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Digital Board Games Thread: Async Multiplatform Meeples

D

Daigoro

Member
got a cheap Android tablet on the way. ill be buying Blood Bowl and checking out Star Realms in a few days. too bad BB only has two teams in the game (the rest are IAP), but ill buy a few if the game translates well to mobile.

hopefully Ascension and SR come out soon so I can get some cross-platform async play going with iOS dudes.

I wish Warhammer Quest was on Android... and Space Hulk.
 
R

RaySpencer

Member
Aww man! Blood Bowl for android is tablet only?! There must be a way I can get the app on my phone right?

Has anyone played it yet? I wonder if I should go through the trouble :p
 
G

Grifter

Member
How often does Playdek run sales on iOS? Looking for an excuse to stock up on random games.

I joined a TT group and finally tried Dominion, game seems to be THE card game of that sort but Ascension seems so much more addictive on first impresion.
 
S

superrobot

Member
Grifter said:
How often does Playdek run sales on iOS? Looking for an excuse to stock up on random games.

I joined a TT group and finally tried Dominion, game seems to be THE card game of that sort but Ascension seems so much more addictive on first impresion.
Click to expand...

Re: Sales - They are fairly frequent (compared to Carcassonne!) so you could do well to wait.
 
W

wagamer

Member
A great thread, have to check out some of these Android games I'm missing. Agricola is a wonderful game as a RL board game, now I wish I had an iPad..

I can recommend Ticket to Ride on Android, it's really well made and fun on a tablet.
 
A

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
So glad we're not having an Ascension tournament right now because I am so bad at the new expansion. Think I'm like 2-20 since it came out against a variety of people. Problem I have with new expansions is that I'm just like ooh shiny new card paying no attention to deck strategy. :p
 
R

RaySpencer

Member
Quasar said:
So what is Talisman for iPad like? I assume it doesn't have anything useful like asynchronous multiplayer?
Click to expand...

It just came out on Android too, the store says no async, but it does have online MP. I wonder if it is cross platform?

Edit: pocket tactics says its not cross platform :(


AstroLad said:
So glad we're not having an Ascension tournament right now because I am so bad at the new expansion. Think I'm like 2-20 since it came out against a variety of people. Problem I have with new expansions is that I'm just like ooh shiny new card paying no attention to deck strategy. :p
Click to expand...

Hehe. Any idea on what decks work best with it for a tournament? Or is it something that can be played on its own?

I don't want to run the tourney till its out on Android anyway! I hope it doesn't take too long :p
 
G

Grifter

Member
I'd like a consensus on Ascension expansion choices too, looking to pick up my own offline copy to foist on guests.


I'm trying to learn Summoner Wars right now, there's so many factions to sort thru!
 
A

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Grifter said:
I'd like a consensus on Ascension expansion choices too, looking to pick up my own offline copy to foist on guests.


I'm trying to learn Summoner Wars right now, there's so many factions to sort thru!
Click to expand...
The board game goes in pairs. So basically the core game goes with the first expansion. The third release (Storm of Souls) goes with the fourth. Each big box has a small box to round it out. Personally I think it plays best when you keep them tied to each other.
 
R

RaySpencer

Member
AstroLad said:
The board game goes in pairs. So basically the core game goes with the first expansion. The third release (Storm of Souls) goes with the fourth. Each big box has a small box to round it out. Personally I think it plays best when you keep them tied to each other.
Click to expand...

Huh, that's neat. I didnt know it worked like this. Why did no one say anything earlier?!
 
G

Grifter

Member
Yeah, that helps a lot. Seems my best bet to bring players in would be to get the first set considering later editions add complexity.


As a Summoner Wars noob, I hereby declare the game to combine the worst aspects of fighters and poker. Too many match-ups to learn if you want to play seriously, games turn into grinds of attrition, and multi-layered chaos with the attack rolls means you can mount a good percentage attempt to finish (again, after a grind if you're not playing to win or die) and suffer a bad beat to rolls. Yeah, I'm salty!
 
D

Daigoro

Member
alrighty, so I picked up an Asus memo 7. downloaded a few games today and bought Blood Bowl.

tried the tutorials for Summoner Wars and Star Realms. played the first level of Star Realms and won even though I have no idea what im doing yet.

im already annoyed at games that these games wont go full screen on the tablet. this thing has no hardware buttons for menu functions, so games that don't go full screen have a black bar at the bottom. the resolution is fine, but I miss the extra screen space for sure. annoying.

of course the wonderful programmers for Blood Bowl do have full screen support, and yet the resolution is slightly stretched on my screen and there appear to be no options to change that... its not unplayable at all, but wtf?

RaySpencer said:
Aww man! Blood Bowl for android is tablet only?! There must be a way I can get the app on my phone right?

Has anyone played it yet? I wonder if I should go through the trouble :p
Click to expand...

is it? that's too bad. you'd need a good size screen for it anyways though. its kind of fiddly.

but the game itself is fucking aweeeeesome. I love Blood Bowl and this (just like the PC/version), is a faithful version of the tabletop game.

I played one game offline so far and the android version seems to run very well. I had no issues except for the resolution issue. the game is not pretty by any means, but it does the job, and the gameplay is sweet. I need to check out the online stuff and see whats what. no idea about async or cross-play options yet...
 
S

superrobot

Member
AstroLad said:
So glad we're not having an Ascension tournament right now because I am so bad at the new expansion. Think I'm like 2-20 since it came out against a variety of people. Problem I have with new expansions is that I'm just like ooh shiny new card paying no attention to deck strategy. :p
Click to expand...
Some of the cards are redonkulous!
That 8 monster that lets you clear the whole row (if you have the energy) is bananas.
We like Righteous Templar which lets you beat anything if you have the energy.
 
Karak

Karak

Member
Talisman for sure. Though I admit I am enjoying the hell out of Blood Bowl on Android and liked it alot on PC. Such great games on android though and make me remember the good old days of playing it with my pals.
 
J

jessecuster

Member
I do not get the hype/obsession with Star Realms, its really just Ascension .... IN SPAAACE.



It does show that theme is meaningless.
 
B

Brakara

Member
jessecuster said:
I do not get the hype/obsession with Star Realms, its really just Ascension .... IN SPAAACE.
Click to expand...

There's no PvP in Ascension though. That, as well as the higher focus on ally abilities, the option to trash cards for value and that you can more easily destroy bases.

I'm playing SR and Ascension daily and they play quite differently IMHO. Well, as differently as two 5-card draw deck builders can be.
 
B

Brakara

Member
AstroLad said:
Personally I think it plays best when you keep them tied to each other.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The problem is that we don't have the expansion for RoV yet, so the energize mechanic can be a tad overwhelming. I've found that RotF is probably the expansion that combines with it best so far. It doesn't dilute the main game too much, and since it's pretty vanilla it doesn't have its own mechanics (like gems), so it's not too much of a mish-mash.
 
J

jessecuster

Member
Brakara said:
There's no PvP in Ascension though. That, as well as the higher focus on ally abilities, the option to trash cards for value and that you can more easily destroy bases.

I'm playing SR and Ascension daily and they play quite differently IMHO. Well, as differently as two 5-card draw deck builders can be.
Click to expand...

There is some PvP in Ascension, there are definitely Monsters that affect the other player. Plus, the PVP is really shallow, its victory points on the player instead of a shared pool.

The ally abilities are just the "unite" mechanic from Storm of Souls.


The only thing I am willing to give Star Realms is the ability to destroy your opponent's Outposts. I always thought that would be cool in Ascension.


It is fun, however, I am not saying its a bad game, I just don;t think its worth the hype machine.
 
T

Thrak360

Neo Member
Brakara said:
Agreed. The problem is that we don't have the expansion for RoV yet, so the energize mechanic can be a tad overwhelming. I've found that RotF is probably the expansion that combines with it best so far. It doesn't dilute the main game too much, and since it's pretty vanilla it doesn't have its own mechanics (like gems), so it's not too much of a mish-mash.
Click to expand...
I didn't know that about how the board game was meant to be paired up. That makes sense. I've bought all expansions and promo packs, and sometimes wonder the best way to combine, since there are so many choices now of what cards to opt in or opt out of for a game.

I've been playing lots of Rise of Vigil, with that card set alone, versus AI and online. I agree that I think it is best blended with RotF, or the default CotG card sets. I think it is too much to try and match RoV with SoS or IH.

A lot of online games just seem to include all 5 card sets, and every promo pack (I think 4 now?). And that's way too much.

I play under Thrak360 profile, if anyone is looking to get some RoV games under their belt, as I am.
 
A

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
RaySpencer said:
Huh, that's neat. I didnt know it worked like this. Why did no one say anything earlier?!
Click to expand...

I don't even think it's strictly official per se, just when I was digging around on BGG for this same topic I saw a thread that outlined it and said that's what the designers intended and it just made so much sense.
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
Star Realms has been rejected once again.
This time they were a bit more talkative about the rejection reason (the problem is indeed how they implement the 'buy once, play everywhere' feature...this time the problem is how they handle emails for purchase checking).
Devs said this will need a bit more time to be addressed and will require some work first...so it won't be an immediate re submission.

:(
 
B

Brakara

Member
PittaGAF said:
Star Realms has been rejected once again.
This time they were a bit more talkative about the rejection reason (the problem is indeed how they implement the 'buy once, play everywhere' feature...this time the problem is how they handle emails for purchase checking).
Devs said this will need a bit more time to be addressed and will require some work first...so it won't be an immediate re submission.

:(
Click to expand...

No, I don't think this is because of the "buy once play everywhere" feature. This since it's because of how they handle their online accounts and they would have had this even if it was iOS only. As I understand it, it's because currently their online accounts require your email address to function and that this in violation of a App Store privacy rule (see 17.2):

https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html

Though this is weird since for example SolForge requires an email address to function as well.
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
Brakara said:
No, I don't think this is because of the "buy once play everywhere" feature. This since it's because of how they handle their online accounts and they would have had this even if it was iOS only. As I understand it, it's because currently their online accounts require your email address to function and that this in violation of a App Store privacy rule (see 17.2):

https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html

Though this is weird since for example SolForge requires an email address to function as well.
Click to expand...

As I said it's not the feature per se (which many other devs already have in place without problems)...but their implementation.
Either Apple is particularly focused on Star Realm for some reason, or their implementation is sloppy so they suffered rejection for the third time in a row.

I gave up even refreshing their website :(

I guess we won't see the game any sooner than mid September (or later...now there is the iPhone announcement, delays in approvals...and such...).

EDIT: check this news about the rejection...it's hilarious!!!!

http://www.pockettactics.com/news/ios-news/space-one-can-hear-scream-star-realms-rejected-apple/
 
G

Grifter

Member
Is anyone into Ascension offline? Wondering which small/big box combo to order. Is Darkness Unleashed its own standalone small box?
 
B

Brakara

Member
Grifter said:
Is anyone into Ascension offline? Wondering which small/big box combo to order. Is Darkness Unleashed its own standalone small box?
Click to expand...

All base games and expansions are sold as stand-alones, including Darkness Unleashed. But how many people are you? Because that will affect your purchasing decision.

Personally, I only have the base game and Return of the Fallen, but that's because I rarely have the opportunity to play (it's way harder to get the gang together for a gaming evening when you get older).
 
G

Grifter

Member
Normally 0, but a friend has founded a game night that's growing rapidly so the potential number has ballooned and I thought I'd stock up on games to bring.

As Astro mentioned, the small boxes compliment bigs so I'm wondering which set of 2 to grab. Skimming a review now and apparently SoS was designed towards skill whereas RoV has crazy burst turns. Sounds fun but possibly frustrating if you're on the receiving end.

Browsing the store and there's also countless mini-expansions and promo packs murking things up too. Does anyone buy those?
 
B

Brakara

Member
These are the ones that matter:

http://ascensiongame.com/product-category/games/

And they "belong" together like this:

Chronicle of the Godslayer + Return of the Fallen
Storm of Souls + Immortal Heroes
Rise of Vigil + Darkness Unleashed
Realms Unraveled + new expansion to this coming later this Fall

But you can of course use any box with another if you want to switch things up. Note that the Apprentice Edition is just Chronicle of the Godslayer in an affordable 2-player box and mostly aimed at totally new players who have never played the game before (basically just to try it out).

I think SoS+IH is better than CotG+RotF, but if nobody else have played the game before (or other deck builders) you may want to start with CotG and RotfF.

And I wouldn't bother to get any promos for now. They can be fun, but are often overpowered.
 
G

Grifter

Member
That's really helpful! I'd been looking for a listing like that and was unclear on how many "sets" existed.

The gamers' experience level is pretty high except for me, so I think any pack is open game. One dude had all the Dominion sets sleeved in what looked to me like a small comic book box and everything seemed to know it.

What do you prefer about SoS/IH over RoV/DU? Have you played RU?
 
B

Brakara

Member
Grifter said:
That's really helpful! I'd been looking for a listing like that and was unclear on how many "sets" existed.

The gamers' experience level is pretty high except for me, so I think any pack is open game. One dude had all the Dominion sets sleeved in what looked to me like a small comic book box and everything seemed to know it.

What do you prefer about SoS/IH over RoV/DU? Have you played RU?
Click to expand...

I haven't played DU or RU, so I can't say anything about them. But RoV, although fun, is a tad too swingy for my taste with a few cards that's almost broken and too easy to get. So SoS just seems more balanced to me, though to be fair I've played SoS a lot more than RoV which was just recently released on iOS.
 
A

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
eznark said:
Astro have you gotten into tabletop simulator yet?
Click to expand...

I have not. Is it good and what games can you play on it? I actually haven't done any PC or web-based boardgaming in a while, been mostly just playing Ascension and Waterdeep.
 
PittaGAF

PittaGAF

Member
Brakara said:
No, I don't think this is because of the "buy once play everywhere" feature. This since it's because of how they handle their online accounts and they would have had this even if it was iOS only. As I understand it, it's because currently their online accounts require your email address to function and that this in violation of a App Store privacy rule (see 17.2):

https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html

Though this is weird since for example SolForge requires an email address to function as well.
Click to expand...

Not that it changes things...but if you are interested in the PT links I posted earlier, Playdek dev chimes in speculating why Star Realms got rejected, why it involves the mail rule violation (that is linked to the purchase) and why a ton of other games (Playdek's included) have no problems!
 
B

Brakara

Member
PittaGAF said:
Not that it changes things...but if you are interested in the PT links I posted earlier, Playdek dev chimes in speculating why Star Realms got rejected, why it involves the mail rule violation (that is linked to the purchase) and why a ton of other games (Playdek's included) have no problems!
Click to expand...

It's a nice theory but it actually works exactly like Ascension. You can play offline, buy it, still play offline (including the expanded campaign as part of the purchase), but you need an account to access online play.
 
G

Grifter

Member
I may be off, but from his theory, I gleamed that game access (base? + IAP) is walled behind your account to make single-pay cross-buy possible between platforms.
 
G

Gunstarheroes

Member
This seems like the right thread for this:

I have Talisman on Steam, and all of Games Workshops stuff is on sale for today. I don't wanna spend 40 bucks on the season pass for everything, so what stuff do i absolutely need to have on top of the base game that is currently out for the digital version?
 
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