Witching Hour Studios’ Ravenmark: Scourge of Estellion ($9.99) seemed made for asynchronous multiplayer from the start. The versus-play expectation of most TBS gamers, the ease of asynchronous play on iOS devices, Ravenmark’s tabletop miniature-gaming feel, and its simultaneously-resolved or “we-go" turns all seemed to make it inevitable.
A multiplayer update was rumored, and then it was going to be a separate app, and then… nothing. Until now.
Witching Hour announced Ravenmark Mercenaries with a trailer and a promo page full of promised features. There’s a lot on offer here, including more story (spoiler warning: Mercenaries is set after the events of Scourge of Estellion), versus play, mercenary contracts (which sound like single-player missions), customizable standard-bearers, and a promise that there will be “no pay to win shenanigans."
It sounds like, for balance’s sake, you will be forming your mercenary squad for each battle by picking two pre-defined brigades (containing a mix of units), then adding a commander and a standard bearer, but both the commander and the standard bearer will be customizable. So you won’t be able to field an army composed exclusively of Armored Hallow Frogs (a rookie strategy in any case), but you should still have plenty of flexibility.
Ravenmark: Mercenaries is slated for a summer release, so we expect to hear more details as the time draws near.
