Dude! Take Your Turn!
A Gaming Life
Expansion Review – Clank in Space: Apocalypse
Clank in Space is one of my favourite games.
As you would know if you read my Top 25 Games Played of All Time!
While it certainly didn’t need anything additional added to it, there is always room for more cool cards and concepts, and Clank in Space: Apocalypse (Almost forever after just called Apocalypse because I’m a lazy git) delivers that in spades.
Apocalypse is designed by Andy Clautice and Evan Lorentz with art by a number of people (Rayph Beisner, Ralph Beisner, Raul Ramos, Le Rastislav, Nate Storm, Franz Vohwinkel). It’s published by Renegade Games Studios and Dire Wolf Digital and came out in 2018.
How awesome is this expansion?
Well, it falls just short of awesome into the almost awesome category.
Which is still pretty good.
New to Me – April 2019
You know what?
I rock.
Yes, I do. Not only did I manage to get five new to me games played in April when I only was able to play eight in total, but two of those five games are more than ten years old, and one is almost ten years old! (Who cares that all three of them were reprints and I played the most recent editions. Ssshhhhh!!!!!!)
Yes, that just reinforces that being in the Cult of the New to Me is much better than Cult of the New.
I should make t-shirts.
Anyway, things have been pretty good in the cult recently. There haven’t been any rebellions at all. It’s actually been very quiet.
That could be because they’ve been trying so hard to avoid Avengers: Endgame spoilers, though, they’re too busy to think rebellious thoughts.
Some people have said that I have America’s ass. Let’s hope that’s enough to keep them in line next month!
So, without further adieu (all of my adieu was lost in the Apocalypse anyway), let’s get started!
Review – Embark
I’ve always been an explorer at heart, ready to ride the waves and discover new adventures, new lands, maybe meet a few new people.
(Editor – Reading all of your reviews, you’ve had a lot of unfulfilled ambitions)
While I was never able to really do that (I get seasick in the bathtub), Embark sort of gives me that same feeling. Except, you know, you’re sending people instead of doing it yourself (which I would probably be better at anyway).
What is Embark? It is a 2-5 player game designed by Phillip duBarry with art by Robert Gonzales and Matt Paquette. It’s published by Tasty Minstrel Games and came out in 2018.
In the game, a number of islands have magically appeared and each player is sending out a number of voyagers to explore them, mine them, and set up homes there. This is done through a rather interesting hidden allocation system, where you will secretly decide which ships you want your cubes (voyagers) to be on.
But you won’t necessarily get everything that you want. There are other players who want to get in your way, you know.
How does it work?
Let’s take a look.
News to Catch Up On
Sorry for the lack of posting last week. I was away and just not really in the mood to force any posts up.
Judging my stats, I’d better rectify that now!
Before going further, I can promise that there will be a new review up this week, as well as the much-anticipated (you know you are anticipating it) New to Me – April post!
Anyway, a bunch of small stuff happened last week that I’d like to catch you up on.
So let’s get started!
1) Zombicide arrives on the App Store – kind of
Fans of the cooperative tabletop miniatures zombie game where a bunch of survivors with unique abilities face off against the seemingly endless zombie hordes were quite ecstatic to hear that this one was coming to mobile via Asmodee Digital (of course it’s Asmodee).
It looks great, but it’s not exactly a mobile version of the game itself.
Instead, it’s a solo affair that’s more like a story-based RPG where you can increase the five unlockable characters’ abilities with food that you find during the story missions.
There are 40 “episodes” in the ongoing story and you can replay missions in order to gain more food to level up or if you want to get a “perfect” score on every mission (if a character is hit by a zombie at all, then no perfect score for you!).
I’m not familiar with the tabletop game at all, but apparently there have been a few changes to the mechanics as well.
There are some characters available as IAP, though I wouldn’t know because I can’t seem to get logged into the store.
However, at $4.99, it’s a pretty decent game as long as you’re not a tabletop die-hard who only wants a carbon copy of the board game. As a game set in the Zombicide universe? I’m not unhappy I bought it.
So what else happened?
Tides of Time app updated – they read my review!
Or at least it seems like it, anyway.
At least partially.
Tides of Time from Portal Games came out in app form a few weeks ago, and while it’s a fairly fun game, the lack of multiplayer and a few unfortunate UI decisions made it a game that I wasn’t likely to go back to too frequently.
Yesterday, though, the app was updated and addressed a few of my concerns in addition to quashing a few bugs.
Terraforming Mars: Turmoil on Kickstarter now!
Judging from my blog traffic in the last couple of days, you’d think there is something pretty cool coming out on Kickstarter today.
I couldn’t imagine what it might be.
What’s that? Check my email?
Oh yeah!
Terraforming Mars: Turmoil just dropped on the crowdfunding platform this morning!
It’s designed by Jacob Fryxelius with art by Isaac Fryxelius and published by Stronghold Games in North America.
I know people were holding their breath to see how it would do when it arrived, and they needn’t have worried about passing out. I’m sure they hit the target in probably 30 seconds or so. As I write this, it’s currently at $181,000 of the $20,000 goal, probably about 3-4 hours after landing.
I think people kind of want this expansion.
Ascension – Skulls & Sails Coming in May
I’m a huge Ascension fan, maybe partially because it helped get me back into the whole gaming scene but also because it’s just a fun little deckbuilder.
It’s hard to believe it’s been around since 2010 and there are literally tons of expansions (Editor – That could be the Joe Biden definition of “literally”) for it out already.
Checking my email box yesterday, you can add another expansion to the list.
That’s right. Ascension: Skulls & Sails has just been announced by Stoneblade Entertainment and it looks very interesting.
Review – Dual Powers: Revolution 1917
World War I and the Soviet takeover of Russia have always been fascinating historical topics for me. I’m a historian by education and desire, if not by trade.
While I’m sure there have been some games that cover the Russian Revolution, Dual Powers: Revolution 1917 (hereafter referred to just as Dual Powers) is the first one that I’ve seen and heard of.
The 1-2 player game was designed by Brett Myers with art by Luis Francisco and Kwanchai Moriya. It was published in 2018 by Thunderworks Games after a pretty successful Kickstarter.
At its core, Dual Powers is essentially an area-control game with some card play. You are trying to control certain areas of the city of Petrograd at certain times based on the ebb and flow of the urban unrest as well as your card play (ironically, while one of the sides is called the Petrograd Soviet and the map clearly seems to be Petrograd, nowhere in the game or rules does it really say what city you’re in).
How does it work?
Why are you asking me?
Oh, wait, it’s my job.
Let’s take a look.
More Terraforming Mars: Turmoil Information Released
Over the last couple of days, my traffic log is telling me that a lot of you are looking for more information on Terraforming Mars: Turmoil and its imminent arrival on Kickstarter.
Well, you came to the right place!
Today I have seen two fairly detailed pieces of information that will make you terraforming fans giggle with glee!
Or, you know, grumble that the game is just getting too bloated and all of that stuff.
For me, I’m intrigued, but still want to see things in action.
The first is a preview video from Man vs Meeple that just posted yesterday.
First, it confirms that the Kickstarter is coming on April 16! That’s, like, really soon now.
Secondly, it confirms what many people have been asking about: five new player boards. No indication of what they will look like or if they’ll be more useful than the paper ones that came with the original game, but the fact that they’re doing it is great!
Doesn’t sound like any other upgraded components, but that could be still kept under wraps.
Q & A – Tom Cleaver (Valley of the Kings)
You know what might be a piece of news that none of you know?
That’s right, the Valley of the Kings Premium Edition Kickstarter is now live!
It’s not like I posted about it…much.
Anyway, in honour of this great series of games coming out in a shiny new boxed set with all new card art and the like, I thought it would be nice to touch base with the designer of the game, Tom Cleaver.
Tom graciously consented to answer a few questions that I posed him, not just about the Premium Edition but also about games in general.
Thank you so much, Tom, for agreeing to do this.
Dude! Take Your Turn! 