David Neumann

Review: Age of Rivals

June 26, 2017 David Neumann 24

iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac • Every now and then a game appears on the App Store and it just clicks. It takes hold immediately, as early as playing through the tutorial. There’s more than just a sense of “fun”, whatever that means, but an urge to really dig in and explore. It doesn’t happen often. I remember it happening when I first played Pathfinder Adventures last year, or the first time I loaded up Hearthstone, and it happened again last week with Age of Rivals. What a game.

Race for the Galaxy gets major update that includes…wait for it…badges

June 22, 2017 David Neumann 7

iOS Universal, Android • I love Temple Gates‘ digital version of Race for the Galaxy so much that I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about it. Hell, I’m tired of hearing about it. That’s tough, though, because not only is Race for the Galaxy my current front-runner for Game of the Year, today it got better. Late last night, version 1.02 landed on the App Store and it plugs up the few holes that were remaining from the initial launch.

Missile Cards making its App Store debut next week

June 21, 2017 David Neumann 4

iOS Universal, PC • We’ve talked a lot about the currently PC-only Missile Cards the past few months, starting with Nick’s glowing review. The big news was that developer, Nathan Meunier, was trying to bring the game to iOS at some point. That point is next week, apparently, as we can expect it on our phones on the 28th of June.

Blizzard tries to breathe new life into Diablo 3 with upcoming Necromancer pack

June 21, 2017 David Neumann 11

PC/Mac, Consoles • Ever since the first Diablo appeared on PCs back in the mid-90’s, I’ve been a huge fan of the series. Unlike other RPGs with detailed character creation and gameplay so long that finishing a game felt more like a chore, Diablo was a breath of fresh air. Fast paced, new loot every time you played, and the ability to easily play online with friends, which was kind of mind-blowing back in 1996, Diablo was what my RPG-craving soul desired. Diablo 2 was an even better game, but Diablo 3 kind of lost the way. It was still fun, but it took an expansion pack and a lot of tweaking to get it to the point where it is today: a fun action romp that still falls a bit short of its predecessors.

FRAMED 2 has been out for a week and I’ve been ignoring it

June 21, 2017 David Neumann 4

iOS Universal • Last week saw the release of FRAMED 2 on the App Store and, yes, I’ve been aware of its existence. I’ve been actively ignoring it because, in my rapidly declining memory, I remembered Kelsey hating the first one when we covered it back at Pocket Tactics and didn’t see the need to cover the sequel to a game we actively disliked back in 2014. Went back and looked today and he didn’t hate it. In fact, he kind of loved it. So, I’m an idiot and now we should talk about FRAMED 2.

Magic Duels on life support

June 20, 2017 David Neumann 6

iPad, PC • I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t give Magic Duels a lot of love. If you don’t remember, Magic Duels was released in 2015 as the successor to Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers, which was an annual release from Wizards each summer from 2009-2014. It was slated to be THE final release of Magic on your iPad, and would be updated when new sets were released rather than scuttled and re-released each year. From everything I can gather, it worked rather well; I just realized that playing Magic wasn’t really my thing. Didn’t hate it, but couldn’t justify the amount of time to really learn and understand the complexities of the game, so, it’s really my fault that we didn’t give it its due here at Stately Play. That said, it’s now dead, so I guess we’re off the hook.

The Warlock conjuring more content for Firetop Mountain

June 20, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS Universal, PC/Mac/Linux • When interactive fiction is done correctly, you get masterpieces like Sorcery! 3 or To Be or Not To Be. When done incorrectly…well, we don’t need to talk about those games, do we? Luckily, Tin Man Games‘ revamping of the classic Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Warlock of Firetop Mountain last year was in the former camp. While the addition of turn-based combat and a gorgeous dungeon that sprang to life as you explored made it tilt a little toward traditional RPG-land, the game hews close enough to its source material to still feel like a gamebook. It’s a good mix that’s about to get mixed-up even more with the addition of a new expansion: Goblin Scourge.

Darkest Dungeon gets new DLC, Crimson Court

June 19, 2017 David Neumann 3

PC/Mac/Linux • We’re still holding out hope that, one day, Darkest Dungeon will find it’s way to our iPads. It was originally a “maybe” and then a “we’ll see” and lastly an “hmmm”, so it’s looking more and more that, if you want to play Darkest Dungeon (and you should), you’ll need to get it on Steam or GoG. For those of us already playing it on our laptops, however, today is a good day. More content in the form of DLC was just released, The Crimson Court.

Roguelike card game, Solitairica, getting more content in major update

June 19, 2017 David Neumann 13

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • While we love heavy, complex board and card games, sometimes it’s nice to just relax and play something a little simpler. Something that doesn’t tax your brain too much, but can still be considered a true game with your actions and choices making a difference. The king in this category is probably Card Crawl, but there are others out there that fit the bill rather nicely as well. One of those is last year’s Solitairica from Righteous Hammer. A fun, fast roguelike that kept you coming back for more because of all the new content you could unlock. For those of us who, long ago, unlocked everything Solitairica had to offer, listen up! More content is on the way via an expansion: Primal Champions.

Age of Rivals comes to mobile this week

June 19, 2017 David Neumann 108

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • Remember Age of Rivals? We talked about it back in March and its mashup of civ-builder and CCG gave us all sorts of warm and fuzzies when we played in on our laptop. For those of you who prefer to do your gaming on the go, you’re in for a treat, because Age of Rivals is coming to mobile this Thursday.