October 2017 – Stately Play

Ancient naval battler, Mare Nostrum, coming to PC on Thursday

October 31, 2017 David Neumann 6

PC • Despite how most people around these parts feel about Slitherine [disclaimer: I used to work there -ed.], the announcement of their latest game is worth at least a mention. First of all, it’s designed by Turnopia, the developers behind the wildly underrated, and iOS 11 incompatible, Qvadriga. Secondly, it’s a game about ancient naval warfare, which sounds too cool for us not to take a look. It’s called Mare Nostrum and it’s coming to PC on Thursday.

DIGIDICED bringing 2016 Kennerspiel des Jahres winner, Isle of Skye, to digital

October 31, 2017 David Neumann 2

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • For a bit it was looking as if Asmodee Digital was going to corner the entire digital board game market, pushing out more titles than anyone else could possibly manage. DIGIDICED doesn’t seem to be buying into that scenario, and has been just as active with releasing and announcing new board and card games for iOS, Android, and Steam. All but one of their titles, however, have been 2-player Uwe Rosenberg titles, so it’s hard to be surprised by any of their announcements unless, of course, they announce a non-Rosenberg, non-two-player game, which is what happened last night. Their next title will be Isle of Skye, and it’s coming in early 2018.

Among the Stars coming to iOS and Android

October 31, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS, Android • It’s kind of funny that other, better card drafting games keep popping up on mobile making the long-awaited release of 7 Wonders less and less important. We already have Age of Rivals, which I think is a better overall game than the SdJ winner, and Through the Ages, which might be the best card drafting game ever. Over the weekend, the folks behind Brass announced another card drafting title is making its way to iOS and Android, Among the Stars.

Cardboard Critique: Flamme Rouge

October 30, 2017 David Neumann 2

Tabletop • My bike is a recumbent–basically a recliner welded to a bike frame–which is perfect for getting my fat butt around town. And that, ladies and gents, is the full extent of my cycling knowledge. Much like all sports, cycling is something I neither participate in nor understand. Several members of my regular game group, however, are active cyclers who not only own more bikes than I’ve owned in my entire life, but, when not cycling, will sit and watch other people racing their bikes. I bought Flamme Rouge for them, thinking that getting it on the table would be an easy sell. It wasn’t, but we did finally manage to play it which led to three consecutive games in a row. In other words, it went over well.

Asmodee announces two new titles for 2018, Onitama and Munchkin. Yes, Munchkin.

October 27, 2017 David Neumann 11

iOS, Android, Steam • Thanks to Gen Con, we already knew Asmodee Digital had a ridiculous amount of new games slated for later this year and 2018. This week is Essen, however, and it seems they still have some tricks up their sleeve. Yesterday they released a teaser trailer for Scythe that failed to show any gameplay but did manage to remind us it’s coming. They also mentioned some new Catan vehicles which we’ll talk about when they get closer to launch. Today, however, we learned that apart from all the new releases coming down the pike, they still had at least two they were holding back. That would be Arcane Wonders‘ abstract Onitama and Steve Jackson‘s ubiquitous Munchkin.

QA flagged it, but the devs were so pissed at QA by then it was "working as intended".

Review: Subsurface Circular

October 26, 2017 Kelsey Rinella 0

iPad, PC/Mac • Subsurface Circular exists primarily because of a willingness to experiment during a lull in the developer’s schedule, but it also seems to suit the needs of a maturing game-playing public. While its gameplay is aptly described as “text adventure”, the game deserves credit for establishing an atmosphere and an aesthetic using high-quality audio and visuals. This is possible in such a short window largely because it’s a single-room mystery: the game is played entirely on a train for robots, with the player taking the role of a robot detective smart enough that humans have rendered it unable to leave the train as a precaution.

It’s all about the beans when Bohnanza The Duel lands tomorrow

October 25, 2017 David Neumann 1

iOS Universal, Android • Usually when we’re told of a new release only a day before it’s coming to the App Store, I’d say we were surprised. When that release is Bohnanza The Duel and the developer is DIGIDICED, however, it’s less surprise and more of course they’re releasing that game. After all, it’s another 2-player Uwe Rosenberg title which, other than Terra Mystica, is what DIGIDICED does, so it was only a matter of time before it went digital. Now that the intro’s out of the way, are we ready for some bean farming?

The Shieldbreaker arrives in the Darkest Dungeon hamlet this Thursday

October 24, 2017 David Neumann 3

iPad, PC/Mac/Linux • How good has 2017 been? I haven’t played Darkest Dungeon in a few weeks and it’s easily one of my favorite iPad titles released this year. With Through the Ages, Halcyon 6, and Warhammer Quest 2 all coming since Darkest Dungeon’s release back in August, becoming distracted wasn’t exactly a difficult thing to do. Any other year, however, and an app of Darkest Dungeon’s quality would already be waiting in the green room practicing it’s GOTY speech. Red Hook‘s not content to let DD slide into oblivion, however. We already know that The Crimson Court DLC should be coming to the iPad version later this year and today we learned that a new class, The Shieldbreaker, would be making their appearance in the PC/Mac/Linux version this week.

Text adventure Subsurface Circular finds its way to iPad

October 23, 2017 David Neumann 2

iPad, PC/Mac • Hey, everyone! It’s Monday and I’m still sick! This announcement has nothing to do with the game we’re about to discuss or with garnering sympathy (I’ll take it, but that’s not the main point), but I wanted everyone to understand why content might be a little slow over the next few days. The flu I seem to have picked up is accompanied by migraine level headaches, and staring at a screen makes it about 100x worse, which is kind of an issue when writing a blog. Hopefully this clears up quickly and things can get back to normal, but I thought you should know. Back to our regular programming: Let’s talk about Subsurface Circular.

Counter insurgency war game, Afghanistan ’11, coming to iOS next week

October 20, 2017 David Neumann 24

iPad, PC • Back when Slitherine was in the business of publishing mobile war games, one of the best was Every Single Soldier‘s Vietnam ’65. It broke ground by focusing not only on battlefield tactics, but on winning over the local population and dealing with political problems back home. The theme worked fantastic in ESS’s follow-up, Afghanistan ’11, which was released for PC in March. Next week the PC-less of us will have a chance to give Afghanistan ’11 a go when it arrives on the App Store.