Asmodee’s plans for total App Store domination nearly complete

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.

Before we get to the new, wild stuff, let’s take a look at what Asmodee already has on the books.

• Colt Express
• Mr. Jack Pocket
• Ticket to Ride
• Mysterium
• Potion Explosion
• Splendor
• Pandemic
• Spot It!
• Onirim
• Jaipur
• Pathfinder Adventures

All of these range from “decent” to “outstanding”, with no real duds in the mix. Asmodee is committed to continued support for these titles in the future, with new content for Pathfinder Adventures already being released and new content for other games in the works.

That’s all good and exciting, but we really want to focus on the new stuff. The biggest news from Gen Con was the announcement of Terraforming Mars, a Kennerspiel des Jahres nominee this year and published by Stronghold Games. Since its release, TM has become my kids favorite game of all time and has been their go-to title whenever we have time to throw cardboard on the table. It’s a pretty great game, only hampered by some physical component decisions which won’t be a problem on our iPads. This one is just getting underway, so we won’t be seeing in on the App Store until 2018.

Another big game that we’ve already talked about is digital Scythe. Still being developed by Knights of Unity, but Asmodee has taken over the publishing duties. Check here for our previous coverage of the digital version of Scythe, with this caveat: our original posts indicate that Scythe would be coming to iOS/Android as well as PC/Mac. Asmodee has told us that Scythe will only be coming to Steam, with mobile versions not being listed on their press release. Will they be coming at a later date? We can hope, but right now it looks like Scythe will be a Steam-only release.

Other titles in development with a 2018 release date include the following:

• Zombicide by Cool Mini or Not for iOS/Android/Steam
• Bananagrams by Bananagrams for iOS/Android
• Gloom by Atlas Games for iOS/Android

All those are titles are in Asmodee’s far future, but in the near future they have a ton going on as well. In 2017 we can expect no less than six new releases. First off is Ticket to Ride: First Journey, which is a family version of TtR that’s appropriate for everyone, even the little ones. They’re also releasing a new version of Carcassonne for Android/Steam which will make the other platforms finally have a version of Carcassonne as shiny as the iOS one, which is developed by Coding Monkeys. Cross-platform play between the Asmodee and Coding Monkeys’ version is currently not available, but Asmodee told us that it’s not impossible and is something we could see down the road.

Classic racing card game, Mille Bornes, is also on the way for iOS/Android/Steam as is the classic abstract title, Abalone. They announced that AEG’s card-mixing battler, Smash Up!, is still coming from our friends at Nomad Games, but will now be under Asmodee’s watchful eye and should be available for iOS/Android/Steam in Q4 of this year. Lastly is Catan Stories which is something a little different. Instead of another board game in the Catan line, this is a gamebook-like text adventure set in the Catan universe. I know it won’t, but I’m really hoping it takes place in this Catan universe.

That’s all they would talk to us about at Gen Con, but they hinted that it’s only the tip of the iceberg. What other secret awesomeness is Asmodee hiding? We honestly don’t have a clue, but were told that we should have some indication in September or October at the latest. As usual, we’ll let you know.

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