David Neumann

Tabletopia arrives in beta form on the App Store

February 7, 2018 David Neumann 7

iPad, PC/Mac • Back in 2015 Tabletopia begged for money on Kickstarter and we all [by “all”, Dave means “himself” -ed.] obliged by throwing money at the project. What wasn’t to like? Tabletopia promised the ability to create any tabletop game you could dream up and turn it into an online gaming experience. Not only that, but the graphics would be all 3D and look just like their physical counterparts. It would be just like sitting around the table with friends! The finished product landed on Steam shortly thereafter and, yep, there are hundreds of board games you can play on your laptop. Today, there are six games you can play on your iPad as Tabletopia has made the jump to the App Store and is currently in an open beta state.

FTL follow-up, Into the Breach, set to land on Windows in Feb.

February 7, 2018 David Neumann 3

PC/Mac/Linux • I’m sure it wasn’t but in the fuzzy, blurry brain of mine, FTL: Faster than Light was the first PC port for iPad that proved tablets could be a legit platform. Here was a top notch PC title that made the jump to iPad and the devs respected us enough to put some love into it. Not only was there the full game with all the recently released Advanced Edition content, but they took the time to rework the UI for the smaller screen and make the touchscreen feel like a natural input device. It was at that moment that Subset Games became one of our favorite developers. It’s been a few years, but Subset is back with their latest foray into the digital world, Into the Breach, which we can expect to land on Steam on February 27.

Europa Universalis IV getting another expansion, Rule Britannia

February 6, 2018 David Neumann 22

PC/Mac/Linux • Here’s the deal, folks. Apart from the recent release of The Room: Old Sins and Meteorfall, the App Store has been about as exciting as a Swedish art-house film. There’s nothing thrilling out there at all (this will change on Thursday, but I can’t talk about it until then), so I’ve been spending much of my time on Steam instead. Nick talked me into playing Factorio, which has been consuming most of my waking minutes and has been the main reason the site was dead yesterday [great job, Nick! One less day to edit this idiot’s work is a blessing -ed.]. I’m also considering dredging up my old nemesis, Europa Universalis IV. It’s about time I forced myself to learn how to play this damn game, especially with another new expansion just announced: Rule Britannia.

Cardboard Critique: London

February 2, 2018 David Neumann 2

Tabletop • Dickens famously wrote one book about two cities. Martin Wallace, on the other hand, topped that by designing two games about the same city. You know, I’d been milling that intro about in my head for days and it sounded way better there than it does when I type it out. Unfortunately, my delete key is broken so it will have to remain as-is [unfortunately, my delete key is broken too, or it would have been destroyed. -ed.]. What I’m trying to get at is that I’ve played London by Martin Wallace. I’ve played it a lot. I’ve played both the first and second editions and I’m going to talk about it after the jump.

Nomad brings cross-platform purchases to life, right after I bought everything

February 1, 2018 David Neumann 4

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • Don’t let the snarky headline fool you, this is some awesome news. Remember the other day when we learned that Asmodee Digital was taking over publishing duties for some of Playdek’s catalog and wondered what that meant? Would anything really change? Well, it hasn’t with Playdek (yet), but today another game that Asmodee took over publishing duties for, Talisman, did something amazing. Earlier this morning, Nomad announced that all IAP (and there is a ton of it) is now cross-platform available. I may have just wet myself.

Asmodee takes control of even more of Playdek’s stable

January 30, 2018 David Neumann 21

Back in September we were surprised to see the name Asmodee Digital on the App Store where Playdek once resided, specifically on the Playdek versions of Twilight Struggle and Ascension. Today we learned that those two games were only the beginning of the Playdek/Asmodee partnership as Asmodee is now also the publisher of Playdek’s first foray into the heavy euro-world, Agricola as well as their card battler, Summoner Wars.

It appears Acram heading to Istanbul, not Constantinople

January 30, 2018 David Neumann 16

IOS, Android • Right after 2018 was ushered in, the fine folks at Acram Digital decided to tease us about a new game coming in 2018. Which board game it might be was completely up in the air, but my guess was another Martin Wallace title to follow-up the rather wonderful Steam: Rails to Riches. Turns out I was wrong, and Acram is instead working on a different euro, this one from Rüdiger Dorn. It’s 2014’s Kennerspiel des Jahres winner, Istanbul.

Review: Meteorfall

January 25, 2018 David Neumann 70

iOS Universal, Android • We’re not huge fans of hyperbole here at Stately Play–the best damned site in this or any other universe–but when a game like Meteorfall shows up, it seems appropriate. Meteorfall is good. Dare I say, super-duper good. So good, in fact, that I’m sticking it in the running for Game of the Year and it’s not even the end of January yet. Why am I telling you this? Because it’s a review, dummy. [Dave fell on the ice, hitting his head on the concrete yesterday and has been calling everyone–even his wife and kids–“dummy” ever since. We’re hoping the concussion symptoms go away soon but, until then, please take no offense. -ed.]

Review: The Room-Old Sins

January 25, 2018 David Neumann 1

iOS Universal • The Room: Old Sins is the fourth title in the vaunted The Room series of puzzle games, the first of which came out way back when the iPad 3 and iPhone 4S were the pinnacles of mobile gaming. The first game was a revelation, mixing cutting edge and realistic graphics with a tactile feel that you could only get from a touchscreen. The next two games in the series offered more of the same touchy-feely puzzles while expanding the size and scope of the world in which the puzzles existed. The Room: Old Sins doesn’t do anything new to change the well worn formula, feeling much like every other game in the series. Luckily, that’s exactly what we were hoping for.

Darkest Dungeon all set to depress Switch owners

January 18, 2018 David Neumann 7

iPad, Switch, PC/Mac/Linux • One of my favorite titles of 2017 was the iPad version of Darkest Dungeon. Strangely enough, one of my favorite games of 2016 was the Steam version of Darkest Dungeon. Santa brought my youngest a Switch this Christmas, but I’ve been finding loads of time to log onto it myself. Today, Darkest Dungeon released for Switch and I have a feeling it might pull of the hat trick and become one of my favorite games of 2018 as well.