Tabletop – Page 2 – Stately Play

Gem Rush wrapping up Kickstarter run, coming to Steam as well

May 1, 2018 David Neumann 9

Tabletop, PC/Mac/Linux • There’s something very cool happening over at Victory Point Games. For years they were known as a company that made interesting games with components that weren’t very interesting, but not anymore. Over the past 2-3 years they’ve started to reprint second and third editions of games and upping their component game. Thus, we’ve seen gems such as Nemo’s War, Dawn of the Zeds, Healthy Heart Hospital, and Darkest Night all reappear with shiny new versions, begging for gamers who had poo-pooed VPG in the past to love them. It’s not hard to do, they’re all fantastic. The latest reimagining is another title I hadn’t heard of called Gem Rush. Not only is the shiny new 2nd edition currently on Kickstarter, but they’ve also announced that a digital version is on its way to Steam for PC/Mac/Linux.

Short Cut: Journal 29

April 24, 2018 David Neumann 2

Tabletop • I’ve been pondering whether or not to review Journal 29 from the moment I cracked its first truly difficult puzzle. You see, it’s not the usual fare here at Stately Play, and I wasn’t sure if our readers wanted to live the dread of English teachers everywhere, having to read a poorly written book report. Yes, a book report. You see, Journal 29 is an actual book made out of dead trees without a battery to recharge or screen to tap. It’s like the 80’s, with the exception that I’m not listening to Spandau Ballet [for the record, Dave is totally still listening to Spandau Ballet -ed.].

Wings of Galactica? Ares Games bringing BSG battles to your tabletop

April 11, 2018 David Neumann 4

Tabletop • Many years ago the folks at Ares Games created a miniatures game so easy that even non-miniature gamers, like me, could figure them out and play them. Even better, they sold the games with pre-painted miniatures and all the stuff you needed to play. No searching for a tape measure or blistering your fingers prying plastic off sprues. Even, even, better the theme was World War I and II air combat. Of course, I’m talking about Wings of War (now Wings of Glory) and, for a short time, I was hooked. This was followed up by Sails of Glory which takes the basic premise and moves it onto the high seas. All was well and good and then Fantasy Flight used a system that was…similar…in their blockbuster hit X-Wing and then followed that up with capital ship combat in Armada. Who wants to shoot shells when you can fire laser cannons and make pew-pew sounds as you play? Don’t count Ares out yet, however, as they just announced their own sci-fi miniatures combat game, Battlestar Galactica-Starship Battles.

Stately Playthrough: Darkest Night 2nd Edition, Turns 2 through 4

April 5, 2018 David Neumann 1

Tabletop • Despite two school musicals, umpteen volleyball tournaments, and a spring break drive to Florida, I’ve finally managed to get the second video of our Darkest Night 2nd Edition playthrough finished. Whew. This video picks up where the last one left off and brings us three full turns, namely turns two through four. Future videos will be one turn (maybe two) so I can get these things out the door quicker. Seriously, trying to do all these turns at once was a big mistake and just too much damn work. Not like you care about that, but I really want to get at least one out per week. Two per week would be amazing. Also, my microphone broke while in Florida, so I had to record using a crappy headset mic. It sounds like I’m recording in a bathroom which, I assure you, I only did for 37% of the video. See if you can figure out which scenes! I’ll be looking to get a new microphone, but it might be awhile. I apologize in advance for your aching earholes.

Stranger Things have happened; Fireball Island comes back to life on Kickstarter

April 3, 2018 David Neumann 9

Tabletop • I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know when I say 80’s nostalgia is a hot commodity right now. It can be done the right way (Stranger Things) or the wrong way (Ready Player One), but either way it seems to be a means to print money. Restoration Games is jumping on the bandwagon with their latest blast-from-the-past, Fireball Island. You might remember this one from your childhood or just been unable to avoid the hype on #boardgame Twitter. Either way, it’s gone live on Kickstarter today and it’s a doozy.

A weekend of gaming dissected or how I learned to stop worrying and love 18xx

March 21, 2018 David Neumann 23

Tabletop • As I mentioned last Friday, I spent last Thursday through Sunday up in the woods with four of my best [only? -ed.] friends where we would drink and eat far too much while playing as many games as we could fit in the time allotted to us. This was the seventh year we’ve done this and, in the past, I would try to bring as many new games as possible. It slowly dawned on all of us that trying to teach games to folks who’ve been drinking since noon isn’t a great idea unless you start teaching well before noon. Thus, I’ve limited my new game exploration to only one each morning and after that–once the Sailor Jerry starts flowing–we sink back into the comfortable arms of games we already know how to play. This year our fallback was 18xx. Lots and lots of 18xx.

Gales of Story

March 8, 2018 Kelsey Rinella 7

Tabletop • I recently got an itch to play Sails of Glory, a game which wonderfully illustrates the joys which games, especially historical games, offer outside of the game itself. Sails of Glory puts each player in charge of one or two warships from the age of sail (late 1700s/early 1800s). Turns out, there are an embarrassing array of ways to commit to it, and it was with an eye toward justifying myself that I thought of writing an article on the topic.

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.

Cardboard Critique: London

February 2, 2018 David Neumann 2

Tabletop • Dickens famously wrote one book about two cities. Martin Wallace, on the other hand, topped that by designing two games about the same city. You know, I’d been milling that intro about in my head for days and it sounded way better there than it does when I type it out. Unfortunately, my delete key is broken so it will have to remain as-is [unfortunately, my delete key is broken too, or it would have been destroyed. -ed.]. What I’m trying to get at is that I’ve played London by Martin Wallace. I’ve played it a lot. I’ve played both the first and second editions and I’m going to talk about it after the jump.

Cardboard Critique: One Deck Dungeon

January 5, 2018 David Neumann 6

Tabletop • There aren’t many activities where being a friendless abomination is actually a boon, but board gaming is getting there. There’s a bevy of solo board games on the market and it seems like I’m discovering more and more of them each week. Asmadi‘s One Deck Dungeon is a one or two player affair (you can play up to four with two copies), but I’m going to focus on the solo game. Because I’m alone. Yeah, I already covered that. Even if you’re one of those cool people with family and/or friends who want to game with you, this review might still be illuminating [illuminating is not a word I would apply to any of your reviews -ed.]. That’s because our friends at Handelabra will be bringing ODD to our PCs and tablets later in 2018, meaning what follows should be applicable to all you digital board gamers as well.

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