Stately Play

Perchang releases expansion for Warhammer Quest 2, The Lord of Khorne

February 8, 2018 David Neumann 5

iOS Universal • Well this was supposed to be a big surprise with an embargo in place for early this morning, but it appears that was broken yesterday afternoon when a trailer appeared in our forums and tweets started floating about Twitter. I guess the embargo was more “guidelines” than actual rules, to quote Captain Barbossa. So, with the cat out of the bag, I present to you a new Warhammer Quest 2 expansion: The Lord of Khorne.

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.

Better Stately Than Never: >observer_

February 1, 2018 Alex Connolly 4

PC/Mac/Linux • [Today we’re starting a new type of article that looks at older games we never got around to looking at when they were still new and shiny. Not sure how regular they’ll be, but will erupt occasionally when one of the writers get an itch to write about an older game. It happens more than you’d think. Writers getting itches, that is. We have an unguent, but it’s expensive. -ed.] The future used to be something to look forward to. Detective Daniel Lazarski, likeness and voice provided by Rutger Hauer, is tasked with solving a series of grisly murders in future Poland. There’s something amiss in this socially-stratified place, and nothing is quite as it seems. Cue intrigue.

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.

Alliance of the Sacred Suns Hits Pre-Alpha (Centauri)

January 29, 2018 Alex Connolly 4

PC • We’ve been pulling on the same pair of jeans for twenty five-odd years when it comes to space empire builders. The comfortable fit of a SimTex stonewash is time-tested, and its reliable density drags all and sundry towards the event horizon. As such, you wouldn’t be alone in feeling a wee twig of ennui towards the galactic overlord genre. The outliers are few, but one new tantalising project is tilting at trading the star lane traipse for something different. A little more, ahem, stately. [Dave, take note. This is how we use the word “stately”. -ed.]