I believe players and judges deserve a better design and functional app that what we currently have, so I came out an app for Android / iOS / Windows (including Phone) which I think it has some unique features that can fill up some of the gap which other MTG judge apps might be missing yet. The app is call Bugko and I would like to take this opportunity to share with you all (and shamelessly self-promote my own app at the same time). I just going to mention those features that are designed for judges, feel free to discover the rest by yourself.
The app is still in active development stage, if you have any suggestion or feedback, feel free to leave one in this forum post or you can write to me directly
dev@bugko.com.
Complete Offline Card DatabaseA Japanese player ask for translation of an English card text to Japanese during a judge call. What will you do? Most MTG app only show English oracle text. Open Gatherer and hope the Internet connection is fast by jumping through multiple screens to get the card text or call another Japanese judge to help out? It is a very simple judge call, but it end up causing 1-2 valuable judge’s time just to answer a simple call.
Bugko include all printed languages available on Gatherer for each card into its offline database. Yes, all printed languages which include English, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish available without Internet connection. If Internet connection is available, the card image from all languages will be shown as well.
Syntax SearchDo you have this problem that you can’t remember certain card’s name when player requesting the oracle text of a foreign card. Searching card without card name can be very challenging especially on a small mobile device screen where it need to go through multiple filters and screens before getting the information needed. It is time consuming. (Some app include card recognition through camera, but most of them required Internet connection to work correctly, which can be a problem when judging at GP in other country)
Bugko borrowed the concept of syntax search in magiccards.info / scryfall where you can direct add filtering options into text box to search much faster. The syntax used is modified to work better on mobile phone with smaller keyboard, but most of the syntaxes are backward compatible with magiccards.info / scryfall. It also build with auto suggestion to assist user getting the correct syntaxes or options when search. Searching for a blue instant card in standard with 1 CMC? Just enter “c.u t.instant f.std cmc.1” and search!
Multi-Language SearchNot everyone own / play Magic in English language. For example, if you used to play / judge at play group using Chinese language cards, it will be much easier to search for the card using card's name in Chinese instead of card's name in English. Most app including Gartherer only support English card's name look up.
You can search using any language on Bugko (the card must be printed in that language previously). It even came with auto-complete supported for the card's name you entered. The feature is off by default.
Quick ReferencesThe judge handbook is the best way to get a quick reference when you need something simple and quick. It is designed to fit as much information into a piece of A4 paper as possible. A mobile app should do better that, because phone / tablet wasn’t constrained by the paper size and black / white printing.
Bugko capture all information inside the handbook, rearrangement, redesign and fit them natively into the app. If you need further information, just click on the list and it will bring you to CR rule or details IPG explanation. Judges requested a quick reference for penalty write up format for WER vs. WLTR, Bugko heard that and deliver that into it as well.
Searchable Offline Comprehensive RuleOffline comprehensive rule feature? Check! Comprehensive rule is powerful but some time can be overloaded when you just need that specified rule. Searching on comprehensive rule can be very tricky especially most app only support very basic search on comprehensive rule. Sometime basic search just isn’t good enough. If you are searching for “exile” + “owner”, you probably won’t get any result.
Bugko support search for both exact and any keywords you entered. For example searching “exile owner” will give you result contains “exile” and “owner”. Result with “exile owner” connected will be given higher priority and display first. All found keyword will be automatically highlighted to let you focus on the result you want.
Complete Offline Infraction Procedure GuideIf IPG reference inside Quick Refernece aren't enough. Bugko included the full IPG document inside the app with build-in filter function to look for certain keyword easily. It can even directly link from reference for quick details during a judge call.
Scripted Draft TimerRecent tournament rule changes which make draft review period from 30/45 to 60/90. This changes break most of the draft timer in available in existing MTG apps. Besides, many draft timer app is designed for experienced judges, without any help or script to guide judge what to instruct the player, it can be a panic moment for inexperience judges during called draft.
Inspired by the
draft timer created by Denis Sokolov, Bugko added a draft timer feature with script to guide judge step by step what to instruct / announce to player when call for draft. No more panicking top-8 draft call out moment. Bugko support all 3 draft types included in tournament rule document, which is Individual Draft, 2HG Draft and Team Rochester Draft. It also included both 14 cards and 15 cards option (important for 2HG draft call).
Multiple Tournament TimersDid you ever placed to floor judge multiple side events in a GP, where all round's end time written on the paper. Are you going to do the math calculation every time player ask how much time left? Or try to set a timer using the end time on your phone?
Bugko added a simple countdown timer that capable to track multiple countdown at the same time. Got an end time instead of duration? Let the app do the math for you. Forget the time required for deck construction? Let the app do that for you too.
Other Features- Offline Card Specified Rulings / Q&A
- Offline Documents
- Multiple Popular Formats Banlist Supported
- Decklist Counter
- Judges Blog News Feed
- Text Copy / Share Supported
DownloadAndroid (Play Store): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bugkoiOS App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/my/app/bugko/id1325400403Windows 10: https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9nhhwnsff228Windows Phone 8.1: https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9nblggh43mbjQuestion and AnswerQ: What version of Android is supported?
A: KitKat or above (API 19+).
Q: What version of iOS is supported?
A: iOS 9.0 and above.
Q: What version of Windows Phone is supported?
A: Windows Phone 8.1 and above, including Windows 10 mobile.
Q: Why I saw two versions for the same app in Windows Store?
A: One is for Windows Phone 8.1 (it is compatible with Windows 10 Mobile) while the other one is designed for Windows 10 / Universal Windows Platform (Mobile & Desktop).
Q: How much is the app?
A: Free but with minimum advertisement to continue keep the app updated and feed the server used by the app.
Q: How frequent the internal card database got updated?
A: Once the card information is available on Gartherer, the app should receive a new update within 3 days.
Q: I didn't see the latest set / cards in the app.
A: Make sure you update your app on Play Store / App Store.
Q: Why the installation size is so huge?
A: Imagine the app have to squeeze the whole Gatherer database with multiple languages into your phone.
Q: Why the app got renamed or rebranded from MTGBugs?
A: It seem like some parties aren't happy with the app name and filed a takedown notice to Google. To avoid further trouble, I renamed the app. If you are interested, here is the
full story.
Edited Keng Siang Ooi (Aug. 18, 2018 10:14:55 PM)