PC/Mac • Psst. Hello there. My access card still works at Stately HQ, so I’ve slipped the after-hours cleaning staff a fiver to wax floors elsewhere and jumped on Dave’s terminal. Password: daStatel1est. You see, one of the blokes behind Quakey roguelite Teleglitch has a new one in the pipe. Influences front and center, if you’re champing for more FTL all these years later, Shortest Trip To Earth is a right old trek.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac • It seems like we’ve been talking about a digital version of North Star Games‘ creature builder, Evolution, for longer than Darwin sailed on the Beagle. Well, guess what? It still isn’t ready for release and, in fact, is looking for a little extra help to push it along via a brand new Kickstarter campaign that started earlier today. We saw Evolution in action at Gen Con 2016 and it looked pretty darn polished then, so what the heck is going on?
iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • Minos Strategos is an abstract digital board game that traces its roots to a physical board game from none other than Through the Ages designer, Vlaada Chvátil. The game is called Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends and is one of the very few Vlaada creations I haven’t played. That’s because it’s a two-player, head-to-head battle game which, in my home, are less likely than Monopoly to hit the table. Luckily, Minos Strategos has an AI to play against so I don’t have to rely on my kids and, better yet, it’s now on mobile, so I can play on my phone.
iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • I’ve been noticing a lot of people on social media decrying the end of summer and whining that autumn is nearly upon us. These people are morons. Autumn is the best goddamned season of the entire year and I’ll fight anyone who claims summer is all that. Can you wear flannel while eating chili in front of a roaring fire in summer? Hell no! Autumn wins. If I had a mic drop gif, this is where I’d put it. Handelabra is on my side, and are doing their darndest to make autumn even better. Starting last night, their Fall of the Variants event began and we can expect new, free Sentinels of the Multiverse goodness every week through December.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • Does anyone here remember that first Armello trailer and how gaga Owen went over it? Okay, I’ll admit we all went a bit gaga over it. After all, it was a theatrical-quality trailer promising an original board game with all sorts of cool mechanisms that would be tough to pull off on a tabletop. On top of that you play as an anthropomorphic animal, making the furry inside each of us cry out in joy. The PC/Mac version of Armello released just over 2 years ago and, since then, talk of the promised iPad version has been virtually nonexistent. In fact, I was talking with Brad from 164 at Gen Con about Armello and if it would ever come to mobile and we both thought they were only focusing on the desktop and consoles. Guess we should have chatted at PAX instead because at that con Armello was being played on an iPhone.
iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac • Way back in August we assured everyone that the 64-bit update to everyone’s favorite Playdek game involving questing with cubes, Lords of Waterdeep, would be released on August 23. For those of you without a working sundial, that means the new LoW was supposed to be here over a week ago. Making software is tough, things happen, bugs are found, and sometimes even Wizards of the Coast gets involved. All that is over now, though, as we can expect the new Lords of Waterdeep to arrive later today.
iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac • It’s been a wacky few weeks for our friends at Nomad Games. At Gen Con we learned that their port of AEG‘s mix-em-up card game, Smash Up!, was being published by Asmodee. Then, earlier this week, Smash Up! soft launched in the Australian App Store which should mean a worldwide debut isn’t too far down the road. To top it all off, Nomad went back to their bread and butter, Talisman, and ordered up a very tasty new expansion: The Dragon.
PC/Mac/Linux • While there have been some fantastic PC ports showing up on our iPads over the past few years–including Firaxis‘ own XCOM: Enemy Unknown–the chances of us seeing XCOM 2 on our tablets is hovering right around 0%. So, you’ll need a PC or Mac to delve back into the XCOM world, but it’s more than worth it. XCOM 2 was one of the best experiences I ever had on my laptop and, later today, it’s slated to get even better. The first major add-on for XCOM 2, War of the Chosen, is unlocking tonight and everything about it sounds amazing.
iOS, Android, PC • Wrapping up our major Gen Con stories is our favorite new mobile developer of 2017, Temple Gates. They burst onto the scene this year with the game I can’t shut up about, Race for the Galaxy. We all agree it’s the bee’s knees, and is a clear contender for GOTY come December. Lucky for us, Temple Gates doesn’t plan on being a one hit wonder and have already begun development on their next App Store entry, Race for the Galaxy’s big brother, Roll for the Galaxy.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac • The biggest player in both the cardboard and digital board game realm right now is the French company, Asmodee. If there’s a board game publisher you like, there’s a good chance they fall under Asmodee’s umbrella, and not just the cardboard version. Starting with Colt Express last November, they’ve published a ton of digital board games like Mysterium, Potion Explosion, Onirim, Pathfinder Adventures, and more. They’re only beginning, too, with upcoming titles both from their own cardboard catalog as well as tabletop titles that Asmodee has nothing to do with. It’s kind of crazy.