David Neumann

Scythe arrives for PC via Early Access

June 13, 2018 David Neumann 2

PC, (Mac, iOS coming soon) • In a year with a lot of anticipated board game ports, Scythe from Stonemaier Games and Asmodee Digital is near the top of a lot of lists, mine included. Strangely, Asmodee has been somewhat quiet about what’s happening with Scythe, only giving us tiny glimpses into the inner sanctum. Sure, we got a week-long beta test back in April but that was only for PC so all the cool kids were left out. I’m built of strong enough stuff to wait for Early Access and a build specifically for Mac, yessiree…Oh, what’s this? Today, Scythe arrived on Early Access…for PC only. Ugh.

Fear not, Exodus: Proxima Centauri is on the way

June 11, 2018 David Neumann 4

iOS, PC/Mac • I was browsing our fantastic forums over the weekend just to see what the Stately Players [someone at BGG told me the editorial asides weren’t funny so I’m not going to comment on the blatant disregard for quality writing Dave’s throwing up here by calling you “Players”. -ed] were up to and trying to forget that I hadn’t posted anything since Thursday and stumbled upon a new thread discussing possible vaporware. One of the games mentioned on the list was a little space game called Exodus: Proxima Centauri that we mentioned back in March of 2017. Strangely enough, right after reading that thread I heard from Offworld Games about, you guessed it, Exodus: Proxima Centauri. It’s not vaporware, in fact, it’s coming to PC/Mac on August 10.

Paperback sequel/prequel, Hardback, is in beta and coming to iOS/Android

June 6, 2018 David Neumann 3

iOS, Android • I first heard of Tim Fowers back when Wok Star was released way back in 2010. It was a cooperative game that didn’t follow the standard Pandemic formula of “take your turn then pull a card and see what terrible stuff happens”. Instead, the game used a timer and players played simultaneously, trying to keep the restaurant running smoothly. Since then, he’s become a powerhouse designer, running his own publishing digs and putting out games that don’t fit into the standard mold set by previous titles. For example, Paperback took the well-worn mechanisms of Dominion, but put them into a word game which, somehow, made deck-building fun! What really separates him, however, is that he learned a long time ago that digital board games are pretty cool and, as of now, has released both Paperback and Burgle Bros. onto mobile. Soon we’ll get their third title on our phones and tablets, a sequel of sorts to Paperback appropriately titled, Hardback.

Stately Scrying: What we’re playing this weekend

June 3, 2018 David Neumann 8

Sorry this is coming at such a strange time, but I’m still all discombobulated and I’m traveling with the family for a short, lake-filled weekend. Still, everyone was eager to share what gems we were planning on dissecting this weekend, so I wanted to get this posted regardless of what time or day I finally managed to find a WiFi connection. Without further ado, let’s check in with the brilliant brains that make SP what it is. By the way, my internet connection sucks, so be warned that this version of scrying might be missing some links.

Talisman and Talisman: Horus Heresy expand for free, go on sale

June 1, 2018 David Neumann 0

You might think that Avogadro’s number relates to the number of atoms in a mole, but it was actually created to give dimension to the number of IAP available in Nomad Games‘ digital version of Talisman. If this makes no sense, I’m trying to say there’s a lot of DLC for a digital board game, but that’s not to be unexpected considering the cardboard version and all its expansions have lain waste to entire forests. Today, they added yet another expansion to not just Talisman but also Talisman: Horus Heresy, albeit for a miserly price: free. If that’s not enough for you, they’re also putting the whole lot on sale.

One Deck Dungeon gets more dungeon

June 1, 2018 David Neumann 3

If you were one of the people who loaded up Handelabra‘s One Deck Dungeon and thought, Hmmm…not enough dungeon, then today is your lucky day. Not only did the game update to add fixes and UI features, but it also brought along the game’s first DLC, The Phoenix’s Den.

Spiderweb Software going where they’ve never gone before: Kickstarter

May 31, 2018 David Neumann 4

The hardest part of traveling is trying to get back into a normal routine once you get home. I’ve been home since last Saturday afternoon and still don’t quite have the usual rhythms down. For example, this morning I nodded off while trying to write this story and the small catnap turned into a 3 hour tour of dreamtown. The worst part: I still feel tired as hell. Anyway, sorry for the lack of content the last couple days. My malaise and confusion mixed with a huge job interview I had yesterday have made it hard to get back on the SP horse. We’re going to keep trying, however, and today’s attempt concerns RPG masters Spiderweb Software. They have an entirely new RPG world they’re itching to create, and have taken off for Kickstarter to get it done.

Stately Scrying: What we’re playing this weekend

May 25, 2018 David Neumann 22

My long European adventure is nearly at an end. As I write this, I’m about 12 hours from boarding a plane and heading back to the midwest, far away from phenomenal mass transit. I admit that I am looking forward to driving a car again, but I’m really going to miss being able to just walk a few blocks down the street, walk down some stairs, and be able to get anywhere in the city. I’m sure that none of you give two bits about my wanderings and wonderings, so let’s get back to business. I’ve not been able to get a scrying article out the past few weeks, but today we’re back. Sit back, read what we’re playing, and wish you were us.

We’ve got Trouble, with a capital “T” that rhymes with “P” and that stands for pool

May 25, 2018 David Neumann 4

iOS Universal • Earlier today we mentioned App Store guru Michael Brough and Cinco Paus arriving for PC/Mac. Let’s talk about the other App Store genius who always seems to hit the nail on the head, Zach Gage. Zach Gage takes the commonplace and turns it on his head. Not only did he tackle that old excuse to drink beer in a boat, fishing, with Ridiculous Fishing, but two examples of applying this mantra to games are Really Bad Chess and FlipFlop Solitaire. The former replaced chess’ rigid rules with utter randomness, while the latter took a dull card game a spiced it up by adding one minor tweak. This week Zach Gage tackled another common game and updated it for the mobile scene, pool. Pocket Run Pool is the result and, like all of Zach Gage’s games, you wonder how no one thought of this before.

Clarus Victoria heads back to Egypt, this time the Old Kingdom

May 25, 2018 David Neumann 0

PC/Mac/Linux • One of the unheralded gems of 2017 was a little historical title with a terrible title, Predynastic Egypt from Clarus Victoria. We liked the hell out of it with the exception that it ended when the 1st Kingdom began which is kind of when all the really cool stuff in Ancient Egypt started rolling. Yes, I’m talking about the pyramids. No pyramids in Predynastic Egypt, but in the follow-up, Egypt: Old Kingdom, which was released on Steam yesterday, we’ve got pyramids aplenty.