As we reported about a week ago, Handelabra Studio’s Sentinels of the Multiverse ($6.99), a digital adaptation of the popular physical board game of the same name, had its multiplayer update rejected by Apple due to the game’s use of “cheat codes." In this case, cheat codes referred to special codes that could be entered into the game to unlock special card variants without forcing players to earn them through progressions or buy them via IAP. It was a nice compromise that allowed players who perhaps weren’t skilled enough or didn’t have the devotion to unlock them through play to get access to the variants, while those who did like that challenge could preserve their sense of accomplishment. Well, Apple didn’t like that whole thing, so they rejected the latest update with the multiplayer functionality based on the whole cheat code thing, which had actually been in the game for some time already and made it through multiple Apple approval processes prior. That’s our Apple! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway, Handelabra stripped out the cheat code functionality from Sentinels of the Multiverse and resubmitted the update in an effort to simply get the multiplayer mode out there as quickly as possible, and figure out what to do about the cheat code thing later. This strategy worked, and the update went live late last night, only about a week after originally intended. Yay cross-platform multiplayer!
That’s not all though, as alongside the new update Handelabra has released a new free version of the game called Sentinels of the Multiverse: Learn to Play Edition (Free). As you might have guessed, the Learn to Play Edition teaches you how to play Sentinels of the Multiverse by way of a special guided mode. One of the knocks against this game that I’ve heard is that it’s difficult to get the hang of, so a special version with an extended tutorial and plenty of hand-holding is a great idea. Once you feel comfortable with the mechanics, you can turn off the guided mode and play for real in a single scenario, trying out different strategies and hero orders to your heart’s content. If you enjoy it and crave more, that’s where the full version of Sentinels of the Multiverse comes in.
The new free version is a great way to get a taste of Sentinels of the Multiverse without ponying up any dough, and it’s also a great way to learn the game if you perhaps have had trouble picking up on it. For the full-blown version of the game, make sure you grab the latest update and check out multiplayer, and we’ll let you know if there ends up being a resolution to the whole cheat code fiasco in the future.
