All posts by Darren

My Current Top 10 iOS Board Game Apps

apps, iOS

Yesterday I wrote about the disappointing and uninspired top 10 favourite board game list that was featured on the iOS App Store home page.

I also threatened to share with you my top 10. Today I carry out that threat, and present to you my current top 10 iOS board game apps.

Disclaimer: This list is fluid. It does change. Although it wouldn’t matter when I did the list one or two entries would always be there. This list is also in no particular order. Meaning I haven’t ranked them. Also it should be noted I usually play these games online against friends. Very rarely do I play against an AI opponent or random opponents online.

Also remember that this is iOS games. Hence why Wingspan is not on this list. At the time of writing it does not exist on iOS.

My Current Top 10 iOS Board Game Apps

Star Realms: If you like deck builders then this is the game for you. It’s great value for money with the Wise Wizard Games (yes they changed their name recently) of buy once play anywhere. There are a lot of expansions for the game now. Which may put people off. But they are not needed to enjoy this modern classic. Did I say I love this game?

Epic the Card Game: for that Magic the Gathering fix Epic scratches the itch for me. It’s totally free to play! You only pay for cosmetics, or to enter tournaments. No grinding or splashing out lots of money to get cards. My favourite way to play is Dark Draft against my friends. Which is an amazing draft format for two players.

Lost Cities: Another two player game, but this time the classic Reiner Knizia card game about exploring for ancient lost cities.

Carcassonne: the classic tile laying game. I love playing this with the expansions. In fact I hardly ever play this without them.

Ticket to Ride: the classic board game. There are several maps/expansions for this to buy. But the cool thing is when playing against friends only one of you needs to own the map you want to play.

Tokaido: a beautiful version of the set collection board game about having the best experience possible as you travel the road between Edo and Kyoto in Japan.

Roll for the Galaxy: an amazing port of the board game that changed how I view the game! Well digitally. This as an app turns the game into something I can play when I have a spare 5 minutes to fill, waiting in line or something.

Scythe: All I’m going to say is this is the digital version of my all time favourite board game. And probably the only game on this list I play against AI opponents.

Onitama: a lovely version of the two player abstract game.

Splendor: a great implementation of the gateway game.

Below are some honourable mentions of games that nearly made the list.

Honourable mentions aka games that nearly made the list

What are your top 10 board game apps?

Disappointing App Store List

apps, iOS

This morning when I entered the iOS App Store to check for updates to my installed apps I noticed on the home page a curated list titled “Our top 10 board games”.

So once I’d started the downloads for the updates (there did seem a lot this morning), curiosity got the better of me and I checked out this top 10.

To say I was a bit disappointed by their choices was an understatement. With Carcassonne being the only “modern” or “hobby” board game to make the list, I thought this wasn’t a list chosen by gamers.

Even if I didn’t chose some of the more “hardcore” hobby games that have app versions. Where is Catan, Tokaido, Ticket to Ride, Splendor, Charterstone, Sagrada, Roll for the Galaxy, to name a handful of modern, accessible, light or gateway games?

Even with my recent rediscovery of Chess, would or should it make a top 10? It depends what the point of the list is.

With a big clue being “our favourites” then this list is a list of favourite boardgames of whoever compiled the list. I’m assuming this curation was by a human and not some code.

What can we deduce about the author of the list? They may have scratched the surface of modern boardgames as hinted by the presence of Carcassonne. However the rest of the selections being the more mainstream titles that most people play growing up. So I’d guess they don’t play boardgames on a regular basis, maybe during the traditional family holidays with other family members during a family get together. They had to compile this list so fell back on games they played growing up.

I don’t think any boardgamer when asked to do this list would come up with this top 10. I’ll do my top 10 in another post I think.

Once more no real stuff to talk about

Uncategorized

With Mum’s birthday finally passed, and my prep and planning for it (mainly baking) over, I have time to at least write an update post to prove I’m alive.

My activities the last few days have been none board gaming related. Although with recent real world events thoughts are finally starting to consider the possibility of gaming in meat space again at some point in the future.

I had some light reading arrive. Some of it for a future project (Super Mario Bros 3), another for a current project (Baldur’s Gate 2) and the final one just for pleasure. Although lack of motivation and being able to stay focused are big obstacles to getting through my reading backlog.

One or two new Pop Vinyl Star Wars related figures “mysteriously” arrived.

I got a waffle maker. I’d been dithering about getting one for a while, and finally caved once I decided on a surprise dessert for Mum’s birthday involving waffles. Which means I’ve started to test various waffle recipes to find one I like. The sacrifices I make for my Mum!

I’m making slow progress on a project for this blog that once complete will give you the difficult decision of reading a long pretentious blog post (the first of many possibly) or going off and doing something less boring instead. Like the lack of progress on bringing Aliens to Last Days apathy keeps putting up major road blocks. Which is saving you from having to make that hard choice, for the time being anyway.

Right I’m off to try and get motivated.

May the 4th Be With You – Star Wars Day 2021

star wars

May the 4th Be With You!

Yep it’s that time of year again. I love that my birthday sits smack damn in the middle of two days that celebrate great franchises that I enjoy a lot.

Naturally I plan to watch something Star Wars related today. Which will definitely include watching the latest addition to the Star Wars universe The Bad Batch. Which I believe is a spin off from the Clone Wars animated series.

I also believe the first episode released today is an extra long episode. Which then gets the second episode released on Friday, and is about 20-25 minutes in duration. And like all other Disney+ series will see new episodes drop on Fridays after that.

I might then rewatch both seasons of The Mandalorian. I love that series. Great stories, great characters, and it feels like Star Wars while introducing new characters.

Some of the images I shared on social media to celebrate the day.

Sadly there will be no Star Wars themed board gaming. Well we know why.

Will be interesting to see what announcements are made, especially on the board and video gaming fronts.

Marvel Coming To Funkoverse

Funkoverse

Today Funko dropped what the next set will be in this light character driven team skirmish game. Like many who have seen this news I am pretty excited about it. Marvel is coming to Funkoverse!

After a couple of releases that didn’t excite me (Disney Alice in Wonderland, Space Jam 2 and A Nightmare Before Christmas) Funko are once more back on track for me.

In the 4 character pack we are getting Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther and Black Widow. With Thanos getting his own single character expansion.

Marvel Funkoverse 4 character pack (images taken from Amazon page)

New game modes Scrimmage and Siege are being introduced in the 4 character pack. Whilst the Thanos character pack introduces Ultimate Mode that lets you play Thanos against three other characters! The Thanos pack also adds a new Infinity War scenario where you race to gather all six Infinity Stones. It also every other map in the Funkoverse!

Some pretty interesting and exciting additions to the Funkoverse game. However until the rulebooks are put online details on these new game modes and map changing scenario are none existent.

However I do like that Funko are expanding the game and how it’s played with certain new expansions. If I remember correctly the AGoT expansion bought four player matches to the game.

Marvel Funkoverse Thanos Character Pack (images taken from Amazon page)

I’m particularly excited to have games of DC vs Marvel, or DC and Marvel team ups. But that’s the ol’ comic book geek in me coming out.

The Marvel Funkoverse according to the US Amazon pages hits 1st July, and they are taking preorders now. It’s currently not listed on the UK Amazon store.

Alien RPG Starter Set – First Look

#AlienDay, Alien, first look, new arrivals, RPG

Happy Alien Day!

Yep it’s a thing. I only found out about it a couple of weeks ago while researching stuff for a future post. Fox started it about 4 years ago apparently. So later today when the States wake up we should see some cool Alien franchise product announcements being made.

In the meantime there are some Alien themed photos I’ve pushed out on social media to amuse you, plus this post.

Just over a month ago I finally caved and got my hands on the Alien RPG Start Set.

Inside the Starter Set is basically everything a group of friends need to play the Alien RPG cinematic scenario inside the box, plus the sold separately Destroyer of Worlds cinematic scenario. And yes some of the contents can be used when using the core rulebook and your own scenarios or campaign.

Contents of the Starter Kit

So what do you get inside the box?

  • A 104 page rulebook
  • The Chariot of the Gods cinematic scenario
  • 5 pre-generated characters
  • A double sided map
  • 84 game markers
  • 56 cards
  • 10 base dice
  • 10 stress dice

It should be pointed out that since the release of this Starter Kit, the only place you can get the game markers, Chariot of the Gods scenario, map and cards for the scenario is in this kit. They used to be sold separately.

But taking all this into account the Starter Kit does provide good value. The two sets of dice alone account for a large chunk of the kits cost. Before the kits release the individual parts came to more than the cost of this kit.

Naturally the rule book at 104 pages is a tad shorter than the 392 page core rulebook. Which is understandable this is geared at getting players playing a cinematic game of the Alien RPG as quick as possible. It doesn’t need the campaign or character creation rules.

For those wondering what a cinematic scenario is, this is basically what the Alien RPG calls a one-shot. It’s a single stand alone scenario that can be played in typically one to three sessions. In the Alien RPG these cinematic scenarios mirror the sort of story arcs that you get in the Alien movies. The game play is usually high stakes, fast and brutal (read high body count).

Naturally this cut down rule book doesn’t need the short introductory cinematic adventure from the core rulebook, or the creature stats (these are provided in the scenario).

I know some have criticised the lack of character creation within these slimmed down rules. But the D&D starter kit also didn’t allow you to create characters either. This is about playing a game of Alien RPG as fast and easy as possible. I don’t see it as an issue not being able to create characters. However I do agree with the comments I’ve seen about including a couple more cinematic scenarios. They could be short one act missions similar to the one in the core rulebook.

The cards provided include 10 initiative cards (although playing cards could be used for this), 12 equipment cards, 10 character/npc cards, and 24 agenda cards. Obviously the initiative and equipment cards can be used in other scenarios. But these are a handy inclusion.

I’d have liked to have seen the pre-generated characters printed on card stock to make them a bit more durable to wear and tear.

Overall if you want to play the Alien RPG this Starter Kit is a good place to start.

Crushed Eggs!

apps, Fenland Gamers, game night, nintendo, online play, switch, virtual game night

Last night there was another virtual game night for Fenland Gamers.

Sadly it was just Jonathan and myself that were able to virtually meet up to play games. So mirroring one or two of the real life meet ups of yester year.

At Jonathan’s suggestion we played a game of Wingspan. It’s not as if I’m going to say no. We both love the game. So I started a three player game with an AI player taking the third spot.

I should screen shot my opening cards and discuss my decisions about what to keep, etc. I’ll do that for the next game. In the meantime all I can remember about this games starting cards is that I had a bonus card that synergised with the final rounds end of round bonus. That I had two cards in hand that not only counted (if played) towards my bonus card (and by implication the final round bonus) but also allowed the setting up of a tuck engine on the grasslands.

The Wingspan scores and final board state for me

I think I only took the initial draw cards wetland action once, and that was my first action if I remember correctly to grab a bird needed for the engine. After that all my card draw was coming from doing an egg run.

During play I had guessed Jonathan was struggling. He was taking a lot of draw cards actions. Jonathan was hunting for something. Later during the game my suspicions were confirmed when Jonathan posted a message on Discord (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the cards in this game indeed hated him and were conspiring against him.

The final scores did surprise me. Especially Jonathan’s. His claim that this was his worst scoring game ever, was probably right. I don’t remember him doing so poorly.

But that’s the nature of the beast. You see it in every game. Sometimes the stars don’t a line, and everything seems to be working against you. In these situations I think it helps to be the optimist and write the game off as one of those things that just happen, and next time will be different. It’s not fun as it’s happening, and can be frustrating. But you have to play to the last turn on the last round. Things might turn around.

It’s like the game of Epic the Card Game I had last week (lucky for the world the app doesn’t allow you to replay the whole game to record it). Early on in the game I went down to 2 health. Whilst my opponent was gaining life also. It wasn’t looking good.

Life savers!

But drawing into the two cards above I was able to stabilise by removing big threats from attacking, and basically neutralise tokens. This bought me enough time to draw into hopefully solutions to whatever the current threat on the board was.

There has even been games of Star Realms like this. I’ve been on one authority with my opponent in the 60s, and still hung in there and won! That game might actually also be on YouTube. There have been numerous games of MtG like this. Plus just as many that didn’t pan out.

When there is a turn around like the above they become epic gaming moments that you retell time and time again. The boardgaming version of “this one time in band camp…”

I’m digressing from the fact I crushed Jonathan, and had to settle for the fact the only banter was by sharing the above screen shots showing the emphatic victory on social media.

Afterwards we agreed to start up another game of chess via discord. This time it’s Jonathan’s turn to be white.

Marathon Wingspan Game Finishes

apps, Fenland Gamers, online play

21 or more days after starting our 4 player game of Wingspan we have finally finished playing today!

Yes that is a long time to take to play a game of Wingspan.

However considering we were all basically only taking one turn a day (I think there was a day when we got to play a second turn). Taking over 21 days to play the game was to be expected.

I’ve mentioned in the past this game was going to take a lot longer than our regular games where we play in real time (with or without discord) so that one of our friends could participate.

So how did the game end? I won comfortably. Which was a bit of a relief after all the round one hype of me playing a raven.

Final scores and my end board state

After you get and play the raven early there is the pressure that you are going to run away with the game. However without cards that combo well with it, it’s not a big advantage.

In this game I got some that worked ok with it. I did have to set up a card draw engine and round 2 was basically me drawing cards looking for cards to work with the raven. So I had a massive number of cards in hand to use through the remaining rounds.

How did I think it went playing a game that went on for so long? It was ok. Not something I’d want to do regularly. The long delay between turns was frustrating. But the fact it allowed a friend who otherwise would not be able to play to join in counts for a lot.

Right now to organise the next virtual game night.

Green level pledge arrived

Paranoia, RPG

Just under a week ago the Project Infinite Hole Kickstarter for the Paranoia RPG dropped through my letterbox.

It was a very pleasant surprise as I was not expecting it so soon after fulfillment had started. It was the very next day. At I best I thought it’d be about a week before I’d receive it. But that quick! Mind blown.

However after opening up the package and checking the contents, I spotted one issue. I had two Thriftylist decks and was missing the Disaster deck. A quick email exchange with Mongoose Publishing and a “replacement” Disaster deck was going to be put in the post (it turned up this morning).

Contents of the Green level pledge

Basically this Paranoia Kickstarter goes into depth on the R&D department. Introducing new equipment, NPC’s, locations and ways to combine items.

Obviously there are new missions, with four iirc making up a campaign! Yep a Paranoia campaign. Apparently this is a first.

As we ease into meeting up in real life I’m hoping I can get enough interest to run one or two Paranoia sessions once they can be safely done. I’m also hoping I can get one or two of the other RPGs to the table too.