iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac •
If you’ve been reading Stately Play for any length of time you’re aware that my favorite digital–and tabletop, for that matter–board game of all time is Through the Ages designed by Vlaada Chvátil and developed and published by Czech Games Edition. I’ve played more games of TtA online than any other game and it’s not even close. Before the app released, I played dozens of games on Boardgaming Online and, before that, I developed a VASSAL mod and played dozens of games while trying to get that up and working. Since the app released last year, I’ve had 3-5 games going at all times and I’m still not getting tired of it. On March 26 Through the Ages will arrive on Steam for PC/Mac and being able to play it on my laptop while appearing to work will make my life complete.
While Through the Ages is nearly perfect on the phone or tablet, I’ve really been enjoying the hell out of the Steam beta version. There’s something fantastic about opening it up and taking a few turns and then tabbing back over to whatever it was you were working on. The Steam version is the mobile version with a few small tweaks to the UI and a much bigger playing field if you go fullscreen. The mouse also seems to be a better input device than a finger, offering precision while moving your little yellow circles that you don’t get when your fat fingers are 10x their size on a touchscreen. That said, the two releases don’t appear to have many major differences, but I’m sure we don’t have the final release version quite yet, either.
“With the mobile version, we did our best to bring maximum comfort to the players, and the steam version goes even further, bringing the experience to the big screen. All the reviews and great reception of digital Through the Ages were very encouraging during the process, as it is awesome to know there are players who truly appreciate our work.” That’s from Vlaada Chvátil who not only designed the game but is also the project lead for the digital version. This explains why the AI is so damn brutal.
Through the Ages will launch on Steam for $10, same as the mobile version, but that price will only last for the first week. After that, who knows what the regular price will shoot up to? My guess, somewhere around $450. I’m pretty good at prognostication, so I’d make sure to pick it up in the first week and save yourself more than $400! [Dave’s an idiot. It will probably go up to $15 or $20 dollars. If it hits the $400 range, I’ll eat my hat, and I don’t even wear hats. -ed.]
- Through the Ages for iOS Universal, $10
- Through the Ages for Android, $10
- Through the Ages for PC/Mac, $10 (on sale, coming on March 26)
I’m kind of crossing my fingers that CGE, just for giggles, raises the price $400 for a minute…
Good news indeed, since this means they’ll be able to focus more on adding new features to the already outstanding app, as well as working on implementing the expansion.
Has the expansion released in cardboard form yet?
This might be pure sacrilege to many, and I love this game so please don’t get me wrong, but I wouldn’t mind if there was a little more diversity of cards. I see the same cards nearly every game and I think it would be cool the cards in the deck were more randomized. I think an expansion - especially in digital form - could help in this regard.
From what I’ve read it seems like the idea is to release the expansion digitally at first and use the data to balance the new cards before it’s released physically.
I’m not sure how the new cards are drafted into the pool, but I assume that a random mode of sorts will be available. It’s gonna be sweet, that’s for sure!
Oh, cool!