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 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 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.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac Mystic Vale, the transparent card-building board game from Nomad Games and AEG, arrived for PC/Mac back in January and has been raking in rave reviews over on Steam. Due to my ongoing gaming malaise, I haven’t yet given it a go instead opting to wait for the mobile version. Today we learned that we won’t have to wait much longer to do just that. Mystic Vale is headed to iOS and Android on June 6th.
PC/Mac If you need proof that we’re living in a Golden Age of digital board games, I offer up Mystic Vale as evidence. Releasing less than a month ago, I’m guessing many of us have already moved on to other games like Evolution or the latest darling, Castles of Burgundy. If a game with the name recognition and polish of Mystic Vale had appeared back in 2013 our heads would have exploded. To bring Mystic Vale back to our collective subconscious, today Nomad Games released its first expansion: Vale of Magic.
PC Mystic Vale from Alderac Entertainment Group and Nomad Games has been available on Early Access since late 2018. Today we learned that it’s breaking free from its beta shackles and heading out into the real world. On Thursday, January 31, Mystic Vale will have its official launch for PC on Steam.
PC • If you aren’t familiar with the tabletop card/board game Mystic Vale from AEG, then the title of this post might be confusing. Obviously, the idiot in charge of headlines [Dave is that idiot -ed.] screwed up and should have written “deck-builder” because card-builder sounds more like a craft project than a game. Well, thanks to the wonders of plastic, Mystic Vale IS a card-builder in which transparent sleeves and cards blend to make new cards every time you play. I first stumbled on Mystic Vale when it released at Gen Con a few years ago and was struck by the gorgeous artwork and the unique crafting concept but never got the chance to actually sit and play it. That makes today’s news even more exciting, as I’ll finally get to give Mystic Vale a go. What news, you ask? Mystic Vale is now available to play via Steam Early Access.
iOS, Android, PC/Mac • We’ve been fans of Nomad Games since the early days when their only title was a solitaire take on Talisman. Since then they’ve been the developer of Talisman: Digital Edition mainly with a few other games tossed in here and there. There was a Fighting Fantasy gamebook and, more recently, a digital version of AEG’s Smash Up. Over the past few months, however, they’re really spreading their wings and hitting the digital board game scene hard. In June they announced that digital versions of Mystic Vale, Cat Lady, and Space Base were in the works and today they dropped an even bigger, juicier morsel: AEG‘s (and now Z-Man’s) mega-hit, Love Letter, is coming to digital in October.
iOS, Android, PC, Switch, PS4 • We mostly know Nomad from their continuing love affair with Games Workshop’s fantasy classic, Talisman. Last week they released The Woodland expansion which, if you’re not counting, was the 7,426th* expansion released for Talisman since January. Of course they’ve done some other games as well, most notably a team up with Alderac Entertainment Group for a digital port of Smash Up. Well, they’re teaming up with AEG again, this time bringing 3 of their titles to PC, mobile, and some other platforms as well.
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.