Among the best things in life is playing printed games in person with family and close friends. When those are not convenient we like iOS Board Games.
News, reviews, previews, and opinions about board gaming on iPhones, iPads, iPods and even Android devices. (iPhone board games, iPad board games, iPod board games, Android board games)
Scotland Yard Released Hot off of winning the Deutscher Computerspielpreis for The aMAZEing Labyrinth, Ravensburger Digital isn't slowing down. They have just released none other than 1983's Spiel Des Jahres winner, Scotland Yard, for iOS Universal. This release marks another family-friendly modern classic board game app for Ravensburger which now has a total of five modern board game adaptations to iOS in the App Store. Early looks at the app are so far showing a quality filled approach, with this one ticking a lot of iOS board game feature boxes like good tutorial, slick and intuitive UI, various multiplayer modes including Game Center and bluetooth/WiFI, AI, chat, and even some rarely used premium features like voice chat. The app is launch priced at $4.99. You can pick it up on the App Store.
Master of Maya Released Kaasa solution has released Master of Maya, a free to play head-to-head real time card battler CCG for iOS. Of course we're not sure about this one. Apparently it has a predecessor which back in 2007 claimed to be the world's first mobile TCG and was clearly designed for mass market appeal. You can download it for free on the App Store.
The Latest News
Cities and Knights Info Update USM says that the upcoming Cities and Knights Update to Catan is in the final phase of beta. There is a lot of fine tuning of the AI going on. USM wants to make sure the AI makes use of all the new rules that C&K brings to Catan. They are also tuning the AI difficulty levels to please beginners and advanced Catan players alike. They say they will let everyone know when the testing is complete.
Empire of the Eclipse Coming Soon Empire of the Eclipse is an upcoming MMO 4X space game app being developed by Zarksoft. We'll admit that we initially looked past this for our audience. It was the first M in MMO, which stands for "massively", that scared us off. Maybe it's the board gamer in us, but we're not too keen on games without endings. My early impressions, however, were wrong. Recently, we've been in contact with Lee from Zarksoft and seen the overview video. It's at 1:56 in the video where the narrator utters some magic words:
Quote:
Your empire may achieve victory through military conquest, economic superiority, or by harnessing advanced technologies.
The music of "multiple paths to victory" chimed out for us at that point and we were ready to take EotE back in as a title we'll anticipate. Who cares if you'll be competing against 1,369 other players? Multiple games will be occurring simultaneously and games will take months to complete. We know this scares some gamers, but it sounds very intriguing and strategically rich. Take heart in the fact that the app has been three whole years in the making. You will only have to wait until May 24th to see for yourself what it is all about. Check out the overview video:
App Updates
Fealty Updated Asmadi Games has updated Fealty to version 1.1. The update includes background music, UI enhancements, and bug fixes. Asmadi says they are continuing to work on enhancing multiplayer GameCenter support, and are planning to bring a Fealty expansion pack with new pieces in the coming months. You can check out the details on the App Store.
Rune Raiders Updated Retro64 has updated their quick-playing tactical dungeon crawler to version 1.03. The update includes a new character: Idaho Smith; five new missions, three new monsters, a new boss, survival mode improvements and scoring changes, and more. It appears they even updated the app icon. You can check out the details on the App Store.
Hot Deals
Codito Drops Prices Chris dropped by to let us know that all Codito apps (except Puerto Rico) will go on sale from Thursday trough Sunday and priced at just $0.99. Check out Medici, Ra, Tikal, and Tigris & Euphrates on the App Store.
Return of the Fallen Price Drop Playdek wants you all to know that in celebration of the success of the in-app expansion, Ascension: Return of the Fallen, they are is temporarily dropping the price to $1.99. They also want you to know if Ascension is running in the background, the observed price will not get updated. They recommend players end the background process and re-launch the game. Playdek is currently working on a fix this issue. You can get Ascension on the App Store, if you haven't already.
Time of Heroes Now Free smuttlewerk interactive has dropped the price of their turn-based strategy app, Time of Heroes. For a limited time it is now free. You can pick it up on the App Store.
Wit Gomoku HD Price Drop After the iPhone version went on sale a couple of days ago, ZASoft has now dropped the price of their five-in-a-row abstract strategy iPad app to $0.99. You can pick up Wit Gomoku on the App Store.
Neuroshima Hex Online Multiplayer Update Submitted Big Daddy's Creations has finally submitted their update that will add asynchronous online multiplayer to Neuroshima Hex. The new update will also include new ipad Retina support, chat, a better tutorial, a new game engine, and much more. We estimate that the update will probably be available early next week. You can read all about it on Big Daddy's Creation's Neuroshima Hex site.
Here are some screen shots:
Scotland Yard to Release Soon Scotland Yard will soon be released by Ravensburger Digital...and by soon we mean by this Thursday! Scotland Yard is the 1983 Spield Des Jahres winning game of cat and mouse, where players try to find the elusive Mr. X by traveling around London via taxi, bus, and tube. The iOS Universal app will feature support from 1-6 players, AI, multiplayer through pass and play, WiFi/bluetooth, and online through Game Center, a tutorial, Retina support and more. Somebody from Ravensburger posted quite a bit of details on it in the Press Releases forum and you can read more there.
Here are some screen shots:
Legion of the Damned Update Submitted This past weekend Offworld Games submitted version 1.1 of their hex turn based strategy game Legion of the Damned. The update will include support for retina display graphics. Look for it in the App Store soon.
App Releases
BattleCON Released Brad Talton and Level 99 Games has released BattleCON. It's an iOS adaption of the head-to-head fighting card game BattleCON: War of Indines by the same designer and publisher. You can read all about it in our review or just download for free directly on the App Store.
Elf Ludo Released Artex Studios has released an elf-themed Ludo app appropriately called Elf Ludo. You can check it out on the App Store.
App Updates
Forbidden Island Updated Button Mash Games have updated Matt Leacock's Forbidden Island to version 1.1. The update includes a plethora of improvements including one new island shape and 10 more available through in-app-purchase, new achievements, better Facebook and Twitter integration, improved launch time to start games and more. On Monday, we did learn that there was a temporary problem with the in-app-purchase, but were assured by the developer that it should be enabled anytime now. You can check out the full details on the App Store.
Imperial Updated Javelin just keeps working at this app, with the promise of online multiplayer coming some day, but not quite yet. In the meantime the app has been updated to version 1.3. The update includes Tweeting your score, ownership change popup, funding countries from your treasury, a feedback button, and various other improvements. The app is playable at present, but the $9.99 price tag may have some waiting still for online multiplayer which is promised for the next update along with enhancements to the AI. You can check out the details of the present update on the App Store.
Hero Academy Updated Robot Entertainment has updated Hero Academy to version 1.2.2. The update includes faster initial game loading, a fix to memory crashes on the iPad and Touch, and various fixes. You can check out the full details on the App Store.
StoryLines Updated Root-One has updated StoryLines, its Eat Poop You Cat-like app, to version 4.0. The update includes in-app-purchases of colors and brush sizes. You can check out the details on the App Store.
Jungle War (Dark Chess) Updated Brisk Ideas has updated Jungle War (Dark Chess) to version 1.1. The update includes new leaderboards, new achievements, bug fixes and minor UI and graphics improvements. You can check out the full details on the App Store.
Wit Gomoku Updated ZASoft has updated their Wit Gomoku app for iPhone to version 2.0.1. The update includes the addition of Game Center. You can check it out on the App Store.
Gobang Social by Kwalee Updated Another five-in-a-row app is Kwalee's Gobang Social. This app has been updated to version 1.5. The update includes new direct feedback, better Facebook integration, and bug fixes. You can check out the details on the App Store.
Pwnz! Updated Pwnz! is another Ludo-type app. This one has online multiplayer features like async and chat. Developer Captain IT has updated it to version 1.02. The update includes new add friend by name, rematch option, new sound notifications, and minor bug fixed and improvements. You can check it out on the App Store.
Interesting Links
NECA/WizKids, Icarus Studios Announce Heroclix TabApp™ For iPad Today National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) and WizKids announced the HeroClix TabApp™, an upcoming action-based iPad game, and the first in the TabApp™ series, integrating physical miniature toys with digital arenas. HeroClix TabApp™ is set for release this fall.
The gist is that physical miniatures are placed on the iPad device, the “digital game board.” Utilizing Icarus Studio’s xScape Platform figure recognition technology, exclusive content and game maps are unlocked based on the miniature selected. Players then move along the virtual board and take part in battle. Features will reportedly include a dozen physical super hero miniatures, 50+ virtual enemy figures, over two dozen digital maps, real-time combat.
The HeroClix TabApp™ is expected to release this October and will be free for iPad. Physical miniatures will be available at participating hobby and comic shop retailers. There's more info at the HeroClix TabApp site.
Here are some highlights and comments on some apps I have been playing this week. I got the chance to play many iOS titles this week:
HappyMeeple.com Earlier this week Gabe mentioned Happy Meeple.com. This site is a way to play board games online and is formatted to be play well on both iPad and iPhone. While the site is certainly a dud in the graphical department, there are some cool features. One such feature is the varying levels of AI. For each game there appear to be several AI opponent that play in different ways and can be unlocked by beating the previous opponent or purchasing them with in game currency. Some may be scared by this micropurchase system, but initially you get Lost Cities (perhaps the most popular game on the system) and can play several games of that in a row before your “energy” is depleted. Spending money appears to only be necessary if plan to play extensively which seems fair. You can check the game out here.
Hearts Tournament I am not terrible at all classic card games, but Hearts is one that I fail at. Sadly, in my family we grew up playing Rummy and Canasta but never Hearts or Spades. If you actually do see me a “Hearts tournament” do not elect to be my partner. The app Hearts Tournament on the other hand is actually a success. It has a very polished look and is focused on having multiple games going at one time. You can play with AI, random folks online, or friends. One of our team members is currently working on a full review. For my two cents, if you are a fan of Hearts this is one of the best iOS implementations. You can check it out here.
Conquest! Medieval Realms Before I go on I must tell you that every game of this app I have played so far has been very enjoyable. The game is quite fun and brings back memories of old games like Civilization and Rise of Nations. However, unlike Battle Academy, Conquest! Medieval Realms lacks polish and stability. The game is a hex based strategy game where the player is trying to conquer 80% of the map to win. You start with a few territories and must use soldiers to conquer additional hexes. Each soldier can only conquer one hex per turn and only hexes below their attack level. Players can build defensive buildings and defend with soldiers to raise the level needed to invade a certain hex. Players must also make sure they build enough economic buildings in their territory to support their army or the soldiers will disappear and riots will start in the territory. It is a fun concept but is hindered by a few problems: 1. The app has been unstable in my experience. After rebooting and clearing my iPad the game will crash randomly. It has been more stable on my iPhone but I have still experienced crashes. This can often be far into the game, which can be very frustrating. 2. The interface is clunky. One example: the tutorial hints that there are more types of units and buildings but it does not teach you how to pull them up. If you press and hold the soldier unit it will pull up the list of other units to buy, however this was never explained clearly. Also this system is quite slow. 3. The end game can be quite slow. After conquering about 50% or 60% you are so supreme that the last 20% is quite uneventful. I guess this is more of a complaint against the entire genre rather than this game in particular.
I have to say that despite all of these problems, I really enjoy the game when it works. There are several maps to choose from and starting position is always random, which provides new challenges. You can check it out here.
Draw Something Pics of the Week I did not receive any new submissions this week and I have not had any great ones myself lately. As always, if you want to share your drawing please submit it to iosboardgames@gmail.com, with your BGG username, and you may see them show up here.
War of Honor War of Honor is a game I have had for a while but it has been hard to get to the table. War of Honor is a variant of Legend of the Five Rings which focuses on multiplayer and multiple paths to victory. It is lauded as a great entry point for new players. In junior high, when I was trying a new CCG every few minutes or so I had played L5R and remember enjoying it. For this reason I was excited to play War of Honor.
This week a stalwart gaming companion and I decided to try it. We both had some experience with the CCG and had both read the entire rulebook so we were ready to go. In the end we abandoned the game. It is not that the game is bad, in fact it was quite fun and the ability to go after different victory conditions is a nice touch. However, what pushed us away was the amazing amount of game text. The prebuilt decks they give you are meant to be simple but even they contain lines of game text. Almost every card can be used in two ways and your opponent has so many abilities available to him, it is hard to judge when going to battle is a wise move. We want to try it again with multiple players. There is a fine game in there but it will take time to study and learn the decks.
The Latest News Storm of Souls Released We put this in the update section below too. Playdek's release time caught us by surprise (again). The Ascension: Storm of Souls expansion to Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer is out now and available as an in app purchase for $3.99. Here are some screen shots:
Summoner Wars Trailer Released Playdek released the first trailer for the upcoming release of Summoner Wars. Not many details, but a nice look at the factions to further whet your appetite.
Le Havre Goes to Beta Testers Chris from Codito posted that Le Havre went out to beta testers on Tuesday. Chris says the release is a matter of weeks now and he's guessing at mid-June. Even if he's wrong, we love Chris because he's always quick with a date, ever springing hope eternal!
BDC explains position on Android In a thread right here on the 'Geek, Łukasz of Big Daddy's Creations minces no words as he addresses user questions about an Android version of Eclipse and his experiences with the soon to be released Android version of Neuroshima Hex. If Neuroshima Hex for Android is profitable, then they will port other games to Android. Simple as that.
Pocket Tactics Interviews One Man Left and Discusses Outwitters Owen Faraday of Pocket Tactics sits down with Alex Okafor and Adam Stewart of One Man Left to discuss their upcoming multiplayer async hex strategy board game app, Outwitters. According to OneManLeft, the app is due out "precisely in approximately a month". You can read the interview over at pockettactics.com
Interview with Gilded Skull Games and Galactic Keep Slide to Play's Chris Reed chats with developer Gilded Skull's CEO Rob Lemon about the renewed push to develop Galactic Keep, a tabletop RPG game for your iPhone. You can read the interview at Slidetoplay.com.
Battle Chess on KickStarter Here is another project in the continuing trend of old nostalgic favorites seeing new life or sequels through the wondrous bounty of Kickstarter pledges. A planned sequel to the video game favorite from 1988 known as Battle Chess has recently shown up as a project on Kickstarter. Developer Subdued Software has been working on the project for two years now and claims they were told by the man that "board games don't sell." They pushed on undeterred until the money ran out, then they discovered Kickstarter. The rest...they now say in this topsy turvy new Kickstarter world...is the future. You can check it out on kickstarter.com. I list it here because if they get enough funding, they'll go iOS and Android as well.
App Releases Splut Released At long last, Tommy De Coninck and developer Christophe Todts have released Splut (without the exclamation point). Splut! is an abstract strategy board game for 2-4 players where you move your Sorcerer, Dwarf, and Troll to kill the Sorcerers of your opponents by throwing a Rock on their heads. You can get it for free on the App Store.
Z!Checkers Released Nevonix has released Z! Checkers for iOS Universal. This is a Checkers app in 3d with fully animated pieces. It's got three levels of AI or you can play a human face to face or over bluetooth. You can get it in the App Store for $0.99.
Pegcasso Released A developer named Shnap has released Pegcasso. This turn-based multiplayer app is kind of like a drawing game. You and up to 3 friends take turns placing pegs on a Lite-Brite-like board, but nobody really knows what the other person is trying to draw. The game ends after 4 turns, and everyone gets to laugh at what each person drew and what they thought they were drawing at the time. If you are not convinced, don't let the app's price stop you. It can be had for free on the App Store.
Pyramid Wars - the card game Released MammutApps has released Pyramid Wars - the card game for iOS Universal. This app is a card-driven game in which you are a Pharaoh trying to build a pyramid faster than your computer opponent. The game appears to have euro-game influences of building with limited resources and using cards for actions like build, attack, and conjure. You can get it for $1.99 on the App Store.
Casino By Zeniz Released The US Playing Card Company, who is probably the biggest manufacturer of playing cards in the world, has released a mobile casino game app called Casino by Zeniz. This free app features poker and slots and promises more games coming soon. Both games of the app are highly socially connected with tournaments, reward systems, and co-op play. Perhaps there's something here that developers of strategy game apps can apply to our player communities. The app is free on the App Store.
Titanic Released SmartGames, a maker of many one-player print logic and puzzle games, has released Titanic by SmartGames. The aim of this one player game is to move lifeboats to catch drowning passengers in an orderly and strategic way, because after all everyone must remain calm and act orderly when the ship goes down, right? For $0.99, see how many passengers you can save by picking this up on the App Store.
App Updates
Ascension: Chronicle of the God Slayer 1.2 Released (Storm of Souls and Promo Bundle) The latest update for Ascension has been released. The major updates include Storm of Souls and Promo Pack 1 added as in app purchases, iPad Retina graphics, an in app purchase manager, and a next game button. You can read the full text of the update here.
Titan HD Updated Valley Games has updated Titan HD to version 1.1.1. The update includes fixes to persistence, AI, game state sync, and artwork. See the details on the App Store.
Dungeon Crawlers Update Ayopa Games has updated Dungeon Crawlers for iOS Universal to version 1.1.3. The update includes various fixes and even a hint. See the details on the App Store.
Dice Soccer Updated LambadMu Games has updated their soccer-themed dice rolling game to version 1.2.4. The update includes better loading performance, user interface improvements, adjustments to gameplay and balance, bug fixes and more. You can check out the full details on the App Store.
Wit Gomoku HD Updated ZASoft has updated their five-in-a-row app to version 2.0.1. The update includes a new user interface and performance optimization. Check out the details on the App Store.
Hot Deals
Dice with Buddies Updated and Free Stofle Designs has made its async dice app free for a limited time. They have also updated the app to version 2.0. The update includes various UI improvements, Tweeting, bug fixes and better stability. Check out the details and get it free now on the App Store.
Interesting Links
Study Shows Big Growth in Paying Mobile Gamers Newzoo, the international market research and consulting firm completely focused on the games industry, revealed key insights into mobile gaming in the US market as part of a broader study. They found that the number of mobile gamers in the US has grown from 75 million to 101 million, of which 69% plays on smartphones and 21% on tablets, with the largest growth in the conversion to paying players. The number of paying players has grown 35% to 37 million Americans, or 36% of all mobile gamers. From this Newzoo projects that mobile gaming is set for another year of double-digit revenue growth in the US. Newzoo finds that American players spend five times more on iOS games than on Android games. You can read more of this study at the Newzoo site.
TouchArcade App Released The site dedicated to all things iOS gaming has released their very own app. Features include News and Reviews, Top Reviews, Hot New Games, Watch List, and Forums. We will certainly be making use of it. You can get it on the App Store for free.
Gamezebo App Wanna Play Released Gamezebo casts its video game net a bit wider than TouchArcade, but in our experience they have been very good about covering board and card game apps. Therefore we mention that they too have fairly recently launched their own app called Wanna Play. The app features game previews of upcoming games, a wish list for being notified of releases and sharing with friends. You can get it from the App Store for free.
Much attention has been given to the Ipad/Ipod platform for boardgame conversions; and with good reason. The IOS platform seems to have emerged as the primary platform of choice for boardgame conversions of all kinds, with the Android Market lagging behind the big releases by a period from six months to a year in some cases. For instance, Carcassonne, one of the biggest hits in the IoS Realm, has only recently been released for Android as a commercial product. There are other big titles, such as Through The Desert, Words with Friends, and Cataan, but for the most part releases continue to lag for full up game conversions with AI and/or multiplayer/internet gaming component. There’s plenty of reasons for this...the two installation bases are not equal. There is concern from developers about how they will get paid, and how quickly, whereas the Apple Itunes App Store is more stable and considered more secure.
This doesn’t mean that boardgames aren’t represented on Android. There have been a surprising amount of boardgame HELPER apps released in the last two years. For the most part these are deck shufflers and builders, dice rollers, and “toolbox” apps that do many things. Most, if not almost all, of them are free for the download. I suspect this is because the licensing issues are too complex and it’s just easier to release them for free. There are very few free (and very few commercial, come to think of it) boardgame apps that actually play the game WITH you, but there are many Android apps out there that will HELP you play a boardgame. Some of these are helpful, some are puzzling, but most of them are free, so you will have no problem trying them out and making up your own mind.
Here, then, is a list of some useful boardgame utilities out there on the Android market right now.
Droidippy: A DIPLOMACY adjudication/game play app not unlike JDip and RealPolitik, only it plays on an Android platform. Receives email turns and adjudicates Diplomacy games with multiple players; displays a map readout that updates on all the player’s phones/tablets. Droidippy
Axis and Allies Combat Simulator: I never understood the reasons for having an Axis and Allies combat Simulator, but they were popular way back in the day on Windows platforms as shareware, and here’s on for about four dollars. Has a menu driven interface and figures out the probability of success on possible combats. AXIS AND ALLIES COMBAT SIMULATOR Related: AXIS AND ALLIES TOOLS
Assorted Magic: the Gathering Utilities: Frankly there are so many Magic: the Gathering utilities, life counters, card databases, toolboxes, ultimate apps, AIs and simulators out there on the market that one could write a very long blog post on that subject, and I’m not that big of a fan. Suffice to say, the apps in this collection either count life, catalog cards, manage your collection, and provide strategy tips. I’ve yet to find an app that actually plays the game.
Rattus Shuffle randomly selects for you with which cards you’re going to play the board game Rattus, which was reviewed on this blog a while ago. To use Rattus Shuffle: Before you’re going to play the game, choose from all the available expansions, select the number of players and Rattus Shuffle will determine with which combination of cards you’re going to play the game. The creator appears to have the cooperation of Goblin Games, as they are using the same artwork. Rattus Shuffle
Dominion Shuffle: this is a helper app for the great card drafting game DOMINION. randomly select a set of kingdom cards for the card game Dominion. It has a flexible way of specifying the shuffle rules and choosing which cards to use. The card language can be chosen using the menu. Dominion Shuffle also includes support for Androminion (Dominion for Android, it actually allows game play) to play with your selected kingdom cards against the computer. Along the same vein are Dominion Card Picker, Dominion Randomizer, and Randominion, which are basically deck builders and shuffler apps. Dominion Shuffle
Agricola Score Calculator is pretty much what it says, a scoring app for the hit board game AGRICOLA. The app and the interface are colorful and straightforward. Along the same lines: Agricola Score Sheet (Lite and Regular) and Agricola Buddy. Agricola Score Calculator
Carcassonne Scoreboard: Since Carc is now a paid game app in the market, this is about all we’ll see freeware. Like many other boardgame support apps, this maintains a scoresheet for repeated games. Along the same lines are: Carcassonne Scorer and Scorer Lite. Carcassonne Scoreboard
Lost Cities CCSKC: Another Reiner Knizia classic, Lost Cities is represented in the market by a Score Keeper app that maintains game score and tracks the cards left in the deck. Along the same lines is Lost Cities: Help, which essentially does the same thing. Lost Cities CCSKC
RFTG Scorer is a straightforward, useful score sheet app for RACE FOR THE GALAXY. RFTG Scorer
Munchlevel is a life counter/scorer type app from the hit card game MUNCHKIN, by Steve Jackson Games. Not much to be said here, the app is pretty straightforward and easy to use. Alon the same lines are: Munchkin Level Counter and Munchkimetro. Munchlevel
Thunderstone Shuffle app is a card shuffling app for the card drafting game THUNDERSTONE, similiar to others mentioned. This app lets you choose which cards can be selected and easily randomizes which cards will appear in your game. It understands the rules of the game and generates a legal layout, has a solo option and marks cards which were in the previous shuffle, making multiple games easier. Thunderstone Shuffle
Descent Assistant is a sort of toolbox, monster manager for the Dungeon Crawling game DESCENT from Fantasy Flight Games. This app makes an Overlord’s job much easier by simplifying monster management tasks. Users can add monsters to manage their statistics. Descent Assistant contains all available monsters, including Road to Legend encounters and chiefs. Displays all capabilities of added monsters including descriptions of all abilities. The Interface doesn’t appear to have the same artwork. In the same vein, but different,are: The Descent Dice Roller and Dicent. Descent Assistant
Lastly is the Small World Pedia, which appears to be an unofficial encyclopedia of Small World games series involving all the races, powers, relics and legendary places, are displayed the informations on the amount of tokens collected and the rules concerning the powers of each items. Small World Pedia
The Stats: Compatibility: iPad Only Current Price: $5.99 Developer/Publisher: Stephane Maurel/Ludonaute Version: 1.00 Size: 83.1 MB Multiplayer: Pass and play AI: NA Itunes link: Yggdrasil for iPad Read more »
The Latest News Dominion Developer Revealed By Rio Grande Games Saturday nights are pretty slow on BGG. Perhaps that's why Jay Tummelson of Rio Grande Games decided to drop some important news about the grandaddy of deck building games, Dominion by Donald X. Vaccarino. The news is that Jay finally revealed the developer of the official digital version of Dominion. FunSockets is the name of the developer. They are a publisher of HTML5 games. We have actually been in contact with them for quite some time and were not at liberty to disclose their identity until now. We have laid eyes on a working game. We will actually be meeting with them (and participating in their company monthly board game night) in couple of weeks to learn more about what they've got in store for Dominion.
Battle of the Bulge Reaches Kickstarter Goal Shenandoah Studiotweeted over the weekend that their upcoming true war game app had reached its Kickstarter goal of $20,000 with about 600 backers on Saturday night. This means that the app will now have features and production values that, as a startup on a shoestring, Shenandoah couldn't otherwise afford and will deliver the most value and best possible play experience as communicated to Shenandoah by its backers. All signs point to this war simulation app clearly going in the right direction. The app is scheduled for launch in late summer. You can read more about it at their Kickstarter campaign page or on the Shenandoah Studio site.
[Click each to enlarge.]
Happy Meeple Launches HappyMeeple.com is a new digital board gaming web site that just launched. It is not an iOS app. We mention it because you can play it on your iOS device quite easily, as we have, but also on your desktop browser and Android. The site has launched with four games including Lost Cities, Finito!, Level X, Keltis Card. It also features Multi-language support, tutorials, multiple AIs, online human opponents, user experience earning and a meta-game construct. The site was developed by Nicolas Guibert. It does not currently use any HTML 5 features. Animations are done with traditional HMTL/Javascript techniques, though the press pack indicates that it could benefit from HTML 5 new features "as soon as they are widely available". You can check it out directly at HappyMeeple.com.
Big Daddy's Creations Nearing Neuroshima Hex Update Submission It's getting ever closer. Łukasz says Big Daddy's Creations plans to test the latest update, the one with async, for Neuroshima Hex this week and after that send it to Apple.
App Updates
RAMPage Soccer Updated and Price Drop We've got a weak spot for dexterity games that you two people can play face to face on the iPad. RAMPage soccer is such an app, kind of like Foosball, where you shoot marbles at the soccer ball. Ruma Studios has updated the app to version 1.2.0. The update includes new field skins, new music, iCloud support and various bug fixes. Additionally, they've dropped the price from $2.99 to just $0.99. You can check it out on the App Store.
Glitch Tank Updated Michael Brough has updated Glitch Tank, the born digital board game, from version 3 to version 4. The update is only mysteriously called "BOUNDARY MALFUNCTION". You can check it out on the App Store.
Big Win Soccer Updated Hothead Games has updated its soccer team management CCG, Big Win Soccer to version 1.3. The update includes Friends Trophy, Fountain o Youth Energy Drink, and various new card packs. You check out the details on the App Store.
Hot Deals
Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land Price Drop Red Wasp Design has dropped the price from $4.99 to $2.99 on Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land, their turn-based strategy/role-playing game based on the award winning Call of Cthulhu RPG. The app is iOS Universal. You can get it on the App Store.
We are Seeking Testers For Our Voice Server and "Virtual Game Nights" iOS Board Games wants to experiment with a Ventrilo server. The idea is that we would like to provide a place where interested people can go and use their headsets to engage in push-to-talk voice chat in a virtual "game room" and at size-limited semi-private "tables" while playing iOS board games online in realtime. The idea would cover both organized events as well as more loose usage 24/7.
After testing, we plan to gradually open this up more widely to you all. If you are a reader of this blog and are interested in voice chatting with other interested iOS board game players online you will get to try it out relatively soon. For now however, we're just looking for testers who can put up with a rough testing environment and give us feedback on how we set up and manage what users see when they connect to our Ventrilo server.
If you are interested in helping out with the testing, please GeekMail me.
