David Neumann

Speak, friend, and enter. The digital Lord of the Rings LCG has opened its doors

August 28, 2018 David Neumann 9

PC/Mac • It was over 3 years ago, when Asmodee Digital was just revving up, when we overheard Fantasy Flight was working on a digital version of their popular Lord of the Rings Living Card Game (LCG). We also quickly learned we weren’t supposed to overhear such things and let it drop with the hope that an official confirmation would be coming soon. It took them a couple years, but confirmation came in 2017 with the announcement of a new in-house developing arm of FFG, Fantasy Flight Interactive. Today, their first foray into the world of board game (card game?) ports has gone live. You can now pick up an Early Access version of Lord of the Rings LCG for PC/Mac.

Stately Scrying: What we’re playing this weekend

August 24, 2018 David Neumann 19

I know, I know, it’s been weeks since we’ve posted our supposedly weekly Scrying. It’s definitely not an issue with the writers. They’ve been submitting their scryings through the slot on my door every Friday just as they should. I just keep running out of time and, by the time I find myself in front of my trusty laptop, the weekend is already nearing an end. I vowed to not make the same mistake this week, so I carved out time specifically to make sure the Scrying arrived on Friday night. Jump past the break to see if I made good on my vow.

Digidiced nearly done with Stockpile, starts talking next project Indian Summer

August 23, 2018 David Neumann 2

iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • It seems like only a few weeks ago that we learned the frantic stock market manipulation game, Stockpile, was coming to digital via Digidiced. Today they dropped a lot more info about that title, which should be here in a month or so, and their next title as well. Shockingly, it’s another Uwe Rosenberg game, Indian Summer.

Another quick roll-and-write has landed on the App Store: Noch Mal!

August 22, 2018 David Neumann 1

iOS Universal, Android • Remember Yahtzee, that dice rolling game you were forced to play with your grandparents because if you didn’t the only other option was helping them weed the garden? Anyone? Okay, maybe it was just me, but I grew up with Yahtzee as a gaming staple, spending long days at my grandparents’ house while they babysat my brother and I all summer. While it’s somewhat poopooed these days, I don’t really hate Yahtzee. Sure, strategy is almost nil, but there’s something about chucking dice and filling out that score sheet that hits me in the feels. Today, game designers are turning that simple roll-and-write mechanism on its head with games like the recently released Ganz Schon Clever. A similar roll-and-move game with complex rules just landed on the App Store and it too has a German title: Noch Mal!

Blizzard reveals plan to get me playing Diablo III again. Put in on Switch

August 20, 2018 David Neumann 9

Switch • While the original Diablo and its much-lauded sequel are two of my favorite digital experiences, I have more of a love/hate relationship with the third installment. I bought it eagerly when it arrived, even taking a day off work to really sink my teeth into it. Within a week or so I was done. While the graphics were great and the mouse-destroying clicking was at the correct level, the ridiculous story, killing of the only character you give a shit about, and lack of any high-level content made it a bust. A couple years later the (only) expansion was released and I reluctantly crawled back in. Again I stopped after going through the new areas and leveling up a new Crusader. Eventually, however, Blizzard stumbled on the Season model where you could start a new character every few months, race to level up, with new and awesome loot to discover on the way. This hooked me pretty good and had me playing for a month or so at a time, then wait until the next season and start again. I had been doing this for quite a while until last winter when I’d had enough. Blizzard must have sensed my apathy and in a successful bid to get me playing again are going to offer Diablo 3 on Switch starting this fall.

Space Hulk is coming to digital. Again.

August 20, 2018 David Neumann 3

PS4, Xbox, PC • While trudging through the usual Stately spam this morning, I stumbled on a press release proclaiming that Space Hulk: Tactics gets a release date. I was confused. First of all, there’s already a couple digital versions of Space Hulk out there and, secondly, what the hell is with that subtitle, “tactics”? Turns out that there’s a new version of Space Hulk (yes, the same board game that’s been around since the 80s) coming to digital and they added “Tactics” to the end to differentiate it from the versions that already exist. What differentiates Tactics from the other versions on Steam? Cards.

Wondering about tomorrow’s release of Exodus: Proxima Centauri? Here’s an hour of gameplay

August 16, 2018 David Neumann 0

PC/Mac (tomorrow), iOS/Android (later in 2018) • Tomorrow sees the long-awaited release of board game Exodus: Proxima Centauri for PC/Mac on Steam. While I haven’t played the cardboard version, I can’t help but get more and more excited for this one. First of all, it’s a 4X sci-fi game which is awesome. Secondly, it was developed by Offworld Games and the screenshots so far look really promising. If you’re in the same boat, you’ll be happy to know that Offworld released over an hour of video showing a game of Exodus: PC in action. Head past the break and take a gander just to see what we’re in for tomorrow.

What the hell is The Colonists and how do I start playing it?

August 14, 2018 David Neumann 5

PC (Coming to Early Access) • This morning I woke up and went through my morning routine: Brush teeth Shower Pray that death takes me before I wake up the kids As of this post, #3 hasn’t gotten me anything so I’m considering replacing it with “3. Search Twitter” instead. I usually don’t look at social media until after I’ve had either coffee or a Diet Pepsi (better than Coke, fight me!) and feel somewhat like a human. Today, I spotted a Tweet that included a trailer to a game I hadn’t heard about, but now can’t stop thinking about: The Colonists.

Exodus: Proxima Centauri set for a Friday reentry

August 14, 2018 David Neumann 5

PC/Mac (Friday), iOS/Android (later this year) • Okay, so I had this story late Sunday night assuming I would post it yesterday only to suddenly realize that working a full time job really sucks when it comes to making time for a blog. I should clarify, it’s not the job that sucks, it’s the fact that I’m actually working on something that I find very interesting and, incredibly, am having a hard time pulling myself away from. I’m learning Python at work now and I’ve gotten to the point where I can actually write scripts that do things and it’s fairly mesmerizing. It’s been four years since I’ve coded with an end goal in mind (TIS-100P doesn’t count) and I’m kind of digging it. Anyway, I couldn’t stay away from the Stately Players [I thought we had stopped doing this -ed.] for long, which brings us to the board game port of the week, Exodus: Proxima Centauri.

Asmodee can’t take a week off, sneak-releases Kings and Assassins

August 10, 2018 David Neumann 1

iOS, Android, PC • A week ago Asmodee Digital surprised us all with the announcement of Gloomhaven and other games coming out later this year and in 2019. I was at the press conference and took pictures of all the games they listed for the next 2 years and nowhere did they list Kings and Assassins. So, it makes perfect sense that, this week, they released Kings and Assassins. [insert head banging into wall gif here]