November 2016 – Page 2

Commands & Colors title The Great War entering closed beta

November 16, 2016 David Neumann 1

While the mac daddy of Commands & Colors games, Memoir ’44, is stubbornly staying away from our tablets, it looks like we’ll have plenty of other options using Richard Borg’s iconic war game system soon. We already have Battlelore from Fantasy Flight and, recently, GMT Games announced that they’re moving forward with C&C: Ancients and C&C: Napoleonics. We had heard last year that HexWar was going to be working on the World War I themed title, The Great War, but yesterday we learned that it’s going into closed beta.

Pathfinder Adventures expands again, adds another adventure deck

November 15, 2016 David Neumann 1

Much like my patience, Pathfinder Adventures is slowly coming to an end. Not the end, just an end. Last week saw the release of Deck 5 of the Rise of the Runelords campaign meaning that we only have one deck remaining before the adventure path wraps up. Will a new adventure path follow? We can hope, but for now let’s revel in the fact that there’s new stuff to do in one of 2016’s greatest ports.

Review: Atlas Reactor

November 14, 2016 Alex Connolly 31

Describing Atlas Reactor (and why it’s all sorts of fantastic) is a tall order. It leads to a tumult of clumsy ‘…like x, but with a twist of y‘ equations that are never as helpful as they are clever, and lead to some pretty average approximations. The best I’ve managed is a supercilious ‘multiplayer turn-based strategy for the Overwatch generation‘. Thing is, it totally is. Now released, I can emphatically suggest it as strategy front runner for any serious GOTY discussion. Here WEGO.

Vlaada Chvátil talks about Through the Ages and more

November 11, 2016 David Neumann 6

Earlier in the week I managed to track down the latest winner of the coveted Spiel des Jahres award, Vlaada Chvátil from Czech Games Edition. You might remember him as the prolific designer of board games such as Through the Ages and Galaxy Trucker. You might also remember that Through the Ages has been in the works at CGE for some time with an expected 2016 release. As 2016 nears its end, where do digital versions of TtA and other CGE games (such as the much awaited Codenames port) stand? Lucky for us, Vlaada was happy to fill us in on the details.

Review: 1775: Rebellion

November 11, 2016 Matthew Thrower 6

1775: Rebellion is a simulation of the American revolutionary war against the British. It’s a subject tackled many times in gaming, but rarely with such startling simplicity as this. Originally a board game, it wowed players with its rare mixture of approachability and depth. Now it’s come to your iPad and Android tablet via a PC version.

Rome: Total War out now for iPad. Yes, THAT Rome: Total War

November 10, 2016 David Neumann 3

Of all the game genres to come to touchscreens, real-time strategy has probably been the least well served. There’s too little controllability when you’re dealing with your stubby finger as opposed to the fine maneuverings of a mouse and keyboard. To compensate, many iPad RTS games lower the amount of units available so the game becomes more manageable for your finger. That’s not how Rome: Total War is going to handle things. Out today for iPad, Rome: Total War is a port of the PC title that includes everything the desktop version has, even the thousands of units clashing on screen at any given time.

2D turn-based shooter, SteamWorld Heist, lands on iOS

November 10, 2016 David Neumann 5

Thanks to our intrepid undercover reporter, [redacted -ed.], we knew that Image & Form was close to releasing their super-popular 2D shooter, SteamWorld Heist on iOS very soon. What we didn’t realize is that “very soon” meant “now”. That’s right, the much anticipated SteamWorld Heist is now available for iOS Universal.

Three Games You Can Play To Distract From This Sense of Impending Doom You’re Feeling

November 9, 2016 Tanner Hendrickson 12

I’ve always defended mobile games as more than mere distractions. But today… Today I need some distractions from this newfound sense of overwhelming dread I woke up with, and you might, too. Here are three quality “distractions” you can play today and into the coming months. (And if you’re not feeling particularly down today, here are some good games that are worth playing.)

Ghostly board game, Mysterium, headed to digital

November 9, 2016 David Neumann 1

If you’ve ever played Mysterium I’m sure the last thing on your mind was if a digital version was in development. It’s a great board game, but it involves players all discussing strange images that have been handed to them from another player. Thus, it seems to be most at home around a dining room table or the like. Well, Asmodee Digital is saying whatever to all that and is going forward with a digital version of Mysterium anyway. After reading what they have planned, I have to admit I’m actually excited to see this on my iPad.

Humble Bundle for Android Loaded With Board Game Goodness

November 9, 2016 David Neumann 1

Since I have no Android devices in my home, I seldom have much need for keeping up with what’s happening with Humble Bundle. If you’re not aware, they package up a ton of games and then allow you to spend what you’d like to unlock more and more of the bundle. Oh, and the money all goes to charity, so everybody wins. The latest bundle is near and dear to my heart and, if you’re an Android gamer, one you should definitely be looking into.