News – Page 38 – Stately Play

Hearthstone expanding again, but this time I’m kind of interested

July 7, 2017 David Neumann 9

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • It’s no secret that Hearthstone has lost its luster since its glory days back in 2014/2015. I’m only speaking for myself, of course, as I know there are still millions of players who play and love it. It just got big enough that I lost track of what the hell was going on, kind of like life. It seemed easier to ditch the game than try to learn the new cards and metas and, surprise, I’m the kind of guy who usually takes the easier path. Today, however, Blizzard announced the next expansion for Hearthstone and it might just be what was needed to drag me back in.

Onirim expands the dreamscape in latest update

July 5, 2017 David Neumann 3

iOS Universal, Android • In a year filled with fantastic digital card games and solo time-wasters, Onirim stands out as one of our favorites. Its mix of quick, simple card play and a difficulty that seems just hard enough to keep you coming back for more is the peanut butter + chocolate combo we didn’t know we needed on our phones. Asmodee has been awfully generous with Onirim since its release, with it often going on sale for the price of a glass of tap water, but they also previously released a free expansion that added new glyphs and more doors (The Glyphs). Today another expansion arrived for Onirim (albeit not free), Crossroads and Dead Ends, and where The Glyphs made the game a bit easier, this one does not.

The Further Adventures of Pathfinder

July 5, 2017 Kelsey Rinella 6

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • This will be Stately Play‘s ninth article mentioning Pathfinder Adventures. If you’re not into PA, our apologies. Dave’s the guy who stands in my way when I propose something terrible, but our affections overlap enough that it’s not an ideal example of checks and balances. But political commentary is an even worse idea than a ninth PA article, so let’s proceed to check out the differences between the mobile and PC/Mac versions!

News cornucopia, aka all the crap we missed last week because we’re lazy bastards

July 3, 2017 David Neumann 2

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • Summer is a huge pain in the ass. Instead of talking to developers and actually playing games, I’m spending my days going to amusement parks and museums “building memories” with my kids. Gross, right? The worst part is that a small part of me is actually kind of enjoying it. Fear not, it’s only a matter of time before they ask me for money and the warm fuzzies quickly dissipate. The worst part of all this involves Stately Play getting the short end of the stick. A bunch of stuff happened last week that I didn’t get a chance to talk about simply due to time constraints. Considering that this week is probably going to be worse–tomorrow is a holiday here in the US, and I won’t be around to post–I figured a quick news dump was in order. Let’s start with our old friend, Solitairica.

When it comes to Slitherine titles, iOS 11 truly is an App-ocalypse

June 30, 2017 David Neumann 20

I was wandering over at the old digs yesterday and stumbled on an interesting comment at the end of their review of the Slitherine-published, Carrier Deck. It concerns the upcoming transition to 64-bit-only apps that we’ll see in iOS 11 and the many, many Slitherine titles many of us own. The news ain’t good, folks.

First look at upcoming Commands & Colors: Ancients

June 28, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS, PC/Mac • The Commands & Colors series already has its share of digital versions available on Steam or the App Store. Memoir ’44 was pushed out as a free-to-play PC game well before Days of Wonder clambered under Asmodee‘s umbrella, Fantasy Flight published a take on BattleLore for tablets only a couple years ago, and, last year, HexWar launched the World War I title, The Great War, on both Steam and iPad. That’s all well and good, but we’ve been told for eons that GMT Games was bringing the ultra-blocky Commands & Colors: Ancients to the digital realm and, thus far, have nothing to show for it. This month’s GMT Update changes that, giving us our first look at HexWar’s take on the venerable C&C entry.

You asked for it, Age of Rivals has gone offline

June 28, 2017 David Neumann 3

iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac • When Age of Rivals launched for iOS last week, I’m not sure anyone saw just how damn good it was going to be. Sure, I’d played it on my laptop a bit, but it took a tablet version for me to really start digging into it and realizing that the design is brilliant. Even more surprising is the lack of complaints from other users. Not to say gamers can be a picky lot, but there’s always something that the dev didn’t do right. The only complaint I’ve heard about Age of Rivals is that it requires an online connection, even when you’re playing the AI. In what might be the quickest response to a complaint by a developer ever, the always-online component is now history.

Missile Cards launches on iOS

June 28, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS Universal, PC • We’ve talked about it, we’ve reviewed it, and today’s the day it finally arrived on the App Store. We’re talking about Missile Cards, which landed on the App Store last night and joined a handful of other card games that are trying their best to make 2017 the best year ever for mobile gaming.

Carrier Deck from Every Single Soldier sneaks onto the App Store

June 27, 2017 David Neumann 3

iPad, PC • It probably won’t come as a huge surprise to readers of Stately Play that we’re not on the press list of Slitherine. As such, unless I’m actively searching out for Slitherine news, it passes us by. Last week they published a game developed by Every Single Soldier, the gents behind the wonderful Vietnam ’65 and it’s companion title, Afghanistan ’11. Their latest is called Carrier Deck and it’s not another hex and counter war game. Instead, it’s a naval simulation that puts you on the deck of the titular ship and it couldn’t be more different than their previous titles. Even more interesting, however, is that it was released for both PC and iPad.

Race for the Galaxy gets major update that includes…wait for it…badges

June 22, 2017 David Neumann 7

iOS Universal, Android • I love Temple Gates‘ digital version of Race for the Galaxy so much that I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about it. Hell, I’m tired of hearing about it. That’s tough, though, because not only is Race for the Galaxy my current front-runner for Game of the Year, today it got better. Late last night, version 1.02 landed on the App Store and it plugs up the few holes that were remaining from the initial launch.