Get This App: Scorekeeper XL

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My friends and I play a lot of board games; last year, one of them—let’s call him Melvin—introduced us to a new one called 7 Wonders. The only tricky part of this otherwise excellent game is the scoring, but no worries: 7 Wonders includes a pad of custom score sheets to easily let you add up points at the end of the game.

Except Melvin wouldn’t let us use them, for some unknown reason. (Perhaps he wanted to maintain the set’s mint condition, or maybe he just likes making us do math in our heads.)

This is exactly the scenario for which Matt Rix created Scorekeeper XL. Simple and colorful, the app lets you quickly and easily track points for any sort of game, whether it be newer games like 7 Wonders or old standbys like gin rummy.

Scoreboard XL displays players in a main list with large, readable text, and allows you to sort your list of players from lowest to highest score or vice versa. Each player can be assigned points individually, or you can even add, subtract, or reset all players’ points at the same time—say, when you’re starting a new game. You can also enable or disable the sound effects, and add and remove players.

Tapping on the plus or minus buttons next to a player's name will add or remove a single point, but if you tap and hold on either of them, it will continue to add points and even accelerate—handy for games with high-scoring rounds.

What I really love about Scorekeeper XL is the aesthetic of the app: big, blocky buttons; bright colors; subtle sounds. For an app that more or less eschews any iOS UI conventions, it’s still very polished, with a styling that’s all its own. Despite that, it’s simple and straightforward—which is good, since there’s pretty much nothing in the way of instruction, and even very little onscreen text. It all combines for an experience that’s friendly and fun.

Scorekeeper XL is a great example of a purpose-built app: It has only one function, but it does it with aplomb. If you’re looking for an easy way to track points in your next card or board game—or you have a friend like Melvin—this is one app that knows the score.

Developer: Matt Rix
Platform: iOS (Universal)
Price: Free

This story, "Get This App: Scorekeeper XL" was originally published by TechHive.