Mac Gerdts – Stately Play

Another victim of the App-ocalypse, Imperial, comes roaring back to life

March 26, 2018 David Neumann 2

Well, what do you know, miracles can happen. Imperial is one of the first board game apps to land on the iPad way back in 2011 or so, and it was not well received by the general public. Much of this was due to the opacity of Mac Gerdt’s original design which has the feel of 18xx, but looks like a Dudes On A Map game, but it was also because the app was, how to say this nicely, not polished. Graphically, it resembled something cobbled together using scans from the cardboard version and pieces created in Microsoft Paint, but under the hood it was a rocket ship. The AI was stellar and the app included all the advanced variants, something even the big publishers don’t always pull off today. Problem is, the app hadn’t seen any love from its developer since 2013 and when iOS 11 rolled into town, Imperial finally left its spot on the home page of my iPad. I’m happy to announce that, yesterday, I was able to reinstall it thanks to a surprise patch that updated it to 64-bits.

Cardboard Critique: Navegador

September 15, 2017 David Neumann 0

Tabletop • I assume that board game publishers commission board game cover art to be evocative of the game’s theme while also creating some excitement for what lies inside that cardboard box. All publishers except PD Verlag, that is. Instead of promising a thrilling adventure, their box covers depict old white guys looking like they need to use the toilet. They broke new ground with Concordia, not only by having the cover focus on a woman instead of a man, but simply by depicting someone smiling and not looking like they’re waiting for the reaper to mercifully end it all. Today we’re looking back at one of Mac Gerdts’ better designs, Navegador, complete with a box cover depicting a sullen Henry the Navigator staring a map. Prepare thyselves for adventure!

Cardboard Critique: Imperial and Imperial 2030

August 3, 2017 David Neumann 13

Tabletop, iPad • Mac Gerdts created the board game Imperial way back in 2006 and, while it looked like any other Dudes On A Map title, its theme made it anything but. That theme can best be expressed by something that Elliot says in the first episode of Mr. Robot, “There’s a powerful group of people out there that are secretly running the world. I’m talking about the guys no one knows about, the ones that are invisible. The top 1% of the top 1%, the guys that play God without permission.” Imperial and it’s “sequel”, Imperial 2030, put you in the shoes of the monsters with enough money and power to manipulate the world for their own gain. Oh, and there’s also a rondel.