Windows, coming soon to iOS • YOU’VE PLAYED 5 hours. Nice of Steam to keep a tally of how much of your life you spend gaming, isn’t it? I don’t really need Steam to explain that crap-I-stayed-up-too-late-gaming-and-now-it-is-2AM feeling, though. I shouldn’t have started playing so late, but then again, I didn’t expect to spend five hours on Missile Cards, a game I had just installed earlier that day. Problem is, I just couldn’t stop.
iOS, Android, PC • The original Great Little War Game made its way to our phones way back in 2011 and was one of the first must-have titles for strategy gamers. It was followed up by Great Big War Game and Great Little War Game 2, both of which were also strong entries for strategy gamers looking for anything with a some bite on their touchscreens. Announced back in 2014 was the next iteration of the series, Epic Little War Game, and nearly three years later Rubicon Development is announcing the beta is starting and they need help.
iPad • Rome: Total War arrived on iPad way back in November with much fanfare. Here was a massive PC experience–albeit a 12 year-old PC experience–on a touchscreen device you could play on the couch. It had everything the PC version had including the thousands of little fake people killing each other left and right. More importantly, they managed to create a UI for touchscreens that actually worked. One of the big questions when it was released revolved around the expansions. Would they be included or come later? At the time, Feral Interactive was mum on the subject, but today they announced that the first expansion, Barbarian Invasion, will be coming to iPad.
iOS Universal, Android • One of the best games to land on our PCs in the last ten years became one of the best games ever ported over to an iPad back in 2013 when XCOM: Enemy Unknown arrived on the App Store in all its tense, heart-breaking glory. In 2014 it was superseded by XCOM: Enemy Within which added more stuff and a new way to ratchet up the tension by placing a pseudo-timer on each mission in the form of Meld. If you haven’t picked up XCOM: Enemy Within for mobile, first of all, shame on you. Secondly, go pick it up now; it’s only three frickin’ bucks.
PC/Mac/Linux • Nearly three years after its release on iPad, FTL: Faster than Light is still one of the greatest games on the platform. Not only is it one of the most perfect roguelikes ever made, its port to touchscreens set the standard for all ports from that point on. Since then, the forge at Subset Games has been silent, but today we learned [Hat tip: Matt Thrower and Kotaku] that their next effort is well underway. It’s a turn-based strategy game called Into the Breach and it’s coming for PC/Mac/Linux.
iOS Universal, PC/Mac • With two stories in one day, it’s beginning to feel like Tin Man Games day around here. That’s okay, as they make some great interactive fiction ranging all the way from Shakespeare to the 41st millennium. Earlier today, they were busy conquering 1920’s Melbourne, but later this month they’ll tackle Firetop Mountain. That’s right, the long awaited dungeon crawl, Warlock of Firetop Mountain, is due to release for iOS later this month.
PC • After just writing a story about HexWar it seems only fair to chat about their Commands & Colors partners in crime, The Lordz Game Studio. Today, Lordz and Slitherine released a new 4X fantasy title called Sovereignty: Crown of Kings for PC and it looks pretty amazing.
iOS Universal, PC/Mac • HexWar, HexWar, HexWar. Seems like we can’t go a week without more HexWar news popping up. It’s not rehashing a release we’ve already talked about before, either, it’s all new stuff. First The Great War launches, then we find out they’ve teamed up with GMT Games for more Commands & Colors, and now we learn they’re going to tackle endless war by entering into the Warhammer 40K universe. That’s right, they’ve teamed up with Games Workshop and are bringing a new Warhammer title to PC, Mac and iOS: The Battle of Tallarn.
PS4, Vita • Mention the title ‘Dynasty Warriors’ and some folk blanch at the prospect of once again scything to hair-metal through hordes of hesitant Han. Truth is, the Dynasty Warriors games are actually pretty damn good, and they’re one of the last bastions of the moribund beat ’em up genre. I’m here to talk about one specific spin-off for PS4 and Vita in Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers, a fresh turn-based twist on the long-running series. The Omega Force gang were said to have been jonesing to create something like Godseekers for a while, give the series hasn’t seen a tactics game since the PS2, largely honing their Han-themed crowd control simulators. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and time in the wilderness has justified the return to cogitative griddery. Cutting to the chase, Godseekers is absolutely terrific and the rest of year ought to get its tactical act together, because this is 2017’s turn-based strategy to beat.
Endless war, blah, blah, blah. It’s hard to write new stories about Warhammer 40K titles considering that they’re all pretty much about bashing your troops’ heads against other heads. Sometimes other marines, sometimes Tyranids, sometimes Orks. Regardless, the head bashing is usually a hoot, so we’re okay with Slitherine going back to the Warhammer well. Their latest title is called Sanctus Reach and it’s out today for PC.