November 2017 – Page 2

Review: Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

November 20, 2017 Nick Vigdahl 5

PC/Mac, Coming Soon to iOS/Android • I was late to the Dresden Files but made up for it by reading all of the books in just over a year. Jim Butcher‘s alternate reality where magic, vampires, werewolves, faeries, and all manner of things that go bump in the night are not only real, but also looking for a late night snack of human, is a great setting. I think I’d actually prefer living in it over the rather mundane real world. Sure, there’s a chance of being torn apart by a werewolf, but the ability to shoot fire from my fingertips would be pretty sweet. I knew there was a cooperative tabletop card game out there where you could play through the events of the series as its characters, but don’t have enough friends interested in a Dresden Files game pull off a game session. When I learned Hidden Achievement was taking the game digital, I saw my chance to finally get the card game to the virtual table.

Reigns sequel set to land on December 7

November 17, 2017 David Neumann 3

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • I’ll admit that I didn’t get the first Reigns. I know it was everyone else’s 2016 GOTY, but I just couldn’t get into it at all. Swiping left, right and ending up…somewhere? I just couldn’t figure out what all the hubbub was about. Apparently, if you stuck with it, all sorts of special story-driven stuff happened, but I didn’t have the patience [or common sense -ed.] to keep playing. That said, it remains on my phone. One of these days I’ll really dig into it and realize I had an awesome game right under my nose all this time and it will be great. Or, I might delete it and just download the sequel, Reigns: Her Majesty, which is coming to all platforms on December 7.

Stately Sessions: Liberty or Death, Turns 8-13

November 17, 2017 David Neumann 1

Tabletop • In our effort to speed things up with our ongoing Liberty or Death session report, I’ve managed to somehow combine six (6!!!) turns into one post. Unfortunately, this means I’m already broke my promise to report on at least one non-board game per day by not covering anything yesterday, but I did report on two non-board games Wednesday, so I’m calling it even. Without further ado, let’s see what’s happening in the colonies.

Bearwaves set to…um…make waves with upcoming Feud

November 15, 2017 David Neumann 3

iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • Regardless of how theme-heavy you like your games, I think everyone, deep down, has a soft spot for abstract games. Something about the simplicity, beauty, and nostalgia of playing a game in which pieces only come in two colors with the winner decided by a battle of wits instead of labyrinthine combat rules involving card drafting, custom dice, and a DNA sample. Hell, Chess and Go have been around for millenia; will we be able to say the same thing about 7 Wonders? Well, not us. We’ll all be dead, but you know what I mean. Bottom line, abstracts are kind of cool and it looks like we have a new one heading our way from rookie developer, Bearwaves. It’s called Feud and, much like their name, I don’t quite understand what I’m seeing.

Things we missed: Card City Nights 2 released last week

November 15, 2017 David Neumann 4

iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • It’s okay, you can say it. I miss a shitload of news. I know it, you know it. I’d like to blame it on the fact that I’m the only one working the Stately Play news beat these days, but it’s more an issue with me just being a lazy bum and focusing only on the stuff I really enjoy. I don’t think I need to tell you that the stuff I enjoy is board games. I’m going to try and be better and cover more than whatever Asmodee is currently up to, trying to write about at least one non-board game every day. Will I stick with it? Mostly. I’m sure I’ll have days where I slip, but it’s going to be better than it has been. Promise. Today’s non-board game is Card City Nights 2 which hit the App Store late last week.

Stately Sessions: Liberty or Death, Turn 7

November 15, 2017 David Neumann 2

Tabletop • We’re back with our parade through (alternate) history via GMT Games‘ brilliant COIN title, Liberty or Death. I’m getting the sense that you, the Stately Players [I’m really trying to get him to stop. This will be the last time, I swear -ed.], are losing interest in these turn-by-turn walkthroughs, so I’m going to really try and wrap the whole thing up before Thanksgiving so we can move on to a different game. When I started the affair, I had it in my head that I would spend 5-6 hours playing the game and then chop it into a week’s worth of material. When I saw how much information had to be relayed while writing up the first turn, I realized I may have bitten off more than I could chew and moved to the one-two turns per day format. That works well for me, but it needs to work well for you as well. I’m new at this, and still learning. Stick with me. We’ll wrap up LoD as quick as possible and then throw something else on the table.

Have a great day in the UK with new Ticket to Ride expansion

November 15, 2017 David Neumann 4

iOS Universal, Android, Kindle, PC/Mac • Somehow I had forgotten that Asmodee Digital, our eventual lords and masters, had taken over control of one of the most venerable digital board games, Ticket to Ride. From our point of view, it’s not all that relevant who’s doing the publishing duties, but it did strike me that we seemingly can’t go a day without mentioning the Asmodee juggernaut. I guess that’s what happens when you’re a juggernaut. Today’s Asmodee news revolves around a new expansion for TtR, the UK.

One Deck Dungeon hits funding goal and is now coming to mobile

November 14, 2017 David Neumann 0

iPad, Android tablets, PC/Mac/Linux • With 16 days to go in the Kickstarter campaign, One Deck Dungeon has successfully funded. That’s not huge news considering that when we spoke about it on day 2, it was already well above 50% towards its goal. What is surprising is the update Handelabra released today to announce that funding was successful. Originally, One Deck Dungeon was being pitched as a Steam title with mobile being something they would look into down the road. Apparently, the road was rather short because today’s update announced that One Deck Dungeon is coming to iOS and Android.

Review: 7 Wonders

November 14, 2017 David Neumann 8

iPad • There were three board game ports that seemed stuck in development hell, never to actually make an appearance on our tablets. The first was Twilight Struggle which switched developers after years of development only for Playdek to save the day, releasing one of the best board game ports on the App Store. Then there was Through the Ages which was promised back when the iPad was a novelty, died when Codito’s license expired, and finally resurrected by CGE as one of the best board game ports on the App Store. Now we have 7 Wonders, which was nearly released several years ago, been through multiple beta tests, and has finally made its way to digital but, unfortunately, isn’t one of the best board game ports on the App Store.

Stately Sessions: Liberty or Death, Turns 5 and 6

November 13, 2017 David Neumann 3

Tabletop • We’re back after a long gaming weekend that consisted of playing a lot of old favorites with not one “new” game hitting the table. We had some new players, so game teaching was still in order, but far less stressful than trying to teach games I barely know how to play. That’s all in the past, however, and from this point on we’re going to focus on wrapping this game of Liberty or Death from GMT Games up. I’m hoping turns become faster and faster as I become more familiar with the flowcharts of the AI, so maybe we’ll finish this game before New Year’s? Let’s take a look at two quick turns, Turns 5 and 6.