Dude! Take Your Turn!
A Gaming Life
Through the Ages Coming to Steam!
One of the most asked questions out there is “What’s the meaning of life?”
While Czech Games Edition doesn’t have the answer to that question, they do have the answer to the second-most asked question: Is Through the Ages ever going to come to Steam?
The answer is yes, on March 26.
This brilliant adaptation of the civilization building game has been a staple on my iPad since it came out last year (Editor’s Note: hey, dingus, maybe you should write a review of it?).
Asmodee Adds Terraforming to its Repertoire
Today was going to be a day off at Take Your Turn Central (my recently renovated headquarters), but what did I see when I checked my inbox?
A message from Asmodee Digital answering a question that had been going through my mind since the news last year that they were going to be releasing the award-winning (and dare I say it in my best Valley Girl voice, totally awesome) Terraforming Mars.
What was that question?
Was this going to be a Steam-only release or would we mobile players get a chance to change the Martian landscape?
Yes, Asmodee will be releasing Terraforming Mars for iOS and Android devices as well as Steam.
AuZtralia now live on Kickstarter
Guess what else just arrived on Kickstarter?
(I’ll refrain from the same joke I used in yesterday’s Werewords post).
You may remember me gushing about the idea of AuZtralia, designed by Martin Wallace. It’s the spiritual sequel to his brilliant game, A Study in Emerald.
Now it’s arrived on Kickstarter, and it was an insta-back for me (I’d been clamoring to my friends about it since it was first announced, so how could I not?)
AuZtralia is a game of adventure and exploration in an alternate 1930s. The thousand-year reign of Cthulhu and the Old Ones is now over, and humanity is beginning to explore the world again.
Werewords Deluxe Now on Kickstarter!
Longtime readers of this blog (hi Bob!) will remember from a couple of weeks ago my post about Werewords Deluxe and how it was coming to Kickstarter on March 5 from Bezier Games.
Unless I’m in some kind of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey sort of situation, I think today is March 5.
Checking Kickstarter, I do indeed see Werewords Deluxe on there!
New to Me – February 2018
After the rather dead January for New to Me games, February really picked up. So much so that my last game session I had to try and play some previously-played games just so that I didn’t overload myself (this writing stuff is hard!). That resulted in a fun game of Terraforming Mars, so it was a win-win that day.
But you’re not here to hear me wax poetic about that brilliant game, are you?
(You aren’t, are you? If so, please tell me so I can start writing about it).
No, you’re here to see what new games that I played in February so you can all drown in your dark pool of jealousy.
So before I start writing in Middle English, let’s get started!
Clans of Caledonia (2017 – Karma Games) – 1 Play
Designer: Juma Al-Joujou
Artist: Klemens Franz
App Review – MeteorFall
One of the most highly-acclaimed (except for the artwork, which unfortunately drives some people away) rogue-like deck-building apps is Dream Quest.
For many users, Dream Quest is the epitome of what a deck-building rogue-like game is, and every future game in the genre will be compared to it.
Which brings us to Slothwerks Games latest entry into the genre, Meteorfall.
In Meteorfall, you’ll play one of four characters, each of a different class, who are embarking on a quest to defeat the Uberlich before he can bring down a giant meteor on the land.
To do this, you’ll start with a small deck of cards that you will be playing against the monsters that you will meet in three different territories.
Digidiced Going to the Beautiful Country
Digidiced has a long history (in output, not necessarily in time) of producing quality board game apps for Steam and your mobile devices.
I love everything that they’ve done so far (except Cottage Garden, which I haven’t played because the game itself doesn’t do anything for me, nothing against Digidiced). Terra Mystica plays like a dream (though I still get a headache playing it, but again it’s the game’s fault, not the app’s). Patchwork is simply wonderful.
I could go on gushing, but that’s not why you’re here, is it? (If it is, then thank you.)
Earlier this year, I completely missed (Editor: There will be flogging) posting the announcement that Digidiced is going to be coming out with a new boardgame app later in 2018, the acclaimed tile-laying game from Lookout called Isle of Skye. This is a game that I’ve really wanted to play on the table but have never been able to.
Not ones to rest on their laurels (or maybe frantic fans wanting more information were storming their studio), Digidiced has now released a screenshot of the game, and it does look beautiful!
They’re also using the screenshot to show off the interface that they’re working on. They would love some input from people like you (probably not me, but definitely you) on how it looks.
Isle of Skye is designed by Andreas Pelikan and Alexander Pfister with artwork by Klemens Franz and it came out in 2015. The app version is scheduled to come out in Q2 2018, so start saving those iTunes cards! Or Steam credits, or Google Play cards…Gah, there’s just too many options!
Keep an eye out on the Digidiced web page for more information as it develops.
Whistle Stop Puts Mountains in Your Way
Whistle Stop is a relatively light train game published by Bezier Games that unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to play yet, mainly due to a lack of opportunity.
Designer Scott Caputo has not let the fact that I haven’t played it yet stop him from coming up with a new expansion – Whistle Stop: Rocky Mountains.
City of Gears now on Kickstarter
Grey Fox Games, publisher of many fan-favourite games such as Champions of Midgard and Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, has just come to Kickstarter with another game that looks really cool.
City of Gears (Designers: Daryl Andrews and Chris Leder; Artists: Anthony Cournoyer and Chris Leder) is an area management game that sort of reverses the whole steampunk concept. Up to four players compete to uncover an abandoned steampunk city (though you are using automatons, so maybe it’s not exactly reversing). Players are trying to earn the most prestige over three rounds until Opening Day happens and all of the treasures are put on the display for the world to see.
Each city is formed by a grid of 9 random city tiles placed face down (there are 18 tiles in the game, so there is a lot of variation). Players will roll resource dice and then use those resources to send their automaton to various parts of the city, gaining control of the area or just exposing it. Automatons can be used to destroy opponents’ gear links and send their workers back to their home factor (aka: the supply).
Once the city is revealed, Opening Day approaches steadily and players race for control and prestige points.
Grey Fox Games has two support tiers: Standard that gets you the game, and the Founders Edition that provides upgraded pieces and all the razzle dazzle that deluxe versions of these games usually get.
They’ve already almost tripled their goal, which is nice to see. It looks like an amazing game.
This was originally going to become part of the Dice Tower Essentials line, but I think Grey Fox Games will do a great job with it as well.
Check out their Kickstarter page for all of the stretch goals (they’ve already unlocked additional map tiles and close to even more map tiles).
Q & A – Ted Alspach
Ted Alspach is one of my favourite game designers out there. His first design that I fell in love with was Suburbia, with it’s interesting tile-laying mechanic where you have to attention to what others are building in their suburb as well.
Little did I know at the time that Ted has an extensive game design history that dates back to 2005. Ted has designed a large number of Age of Steam expansions plus many original games such as Ultimate Werewolf, Start Player, Colony and too many others to list.
With yesterday’s announcement of Werewords Deluxe coming to Kickstarter in March, I thought it would be nice to hear Ted talk about the campaign as well as some of his older games as well.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
The new Deluxe Edition of Werewords sounds really exciting. One of the items in the announcement mentions the fact that the Deluxe Edition “addresses issues gamers had with the original production.” What were some of these issues and how does the Deluxe Edition address them?
The one thing we heard consistently from players was that they didn’t like the artwork. We had gone with a more casual, freeform cartoon drawing style, and while artwork is always subjective, more people didn’t like it than did. So that was one of the first things we worked on; finding an art style that was more appealing, yet still stayed true to the more whimsical, light feel that represents the gameplay in Werewords. The resulting artwork from up-and-coming artist Roland MacDonald (Stop Thief!, Kaiju Crush, Escape Room: The Game) really hits the mark there:
Of course, it includes the new “disco wolf” which really is a werewolf raising his paw with an extended finger to ask a question of the Mayor, but still…he does look like he has some great moves, too!
Dude! Take Your Turn! 