Stately Play

Waiting for Narmer in Predynastic Egypt

May 11, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS, Android, PC, Mac • I’ve mentioned my love of Ancient Egypt in the past, with some of my Favorite.Games.Ever being Pharaoh from Impressions and Children of the Nile from Tilted Mill (neither of which have been ported to Mac or mobile, sadly). I know I’m not alone, as Egyptian history continues to be a mainstay of movies, games, and books. While I’m happy that Tom Cruise is getting work, I’m not sure a CGI-filled action film is what I’m looking for. What I really want is the ability to live there, build and grow. There hasn’t been a good civ builder in Egypt since Children of the Nile, but Clarus Victoria is hoping to change that with their latest, Predynastic Egypt.

The Frankenstein Wars is coming in June

May 11, 2017 David Neumann 1

iOS, Android • If you’re one of those weirdos people that usually find gamebooks or interactive fiction to be a bit too dry, you need to give Cubus Games‘ stuff a go. I kind of fell in love with them after reading Heavy Metal Thunder which somehow managed to be more badass than the title required it to be. It took the usual gamebook conventions and mashed them up with beautiful 80’s-90’s-style action-schlock. You weren’t just an antihero, you were an antihero who makes Max Rockatansky look like a measly War Boy. You kill while spouting one liners and pretty much do whatever the hell you want, and it’s pretty great. That’s not the only great gamebook they’ve churned out, however. HMT had great sequels and they even had a book set in the Mayan civilization. Their latest book is coming in June and it, too, looks like a doozy.

Nice-ometrics – Tokyo 42 Drops May 31

May 10, 2017 Alex Connolly 0

Windows, Console • I’ve been exercising an increasing regime of self-control in regards to SMAC Games’ Tokyo 42. Isolated and insulated against everything bar the basics. All I really know so far is that it is going to be a Jolly Good Time.

Tank on Tank rolls onto Steam

May 10, 2017 David Neumann 2

Windows, Mac • You ever get an email from someone that triggers a memory of a long-ago email that you were supposed to reply to, but forgot and now you feel like an ass? It happens to me at least three times a week, with the latest being an incoming missive from Jo Bader, the developer who brought the digital version of Tank on Tank to life. We reported on our ignorance of Tank on Tank’s existence back in February which prompted a discussion between us and the fine folks at Lock ‘n Load that we let die an inglorious death in our inbox. This is why I yell at my kids to be more organized, so they don’t grow up to be major screw ups like their old man (that, and I’m sick of always picking up their crap). Anyway, back to Mr. Bader’s email. If, for some reason, you’ve been putting off getting Tank on Tank directly from the LnL website and really wanted it in your Steam library instead, today’s your lucky day.

Short Cuts: Styx: Shards of Darkness

May 9, 2017 Alex Connolly 0

Windows • Though my 2014 review of Cyanide‘s goblin stealther has disappeared beneath the waves aboard a now-defunct website, my opinion on the Styx franchise has only strengthened with this year’s Shards of Darkness. This brand of dark French fantasy might be left wanting in the narrative presentation stakes, but as an unfettered vertiginous romp worthy of grizzled Garrettians, the goblin is as good as it gets.

Forget it, dear readers, it’s Moreytown.

May 8, 2017 David Neumann 3

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • One of our favorite gamebook creators back in our Pocket Tactics days were the fine folks over at Choice of Games. Their gamebooks appear spartan, lacking any illustrations, but are actually deeper than just about every other piece of interactive fiction out there. This comes from their spreadsheet-like approach to tracking your choices and adjusting your character as you proceed through the story. It also comes from the fact that many of their gamebooks tell epic, sweeping stories rather than focusing on a single quest or adventure. Their latest isn’t any different.

Look at this…just LOOK AT IT! (The Nick Edition)

May 8, 2017 Nick Vigdahl 0

Oskar Stålberg is an artist and game designer and we just realized he’s got some skills when it comes to making cool stuff for your laptop. Consider his Polygonal Planet Project, a browser-based Unity thingamabob where you can build your own planet. You can place continents and islands, raise up mountains, spread forests, and build massive cities. It’s a creative and fun tool with which to play. You can also download it to your computer for faster performance. Oh, there’s more. (Warning: gifs ahead!)

You guys remember Heaven’s Vault? Yep, it’s still a thing

May 8, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS, Android, PC/Mac, Console • While it’s sad to think that we won’t be getting any more Sorcery! titles from the mad geniuses at inkle Studios, it’s comforting to know that we’re getting something. Heaven’s Vault is their upcoming title and I say “something” because we really don’t know much about what the hell Heaven’s Vault actually is. A few screens of a woman and her robot looking over a desolate landscape is all we have to go on. That and the fact that Raymond Chandler and Gene Wolfe were mentioned as inspiration. That’s all they really had to say, but they keep throwing more info at us anyway.

Review: Race for the Galaxy

May 3, 2017 David Neumann 57

iOS Universal, Android • When 2017 started I had already been girding my loins in preparation for a certain card game that was originally released in cardboard form back in 2007. Yes, 2017 was to be the year that I finally left my family behind and started the cult of Vlaada, continuously playing the digital version of Through the Ages. Things have changed. While I’m still planning on abandoning my family for a 2007 card game, it looks like it might be Race for the Galaxy instead of the aforementioned civ builder. RftG is out and, yes, it’s that good.

Review: Monster Slayers

May 1, 2017 Nick Vigdahl 19

PC, Mac • How often does a game’s catchphrase, a blurb that’s often silly and seldom informative, sell you on playing said game? We’re hoping the answer is, “not often”, but check this out: A Deckbuilding Roguelike Adventure. Sold! That’s the tagline for Monster Slayers, a game by Nerdook Productions, and it’s the exact coupling of words needed to penetrate the inky blackness of my heart and, more importantly, wallet.