of your three roles. While the “shake to roll” feature is a great use of the iPhone, it gets old really fast and doesn’t add a whole lot to the game. The dice don’t respond to the how hard you shake your phone and the physics engine doesn’t take into account the angle of your iPhone to determine where the dice settle. The whole process of shaking the dice really slows down game play, becomes super annoying after a few minutes of play and cannot be turned off. That’s right. There is no “tap to roll” feature, you must shake your iPhone every single time you roll the dice. It’s actually kind of cool because people who don’t know you are playing a game assume you’re shaking your iPhone because it’s broken.

There’s more wrong with MotionX poker then just the annoying shaking mechanic. First, the game tries to look like it has two modes of game modes, Zen Roll and Play Poker. Zen Role is basically just practice but gives you the false sense of being able to continue your roll by shaking the phone right before the dice settle. In the actual game play mode you are cut of from continuing the roll before you could reasonably see what the dice might settle on. Sure, this would be cheating and the game should prevent you from doing it but if each roll is random why, oh why, can’t I just tap a button to roll the dice. Secondly, there is no multiplayer support in MotionX. This type of game lends itself perfectly to playing with a friend either by network or by passing the game back and forth. Sadly, Fullpower Technologies didn’t include the ability to do either. Lastly, there are a whole bunch of little annoyances with the game. You can’t listen to your own music while playing, the cost to unlock tables is too drastic and their is no online score or profile submission.

I’ll be the first to say that MotionX Poker is a great looking game. It plays well, sounds good and has a few supporting features not found in other pokers games. The problem for me is the incredibly mindless game play, the repetitive shaking and the lack of multiplayer support. I may be in the minority here, but MotionX Poker feels nothing like poker and only remotely like fun. If you like to roll dice over and over and over and over again, this may be the game for you. If you’re looking for a great poker game for your iPhone I would suggesting looking at one of the other options.

By: Aaron Robbins