In a lengthy post earlier this month about Scythe: Digital Edition and the realities of digital game development, designer-owner Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games casually announced that the company was actively working towards digital adaptations of popular games Viticulture and Charterstone. Digital adaptations of both games are in the works, though very early in development for Charterstone, while Viticulture is still without a developer though Stegmaier has been pursuing and choosing one for about two years. “I’m excited about Scythe Digital,” posted Stegmaier, “just as I’m eager to move forward with Viticulture Digital. Charterstone Digital is also in the works.” Viticulture, a 2013 board game that has become a consistent seller, is the worker-placement board game about making wine that put Stonemaier games on the map. Charterstone, from 2017, is a legacy worker-placement game about building a village on a fantasy frontier. Jamey Stegmaier, … [Read more...] about Digital adaptations of Viticulture and Charterstone board games in the works
Board game of the year 2015
Paradox board games are coming: Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, and more
Paradox Interactive is developing and publishing board games based on four of their major game series: Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, and Cities: Skylines. Announced today at Paradox’s annual PDXCon event, the games will be developed by established designers in the board game space. The board games are designed to be thematically and mechanically inspired by their video game counterparts. Paradox spokespeople said that the games have been a long time coming, citing internal research that some 40% of their players actively play hobby board games, with 20% playing once a week or more. “People approach us and ask if they can make these games,” said Paradox VP of Business Development Shams Jorjani about the decision. Jorjani noted that it was an attempt to expand Paradox Interactive’s mostly historical brands, which are otherwise much harder to license than character-driven intellectual properties, saying his team was on a “mission to … [Read more...] about Paradox board games are coming: Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, and more
Year 3 of the Cogmind
Unbelievable… I’ve been working on Cogmind for three and a half years now. Yet another year has gone by, and this time the end is very much in sight! To start off, as I did for 2014 and 2015 here’s a collage of development images from the past year: Images from the past year of Cogmind development as appeared on this blog and Twitter (full mega size here). GIFs outnumbered PNGs about three-to-one, but an animated collage wouldn’t be able to include enough images to do the year justice :). I don’t have anywhere specific I collect only GIFs, though I did use a number of them on the page I put together this year dedicated to summarizing some of the innovations Cogmind is bringing to the genre. As usual I’ve been keeping close tabs on where every hour is spent, altogether 6,383 hours so far: Cogmind Monthly Development Hours, 2013.7-2016.11 (click for crisper full-size version). (The color coding is for different aspects of development tackled each … [Read more...] about Year 3 of the Cogmind
6 of the most significant mobile game trends in 2017
Unlike previous years, there were no zingers in the world of mobile games during 2017. That’s not to say nothing happened, of course. Plenty did, but looking back, it was more a case of accelerating trends and future potential than headline-grabbing news such as Activision Blizzard’s $5.9 billion deal for King in 2015, or Nintendo’s first mobile game and Pokemon Go’s success in 2016. So here are six of the year’s most significant trends; ones you’ll likely to see more of in 2018 too. Mobile eSports Is mobile eSports now a thing? Plenty of developers think so, and 2017 saw long term proponents such as Super Evil Megacorp finessing their activity. It’s just closed out the World Champions for its mobile MOBA Vainglory in Singapore, also previewing the 5v5 mode that will launch next year. Similarly Finnish developer Critical Force announced 30 million downloads of its Counter-Strike-inspired shooter Critical Ops, adding eSports investor and … [Read more...] about 6 of the most significant mobile game trends in 2017
The 500 best games of all time: 400-301
This week, we’re running a big list of what we — and a group of trusted friends — recently voted as the 500 best video games of all time. For the backstory, criteria, explanation of why Breath of the Wild isn’t on the list, etc., head to the beginning here: The 500 best games of all time. For numbers 400-301, scroll down. 400. Mirror's Edge (2008, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, others) Keep moving. That's the main objective of Mirror's Edge. Releasing alongside dozens of first-person shooters, Mirror's Edge stood for daring to be different. Putting an emphasis on using first-person parkour to outsmart enemies, rather than just shooting through them, Mirror's Edge was a flawed beauty stuck in the memory of those who just kept running through its clean, white city. 399. Braid (2008, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, others) In many ways, the modern indie explosion started with Braid. Unlike anything people had seen at the time, Braid and its time-bending puzzles … [Read more...] about The 500 best games of all time: 400-301