If you were one of the people who loaded up Handelabra‘s One Deck Dungeon and thought, Hmmm…not enough dungeon, then today is your lucky day. Not only did the game update to add fixes and UI features, but it also brought along the game’s first DLC, The Phoenix’s Den.
The hardest part of traveling is trying to get back into a normal routine once you get home. I’ve been home since last Saturday afternoon and still don’t quite have the usual rhythms down. For example, this morning I nodded off while trying to write this story and the small catnap turned into a 3 hour tour of dreamtown. The worst part: I still feel tired as hell. Anyway, sorry for the lack of content the last couple days. My malaise and confusion mixed with a huge job interview I had yesterday have made it hard to get back on the SP horse. We’re going to keep trying, however, and today’s attempt concerns RPG masters Spiderweb Software. They have an entirely new RPG world they’re itching to create, and have taken off for Kickstarter to get it done.
PC/Mac/Linux • One of the unheralded gems of 2017 was a little historical title with a terrible title, Predynastic Egypt from Clarus Victoria. We liked the hell out of it with the exception that it ended when the 1st Kingdom began which is kind of when all the really cool stuff in Ancient Egypt started rolling. Yes, I’m talking about the pyramids. No pyramids in Predynastic Egypt, but in the follow-up, Egypt: Old Kingdom, which was released on Steam yesterday, we’ve got pyramids aplenty.
iOS Universal, PC/Mac • Michael Brough‘s latest gem on the App Store is a strange one, Cinco Paus. The strangeness comes from the fact that the entire game is in Portuguese with no options to translate it to any other language. At first we weren’t sure what to think. Did this mistakenly show-up on the US App Store? Is there another version being released? The answer to both was “no”. Instead, it slowly dawned on everyone who downloaded it that the Portuguese was part of the puzzle or, as Kelsey puts it, part of the joy of discovery. Unfortunately, only those on with Apple devices have been able to explore this bit of the Brough-verse until today when it became available for PC/Mac.
iPad, Android tablets, PC/Mac/Linux • Last Thursday I stopped by Steam several times to see if Handelabra‘s port of One Deck Dungeon was live. One of these trips — for no good reason — I scrolled down to read current Steam reviews. Negative reviews weren’t hard to spot, all complaining that this game uses too much “RNG” which is, apparently, a cool thing all the kids are saying. It means random number generation and if you’re complaining about randomness in a game that has you chucking literal handfuls of dice each turn then maybe you’re playing the wrong game. One Deck Dungeon is nothing but randomly generated numbers and, if you’re into that kind of game –other ports I can think of are Elder Sign and Roll for It! — then you’re in for a treat.
PC • Though age hath wearied my nerves and reaction time isn’t what it once was, the siren song of the shooter still manages to kindle the old fascination. Eximius: Seize The Frontline is aiding and abetting this month, due to running headlong into Pandemic Studios’ luminary Ken Miller’s proposition that FPS players don’t want to think, and RTS players don’t want to die. If the idea of commanding, ahem, and conquering appeals — and why we aren’t enjoying a glut of these hybrids is one of gaming’s more mystifying vacuums — then give this a look-see.
iPad, Android Tablet, PC/Mac/Linux • Not to get all Galadriel on you, but the world has changed. I can feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I sense it on the App Store. Earlier this week saw the actual, zeroes-and-ones release of a digital board game, Among the Stars. Today we learned that another much-anticipated game is coming to life next week. If the headline didn’t give it away, it’s One Deck Dungeon from Handelabra.
iPad, PC/Mac/Linux • It’s always nice to wake up to a surprise unless said surprise involves wet sheets and a horse head. Today’s non-horse-head-based surprise comes from our Discord channel, where Athros discovered that Aspyr Media is at it again in regards to Civilization VI for iPad. Yep, a new update has landed and it’s a doozy.
iPad, PC/Mac/Linux, Switch, PS4/Vita, Xbox One • While I know Darkest Dungeon isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I think we can all agree that, yep, it probably is the darkest of all dungeons. You can bring torches along, but it’s still dark. In fact, the only color you’ll see while playing is blood red, and that’s when your beloved heroes go insane, which is better than death. Or is it? In June there will be more color coming to Darkest Dungeon, namely a new expansion called The Color of Madness.
PC/Mac/Linux • Well, that headline was embarrassing. Fear not, our headline writer has just been sacked and replaced with a mindless stooge [it’s Dave. It’s always been Dave -ed.] who has agreed to write boring headlines for half the price. While it was embarrassing, this headline was relevant to the game at hand, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire which has a Golden Age of Piracy vibe mixed in with its Infinity Engine roots. Why should we care? Because PoE2: Deadfire releases today.