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I had a great time at Gen Con and got to meet with many great people from the industry. Read on for a complete report of my first day at the convention.
- Level 99 Games Interview - Locus: Geek Chic touch table. - Lone Wolf RPG Tools - Zman games: Pandemic in the works. - Plaid Hat Games: Summoner wars iOS demo. - Cryptozoic: Food Fight iOS demo. - And much more...
Here are the detailed explanations:
- Level 99 Games: I had the chance to meet with Brad from Level 99 games. He has produced many iPhone apps including Noir: Killer vs Inspector and many tools for RPGs and board games. He is currently developing a mobile version of Battle Con that will work online. It will initially start on iOS and then possibly move to other mobile platforms.
- Locus Tablet: This table is a new development in cooperation with Geek Chic. It is a multitouch table that is currently focused on the D20 pro system. It allows players to upload maps and includes recognition software that allows you to place miniatures on the table and have the software recognize where the character is within the map. It is currently focused on RPG gaming but they are in talks with undisclosed board game companies.
- Lone Wolf Development: Lone Wolf Development is a company focused on digital RPG and miniatures tools. Currently they are mostly focused on PC but are interested in bringing more of their tools to the iOS space.
- Steve Jackson: I was able to stop by Steve Jackson games and nothing much to report. They currently have no projects in development, at least not that they revealed to me.
- ZMAN games: I was able to speak with Zev from ZMAN Games. He is impressed by the success of Neuroshima Hex but as he is not directly involved in the digital development, he had no news on that front. He did mention that they are working on Pandemic, but did not give a timeline. My impression from speaking with him is that work has begun, but that is merely speculation.
- Days of Wonder: I got to meet Christine and Mark from Days of Wonder and speak with them a little about the company. I spoke with Eric just a few weeks ago, so there was no real news. I asked again about Small World online, and they are in the planning stages and are making sure they know the right way to deliver the best experience for Small World.
- Celinar Games: I was able to speak to a small booth for Celinar games. Celinar is a company that is programming ARG games for iOS platforms. They include things such as a zombie fighting game were players are both zombies and humans that try to defeat each other. The game can track where you are and the location of enemy characters. In order to approach you must physically walk to the location shown on your screen. The games look pretty basic graphically but the technology behind them looks promising.
- Inferno: Inferno is an online RPG facilitator that incorporates video chat with a GMing platform. It is currently PC only but he is prepping for an iPhone version of the tool.
- iGM: I had the opportunity to speak with iGM, a new company producing GM modules for the iPad. Their scenarios are for D&D 4E but they hope to present them in such a way that they can be used with many systems.
- Fantasy Flight Games: In between interviews I was able to sit down to a quick demo of the upcoming Star Wars LCG with designer Cory Konieczka (designer of Death Angel, among others). The game holds some similarities to the Lord of the Rings LCG, but less than I was expecting. The biggest similarity is that players must complete missions by committing characters and accumulating tokens. However, there are several other mechanics that vary. First, there are ships and ground characters. Ships give you the Influence you need to play characters and other ships. From the enemy deck there are ships and characters as well and they must be engaged and dealt with differently. Characters can be placed in one of three zones and these zones determine what they are able to do, and some characters sometimes have abilities that work within these zones. The game also has an AI deck that means that where or how the AI attacks changes each round. It looks like an interesting release and something I will want to see more of in the future.
- Asmadi: I was able to have a quick chat with Asmadi games. They released several months ago an app for their game Win, Lose, or Banana. It was removed from the app store for reasons unknown but will resubmitted shortly. I was informed that they are currently working on an iOS adaptation of their new release Fealty. The timeline is still unknown as the implementation is much more complicated than their previous releases.
- Incinerator Studios: I got to meet with the guys from Incinerator Studios several times over the two days I was there. They were great to meet and seem really genuine in their commitment to bring great games to iOS. Lets get to what they showed me...
-Plaid Hat Games: I was approached by Colby Dauch a while before Gen Con about previewing a version of Summoner Wars for iOS. I was excited for this opportunity as I had just learned an implementation was in the works a few short weeks ago.
I sat down with Colby and the guys from Incinerator Studios on Saturday afternoon. We were able to speak a little before taking a look at the app. Colby explained that a Summoner Wars app had been started by a previous developer, but they had fallen through. With Incinerator Studios on board things picked up quickly. I was then able to demo the app (sadly they are holding off on video and pictures, but I assure you, we will post them here as soon as they are available).
The menu system of the app is still very much in development, however, I was greeted on launch with a large Summoner Wars logo, with the option to Play Offline. Online play will be available at launch, but was not in this build. At my demo there were two factions available to play, the Pheonix Elves and Guild Dwarves. The factions available at launch have not yet been determined but there will be additional factions as in app purchases. A cool feature mentioned to me was the ability to play someone with a faction army you may not own. These means despite how much you buy into the app you will have the ability to play other regardless of what faction they use. Of course for those who choose additional factions will be available as in app purchases. The in-game interface is setup very similarly to the map of the board game version. The units are still represented by cards and can be double tapped to zoom in. The game will also highlight to tell you when you can use a special ability so you should be able to determine all things your characters are able to do. From the amount of the implementation I have seen so far it appears they are doing there best to preserve the look of the board game while adding easy features only available in video games. On this note we discussed only multiplayer and to facilitate easier async play some card abilities could be changed and altered to make it so your opponent does not have to make any decisions during your turn allowing you to take a complete turn before you are alerted again. It appears asynchronous play will work well in this scenario. These changes will be minimal in most cases and it is all in the desire of making the game offer the best experience.
Release is still slated as Fall and it looks like things are coming along nicely. We will keep you posted as the releases approaches.
- Cryptozoic: Later in the day I had the chance to meet with the Incinerator guys again this time along with Miranda from Cryptozoic in reference to their Gen Con release Food Fight. Food Fight is a light drafting and combo creation game and features great humor and art. An app version of this game is already in development and I got a chance to check it out.
In Food Fight players compete over meals of the day that function as battlefields and will award them victory point if captured. Players receive 9 cards and then draft until they again have a hand of 9 cards. Players then choose 5 of these cards to play and leave the rest in their hand. They shuffle these 5 cards and then players on the battlefields compete in meal order. The competition is simple war style game, however players can add condiment cards from their hands to alter the number of they card as well as use one of the many special abilities on the cards they play. The player who wins the majority of the 5 battles for that meal claims the victory points. Play continues until one player has gathered 10 victory points. It is a fun take that game with silly art and combos, for example if you play a taco card and then add a fish stick to it, you get a fish taco which has a much higher point value.
The build of the app that I was able to sample looked great. It seemed to have a pretty well fleshed out menu and it looks like it will include both online play and even a campaign mode. The in game graphics include a picnic table background that looks like it is from a 1970’s picnic and character avatars that carry on the same art of the physical game. The game plays quickly and turns are very short, so it may not be the ideal choice for async play, but it seems that online could have great potential, since game move quickly and they are considering rather than async, a pause function.
The game looks great so far and should be available this Fall. This will put its release very close the physical version’s wide release.
Lastly, in the evening I was able to try 2 fairly new games.
- Engage: Engage was shown at Origins and was for sale at Gen Con. I had the opportunity the play this tense war game and squeaked out a last minute victory (I had the designer whispering in my ear, so I may have had an advantage). It is an interesting game with a neat bluffing aspect that is really fun. There was a bit of chart consulting for firing and defense and I found this a little overly complicated, but again, I am not a war gamer and I am probably more prone to connect with simplistic combat.
- Let's Take a Hike: I also tried Let's Take a Hike. This is a card game where players build a back pack using cards from their hand. There are also negative cards that will remove items from backpacks such as bears and skunks. Once players feel like they backpack is ready, they go on a hike and can be joined by any players who wish to come. Players then flip cards from the deck and must match it with one of their cards or discard an item equal to the value of the flipped. As players drop out of the hike they can take on point card as victory points, the last player remaining takes all remaining cards.The game continues until the deck is gone and highest point total wins. The game was fun but very light. There are strategic elements but after a single play it felt like luck of the draw played a huge factor in the game.
That's it for now. Look out for more news coming in just a few days.
First reaction: Summoner Wars, in its way, is going to be as big as Puerto Rico. Just as PR is a must-have app for PR fans who aren't otherwise into iOS gaming, SW will be a must-have app for those who are a bit more into iOS. It's getting a lot of good buzz, and it will have lots of crossover appeal.
If it's half as attractive as Ascension (and there's no reason to believe it won't be), it's going to be huge.
cant wait for SW app. worst part of SW is finding an opponent to play with when im in the mood to game. So many matchup combos, so few chances to try them all out. My games played count will skyrocket once this is released.
I hope the specific dice rolls for attacks are displayed clearly and not just hit/miss quickly with no feedback as to why, as it would make the game feel more like real life and youd appreciate the champs that boost rolls etc.
any specific "changes" for async play that you can speak to? trying to think of things you do on others turns and its not much...the Shadow Elves have an event they can play if their unit dies, but that would need to be preserved. what else...??
cant wait for SW app. worst part of SW is finding an opponent to play with when im in the mood to game. So many matchup combos, so few chances to try them all out. My games played count will skyrocket once this is released.
I hope the specific dice rolls for attacks are displayed clearly and not just hit/miss quickly with no feedback as to why, as it would make the game feel more like real life and youd appreciate the champs that boost rolls etc.
any specific "changes" for async play that you can speak to? trying to think of things you do on others turns and its not much...the Shadow Elves have an event they can play if their unit dies, but that would need to be preserved. what else...??
I had actually never played Summoner Wars so I am not completely sure, I now have a copy that I will playing and can then answer more clearly. But Colby mentioned there were some characters or events that have abilities that can be played out of turn and these may be altered to improve game flow. They are not planning any major changes, just those that will help asynchronous turn flow.
I also had the chance to speak with Christaine from Days of Wonder. I told her that I loved the ioS implementations of Small World and Ticket to Ride, and was looking forward to both online play with SW as well as a release of Small World Underground.
Then I also politely expressesd my displeasure at DoW's stance towards iPod touch/iPhone development. I showed her my iPod touch ( that I take everywhere I go ) and the three pages of board game apps.
I let her know that DoW has a ravenous audience just waiting to throw money at them if they release iPod/phone (or universal) versions.
She told me that it they were aware of the clamor, and that they were looking into creating versions for the smaller iOS devices.
Woot! So take it with a grain of salt, but I think that qualifies as good news!
I like elephants. I like how they swing through trees.
Did you try SW for iPhone/iPod or iPad? My understanding is it will be available for both, but I'm wondering how the implementation for iPhone will be. Hopefully you can see and do everything well enough.
Good to hear about Pandemic, though I'm assuming that will be iPad only. Sigh. I'm gonna have to buy one of those after all, I guess. I'm already having trouble restraining myself with Ghost Stories now available.
cant wait for SW app. worst part of SW is finding an opponent to play with when im in the mood to game. So many matchup combos, so few chances to try them all out. My games played count will skyrocket once this is released.
I hope the specific dice rolls for attacks are displayed clearly and not just hit/miss quickly with no feedback as to why, as it would make the game feel more like real life and youd appreciate the champs that boost rolls etc.
any specific "changes" for async play that you can speak to? trying to think of things you do on others turns and its not much...the Shadow Elves have an event they can play if their unit dies, but that would need to be preserved. what else...??
I think something like the Shadow Elf event can be preserved. When fighting against Selundar, shadow elf commons could have a shadowy skull symbol or something pop up on them when killed, then at the beginning of the shadow elf turn the shadow elf player has a chance to save any of those characters with a Shadows card, otherwise they die. This changes the game slightly, but I think some kind of change like that is necessary to make async go smoothly.
any specific "changes" for async play that you can speak to? trying to think of things you do on others turns and its not much...the Shadow Elves have an event they can play if their unit dies, but that would need to be preserved. what else...??
I think something like the Shadow Elf event can be preserved. When fighting against Selundar, shadow elf commons could have a shadowy skull symbol or something pop up on them when killed, then at the beginning of the shadow elf turn the shadow elf player has a chance to save any of those characters with a Shadows card, otherwise they die. This changes the game slightly, but I think some kind of change like that is necessary to make async go smoothly.
the ascension app has you choose constructs to discard at end of turn if a monster was killed that triggers their destruction, and it works fine despite being a change from real life. makes sense something similar for SW could work too.
trying to think of abilities that use magic after combat is over that could make this an issue, and see gem mage and sand goblin escape costs as the main issues. hmmm. what else...? on turns where active player has very tight magic pool though and might use one of those optional movement abilities, this definitely could alter their play if they knew that common kill wasnt going to their magic pile as they expected...hmm. any other issues?
cant wait! and i like the idea of more interrupts in real life summoner wars for what its worth, even if it makes online play a bit trickier. personally, i like that the async play of Ascension is possible, but now avoid games that are 100% async with hours between turns, i just like how its smooth if someone has to take a break. So Id personally rather the game allow for SE events to be played as close to reality as possible even if it calls for an additional confirm to do so, though id be ok with it not pausing if it knew i didnt have that event in hand etc...what would happen if the active player HAD used up all their magic to move a gem mage, then turns out that the Shadow ELf player stole the magic on its death??
any specific "changes" for async play that you can speak to? trying to think of things you do on others turns and its not much...the Shadow Elves have an event they can play if their unit dies, but that would need to be preserved. what else...??
I think something like the Shadow Elf event can be preserved. When fighting against Selundar, shadow elf commons could have a shadowy skull symbol or something pop up on them when killed, then at the beginning of the shadow elf turn the shadow elf player has a chance to save any of those characters with a Shadows card, otherwise they die. This changes the game slightly, but I think some kind of change like that is necessary to make async go smoothly.
the ascension app has you choose constructs to discard at end of turn if a monster was killed that triggers their destruction, and it works fine despite being a change from real life. makes sense something similar for SW could work too.
trying to think of abilities that use magic after combat is over that could make this an issue, and see gem mage and sand goblin escape costs as the main issues. hmmm. what else...? on turns where active player has very tight magic pool though and might use one of those optional movement abilities, this definitely could alter their play if they knew that common kill wasnt going to their magic pile as they expected...hmm. any other issues?
cant wait! and i like the idea of more interrupts in real life summoner wars for what its worth, even if it makes online play a bit trickier. personally, i like that the async play of Ascension is possible, but now avoid games that are 100% async with hours between turns, i just like how its smooth if someone has to take a break. So Id personally rather the game allow for SE events to be played as close to reality as possible even if it calls for an additional confirm to do so, though id be ok with it not pausing if it knew i didnt have that event in hand etc...what would happen if the active player HAD used up all their magic to move a gem mage, then turns out that the Shadow ELf player stole the magic on its death??
The guys at incinerator also mentioned the possibility to turn on true play that would interrupt as per the physical game.
cant wait for SW app. worst part of SW is finding an opponent to play with when im in the mood to game. So many matchup combos, so few chances to try them all out. My games played count will skyrocket once this is released.
I hope the specific dice rolls for attacks are displayed clearly and not just hit/miss quickly with no feedback as to why, as it would make the game feel more like real life and youd appreciate the champs that boost rolls etc.
any specific "changes" for async play that you can speak to? trying to think of things you do on others turns and its not much...the Shadow Elves have an event they can play if their unit dies, but that would need to be preserved. what else...??
I think something like the Shadow Elf event can be preserved. When fighting against Selundar, shadow elf commons could have a shadowy skull symbol or something pop up on them when killed, then at the beginning of the shadow elf turn the shadow elf player has a chance to save any of those characters with a Shadows card, otherwise they die. This changes the game slightly, but I think some kind of change like that is necessary to make async go smoothly.
The other card that comes to mind is something like the thief or Raechel, where you have to choose a card to discard. Also Thorkor and his ability to ignore a wound for the cost of a magic point.
(Edit: Actually for the thief that happens at the end of a turn, so no worries there.)
I too am wondering, was the demo on an iPad or iPhone/iPod Touch? I only have an iPod Touch and am hoping it looks decent on the tiny screen. (I also hope it's compatible with the iPod Touch 2G!)
The guys at incinerator also mentioned the possibility to turn on true play that would interrupt as per the physical game.
very cool! options are good. I know Selundar doesn't want to lose his edge, as MagicPile control is a critical part of the game. Looks like you guys are polishing every angle, can't wait.
The guys at incinerator also mentioned the possibility to turn on true play that would interrupt as per the physical game.
very cool! options are good. I know Selundar doesn't want to lose his edge, as MagicPile control is a critical part of the game. Looks like you guys are polishing every angle, can't wait.
Can't wait for the Food Fight app. It is my favorite new game from GenCon.
From an industry standpoint this should be an interesting one to watch, as it is set for a simultaneous launch of both print and digital version (iPad, iPhone, and Android). There could be a lot of people talking about this game around that time. And if it's as good as people like you are saying it is, it could garner a lot of attention.
and i like the idea of more interrupts in real life summoner wars for what its worth, even if it makes online play a bit trickier. personally, i like that the async play of Ascension is possible, but now avoid games that are 100% async with hours between turns, i just like how its smooth if someone has to take a break. So Id personally rather the game allow for SE events to be played as close to reality as possible even if it calls for an additional confirm to do so, though id be ok with it not pausing if it knew i didnt have that event in hand etc...what would happen if the active player HAD used up all their magic to move a gem mage, then turns out that the Shadow ELf player stole the magic on its death??
