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Gabe Alvaro
United States
Berkeley
California
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• Stock Market Board Game Recreates Board Game from the 1960s
• Chit-based Hex War Game Keg Bearer Released
• GMT to Make iPad Games
• Tactical Soldier, Undead Rising Releases on March 30th
• Neuroshima Hex Puzzle Price Drop
• Stock Market Board Game - Mar 11
There's Indie and then there's Indie. Seems I missed this one from a couple of weeks back, but I don't miss things for long. Gerry Beggs*, a friend of a BGGer has made an iPad version of an old board game from 1963 referred to on BGG simply as Stock Market Game and dubbed by its original publisher as the "Aristocrat of Money Games". The app is called Stock Market Board Game. Catchy!
Quality of implementation aside, I'm a little suspicious of the underlying game since its BGG board game reviews seem divided between people who think it makes Monopoly look like a shining pillar of strategy and other people who wax nostalgic and say they play it addictively for hours on end. Anyway, in the interest of news and an attempt at completeness, I notify you here about its fledgling existence.
* Gerry Beggs also has an iOS game called AHole II (a clone of climbing card games such as Scum, President, Corporation, Asshole, Great Dalmuti, etc.) to his developer credit.
• Snowpunch Releases Keg Bearer, 1st Hex and Counter War Game for iPad - Mar 21
Holy chit Batman! Can it really be a hex and counter war game for the iPad? Maybe it's not what you are expecting. It has no print version. But it's got hexes. And it's got counters. It's called Keg Bearer and it would appear to be thematically representing a brawl of beer swigging barbarians. I cannot resist posting some screenshots.
It's got an innovative Multiple Turn Style Mode feature.
Snowpunch wrote: MULTIPLE TURN STYLE MODES
- HEX WAR, each player takes a turn moving all of his units.
- BOARD GAME, players take turns moving just one unit.
- PARTY BLITZ, all players move all units at the same time!
You have never played anything like this.
I've certainly never seen any feature like this on an iOS hex and counter app, nor have I really seen a hex and counter app for iOS until now either! The PARTY BLITZ mode does sound a little to me like the realtime mechanics of Tom Jolly's Camelot
It's developer, Snowpunch, seems to be a new up and comer with a straightforward approach
Snowpunch wrote: snowpunch - is a ios game development company located in Vancouver BC Canada.
Our current focus is simulating classic chit based hex war games. We believe that making them easy and fun to play will help growth in the hex war-gaming genre.
Keg Bearer was designed to absolutely maximize the multi player board game experience. It was created exclusively for the iPad and smokes on the iPad 2.
Oh Canada. Go Canada!
• GMT to Make iPad Games - Mar 22
Yesterday, the great GMT Games posted some exciting announcements on their site. Among them was this gem that describes their efforts thus far to find and work with iOS developers, announces the iOS games that they have in the pipeline, and finally solicits more advances from prospective developers that they would yet like to work with.
GMT Games wrote: Electronic Products
Last Fall, I let you guys know about our Twilight Struggle computer game project. That's still ongoing, but I wanted to use a bit of space here to update you on several additional projects we have begun recently, as well as to let you know the direction we're heading with Computer and I-Pad games.
First off, on the computer game front, we have one additional project that we have agreed to. This one is a computer version of Barbarossa: Army Group South, and hopefully eventually all of the Barbarossa series.
We've also begun our first two I-Pad game projects - one for Manoeuvre and one for Dominant Species.
I guess the biggest piece of news that I want to relate here, though, is that we've decided to expand our computer and especially our I-Pad offerings and are actively interested in working with our customers to get more of our games available as I-Pad titles. Note that I said "our customers." We spent a while talking off and on with medium and large size development houses and at the end of the day just didn't find a "fit" that we were comfortable with.
So basically, we decided to start looking a bit more closely at the offers to create or port our games that we've been getting by the dozens over the past several years. In the past, we usually said "no" or "not now" to these inquiries, but we've decided that ultimately, since we have nowhere near the time needed to create these products, that we would WAY rather partner with talented, creative, experienced programmers who already like our games and share revenues with them that work with a large development house that we don't know and for whom we would typically be a small and not-very-important project.
We're not absolutely closing the door to working with bigger companies in the future, if we happen to find the right fit, but for now we're going to explore some of the proposals our customers have made and get more aggressive with saying "yes" to more projects so that we can get more of our line available electronically, especially on the I-Pad side of things, where a dedicated and skilled programmer really can create a quality app without having to work with a large team.
So here is the open invitation. If you are an experienced programmer, especially if you have created previous I-Pad apps, or if you work with a small programming team with such expertise, and you'd like to create I-Pad apps for some of our games, please contact me at gmtgames@aol.com and we'll be happy to discuss what you have in mind. I look forward to starting some new projects and forging more mutually profitable relationships as we move forward with our electronic game line.
This is great to read about and just the kind of thing we have talked about in this blog, urging (begging, pleading) game publishers to not ignore iOS and other digital tablet platforms. Way to go GMT!
• Tactical Soldier, Undead Rising Releasing on March 30 - Mar 22
Here is another app without a print version. This one, however, appears to play like a board game. On the 30th of March, WIT Entertainment will release Tactical Soldier, Undead Rising, described by it's developer as a tactical squad level turn-based strategy game. I am not going to compare it directly to Space Hulk, Doom, Frag, or Descent and the like, but it would at least appear to share some similar mechanics including action point allowances, taking turns moving and shooting on a grid, use of scenarios, line of sight, etc. Yeah, that kind of game. Perhaps if we can get our hands on it we can give it a proper review in the future to tell you more about it and if its ultimately going to be worth your while.
For now, here's a description from the developer's site:
The Tactical Soldier Web Site wrote: Tactical Soldier is a tactical squad level turn based game where you control a group of soldiers trying to uncover the dark secrets of an army research base, invaded by zombies.
The game features a story driven campaign with hand-drawn comic book cutscenes. 8 unique levels packed to the brim with a variety of flesh-craving zombies and an equally nice selection of weapons to halt their rampage! Everything takes place in a wonderful 3D world, with a freely moving camera allowing you to explore the bowels of the base. Our innovative action-camera system makes sure you see the blood spraying on the walls as the zombies eat their way into your squad!
You are put in control of a squad of several soldiers, using Action Point based game mechanics - You have to make tactical decisions to be able to survive the mindless horde. Do you clear the room with grenades, and then snipe the big boss from a distance? Or is it better to heal up first, and then pepper the corridor with a machine gun that has area of effect?
Or maybe just rush in with a chainsaw...
At some point I'd like to do a Roundup of this and other "born digital" iOS board game apps that have no print version or equivalent clone. When I do, this game may be among them.
• Neuroshima Hex Puzzle Price Drop - Mar 23
Well, that was quick! Just four days after it's release at $2.99, Big Daddy's Creations has dropped the price on Neuroshima Hex Puzzle to a new low of $1.99.
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I am not saying that they are the only reason I will be buying one, just that it just makes it more appealing.
