Mac – Page 12 – Stately Play

My Factorio addiction is becoming worrisome

February 13, 2018 David Neumann 1

PC/Mac/Linux • According to Steam, over the past week I’ve played Factorio for 31 hours. That may not seem like a lot to gaming diehards, but we’re talking about a guy with three kids who is forced to spend most of his waking hours away from a keyboard. 31 hours in a week on my laptop, playing games, is simply unheard of. Even games like Civ or Cities: Skylines haven’t drawn that kind of devotion from me in the past few years. In fact, I’d have to go back to pre-kid days when I’d spend every night playing World of Warcraft while my wife travelled for her job. Yes, I was a really cool cat back then, too. The thing with Factorio is that I haven’t even scratched the surface. I suddenly understand why my kids like Minecraft so much.

Civilization VI gets its first major expansion: Rise and Fall

February 8, 2018 David Neumann 5

PC (out now), Mac/Linux (coming soon), iPad (maybe someday?) • If I seem a little out of it today, it’s because I was up late trying out the new expansion for one of my favorite titles, Civilization VI. The new expansion, Rise and Fall, released last night in my time zone and when I loaded it up to merely see the differences, I fell victim to the dreaded “one more turn” syndrome and unwisely stayed up past 2am. To be fair, this happens pretty much any time I load up Civ VI after 5pm.

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.

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.

Step 1: Create deck-builder, Step 2: ???, Step 3: Prophet!

January 18, 2018 Nick Vigdahl 1

PC/Mac/Linux (First Access now), Tablets (down the road) • An alien spacecraft streaked down from the sky and plowed into the desert. It spoke to you when you arrived, and now you’re considered a prophet. It’s on you to lead your newfound followers through a desert wasteland in search of a new home, a journey fueled by the promise of the unlimited powers and ancient knowledge of an alien race.

Darkest Dungeon all set to depress Switch owners

January 18, 2018 David Neumann 7

iPad, Switch, PC/Mac/Linux • One of my favorite titles of 2017 was the iPad version of Darkest Dungeon. Strangely enough, one of my favorite games of 2016 was the Steam version of Darkest Dungeon. Santa brought my youngest a Switch this Christmas, but I’ve been finding loads of time to log onto it myself. Today, Darkest Dungeon released for Switch and I have a feeling it might pull of the hat trick and become one of my favorite games of 2018 as well.

Looking for strange? Pit People has you covered

January 16, 2018 Nick Vigdahl 0

PC • Bipedal cupcakes and mushrooms, spiders with knee-length socks, and rainbow-colored unicorns…sounds like a fantasy zoo straight out of the mind of Lewis Carroll or Dr. Seuss doesn’t it? These are just some of the many odd creatures that populate the fantastically bizarre, apocalyptic world of Pit People. Pit People is a strategy role-playing game that features tactical turn-based combat and a heaping portion of humor. It’s been incubating in Steam Early Access for a little over a year and is getting close to breaking free of the beta stage, so I figured now was a great time to give it a go.

Slay the Spire has become my latest obsession

January 11, 2018 David Neumann 31

PC/Mac/Linux • I still haven’t figured out how to use Steam. I mean, I play games on Steam quite a bit, but scanning the store for new arrivals and Early Access gems isn’t something I’ve acquired a skill for. As such, I have to wait until I see someone tweet or post about a Steam title before I’m aware it exists. Slay the Spire is a recent example. I’ve been playing the Early Access version for a couple days, thinking I stumbled onto something special, only to find that it’s been available for 2 months now and we’re the only damn site that hasn’t written up something about it. So, just ignore the fact that Slay the Spire isn’t a brand new release and play along.