One game that I love, love, love but my group hates, hates, hates is the oft-streamlined and re-released classic, Fury of Dracula. Originally released back in the 80’s as a roll-and-move, the latest version (the 4th edition) was released this year and there’s not a die to be found. The new 4th edition is the one that Nomad, crafters of gems like Talisman and Mystic Vale, is bringing to digital later this year.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac Earlier this year Dire Wolf Digital surprised us with a lengthy list of board games they’re going to be bringing to digital over the next few years. The announcement was followed by the release of Raiders of the North Sea which is one of the best board game apps of 2019. Since July it’s been quiet on the Dire Wolf front, however, with nary a word about the progress on titles like Root or, my most anticipated, Mage Knight. Today, however, Dire Wolf is back in the spotlight with the second release from their burgeoning portfolio: Reiner Knizia’s Yellow & Yangtze.
PC So here’s another game I didn’t know was in the works. I know I’ve been gone for a couple months but I’m starting to feel like I just woke up from a 20-year coma. The game is Warhammer Underworlds which is apparently the full title of a tabletop game I simply knew as Shadespire all this time. It’s coming to Early Access in January and, holy crap, does it look amazing.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux, Switch We love Acram Digital here at Stately Play manor and not only because our forums were the cornerstone of their massive Istanbul tournament from last December. Okay, that’s part of it, but bottom line is they make some damn fine board game ports and even manage to pull off online multiplayer better than some of the bigger fish in the digital board game pond (cough**Asmodee**cough). They’re on the cusp of running another massive tournament–this time for Eight-Minute Empire–and it would be a shame if the Stately Players [you leave for 2 months and then pull this? You son of a bitch. -ed.] weren’t a big part of it. Jump past the break for details and signup info.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac While I’ve been on a bit of a Through the Ages hiatus for the past few months (mainly because I realized I would never, ever beat JS619 again), it still reigns as the greatest board game port I’ve ever played. Not only is the base game Vlaada Chvatil’s magnum opus and nearly perfect, but CGE managed to add enough polish and shine to the app that, digitally, it’s even better. The base game has been around since 2006 in cardboard form and there’s never been an expansion. It really doesn’t need it. That said, today we get an expansion and I couldn’t be more excited.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac, Switch If you’re starting to feel that all the cool news is coming from the direction of Nintendo’s Little Console That Could, you wouldn’t be wrong. It seems that all the cool releases are landing on Switch with other mobile being an afterthought. For example, Dead Cells has been on Switch forever but just arrived on iOS a couple of weeks ago. Divinity: Original Sin 2 arrived on Switch last week and we’ll never see anything like that on our touchscreens. Thus, it’s good to hear about a game that was originally on iOS head the other way and come to Switch. Unless you skipped the title, you’re aware I’m talking about everyone’s favorite Darwin simulator, Evolution.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac Right up at the top of my “digital board games that have been around a while and yet I can’t seem to find time to play but really want to and plan to someday when things aren’t so crazy and life settles down and maybe my kids move out of the house and I’m retired” list sits a little gem from Nomad and AEG called Mystic Vale. It’s been available for a bit on Steam now but today it moved to the little leagues. That is, today it released for iOS and Android.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac When we heard about the partnership between GMT Games and Playdek, it was like hearing that your two favorite people were finally tying the knot. I mean, they’re so right for each other! It was only a matter of time before this pairing started to bear fruit and, today, they have their first born! (I’m discounting Twilight Struggle as that was pre-partnership and has turned into a titillating ménage à trois with Asmodee) It’s Fort Sumter and it’s coming to mobile and Steam today. Right now, as a matter of fact.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux The last time we talked about Feud from Bearwaves, the title of the post was, “Remember Feud?“. A year later and I guess that title would have worked quite well once again. I considered it, in fact, but then Bearwaves dropped a bombshell: async play is coming. When? When the game releases on May 21st, of course.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac It’s been a busy week+ for the folks at Asmodee Digital. It started with the reveal of the first four classes of the upcoming Gloomhaven port and continued with the, now closed, opening of the Terraforming Mars mobile beta. The thing is, we’ve known about both of those titles and their digital ports for months now. What we didn’t know anything about (and, neither, does Asmodee as there’s no mention of it anywhere on their site) was a game that actually released yesterday, Talisman: Origins. Yes, it’s more Talisman, but not quite in the way you’re thinking.