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David NeumannUnited States
Whitefish Bay
Wisconsin
In life you have to do a lot of things you don't f*cking want to do. Many times, that's what the f*ck life is... one vile f*cking task after another.
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App News
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Steam Gets Update to Version 2.0
If you would have told me two years ago that I'd someday have two Martin Wallace games on my iPad, I'd have thought you slipped and struck your head. Yet, here we are, in 2016 and I have both Brass and Steam: Rails To Riches taking up valuable space on my tablet.
When they released last November, I gave the nod to Brass only because of it's inclusion of online multiplayer. Still, Steam was a fairly tremendous port that, other than online play, lacked only a few things: more maps and the Basic rules. Yesterday, Steam received a major update which didn't bring multiplayer, but it did bring the Basic rules.
That's not all:Acram wrote:In version 2.0 we've added:They failed to mention that they also released a new map, the digital-only map of Carcassonne. That is, the southwestern part of France and northeastern part of Spain. You will get that free map as well, and it depends on if you bought the previously available Europe map or not. If you haven't bought the Europe map yet, then that map will be free. If you've bought it, then the new Carcassonne map will be free.
* basic rules implementation
* new animations
* bug fixes and improved UI
* 1 free map gift for everyone!
I spoke with Acram yesterday as well and they mentioned that their next tasks involve online multiplayer and porting the game to PC/Mac/Linux. We'll let you know more about that as we dig.
You can pick up Steam for iOS Universal and Android for $5. It also just released for Kindle and you can grab it from the Amazon Appstore for $7./pic2924913.png)
Tabletopia Begins iPad Prototyping
I haven't talked much about the much-hyped virtual tabletop, Tabletopia here at iOS Board Games. Part of it has to do with being a skeptic. I'm trying to not squee too much, and then find out that it's not quite as easy to use as I'd hoped.
That said, it is coming to both iOS and Android at some point in 2016 and it sure looks nice. Tabletopia allows you to play over 200 board games (and it will be much more by the time it hits iOS, I'm sure) online. What's shocking is just how awesome it all looks. Game modules have the blessing of the publishers, so they all have the original art and look like you just opened the box.
In an update last week, the developers mention that Tabletopia should be moving to Steam Early Access around the end of the month and that they've begun work on the iPad version as well.Tabletopia wrote:We are glad to announce that we are nearing the finish line for our launch on Steam, and you can join our page in the Steam Store! Early Access will have some very important new features like player-matching, etc.Now, if they could only get Food Chain Magnate and The Gallerist I'll never have to leave my house again.
We also now have more than 200 games in our catalog and have run the first prototype of Tabletopia on iPad…
And last but not least, we informed you one month ago that we have finished the migration to Unity 5. This will enable a WebGL version of our game client (Unity’s alternative to run games over Web) and means that it will work on other browsers such as Chrome, Edge and Opera.
This is not only the only first steps for a WebGL version of our game client, but it is also the fastest way to get Tabletopia on iOS and Android devices. We have already started work in this direction./pic2924916.jpg)
Faeria Meshes CCG and Board Games, Coming to iOS/Android
On the nudging of a friend, I started playing a new CCG that just hit Steam Early Access last week. It's a game called Faëria and I was immediately sucked in. I meant to only dabble so I could write a post, but ended up playing for over an hour.
Underneath the hood, this is a fairly standard CCG. You're battling another player, you each have a certain number of HP, and you summon creatures onto a battlefield to take out your opponent. The difference here is that you create the battlefield as you play. Each turn you're allowed to place terrain onto a hex grid creating a world in which to summon your creatures. You can only summon to your own tiles, so you need to strategically plan how and where to place tiles to get your creatures as close to the enemy as possible in the shortest number of moves. Also, around the board are resources you can gather with your troops. Mana is called faeria and you only receive 3 each turn. If you have creatures next to faeria wells, however, you get extra mana. You can also carryover your mana from turn to turn.
It's an incredibly fun game and available now via Steam Early Access. It's also coming to iOS and Android down the road with full cross-platform play./pic2914376.png)
New Details Emerge for Two Rooms and a Boom
After our announcement of the upcoming digital version of Two Rooms and a Boom, a few questions lingered. Lucky for us, designer Alan Gerding was willing to share what he knows.Quote:iOS Board Games: You mention it's going to be "downloadable". I'm guessing you mean it will be a native iOS/Android app?There you have it. We'll keep up with Two Rooms and where it's headed and keep passing along the info to you!
Alan Gerding: Yes, we believe so. We are still looking at a late summer, early fall release, but our current plans are to port it from being a web-based app to having a native iOs/Android app conveniently installed on your personal mobile device. The reason being for ease of accessibility, even when offline.
iOSBG: Would the cardless app completely replace the cards? So, each player would be assigned their role on their device rather than cardboard?
AG: That is exactly correct. When a user goes to the website http://tworoomsapp.com they are asked if they would like to host a new game or join a game. Hosting a new game provides you with a code to share with your friends (similar to JackBox.Tv or the Spyfall web-app). The host user waits for players to join into the virtual lobby, and only the host has the option to start games, select which character cards are in the game, and can control the round number and time. Once the host user begins the game, all players are randomly dealt a character card. Touch the screen once and the screen hides everything but your "color," touch the screen again and the entire character role and description reappear. This allows players to be able to play the game without the need of cards, and also allows for "color shares" and "card shares" (amongst other functions found in the tabletop version).
iOSBG: That makes sense, but you also mention it can be used as a Host Helper app...what exactly would that entail?
AG: Eventually, users will not only have the option to play a "Cardless" game requiring all players to have a smartphone, but also the option to play with the cards. The version of the app we are calling the "Host Helper" app. The plan is to have this be a dream come true for anyone hosting the tabletop version of Two Rooms and a Boom. The "Host Helper" will provide the host with script prompts to follow to aid in teaching the game, running the game, and announcing winners at the end of the game. Both the "Host Helper" and the "Cardless" apps will provide players with an in-game Character Guide, appropriate hostage numbers per round based on player count, and large/obvious timers for quick reference of how much is left in the round./pic2924917.png)
Get Out and Vote!
If you haven't noticed (Card Crawl), the Golden Geek Awards are upon us (Card Crawl). If you scroll down a bit in the rather lengthy (Card Crawl) list that Aldie has put together (Card Crawl) you'll find a list of Best Mobile/Handheld Games. I'm not going to tell you what to vote for (Card Crawl), but you might be able to guess my favorite (Card Crawl).
Head on over and vote for your favorite (Card Crawl) and may the best app (Card Crawl) win.
GEEK Digital Board Games
Regular coverage of board game experiences on mobile, PC/MAC, Console and more.
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