iOS Universal, Android •
Tim Fowers‘ cooperative heist game, Burgle Bros., landed on the App Store in early August and we still haven’t gotten a review up. I have excuses; plenty of them, actually. Gen Con was in there, my kids are still way over-scheduled, and that damn Through the Ages beta come to mind. Now, Gen Con is over, my kids are in school, and Darkest Dungeon has managed to curb my TtA habit by at least 3%, so things are looking up. We’ll be getting more reviews up and, hopefully, actually close to each game’s release date. It’s almost like we’re trying to be a real site. Almost.
Anyway, back to Burgle Bros. Less than 3 weeks after arriving on our devices, the app has received a massive update that includes new variants, new rules, and ways to play that just aren’t possible on the tabletop. Here’s a review for you: it’s expansion-rific!
While the initial release of Burgle Bros. was pretty smooth, it had a few cracks. Reports of certain tiles not appearing in the game, player powers not working correctly, and no rulebook to peruse were some of the biggest complaints. I hadn’t experienced any of these issues myself, but today’s update includes bug fixes that patch up the biggest oops. The app also now has a link to the rules, which is helpful. It’s a link to an online pdf, so it’s not perfect, but it’s nice to have the actual rules to refer to when your heist is going to hell.
Okay, that’s the boring stuff. Let’s talk about the new building layouts. There are four new building layouts, including some that aren’t perfectly square. They also have more than the two or three floors we’ve come to expect from the original layouts. There’s also a massive new layout that is only available once all the other buildings have been successfully looted.
New variants include having all guards move each turn rather than just the guard on the current player’s floor. One variant that’s not possible on tabletop is the Hidden Guard, in which you only become aware of the guard’s location if they are in your current character’s line of sight. This variant ratchets the tension up to 11, and can be toggled on or off with the “all guards move” variant as well, making for a heist that requires a serving of Xanax. There’s also a toggle to trigger Events each turn rather than just when one of your thieves has two or more actions left. Considering that I only ever seem to draw horrifying events, there’s no way I’m turning this one on.
Burgle Bros. is available for both iOS Universal and Android and all this new content is available for free with the latest update. If you’re still waiting for the SP review to pick this one up, here’s a quick blurb: If you like cooperative games–and the lack of online multiplayer doesn’t turn you off–Burgle Bros. is right up there with other coops like Pandemic and Pathfinder Adventures when it comes to solo board games on your touchscreen.
Now go buy it.
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