David Neumann

Warlock of Firetop Mountain coming to iOS in early 2017

December 14, 2016 David Neumann 1

I know this is click-baity as hell, but look at this. Seriously, just look at this. You’re not clicking? Fine, let me tell you what’s behind the break. Remember Tin Man Games? Earlier this year they released a new version of the classic Fighting Fantasy book, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain except it wasn’t a book. You moved minis around, combat was on a grid and tactical, and there were about a billion [not an official number -ed.] of new characters to unlock and play with. Well, guess what. It’s coming to mobile in early 2017! That’s what’s after the break. I guess you don’t have to click now. I’m really bad at this click bait crap. Let me try one more time. We have a picture of Warlock of Firetop Mountain running on an iPhone and the results will shock you!

Colt Express gets major update, multiplayer actually works

December 13, 2016 David Neumann 7

Kelsey took a look at Colt Express last week and thought it was a pretty great rendition of a board game with one huge flaw, the multiplayer system was broken. While online play existed, the ability to create or join games was enough of a mess to prevent him from playing even one multiplayer contest. It was bad enough that Asmodee decided to pull back their December releases to ensure that multiplayer hijinks wouldn’t be an issue going forward. Today, Asmodee took steps to correct what’s already out there and Colt Express has been updated to make multiplayer a little more palatable.

Baseball Highlights 2045 updated with new expansion

December 13, 2016 David Neumann 1

2016 has been a great year for digital board games, so much so that it’s easy to lose track of every great release. Luckily, some of them are aware of this and keep bubbling to the surface of our consciousness by releasing more content. The latest example of this is Peter Kossit’s one-man triumph, Baseball Highlights 2045. It was just updated with the requisite bug fixes, but also includes a new expansion pack that includes my favorite part of baseball, errors.

Alan Newman’s Dynasties updated to version 2.1

December 13, 2016 David Neumann 23

You might remember Alan Newman as that board game designer who has an awesome last name but spells it all funny. You should also know him as the designer of the rather great two-player title Sun Tzu, which was formerly known as Dynasties. That’s in Cardboard Land. In Digitalville, it’s still known as Dynasties and it’s just been updated to improve a very important mechanism: asynchronous play.

Battle of Polytopia gets pass-and-play and a new tribe

December 9, 2016 David Neumann 2

Battle of Polytopia, or as I like to call it, the artist formerly known as Super Tribes, is one of the bright spots of 2016. A simple 4X game that you can finish in 15 minutes, yet somehow manages to hit all the important 4X buttons. How do they do it? I don’t know, I just play the damn things. I do know that the game just got better with a massive update from developer Midjiwan.

Asmodee pushes Mysterium and Potion Explosion into 2017

December 9, 2016 David Neumann 1

Just to add more fuel to the dumpster fire that is 2016, Asmodee just let us know that their two December releases, Mysterium and Potion Explosion, are no longer December releases. Instead, they’re pushing them into next year. Damn.

WWII submarine sim, Silent Depth, dives onto the App Store

December 7, 2016 David Neumann 1

As the grandson of a WW2 submariner, the war under the waves has always held a special significance for me. As a fat dude with claustrophobia, actually being in a submarine is the most terrifying thing I can imagine. I even get uneasy touring the U-505 in Chicago or the USS Cobia in Manitowoc, WI, and they’re just sitting there. I’m a wimp. Lucky for me, there have always been pretty decent sub simulations for PC with the Silent Hunter series and way too many others to mention. This week ushered in a new sub simulation called Silent Depth, and this one we can play on our iPads.

Price plunge: Paradox titles on sale via Bundle Stars

December 5, 2016 David Neumann 0

If you haven’t familiarized yourself with Bundle Stars yet, now might be the time. Paradox makes some of the greatest strategy titles out there, and nearly all of them are on sale right now if you buy through Bundle Stars. What are you waiting for?

Blizzard releases latest Hearthstone expansion, Mean Streets of Gadzetzan

December 1, 2016 David Neumann 3

Two years ago the arrival of a new Hearthstone expansion would have been major news worthy of getting a certain Faraday out of bed to give us his thoughts on what was (and maybe still is?) the biggest game on mobile. Today it’s a bit meh. Sure, Hearthstone is still a pretty great game, but with this being the umpteenth expansion I find it hard to jump up and down and holler when a new one is released. That said, we still have at least one major Hearthstone fan chained in the manor’s wine cellar and I’m sure there are some of you who still pick it up and give it a go every once in a while. Today will be a good day to delve back in as Mean Streets of Gadgetzan was unleashed this morning.

Cities: Skylines adds natural disasters with new update

November 30, 2016 David Neumann 0

While 4X is a very close second, I’m pretty confident that my favorite game genre is the city builder. To this day I still play the great city builders from Impressions like Pharaoh, Caesar, and Zeus. And don’t get me started on my all-time favorite, Children of the Nile. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that I’ve been high on Colossal Order‘s magnificent Cities: Skylines from the start. A brilliant and beautiful city-builder that was lacking only one thing since launch: the ability to destroy your creation. That omission has now been resolved with the just released Natural Disasters expansion.