Stately Play

Cardboard Critique: Navegador

September 15, 2017 David Neumann 0

Tabletop • I assume that board game publishers commission board game cover art to be evocative of the game’s theme while also creating some excitement for what lies inside that cardboard box. All publishers except PD Verlag, that is. Instead of promising a thrilling adventure, their box covers depict old white guys looking like they need to use the toilet. They broke new ground with Concordia, not only by having the cover focus on a woman instead of a man, but simply by depicting someone smiling and not looking like they’re waiting for the reaper to mercifully end it all. Today we’re looking back at one of Mac Gerdts’ better designs, Navegador, complete with a box cover depicting a sullen Henry the Navigator staring a map. Prepare thyselves for adventure!

Cardboard Critique: Arkham Horror The Card Game – Dunwich Legacy

September 14, 2017 Kelsey Rinella 6

Tabletop • Arkham Horror: The Card Game gets a lot of love around these parts. It’s as flexible as a tentacle–it can be deeply thematic if you’re into that, or offer moderately involved deck-building and agonizing decisions during play for the more mechanically minded. It can be enjoyed solo (though I recommend playing two characters) or in groups of up to four, as a campaign or a one-shot. I’ve been extremely pleased with it as a solo experience playing both the original campaign and the full Dunwich Legacy cycle, and will here offer brief mini-reviews of each expansion in that cycle. While I’ll avoid spoiling anything beyond the initial setup in each, even the basic premise of some of the expansions gives information about the plot, so beware.

Iron Marines storms the App Store beaches

September 13, 2017 David Neumann 2

iOS Universal, Android • You know what doesn’t work on touchscreens? Real time strategy games. Getting one to work with less than accurate touchscreen controls is akin to putting that rubber band on those posts in a game of Operation, very few people can pull it off. A new title has just sauntered onto the App Store looking to buck the trend, however. It’s called Iron Marines and it looks like it might just succeed.

Thimbleweed Park heading to mobile next week-a-reno

September 13, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS Universal, Android, Consoles, Switch, PC/Mac • While I absolutely adored the PC/Mac version of Thimbleweed Park earlier this year, I’ll admit that I still haven’t fully solved the Twin Peaks-like murder mystery that lies in the game’s center. The game is big and sprawling and while it looks and feels like a 1990’s LucasArts point-and-click title, there’s much more here to unravel story-wise. I’ve kind of been waiting for the mobile version to launch so I can follow the exploits of Agents Ray and Reyes–who are in no way anything like Dana Scully or Fox Mulder–on my couch. The wait is nearly over! Thimbleweed Park is coming to iOS next week and Android in October.

Faster Than Like – Shortest Trip To Earth

September 13, 2017 Alex Connolly 0

PC/Mac • Psst. Hello there. My access card still works at Stately HQ, so I’ve slipped the after-hours cleaning staff a fiver to wax floors elsewhere and jumped on Dave’s terminal. Password: daStatel1est. You see, one of the blokes behind Quakey roguelite Teleglitch has a new one in the pipe. Influences front and center, if you’re champing for more FTL all these years later, Shortest Trip To Earth is a right old trek.

Codito strikes again, making Brief History of the World 64-bit

September 12, 2017 David Neumann 6

iOS Universal • We praised Codito last week for being cool enough to spend their time and money to make sure all their apps survive the upcoming App-ocalypse, arriving with the imminent release of iOS 11. At the time, Le Havre had gone 64-bits and we all jumped and cheered and patted Codito on the back saying things like, “Good show!” and “Well played!”. Strangely, all this Codito love was followed by an email from Mr. Codito telling me to knock it right the hell off. I was confused, but held my tongue and waited for more info, which arrived today.

Evolution Kickstarter begins, trailer emerges

September 12, 2017 David Neumann 5

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • It seems like we’ve been talking about a digital version of North Star Games‘ creature builder, Evolution, for longer than Darwin sailed on the Beagle. Well, guess what? It still isn’t ready for release and, in fact, is looking for a little extra help to push it along via a brand new Kickstarter campaign that started earlier today. We saw Evolution in action at Gen Con 2016 and it looked pretty darn polished then, so what the heck is going on?

Minos Strategos has come to iOS/Android

September 11, 2017 David Neumann 17

iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux • Minos Strategos is an abstract digital board game that traces its roots to a physical board game from none other than Through the Ages designer, Vlaada Chvátil. The game is called Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends and is one of the very few Vlaada creations I haven’t played. That’s because it’s a two-player, head-to-head battle game which, in my home, are less likely than Monopoly to hit the table. Luckily, Minos Strategos has an AI to play against so I don’t have to rely on my kids and, better yet, it’s now on mobile, so I can play on my phone.

Under cover of darkness, new Card Thief content sneaks onto the App Store

September 7, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS Universal, Android • In our review of Card Thief earlier this year, our only major beef with the game was “trash loot”. Many of the chest would be mostly (or completely) filled with loot that did nothing. It was pure garbage and didn’t have any in-game value whatsoever. The first major update for Card Thief landed today with the biggest news being that Tinytouchtales solved the problem of trash loot.

Feast your eyeballs on this, the first Through the Ages trailer

September 7, 2017 David Neumann 13

iOS Universal, Android • We’re only a week away from Through the Ages–the reason I bought an iPad 2 six years ago–finally appearing on the App Store. In preparation, Czech Games Edition has just launched the first official trailer and, well, I’m not sure I need to say much more than that. See you all in-game next Thursday!