A match made in heaven: Playdek and GMT form partnership

July 23, 2018 David Neumann 18

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • When something gets too much hype there’s a good chance that reality will never rise to meet the expectations already formed in your head. That was the fear when GMT started talking about a “major” announcement regarding digital games that would be coming in late July. I was expecting the announcement of something like Labryrinth or, if we were lucky, a digital COIN game being announced. Big, but hardly the earth shaking announcement we were led to believe was coming. Then I found out what the announcement was and, damn, if GMT didn’t actually surprise me with this one. Not only is Playdek making digital versions of GMT titles, but they’ve joined forces and formed a partnership which ensures we’ll be getting GMT games on our devices for a long, long time.

Isle of Skye releases for Android; iOS on the way (we think)

July 18, 2018 David Neumann 16

iOS, Android • If you’re not aware, there are two [actually three, you dolt -ed.] different Spiel des Jahres awards each year. One for a ‘family’ game that tends to be a little lighter than I prefer, and the other is the Kennerspiel des Jahres which awards more complex titles. Considering that my tastes run in the Vital Lacerda/Martin Wallace/18xx vein, these games tend to still be on the light side for me, but I still try to at least give them a go once or twice. Two years ago the award was won by Isle of Skye and it remains one of the few KSdJ winners that I’ve never played. In fact my only contact with the game came at Gen Con in 2016 when I was working the BGG Game Room and had people returning it to the library. As a rule I would be told two things about the game: it was great and the printing was really, really small and hard to read. Well, now Digidiced and Asmodee Digital have teamed up to bring it to digital and here’s hoping they blew up that text out so even old farts like me can read it.

Chaotic stock-trading game, Stockpile, coming to digital via Digidiced

July 17, 2018 David Neumann 0

iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • Digidiced is turning into quite the workhorse. Not only is their port of Isle of Skye currently in beta, but we learned last week that they’re also working on a digital port of the Stefan Feld classic, Castles of Burgundy. Today I was sent a missive of another game Digidiced has in their pocket, the chaotic stock trader, Stockpile. Even more surprising is that it’s already entering beta. Apparently Digidiced has been working on this one for a bit now in secret.

Hostage Negotiator adds its final villain

July 5, 2018 David Neumann 0

iOS Universal, Android • Released earlier this year, Hostage Negotiator from Peter Kossits and Van Ryder Games, has been a reliable go-to when looking for a solo game that I can’t possibly win. It may have been overshadowed a bit by the more recent release of One Deck Dungeon, but Hostage Negotiator remains a tense, anxiety-inducing experience AND you can play it on your phone. It’s received a lot of new content since release, and recently it received one more bad guy: Gonzalo. Not only is Gonzalo the most difficult baddie to date, he’s also the last expansion planned.

King of Dragon Pass gets spiritual sequel in just released Six Ages

June 28, 2018 David Neumann 9

iOS Universal • While most games get a short stay on my iPad before being shuttled off to be replaced with the latest hotness, King of Dragon Pass is an exception. I remember buying it on the App Store when it released back in 2012 and it’s been on at least one of my devices ever since. That’s not to say it’s one of my favorite games. In fact, after countless tries, I still can’t figure out what the hell I’m exactly supposed to do. I usually get a little bit into it and then something comes up and I have no idea how to deal with it. It’s just a game that boggles my mind. I think I’m alone on this one, as I know it’s considered one of the best video games ever crafted, which is why I keep it on my iPad hoping, one day, to figure it out. I think I may have waited too long to crack the code, however, as today the spiritual successor to KoDP has been released, Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind, and it looks just as imposing.

Review: Istanbul

June 27, 2018 David Neumann 15

iOS Universal, Android • If you deep dive into the unpublished drafts currently chained up in the Stately Play dungeons, you’ll find a screed titled, “Board Games Suck”. It was started as a rant against the current state of the hobby which, as anyone will tell you, is going gangbusters. Unfortunately, while we’re getting thousands (literally) of new game releases each year, I’m finding my interest in about 98% of them is close to zero. This is mostly in the euro game category where every new game I hear about sounds like an excuse to rehash overdone mechanisms, paste a popular yet loose-fitting theme on it, and get it into the hands of the usual suspects so the hype train can start rolling. So, why haven’t I published the article? Well, my heart is telling me that an article with that headline isn’t a great idea on a site that covers board games. Also, #notalleuros. There are still a few new games here and there that get my blood flowing. Most of them are designed by Vital Lacerda, but one that wasn’t came out back in 2014, won the Kennerspiel des Jahres, and still gets table time. That would be Rüdiger Dorn’s Istanbul.

One Deck Dungeon getting two new heroes

June 21, 2018 David Neumann 3

iPad, Android Tablets, PC/Mac/Linux • Sentinels of the Multiverse was deluged with constant updates, new content, expansions, and more after its release and at a pace that would make most developers shut down from exhaustion. You’d think Handelabra would have a hard time replicating that with their latest baby, One Deck Dungeon, but it’s starting to feel like déjà vu. They’ve already added the Phoenix Den and tomorrow the roguelike card game is getting not one, but two new characters to kill with poor dice rolls: Fanatic and Caliana.

Nomad and AEG combine forces, bringing more board game goodness to digital

June 20, 2018 David Neumann 4

iOS, Android, PC, Switch, PS4 • We mostly know Nomad from their continuing love affair with Games Workshop’s fantasy classic, Talisman. Last week they released The Woodland expansion which, if you’re not counting, was the 7,426th* expansion released for Talisman since January. Of course they’ve done some other games as well, most notably a team up with Alderac Entertainment Group for a digital port of Smash Up. Well, they’re teaming up with AEG again, this time bringing 3 of their titles to PC, mobile, and some other platforms as well.

Fear not, Exodus: Proxima Centauri is on the way

June 11, 2018 David Neumann 4

iOS, PC/Mac • I was browsing our fantastic forums over the weekend just to see what the Stately Players [someone at BGG told me the editorial asides weren’t funny so I’m not going to comment on the blatant disregard for quality writing Dave’s throwing up here by calling you “Players”. -ed] were up to and trying to forget that I hadn’t posted anything since Thursday and stumbled upon a new thread discussing possible vaporware. One of the games mentioned on the list was a little space game called Exodus: Proxima Centauri that we mentioned back in March of 2017. Strangely enough, right after reading that thread I heard from Offworld Games about, you guessed it, Exodus: Proxima Centauri. It’s not vaporware, in fact, it’s coming to PC/Mac on August 10.

Paperback sequel/prequel, Hardback, is in beta and coming to iOS/Android

June 6, 2018 David Neumann 3

iOS, Android • I first heard of Tim Fowers back when Wok Star was released way back in 2010. It was a cooperative game that didn’t follow the standard Pandemic formula of “take your turn then pull a card and see what terrible stuff happens”. Instead, the game used a timer and players played simultaneously, trying to keep the restaurant running smoothly. Since then, he’s become a powerhouse designer, running his own publishing digs and putting out games that don’t fit into the standard mold set by previous titles. For example, Paperback took the well-worn mechanisms of Dominion, but put them into a word game which, somehow, made deck-building fun! What really separates him, however, is that he learned a long time ago that digital board games are pretty cool and, as of now, has released both Paperback and Burgle Bros. onto mobile. Soon we’ll get their third title on our phones and tablets, a sequel of sorts to Paperback appropriately titled, Hardback.

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