Talisman is a geeky boardgaming legend. Created in 1983 by Games Workshop, it features a broad range of fantasy archetypes (Elves, Wizards, Monks, etc.) competing to be the first to reach the Crown of Command.
Each of the heroes available has a simple set of RPG stats, including Strength and Craft (magical power); plus one or two special abilities, such as the Druid's ability to change his alignment at will. Some also have drawbacks: the Monk can add his starting Craft to his Strength when fighting, but can never equip weapons.
The goal is to reach the center of the board, but movement is intentionally imprecise. Each turn you roll a die and move that many spaces in either direction then follow the instructions for the space you landed on: usually drawing one or more Adventure cards, which can represent monsters, loot, followers and other kinds of enconters.
As someone who can get pretty obsessive about both reading and video games, I keep expecting gamebooks to grab me by the throat. It seems as though they should be perfect for that: part game, part book, all gripping entertainment.
Most of the time, however, I find them a bit thin. Not enough game to really sink into mechanically, not enough book to really reel me in. Sorcery! [$4.99] managed to keep me up well past my bedtime, though. Inkle offers the same expertise they displayed in bringing Frankenstein [$4.99] to life to the task of drawing the magic of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! out onto the screen. At least in part: thus far, only the first of the four books of Sorcery!, The Shamutanti Hills, is available.
The journey through those hills is still a gamebook trip, no doubt about it. There are stats, interactive combat scenes and plenty of big decisions to be made. It's just that nothing feels restrained; nothing feels all that formulaic. Sorcery! goes big where needed, and the app shines for it.
Foursaken Media's castle defense third-person hack 'n slash mashup Heroes and Castles [$1.99 / Free] has just received another massive update adding all sorts of new goodies to the game. You might remember that we thoroughly enjoyedHeroes and Castles when it came out in January, and the very next month a huge version 2.0 update hit which sweetened the deal even further by adding a competitive multiplayer mode, a single-player Siege mode, and a trio of brand new character classes to play as.
Today's update, which is significant enough to be called version 3.0, again adds a trio of new characters. First off is a female Assassin which gives you a sneakier way to dispatch your enemies. Next up is a Barbarian who has a unique "risk vs reward" attribute that seems him getting stronger as his health gets lower, which should make for some interesting tactics. Finally there is a Druid who uses nature and various kinds of spells to augment the units under his control. The Assassin comes free for everybody, while the Barbarian and Druid are unlocked using gems like the rest of the characters in the game.
In addition to the new characters, a new 20 mission campaign has been added which continues on from the end of the first campaign, and is balanced for players who have beaten the first. It features a new beach environment and new enemy types. There are also several new ally units that you can utilize, like a long-ranged Hunter, heavily armored Dwarves called the Iron Helms to beef up your front lines, two new types of Wizards, and a very powerful (but very expensive) Dwarven Tank which sounds pretty bad ass. Speaking of ally units, you'll be able to level up your buildings and units by 3 additional levels thanks to the new update.
All of this new Heroes and Castles version 3.0 content will be available in versus and co-op, and there's a new multiplayer map to battle it out on as well. If you have a higher-end iOS device you'll also be treated to real-time shadows, and Foursaken has lowered the RAM usage on lower-end devices which should help with of the crashing issues some people had been experiencing. Of course, there's many other tweaks and fixes under the hood in this update too.
Heroes and Castles just keeps getting better as time goes by. There is a full-featured free version which will let you give it a spin risk-free, though the version 3.0 content in that version had a slight hitch and is still waiting for approval from Apple. Seriously, Heroes and Castles is truly awesome and players in our forums have been loving it since day one, check it out if you haven't done so already.
I need Road Not Taken in my life, like, right now. It's the next game from Spry Fox, the studio behind Triple Town [Free]. Inspired in part by Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," it's being described as an "evergreen rogue-like" that explores life in loss -- you know, heavy stuff, like what happens when you stray from your path and all that.
Spry is being pretty vague with details (and probably for a good reason), but it is sharing some concept art and a teaser trailer, the latter of which we've embedded in this post. Take a look around; this thing looks like a winner.
Road Not Taken is due out for PC in 2013 and "eventually" mobile and tablet down the line. There's no doubt we'll be keeping our all-seeing eye on this thing, so add this one to your Watch List in our app [Free] if you want to be alerted whenever we post an update on the project.
Cavern [$2.99] is a pretty traditional, top-down rogue-like. You might recall the name. It made an impression on folks back when it was released in 2011. Frustrating, game-ending bugs ultimately held it back, though, despite its neat ideas, great touch interface, and hip combat. Most of those issues have now been fixed. A flurry of recent updates, including a big 2.0 update, have made it pretty playable. We've been enjoying it so much, in fact, that we thought we'd share a run in the game with you.
Earlier this afternoon, I decided to school Jared in the art of perma-death in Cavern, which, in hindsight, was a pretty easy thing to do because all I had to do was die. But it sure was nice to walk around in the randomized dungeons of this game again and grab all sorts of loot. Poison, on the other hand, not so much fun.
If you're in the market for an iOS rogue-like game, you need to grab this. Just check out that video and see if it clicks with you.
After a soft launch period that began in February, Gameloft's free-to-play class-based shooter Blitz Brigade [Free] has now been officially launched in the App Store. Originally announced in January, Blitz Brigade feels like the lovechild of Team Fortress 2 and Battlefield Heroes. It's a lighthearted kind of game, as opposed to the gritty, realistic nature of most shooters nowadays. Despite not being an entirely original concept, I'm actually surprised with how much fun Blitz Brigade has been so far.
As you'd expect, it's pretty freemium'd out, but not really in a gross or unfair way. It looks like you'll be able to earn everything the game has to offer just by playing, or if you're impatient or otherwise just don't mind dropping a few dollars on in-game currency you can purchase packs of gems to spend on basically anything in the game. The part that's annoying is that Gameloft takes every chance possible to let you know you could be spending that gem currency, so it's pretty in your face, but at least it doesn't appear to gate any of the content from you outright.
It's sad that so much time need to be dedicated to explaining how a game's pay model works, but that stuff aside Blitz Brigade is pretty darn cool. It looks nice, it plays well, and it's fun. The main dish is of course its online multiplayer, but there's also a good deal of single player missions to work your way through that'll pretty much walk you through all the different aspects of the game and its characters. The online connection has been a bit iffy but seems solid for the most part. If you've played any other Gameloft shooter you pretty much know what to expect.
I'll be spending the weekend playing some more of Blitz Brigade to dig in further, but I have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised with it so far, and our forum goers seem to be digging it as well. It's free so give it a look if you've been waiting for this type of shooter to hit your iOS device.
While the folks over at Big Bucket Software are busy cranking away at their next project, they've decided to show a little love to their previous iOS release The Incident [$0.99] and drop its price down to 99¢. What is The Incident? Well, imagine on any random day you're outside standing on the sidewalk. All of a sudden, stuff just starts falling from the sky. And by stuff, I mean just a bunch of weird stuff. Like refridgerators, cars, foam fingers from sporting events, garden gnomes… if you can think of it, it's probably falling from the sky in The Incident.
Your job is to avoid getting smashed by this stuff, but also continually stay on top of what eventually becomes a rapidly rising junk pile. What results is a fun and challenging arcade game that has stayed on my device since its original release nearly 3 years ago.
Check out our original review for more, but keep in mind that over the years The Incident has been updated pretty frequently to keep with the times. First it received an endless survival mode, iCloud progress syncing, iPad Retina Display support, and most recently iPhone 5 widescreen support. It really is one of those cool little games that's always fun to fire up and play, so if you don't own it yet then definitely consider grabbing it during this 99¢ sale.
We've had a couple of discussions about PikPok's insane creative successes in the recent past. This is a studio that pumps out a ton of games for iOS, and it manages to consistently deliver quality despite its workload. So, in a way, news that its first-person zombie shooting game, Into the Dead [Free], has hit 10 million downloads isn't all that surprising. Still, it's a cool point of validation for our cheerleading. Obviously, it's doing something right.
To dive into more detail about this news, by the way: Specifically, Into the Dead has hit 10 million downloads across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Android in less than five months after its initial release. Obviously, PikPok is stoked with this news. In the PR we've received about this, managing direction Mario Wynands said:
"I'm very proud of the team and process we have built that has been able to have repeat success, and look forward to seeing how our upcoming releases will be received."
Into the Dead is pretty hot, by the way. And so is Robot Unicorn Attack 2 [Free], Super Monsters Ate My Condo [Free], Extinction Squad [$0.99], Flick Kick Field Goal [$0.99] ... and so on and so on. Makes you wonder if there's something in the water over there.
Heads up: SEGA is doing a sale on three of its more notable recent releases on the App Store. From now until later this weekend, you can grab After Burner Climax [$2.99], Crazy Taxi [$4.99], and House of the Dead: Overkill [$4.99] for a couple bucks off their usual listing price. So, if you want to do something with either zombies, taxis, or jets feel free to go nuts.
Here's one of those handy before and now lists:
After Burner Climax - $2.99 -> $.99
Crazy Taxi -$4.99 -> $.99
House of the Dead: Overkill - The Lost Reels - $4.99 -> $2.99
Each of these games suffer from some of the usual issues that come from ports of games that were originally on machines with buttons (or steering wheels ... or joysticks), but generally speaking, they've been received well by folks.
Surprise! Sid Meier's Ace Patrol [Free], that turn-based WWI aerial combat game we talked about not too long ago, is now available on the US App Store for the low price of $0. What you get with that initial download is the first handful of missions in the British campaign, one of the four campaigns in the game. For a price, you can grab the rest of that one as well as the other campaigns.
There's some other IAP goodies being offered, too, including new skins and fighters, as well as a get-out-of-jail card, in case your fighter gets captured. I'm beyond tired of describing free-to-play systems, so check out our video to see them in action. Speaking of that, here it is:
Like most of Sid Meier's stuff, Ace Patrol is pretty rad. We've been digging it so far, free-to-play and all. Give it a look.
Back in early March we told you about Zynga's upcoming Temple Run-style game called Running With Friends, which was just entering a beta period in the Canadian App Store. Early today, Running With Friends [Free / Free (HD)] bid adieu to its limited beta launch and is now available in the US App Store and internationally. VentureBeat has uploaded an official trailer, check it out.
So, endless runners, ya'll. By now you know what they are, you've likely played many different kinds, and here's a new one from Zynga. I'm not really sure what else there is to say on the matter. Running With Friends is free for iPhone or iPad, so you can just download it and try it yourself if you're dying for a new endless runner, or check out the forums for discussion.
The folks over at Butterscotch Shenanigans may be relatively new to the iOS scene, but they've already made some waves with their offerings. Known for quirky humor and bright, silly visuals, I was introduced to their crazy world with Towelfight 2, a game that we enjoyed. Recently, I had the opportunity to check out a build of their upcoming game, Quadropus Rampage which looks to continue the developer's amusing style in a different setting.
Where Towelfight 2 was a set adventure in similar vein to classic top-down Zelda titles, Quadropus takes the same action-oriented gameplay but puts it in a different setting entirely. Dubbed a 'Rogue-like platforming action RPG' by the devs, there's a lot of different elements at play in Quadropus that come together for a pretty fusion of genres.
Players start every run with a level 1 Quadropus at the entrance of a dungeon in search of baddies to kill. Dungeons are comprised of randomized rooms filled with enemies, pitfalls and an exit to the next depth (i.e. room/level). Thus, the goal becomes to kill all the enemies while avoiding the chasms, and move towards the exit to the next level. Killing enemies reward orbs (which act as currency), experience, which levels up your Quadropus, and new weapons and power-ups. Interestingly, falling off the ledges instantly take you to the next depth, but at a significant health penalty.
While it's theoretically possibly to avoid killing enemies and simply look for the exits, it doesn't seem recommended as you miss out on essential experience and possible power-up and weapon drops. This is especially important as deeper levels contain stronger enemies which will easily mow you down if you're weak. In true rogue-like fashion, players move from depth to depth until they eventually succumb, with the next run starting at the top with a beginning level character. However, Quadropus Rampage features two different systems for improving your Quadropus between runs.
The first, simply called Upgrade, uses the orb currency to upgrade a variety of attributes that persist between runs. Examples include attack, critical damage, and special move improvements. It's a relatively standard system and, when combined with the leveling system, doesn't seem to offer many surprises.
The second system, known as Masteries, are a collection of achievements that award special skills upon completing them. Skill examples include earning more orbs when defeating bosses, unleashing a damage-causing explosion when leveling up, or gaining health whenever moving down a depth. If achievement hunting for skill-ups doesn't suit your fancy, Rampage also has a premium currency known as doubloons which can be bought and used to bypass the achievement portion of Masteries (they can also be used to revive your Quadropus and continue a run).
While the game is still in flux (for example, the tutorial mode hasn't wasn't in), I'm really liking what I see with Quadropus Rampage. The game's rogue-like nature, which includes randomized weapons and an amusing naming system, adds to a game that seems to have a lot more depth than one might originally see. In addition, the IAP system, at least as currently implemented, doesn't feel onerous. Finally, as was the case with Towelfight 2, Quadropus is simply funny and share the unique humor of other B-Scotch games.
Quadropus Rampage is slated to come out in the next month and we'll certainly keep an eye out for it upon release.
The roguelike is a timeless video game genre and helped shape the RPGs and dungeon crawlers we've known and loved for decades. But I've never played one that was a side-scroller. Not until WazHack [Free] anyway. Warwick Allison's WazHack has been around on desktop and Android for about a year, and has now made its way to iOS. I've only just barely scratched the surface of the game, but I'm already hooked.
The funny thing about WazHack is that it being a side-scroller doesn't really change its roguelike feel. You still explore a large, randomly generated dungeon; battle monsters in turn-based fashion; and collect all sorts of sweet loot like items, spells and weapons. Your overall goal is to plunge down to the bottom of the dungeon, retrieve the Amulet of Zaw (hey, that's Waz backwards!), and make your way back up and out alive.
Best of all is that WazHack is free to download and play (or free to play on the official website). Once you get to a certain depth in the dungeon, you'll be prompted to purchase a character class to unlock the full dungeon and continue on. There are four character classes (Knight, Wizard, Sorcerer and Huntsman with male and female versions of each) and each class goes for 99¢ as an IAP.
I like this system, as you can play as each of the different classes up to the cutoff depth as many times as you need, and then you can decide to buy whichever ones you really want. The free portion of the dungeon is more than enough to help you decide if WazHack is something you'd like to drop some money on, too.
I have a feeling there's lots more that I'll be discovering about WazHack in the days to come, but I was having such a good time and the players in our forums have been having such a good time that I felt the need to share it with you right away. But seriously, this thing is deep. With over 300 types of items and more than 130 types of monsters, not to mention the various unique attributes of each of the different classes, both male and female, and randomly generated dungeons, WazHack should be a very different experience every time you play.
Check out an older trailer from the desktop version to see it in action.
Something worth noting is that a couple of minor bugs are in this release version of WazHack. From the App Store description:
* Keyboard input on iPhone does not allow pop-down. This will be fixed very soon (1.1.5).
* Multiplayer does not work except by very circuitous means. This will take a little longer to get working - I may use GameCenter for this, but I would prefer that cross-platform multiplayer works, which will take longer.
Nothing major, but good to be aware of at least.
So, go check out WazHack, it's available right now and it's awesome. You can thank me later.
Heard about Tetris Blitz yet? In a nutshell, it's an arcade take on the title that has you dropping blocks and creating lines in a two-minute rush to get the sickest of sick scores. As you can imagine, it's flashier than regular Tetris. Provided you've got the coin to buy them, you can deploy power-ups that jumble, explode, or even remove blocks. And if you're making lines fast enough, you can activate a frenzy mode that, basically, turns most of the board into TNT. It's sorta like Bejeweled Blitz, except with Tetris. Simple enough.
Tetris Blitz hit the Canadian App Store today as part of seems to be a soft launch for the game. Eli and I took a look at it, mainly because we've been hearing a lot of junk about its free-to-play-ness.
As you'll see, it's loaded with ads, as well as those weird "take a survey" or "sign up for such and such" opportunities. You can also buy the game's currency for real money, and if you're feeling froggy, buy a couple of spins on the game's slot machine mechanic, which hands out random power-ups and coin allotments.
Surprisingly, Blitz isn't as aggressive as we though it would be. The game doesn't beat you over the head about what you can buy, at least. But, some of the power-ups do give players better pieces, which could certainly up their score pretty artificially.
One thing for sure, though: this game actually plays pretty good as far as Tetris games on iPhone and iPads, go. A neat prediction mechanic outlines where you can drop a piece, so all you have to do is tap instead of endlessly rotate your piece and follow it down. It's a neat touch. Also, there's the whole Tetris thing: this game, despite how old it is, continues to hold up as a great puzzle game.
Blitz should be out in the coming weeks. We'll keep our eyes on changes, as there will presumably be a few during this launch phase. Check out our video if you want to see it in action, by the way.
Heads up: Firehose Games's tower defense title, Go Home Dinosaurs, is currently worming its way through international App Stores. It'll be available alongside a bunch of other brand new games around 11PM EST here in the states. As we've covered before, it will be launching at $4.99, which seems like a good deal for a pretty fleshed out game.
In case you've missed our pre-release post a couple of weeks back, here's a re-cap: Go Home is a pretty standard tower defense title with a couple of notable twists. For one, you don't just place turrets, you control an autonomous one that you can move around a level freely to cover any defensive gaps. For another, the level design sorta resembles a puzzle game's. Turrets are shaped like jigsaw pieces, basically, and you can only put them where they fit. Finding the perfect spacing and locking the right pieces into each other is an essential part of the late-level strategy.
All this, of course, is wrapped up in a cheery premise with whimsical visuals. We liked the game a lot after we busted out of the tutorial phase (which was way too easy). If you've been feening a new tower defense joint, this might be up your alley. Hit up our TA Plays and see if it clicks with you.
You can always follow your favorite games and add them to your Watch List on our app [Free], by the way. On nights like tonight it's pretty nice to get a notification whenever they release. Feel free to add Go Home Dinosaurs if it looks good to ya.
Talisman is a geeky boardgaming legend. Created in 1983 by Games Workshop, it features a broad range of fantasy archetypes (Elves, Wizards, Monks, etc.) competing to be the first to reach the Crown of Command. 
