Stately Play

Review: Hostage Negotiator

February 28, 2018 David Neumann 2

iOS Universal, Android • This is a weird way to start a review, but I think I’ll probably just keep beating this dead horse all through the post if I don’t do this up front. I’m talking about the theme of Hostage Negotiator and the fact that it’s dark; dark enough that it turns me off a bit. It’s a fairly hypocritical stance, I know. After all, I have no issue with assassinating William Shakespeare in Through the Ages or laying waste to a horde of redcoats in Liberty or Death. Hostage Negotiator feels a little more personal, however. Whether the bad guy is a terrorist or a rogue teacher, the number at the top of the screen represents helpless humans that are going to, very likely, shuffle off their digital coils before you’re done. I’m not saying Hostage Negotiator is a bad game–you’ll have to read past the break to see how I actually feel–but I felt that I’d keep bringing the theme up at every turn and didn’t want it to bog the whole thing down. There, that’s the last you’ll hear of it. Now let’s talk about the game itself.

Just when you thought we’d covered everything on Steam today, have you seen Space Tyrant?

February 27, 2018 David Neumann 5

PC/Mac/Linux • I know it has already been a rather silly day on Steam what with Subset Games launching their first title since FTL took the world by storm and Handelabra unleashing a new, very un-Sentinels-like card game. Brace yourselves. Those aren’t the only two cool looking games to land on Steam today. Thanks to BitGamerX we also learned about Space Tyrant which looks like a sci-fi 4x designed by chaos-loving aliens. To be fair, we don’t yet know for certain that Blue Wizard Digital isn’t comprised of chaos-loving aliens. We’re working on it.

You can now delve One Deck Dungeon via Early Access

February 27, 2018 David Neumann 4

PC/Mac/Linux (now in EA), Mobile (coming later) • I know everyone’s busy playing Into the Breach today, but I’d like to ask you to stop for just one moment. Please. C’mon, you can pull yourself away for a little bit. No? Okay, then just listen to me drone on in the background. Into the Breach isn’t the only bit of coolness to land on Steam today. Our friends at Handelabra have also pushed out an Early Access build of the card-based dungeon crawler, One Deck Dungeon for PC/Mac/Linux which is two more platforms than you’ll find for Into the Breach. Take that, Subset!

Outline Development sets forth their 2018 roadmap

February 27, 2018 David Neumann 1

iOS, Android, Mac • When it comes to board game ports for mobile we immediately start thinking of the greats: Playdek, Czech Games, Digidiced, and Goko. Okay, Goko isn’t great, but you can’t tell me that you don’t think about them, particularly when you need something to laugh about. One developer that isn’t on that list is Outline Development. Who? See, I told you! They’re the folks behind iOS versions of games like Qwixx, Camel Up!, and the unfortunately monikered, The Game. Who? Okay, so none of those are “must have” board game ports (although The Game is a nice solo diversion), so why am I talking about them? Let me explain.

Into the Breach makes its debut on PC

February 27, 2018 David Neumann 31

PC (now), Mac/Linux (coming soon) • Ever since Owen gushed about how wonderful FTL: Faster Than Light was on an iPad (and he wasn’t wrong), we’ve been waiting to see what Subset Games would do next. Said gushing took place in April of 2014 so we’ve been waiting nearly four years for Into the Breach, which just launched on PC this morning. I’m sure Owen already bought his copy.

Stately Scrying: What we’re playing this weekend

February 23, 2018 David Neumann 11

I’m on an adventure with my kids this weekend as I show them around what I consider to be “my town”, NYC. After all, I’ve visited the Big Apple at least twice now, so I’m pretty well versed in how things go around here. Just to prove my point, last night we ate at Five Guys, which is about as local as you can get. Tonight we’re trying a new place that looks like it really captures the local ambiance: Applebee’s. If that’s a little to high brow for my kids, we might do Shake Shack. We might even get lost on the subway (or that might have already happened and I’m too ashamed to admit it). What this all means is that I’m not playing too many games this weekend, but everyone else at Stately Play is, and I’m going to dish what’s hot. As an addendum, I’m writing this on an iPad which isn’t the best (or worst) tool for copying/pasting, adding images, and all that other stuff I slave over, day after day [insert sad violin here. -ed.]. I mention this only to warn you that there might be links missing, images looking a bit strange and, worst of all, this intro may never end.

Civilization VI for iPad expands with Vikings and Poland

February 22, 2018 David Neumann 1

iPad, PC/Mac/Linux • That thing that we weren’t sure was going to happen just happened. Of course [the headline gives away any sense of suspense, you dolt -ed.], I’m talking about Civilization VI for iPad, specifically the question we had since it arrived on the App Store in December: Will Aspyr support it with more content? We weren’t sure, but today the Vikings and Poles arrived via IAP and it’s a happy day.

The reports of Stone Age’s death have been greatly exaggerated

February 21, 2018 David Neumann 7

iOS Universal • It’s been a while since we’ve posted anything relating to the App-ocalypse, the destruction wrought on the App Store when iOS 11 dropped last September. It was at that point that 32-bit apps were deemed unworthy of our love and sent packing. One of the better casualties was the digital rendition of Stone Age from Campfire Creations. This wasn’t a huge surprise, considering that Campfire Creations died a while back, leaving no one to update the app. Turns out, Campfire Creations wasn’t quite dead and, in fact, are feeling better. They definitely don’t want to go on the cart. How can we be so sure? Yesterday, Stone Age was updated to work with iOS 11.

Slothwerks chats about upcoming character update and the future of Meteorfall

February 21, 2018 David Neumann 8

iOS, Android • One of the early hits of 2018 has been Slothwerks‘ deck-building roguelike, Meteorfall. We certainly liked it in our review, and the forums here seem to appreciate it as well, to a point. There’s definitely a split on whether it’s too easy or if there’s enough content to warrant a comparison to everyone’s favorite deck-building roguelike, Dream Quest. Maybe not yet, but Slothwerks is on the case. I spoke with them yesterday about the upcoming update as well as any plans for the future.

I got to play Luca Redwood’s Photographs and it’s fantastic

February 20, 2018 David Neumann 2

iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • With 1000000 and You Must Build a Boat under his belt, Luca Redwood has become a legend around these parts. Both of those titles looked and played very simply, but had a hidden depth that you realized only once you rolled up your sleeves and delved in. Luca’s next game is called Photographs and, until now, we didn’t know much about it. That changed this morning when I was sent a preview copy that I’ve been messing around with all day. I’m pretty sure that Luca Redwood fans won’t be disappointed when Photographs hits the App Store.