D&D Lords of Waterdeep
I’ve never played the board game, but I thought I would give this game a shot since I’m a long time D&D player and have been craving a bit of solo fun. Most people have already outlined the pro’s and con’s regarding it, so I will not go through them. I will tell you:
-The game is worth $10 easily. Even $15 is acceptable if you like computerized board games.
-You must play the tutorial to understand what’s going on. I played it twice, and after that was a pro at playing.
-Ignore all the naysaying about the animation speeds. Once you know what is going on, you will appreciate the speed of the animations. Could they be slower? Sure. However, a couple games through and you know exactly what the cards are doing. There is also a review icon that you can click called the “Discard Pile” to read and look at the cards that have been played. In addition, you can click on the individual players cards and review those that they have drawn which may have moved too fast to read initially. IN FACT, it is a good strategy to review the other players cards to make decisions in the game.
– Real player with 61.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Board Game Strategy Games.
My “hours played” stat is a little misleading, because I played the iOS version of Playdek’s adaptation on the iPad for years.
This version is virtually identical to the iOS version, with a few exceptions. The most obvious is the fact that the game is horizontally oriented, instead of vertically. This is an unfortunate necessity, since monitors can’t be oriented vertically. As such, the expansions –- and I strongly recommend getting that DLC – have to be awkwardly crunched into the board, instead of elegantly just placed below the board. One has to scroll as well, and non-obvious tabs implemented to save space.
– Real player with 43.1 hrs in game
Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation
Short version:
Pros:
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Colorful graphics
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Decent ideas
Cons:
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Repetitive enemies and locations
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Too random
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Unbalanced
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Grindy
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Questionable DLC practices
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Feels like a mobile game
“Long” version:
Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation is a turn-based dungeon-crawler that takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.
You control a group of heroes with different abilities and you must complete quests and side objectives to upgrade your gear and get to the final level.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2377348053
– Real player with 30.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Board Game RPG Games.
Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation is a boardgame-inspired title in which a group of brave adventurers seek to end a terrible curse plaguing the Forgotten Realms. Traverse the jungles of Chult to find the source of deathly magic unleashed upon the living and the dead, yadda yadda.
Writing two introductory sentences about a fantasy-themed game shouldn’t be difficult in theory, but here we are, struck by reality where the curse of Dungeons & Dragons video games persists - majority of them are very lackluster for what is supposed to be one of the greatest and most known tabletop franchises, and Tales from Candlekeep is no different.
– Real player with 25.0 hrs in game
TRPG Workshop
Driven by their intense zeal for making an easier-to-use and more user-friendly online TRPG platform providing players more freedom, these veteran gamers develop TRPG Workshop. It is deemed as a comprehensive TRPG auxiliary platform that gives players a great degree of freedom. This means that TRPG Workshop almost contains all the functions needed for TRPG games and renders a visible and simple solution.
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Interactive Visualnovel-like gameplay brings more engaging game experience
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Act as GM, Player or Spectator
The GM and Players in a single room have different abilities and rights including visible methods to throw a dice or switch the background – all for your convenience!
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Check visible profiles in game anytime
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In-game map editor
Share maps via Steam Workshop or other ways. On a map, there exists the Fog of War blocking your vision, little Tokens representing your characters, and even different accidents that may take place to change the world.
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Replay your game when it ends!
Every game in TRPGWORKSHOP will be recorded. Any choice you have made and any throwing of dice will remain unchanged. Logs are replayable and shareable.
Rulebooks are supported. Share them with friends or on Steam Workshop!
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Share and re-create
Steam Workshop will be fully available for TRPG Workshop. Backgrounds, character illustrations, map, map resources, scenario mods and even rulebooks or character cards are all free to customize and share on Steam Workshop at will.
Powerful resource manager is also supported for TRPG Workshop. Just one click to sort out your creations as easy as blowing off dust.
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Future
Apart from various built-in resource packages for the platform, we are engaging in developing many convenient functions including QuickNote, voice-to-text log or even illustration production and facial capture for Live2D visual characters.
Read More: Best Board Game RPG Games.
TaleSpire
This tabletop will change the way you play your online sessions forever.
If you are a DM and felt at any point that your sessions were “flat”, that combat was lacking the 3d aspect, or that your maps were not detailed enough, you need to get this.
If you are a player and you appreciate when the DM had a table with an impressive set of walls, traps and miniatures waiting for the game session, you need to get this.
If you at any point looked at your game board, and said. I’d love for it to be as impressive as videogames, with animations and lights, you need to get this.
– Real player with 160.3 hrs in game
This program is amazing, and it has allowed many in our group to get into D&D that never would have before. We’ve been running a campaign for a few weeks now, and it has been a blast using this program. We all live far away from each other, so getting together was not an option, but the visual aspect of this game has helped some of our players enjoy D&D that never would have enjoyed sitting around a table and playing.
This game is also a huge money saver. For $25, you get to create all these maps and have access to so many minis, which would cost a fortune getting real ones from Dwarvenforge (for example, an unpainted cottage stone set on there is $40, that’s just the cottage).
– Real player with 110.0 hrs in game
Wildshape - Map Editor (free demo)
Definitely would recommend giving this map editor/VTT a try if you’re running campaigns with your friends either online or locally. It is best used with a second monitor to have as indicator for what your players see.
The tool sports the most visually impressive map editor I have come across, and whilst the VTT features definitely still need some work to be considered top of the line, they are certainly usable and enjoyable. I am a first time DM, and am very much looking forward to utilizing this tool for a long time to come if it is kept up in the same pace as it has so far.
– Real player with 97.2 hrs in game
Absolutely love it. The level of realism and natural beauty you can create with Wildshape is simply unmatched. To me, Wildshape is a simulation for those insanely detailed real world battle map models you see at your local geek shop, but it’s here, on your screen with loads of assets, and textures to bring it to life without ever touching a bottle of glue.
I own several map makers, such as dungeondraft and arkenforge. This is entirely a different product, and with that there is a learning curve. Expect to spend time getting used to creating in a 3D space as it’s not going to be simply drag and drop like other 2D applications (for obvious reasons). So yes, takes time to learn, but the pay off is huge.
– Real player with 28.8 hrs in game
Dungeon Solver
If I could give a neutral view, that would be great, but alas, it not possible.
But I’d still recommend getting it if you want to relax AND are good at solving puzzles - as you need all heroes alive, not just the warrior to get it through, so can’t sacrifice the wizard so the warrior can attack the enemy.
You have you use the brain of yours to get anywhere, but if you don’t this game aint for you.
– Real player with 24.4 hrs in game
One game mechanic, having to press skip on every single turn, makes a 2 hour game into a 16 hour game. This becomes extremely tedious as you move through the game. the Skip enemy turn button should simple be a toggle, would make the game more enjoyable.
Since the developers are actively fixing the small aforementioned issue, it does not significantly take away from the puzzle solving value included in this surprisingly deep game.
– Real player with 14.4 hrs in game
Game Master Engine
I would rate this programme. It is obviously still in Early Access still and I am a new dungeon master (DM) which means I am probably bias with how flashy this comes across.
I DM online (with a group of friends that are located in different cities) and primarily use this as a world map “top world/view/map (can’t remember what it is called)” and use the “battle map” for creating townships and combat arenas. I definitely do not use the bulk of the functions and the availability of models (animals, certain races etc) is still limited. I use the screen share option on Discord because this is what we use for our DnD group voice and text channels. It appears that the Dev’s are working on a multiplayer update but I probably will not use this function anyways.
– Real player with 6.8 hrs in game
It is important to keep in mind that this game is in Early Access, however I can confidently say that this game (“program” is a more accurate term) has an infinite amount of potential. The controls are currently quite clunky but with some playing around you can get the gist and begin to compromise. As a DM for 5 years this program has already helped me create our world as a 3D model and my players are ecstatic to see the alternate world they’ve been living brought to life. I still have some playing around to do but I have a few suggestions thus far:
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
Mighty Dungeons
I enjoyed this little budget game so far. It feels like Heroquest but better. Done 5 of 8 campaigns already in about 5.5 hours. That being said, one playthrough and I think I’ll be done with it. I’m guessing I’ll get about 10 hours tops out of it playing with one of the OP toons.
For the price, if you enjoyed Heroquest as a kid, this is worth.
UPDATE: Underestimated this game. I was playing with permanent death and in the last map of the 7th campaign I was overconfident and ran into a room through a secret door with 8 powerful toons all giving each other gang bonus. First one smacked me around silly.
– Real player with 25.1 hrs in game
This game sits in my wishlist for a long time but during this summer sale I decided to buy it. Started with a barbarian to learn the mechanics. Made some bad decision but I am able to finish the first 3 campaign easily. So far so good. I gathered enough points to upgrade so I have increased attack speed, attack and defense for my bloodthirsty barbarian. Rushing through Chaos Gods campaign gives me the first surprise: end boss wipes the floor with me. From 2 hits. WTF? OK maybe I missed something so let’s get back to Skeltor campaign. End boss kicks my butt. Again. What the hell is going on here?
– Real player with 20.8 hrs in game