BoardGameGeek News

This isn't news for the review itself so much as for my continued amazement at how much coverage modern strategy games will get in mainstream-ish forums when the digital version of a game breaks out compared to coverage of the game itself. I'm old, though, so maybe my amazement means nothing.

The increased exposure for boardgames can only be a good thing for the hobby - I can't tell you how many college students I have encountered here whose first exposure to modern boardgames was through XBox or iOS ports.

Hello Gergely.

LocWorks will be publishing Alien Frontiers initially in Polish and has the option to publish in the following languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian.

So, perhaps your language is on their list, but I cannot be sure when they will publish in that language.

Congrats to Clever Mojo and Alien Frontiers. Let's hope Ystari prints to meet demand!

• Túaw reviews the Tikal iOS app from Codito/Sage Board Games. This isn't news for the review itself so much as for my continued amazement at how much coverage modern strategy games will get in mainstream-ish forums when the digital version of a game breaks out compared to coverage of the game itself. I'm old, though, so maybe my amazement means nothing. (HT: David Reed)

Fantasy Flight Games ... a physical version of the game (previously published in English by Mayfair Games) coming in Q3 2011. You can check out the penguin miniatures to be included in the game in this game announcement from FFG.

I prefer the multi-color figures in the Mayfair deluxe edition. Unfortunately this will be a step down in component quality.

Mayfair:


FFG:

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (which is what TUAW stands for) has actually been doing a good job of reviewing the iOS ports of modern strategy games as they have happened. Based on what I have been reading there, I get the impression that one or more of their reviewers are familiar with the real world versions of many of the games. Even if the reviewer hasn't been familiar with the original game, they are almost always including information to point people back to the original game (frequently here, but also sometimes to the publisher, too). The increased exposure for boardgames can only be a good thing for the hobby - I can't tell you how many college students I have encountered here whose first exposure to modern boardgames was through XBox or iOS ports. The important thing is that the ports need to be faithful to the original boardgame and they need to be good applications. It doesn't matter how faithful the adaptation is - if the game crashes all the time, it will not make anyone want to try out the original game.

Well, that's going to be the big question, really. Several publishers we talked to liked Alien Frontiers but were not confident that a scifi game would find enough of a market in Europe to make it worth their while. Some even wanted to re-theme it to make it more marketable. We decided to go with Ystari because they liked the game a lot and were willing to keep it intact. They do want to change the cover art, but otherwise, EU gamers will receive the same retro scifi enjoyment that the rest of us are getting. Thanks Ystari!

Well, that's going to be the big question, really. Several publishers we talked to liked Alien Frontiers but were not confident that a scifi game would find enough of a market in Europe to make it worth their while. Some even wanted to re-theme it to make it more marketable. We decided to go with Ystari because they liked the game a lot and were willing to keep it intact. They do want to change the cover art, but otherwise, EU gamers will receive the same retro scifi enjoyment that the rest of us are getting. Thanks Ystari!

You know it seems to me that Alien Frontiers would make an EXCELLENT digital game. Looking into that?

Ya, just a little...

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/586942/clever-mojo-games...

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/607493/alien-frontiers-c...

Hello Gergely.

LocWorks will be publishing Alien Frontiers initially in Polish and has the option to publish in the following languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian.

So, perhaps your language is on their list, but I cannot be sure when they will publish in that language. I suggest that you email Piotr at LocWorks and urge him to publish in your language as quickly as possible. Piotr is also a BGG user: [user=locworks]locworks[/user]