iPad: The Missing Manual, 6th Edition

Chapter 10. Play Games

You’ll learn to:

• Browse for and buy games

• Set up a Game Center account

• Compete against friends and players worldwide

• Compare your performance on a global leaderboard

• Beam games to the big screen

WITH DIGITAL MUSIC, VIDEOS, and books tucked inside your iPad’s slim glass-and-metal form, you have plenty choices for entertainment. But if you want to play instead of just sitting back and pushing Play, your tablet makes a nice high-def game console. You can zap zombies, thwart governments, and fight evil incarnate with a mighty blade. You can also relive your glory days at the arcade, but instead of squaring off against a machine the size of a phone booth, your fate lies in your hands—literally.

Savvy game-makers have created thousands of games just for the iPad family’s expansive screens. As a result, you get rich graphics and precise gameplay, with plenty of room to move around. That big screen makes it easy for two people to play against each other, too. In iOS 7, you can even play games that support third-party hardware, like game controllers. And thanks to Apple’s online Game Center network, you don’t even need to be in the same room as your fellow joystick jockeys.

The iPad can handle everything from basic low-speed card games like euchre all the way up to high-speed shooters with detailed 3D avatars and pulsating soundtracks. This chapter shows you how to find the ...