

Show HN: I made Unmentionables, a free Taboo game for iPhone  - mergesort
http://appmonkeys.org/unmentionables

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dpark
"Taboo" is a registered trademark. You're probably legally in the clear to
describe your game as "Taboo-like", but if your app becomes at all popular,
you're likely to get a C&D if not outright sued for using the term "Taboo" so
freely throughout your app.

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lewispollard
Looks nice, but I think you should put a description of what Taboo is exactly.
I don't know whether it's a well-known US game but as a Brit I've never heard
of it and I'm still not enlightened as to exactly what the game is! I'll
google it and probably download the app shortly.

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mergesort
I have a description, but the about page was too cluttered when I put it in,
so I figured if people are finding the game, they probably know what it is.
I'm still not sure whether to put it in or not, but that is a valid point for
sure.

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ahallerberg
Definitely agreed with the above comment. Telling a story about what the game
actually is is more powerful than inputting a list of facts.

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mergesort
Peer pressure got to me. Added a description on the main page. Thanks for the
advice.

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mergesort
Unmentionables gives Taboo a 21st century makeover. Marathon Mode, in app
purchases that are a lot cheaper than Taboo, and something you can take
anywhere you go. I'm an iPhone developer, but did the designs myself, so
feedback on that would be helpful too.

It's available for download at: <http://bit.ly/unmentionables>

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tutuca
The submission link is broken.

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mergesort
Sorry, fixed it, silly htaccess...

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nosecreek
I like it. I especially appreciate that you have a free play mode. I think
this could be good for road trips. Smart to have the free cards as a
motivation to allow push notifications. The idea of user submitted cards is
kinda neat too.

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jh3
Your copyright notice is in a weird spot in Chrome. Here's what I see:
<http://i.imgur.com/LfQEB.png>

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mergesort
Strange, I'm not seeing it on Chrome for Mac. <http://i.imgur.com/oGSqo.png>

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ianferrel
I tried downloading the free pack from within the app, and it crashed out to
Springboard. iPhone 4S iOS 5.0.1

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mergesort
Will look into that, thanks. Out of debugging curiosity, jailbroken?

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ianferrel
Yep.

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mergesort
That makes it trickier, but there's a slightly tricky asynchronous connection
function I wrote to download the packs. I'm hoping that's not it interfering
with something you have installed via Cydia/Mobile Substrate. Do you know what
you have installed perchance?

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dmix
You should show an example card.

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d0m
Great. But what about Taboo's copyright? (Just wondering)

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mergesort
Taboo has a trademark, not a copyright. So everywhere I use the word Taboo, I
add the trademark symbol (except one screen, which has been fixed but not
submitted).

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d0m
Still, let say I create a game called "Run, run" which I explain in my
description as:

    
    
      "The most fun way to play monopoly on your iphone"
    
      "But what is Monopoly?"
      "You and your friends split into two teams. [...]"
    

I just copied a very popular game but changed the medium of how to play it.
But then, again, it's more by curiosity that I'm asking this.

~~~
sadga
Game mechanics are not copyrightable. A concrete expression of the rules is
copyrightable (you can't copy-paste Monopoly's rule book), as is artwork.

"Play-alike" games are in the clear. "Look-alike" games are not.

I wouldn't say "play monopoly". I'd say "play a property-trading game like
Monopoly".

