PC, Mac • How often does a game’s catchphrase, a blurb that’s often silly and seldom informative, sell you on playing said game? We’re hoping the answer is, “not often”, but check this out: A Deckbuilding Roguelike Adventure. Sold! That’s the tagline for Monster Slayers, a game by Nerdook Productions, and it’s the exact coupling of words needed to penetrate the inky blackness of my heart and, more importantly, wallet.
PC, Mac, Linux • I remember talking with Owen back in the day and listening to him gush over Empire: A Deck Building Strategy Game as if it were the second coming of XCOM. Was his love for Empire a tad overzealous? Perhaps, but just a tad. Designed by Keith Burgun, Empire and his other titles, 100 Rogues and Auro, have all been the cream of the App Store crop since their release. Thus, you’ll be happy to hear that Mr. Burgun is working on another title and he’s currently funding it via Kickstarter. You’ll be less happy to hear that there’s no plan to bring it to mobile.
PC, Mac, Linux • NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics has my number something fierce. Do you like shmups, this Brazilian indie effort asks. YES, I proclaim. But do you suck at them, it continues. YES, I admit. If you find yourself in this quandary of unquenchable thirst, Post Mortem Pixels has your back.
PC, Mac • So, I was over at the Paradox Interactive website this morning, looking up details for Prison Architect’s soft launch, and it was a little like coming downstairs on Christmas morning when I was seven. Toys as far as the eye could see, so many that I didn’t know where to begin. With such a cornucopia I’ve decided that, instead of separate posts, I’m going to lump all of the Paradox news into one juicy tidbit. Some of this might be old news to you but it’s all new to me and I run the joint [says who? -Kelsey], so deal with it.
iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac • As a huge fan of the tabletop version, 1775: Rebellion was one of my most anticipated board game ports in 2016. When it launched in November, it managed to capture the light brilliance of its forebear, but as Matt mentioned in his review, was a bit subpar in terms of AI and other glitches here and there. Fear not, fellow gamers, for HexWar has been on the case and has just released a massive update to the PC/Mac version that will soon also be coming to the App Store.
iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac • One of the most beloved (if not THE most beloved) CRPGs of all time was released back in 1999 and used the greatest RPG engine ever created, the Infinity Engine [don’t argue with him about this…he locked Alex in the cellar just for suggesting that the Gold Box games were better -ed.]. Even without the title of the post screaming what game I’m talking about, most of you would instantly know I’m referring to the fantastic Planescape: Torment. Nearly 20 years after its initial release, Beamdog has polished it up and reissued it in a new Enhanced Edition which has gone live for iOS, Android, and PC/Mac.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac • Before we begin, I need to tell you that, yes, I’m ashamed of that title but low-hanging fruit and all that. Ok, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about Evolution and how you can sign up for the alpha.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac • When you think of Fighting Fantasy books, you probably remember solitary dungeon romps with your trusty d6s in tow and pining for the love of another human being. Good times. Gamebooks like The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, City of Thieves, and the Sorcery! books replaced my parents for a good chunk of my adolescence and it seems these books can’t stop being brought back to life on our phones and tablets. Heck, we just had a new version of Warlock of Firetop Mountain land a month or two ago, and the Sorcery! saga was brought to life in ways my pimply-faced self couldn’t have imagined thirty years ago. Nomad Games, creators of digital Talisman, have joined forces with Fighting Fantasy to bring some of these old titles back to life. They’re not doing it with stodgy pages and, you know, reading. Blech! Instead, they’ve added dice and cards and are turning the whole thing into a boardgame-esque romp.
PC/Mac/Linux • Nostalgia is a tricky beast. Some creators will use it like bad wallpaper, covering the cracks of their leaky foundation while trying to remind us of the wallpaper in our childhood bedroom as if that would make us ignore what’s underneath. Other creators will use it to enhance the story or characters by dropping us deeper into whatever it is they’ve crafted. Last year’s X-Files reboot was the former, Stranger Things was the latter. Nostalgia can only take you so far, and if the product isn’t good to begin with then nostalgia won’t suddenly make it worth your time. Thimbleweed Park drips with nostalgia. In fact, they could have called it “Nostalgia: The Game” and I would have nodded and thought it was a good choice. Thimbleweed Park exists solely to remind you of classic point-and-click adventures from the 80’s and 90’s, especially those from LucasArts, but it does it with a deft hand and excellent new mechanisms, making it far more Stranger Things than X-Files. This is nostalgia done right.
iPad, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • On Monday we wondered about the timer that Beamdog was winding down on a site that just happened to be named “Planescape”. When the timer went off yesterday revealing that, yes, it does indicate a new, enhanced version of the Infinity Engine classic, we were right there to post all about it. We were, our site was not. Turns out we had some issues on the backend that were preventing posts from appearing on the front page and, although he had absolutely nothing to do with it, I blame Kelsey. We’re back now–the issue self-corrected, which doesn’t inspire much hope for a problem-free future–and we’re ready to talk about the only digital RPG to feature the Lady of Pain.