Egyptian Senet
To summerize, if you are someone who goes for something with content and thought then try this out; it’s for literally 50 cents when it’s on sale.
This game’s graphics are higher than the screenshots posted, so don’t be fooled. This version is made for normal desktop resolution so I don’t know why any kid would complain. The design is pretty good for a 2D design, and the effort put in the details in the art were meticulously done and not just randomly copied. Everything to me seems like it has its own cham, the victory screen is cute and pleasant, while the prompt when you lose is unpleasant: as to be desired since this is a game for anyone to play and is meant to be symbolic, hence its accessibility to all ages is a plus.
– Real player with 21.5 hrs in game
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Purchased for a reduced price of £0.79 so can’t say I’m not happy with the purchase!
In all Senet is captivating and this version acts as a good introduction, it is quite addictive as a casual game.
In way of criticism the game presentation is dated and I get the distinct feeling when moving up the difficulty levels the AI gets ‘luckier’ rather than more tactical. This makes the game short-lived as it soon becomes tiresome knowing the AI will often throw the correct combinations to rapidly progress pieces. Something that rarely happens for the human player!
– Real player with 12.4 hrs in game
1775: Rebellion
I am experienced player of the original board game. I bought this PC version of the game when it first came out and the developers has done a great job fixing all the bugs. They have been very responsive. Currently at v1.05 I have yet to find any bugs. At its hardest level the AI can be beaten many times but not easily. The AI is challenging and requires your concentration. However, the AI doesn’t always make smart moves and on rare occasion, very ridiculous moves that would cost the AI the game. I have been beaten by the AI a couple times and in one game, it ended in a draw.
– Real player with 39.6 hrs in game
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Overall, 1775 does a great job in translating a good board game to the PC. If you don’t mind playing an AI that is less than competitive –- even on the hardest setting — or you just want to learn the rules of the game playing solitaire you will enjoy this title. I found the graphics and art appropriate.
If you are like me and want to play the game with other people then that is where 1775 fails miserably. While the game states it supports multiplayer — several types of multiplayer — in it’s current implementation it is not usable. The “online” multiplayer is really glorified play by email but worse. When it comes time for your opponents turn the game screen closes to the main menu — you are not able to even view the board! — and all decisions that are supposed to involve you are handled by the AI (poorly?). In reality you are playing when it’s only your turn or 50% of the time. Completely unaccpetable. Once I discovered this I decided to try the local multiplayer thinking the developers provided this option knowing that some people will not enjoy the asynchronous, let the AI make my moves during the other persons turn and during this time I see none of what transpires option. It works extremely well EXCEPT information that is supposed to be private — the cards in the current player’s hand — are publicly visible with no ability to hide them. A simple click-to-show option solves the problem but is missing.
– Real player with 37.1 hrs in game
American Patriots: Boston Tea Party
I started wargaming in the 80’s, when a flood of small, inexpensive games hit the market. Metagaming and SPI were among the first to offer a whole game for just three or four dollars. Pretty soon TSR was churning them out as well. This is very much that sort of game- hexboard, attack/defensive-move. Nothing revolutionary here (irony). But it is the sort of thing you’ll like if you like that sort of thing.
A note on the simple graphics- simple does not always mean bad. The bare-bones graphics add a lot of class and atmosphere to the game. The map is a hex grid laid over a vintage sepia map- very pretty.
– Real player with 25.1 hrs in game
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Highly Recommend! For what this game is it is an absolute gem.
I bought this game and its Civil War themed sequel for only $1. I already love these games, and I haven’t even tried any of the multi player modes yet. This game’s not without a couple of forgivable flaws. If your mouse has a high DPI rate, you might want to use keyboard controls to navigate.
These games eliminate the biggest downside to table top war games. Most games take a long time to set up, and even longer to get past the “Opening Game” phase where you move toward engaging the enemy. For true fans of tactical board games this game would be a bargain even at a cost of several dollars. If the devs wanted to, they could easily add a few simple features like more maps that would make this game a great value even at a cost of $5 or more.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
Blocks!: Richard III
It’s seems like a worthy and faithful adaptation of a good block game, albeit fairly expensive for what you get by modern standards. Below is some feedback:
1. The sound effects are pretty minimal and could be a little more atmospheric, plus the graphics aren’t the most beautiful. I don’t know whether it’s a lack of resolution or what, but they just look a little harsh. I also think better visual clarity over nobles, heirs, who’s king, and who dies vs who goes back into the pool would greatly help the UI but I’m assuming this will get easier with repeat plays.
– Real player with 13.1 hrs in game
All the blocks games appear to of been abandoned with no more word from devs. This after making promises to continue work on each title, and after crowd funding 2 of the titles. Suffice to say I am not the only one who is unhappy with the state of these games (more so because it had a lot of potential) and would say stay far away! Not even worth it on sale as it barely works. Poor ai, bugs, and from what I hear multiplayer is essentially broken.
I’d also add its best to stay away from Avalon Digital until they get their act together. Other than SGS (and possibly the Carrier game I do not own it) their games have releases buggy, with little visibility and a failure to improve at all on the AI which is atrocious.
– Real player with 7.2 hrs in game
Hnefatafl
This game the most fun I can find these days (coming from an experienced hobby chess player). Different rules and game types are available for the ancient Hnefatafl game that was played in the viking area before the advent of chess. Hnefatafl is an unbalanced game where the strategy for each side is very different. One side plays the defender and must escape with the king while the attackers rush to capture him. Because of this unbalance in the rules the computers are still no match for decent human players. Try for example the mode legacy berserk and you will find yourself at the top of the food chain in no time. The number of possible moves to play increases faster than in e.g. chess and go, making it hard to calculate and predict far ahead, especially for the larger boards. Because of this complexity and the unbalance in the rules it will take time for the computers to play well leaving the arena for us humans to compete using intuition to guide us. Maybe you have what it takes to come up with a new way to play and beat the current top ranked players?
– Real player with 912.2 hrs in game
This appears to offer everything you need if you are interested in this ancient game, including all the main variants, the ability to customise the game and rules and create your own variants. online play, synchronization with with the mobile phone version, decent graphics and interface, graphical mods, and great developers who listen to feedback and strive to keep improving the game.
I suggested an interface/display change to make the game look better on my monitor and screen resolution, and with a day or two an update was released with the idea implemented. Fantastic!
– Real player with 117.4 hrs in game
Lorenzo il Magnifico
I will freely admit that Lorenzo is a favorite board game. In Pre-Covid times I would beg my game group to bring it to the table. While this implementation of the game digitally had a rocky start, it’s now settled in as an elegant rendition of a very complicated game. In particular, the AI is finally modestly competitive…but very modestly… I play this game most often after a loss on Yukata or BGA…because it soothes my ego to have a reliable victory.
But the real reason for my “yes” recommendation is that I live in hope of finding a live human being to play this with. For months, I’ve hit the lobby at various times of day in the vain hope of finding a game I can join. So ] far just crickets. I just know I can’t be the only person who bought this game. I figure if I write a review, maybe someone will tell me where you’re all hiding.
– Real player with 217.2 hrs in game
A nice digital adaptation of a great boardgame. If you’re not familiar with the actual boardgame you will have to follow the complete tutorial and then still have some trial and errors (the tutorial lacks a bit in dept concerning strategie, unless you want to read a lot of text in the glossary), but looking for great ways to score and learning to improve your game is actually something that makes this game a hidden jewel.
In a game of Lorenzo il Magnifico you will try to earn points by gaining buildings, assets, … (the parts shown in the big building on the right) and by gaining papal approvement (this is not obligated, but failing the pope gives you some kind of penalty).
– Real player with 32.5 hrs in game
Through the Ages
Through the Ages : 2nd edition is a fantastic port of a physical board game to the digital space. A hit board game created by Vladimír Chvátil (Vlaada Chvátil) in 2006. The rules have changed slightly from the original version mainly with tactics cards being shared.
Gamelay-wise, a turn-based action point game. Each turn, you start with a political phase where you play an aggression card, event card or war card. Then, you have your action phase, where you get to use your civil actions (white) to build civil units, draw cards and place leaders. With military actions (red), you get to build military units and play tactic cards.
– Real player with 710.8 hrs in game
I’ve been holding off making a review for this game. Reason being, the developers had some server issues until recently. Something to do with the providers of the multiplatform system they used pulling out from supporting it. This happened at the same time they were upgrading compatibility from IPv5 from IPv6. With them being a small development team, this pulled all their resources to get stability back. For some months there was some frustrating server moments.
Now I won’t profess to understand exactly what was going on behind the scenes, BUT… they fixed it!! Through the Ages is now fully stable!!
– Real player with 489.1 hrs in game
Twilight Struggle
I’m coming up to 1000 hours of online play over a twelve month period. Despite the lack of support from Playdek, this is a great game well worth buying. Hands down, one of the best strategy games ever released.
This is an excellent port of the boardgame and is the better alternative for frequent play. I save my hard copy for special occassions because this is just so convenient. Set up and play are a snap. AN entire game can run in just under an hour. Even better, it functions well on tablets so you can play in bed or generally while relaxing. Much better than being stuck in front of a desk or laptop.
– Real player with 1304.9 hrs in game
I’m going to write two reviews, one for fans of the board game of which this is an adaptation, and one for people who have no experience with TS at all.
If you have never played TS before, I highly recommend you play against a human opponent (preferably one who is a competent player) before you try going up against the AI. You’ll have a few moments of fun, for sure, and if that’s all you’re looking for you would probably get a better value for your money elsewhere. But in the process of having that fun against the AI, you’ll learn all kinds of bad habits which, ultimately, will make you a worse TS player. I recommend definitely should NOT buy this game UNLESS you have a friend to play against, but if you do, then I think you SHOULD consider buying it.
– Real player with 144.6 hrs in game
Viking Chess: Hnefatafl
The chess itself is amazing! The game devoloper is really attentive, I had a problem during the early release and he had the patience to sit and chat with me to get the problem solved. There are two sound tracks (if I’m not mustaken), both in perfect loop and didn’t get boring even after 12 hours. The graphics might not be what I’m used to in the games I usually play, but I loved them, a totally 3D Hnefatafl game (if you don’t like the 3D you can play in 2D by pressing ‘Tab’). Right now the game is still in the 1.01 version, so there might be some bugs, but I highly sugest you to write your issue in the steam community, the developer will get in touch in no time, and he’s goona help you out!!
– Real player with 31.4 hrs in game
ever since i heard of this game, i wanted to try it out.
since online simulators didnt work i was really looking forward to the steam version
its a fun game, but it is very asymmetrical (i lost every game as attacker except one and have yet to be defeated as defender, against the ai), still gotta see what multiplayer has in store and what strategies may work
although its an old chess like game, style and strategies are very different here, every piece moves like a rook and anticipation is very difficult because of the four sides and the bigger field
– Real player with 7.8 hrs in game
7 Grand Steps: What Ancients Begat
Ok, I’ve played this game over a period of years and I’ve stared guiltily at the ‘Mixed’ ratings for about as long.
Simply put, I love dynasty builders, so I’m gonna recommend this game. There are so few games that allow me to try to play through a bunch of historical family drama and this is one of them.
It’s a strange game, to be sure–but in gaming, strange is never a bad thing. But it does mean that this game is niche and just because I recommend doesn’t mean I have any illusions that everybody will enjoy this game. Either you’ll love it or you’ll hate having spent money on it. I don’t know if you’ll completely hate it outright: it’s too hard to categorize. It’s a weird, simple, arcade-style game about an ancient family trying to move up through the ranks. The mechanics have been explained well in other reviews, but the gist is you play out entire lifetimes, getting hitched (or not), giving birth to children that are a pain to feed and keep from hating each other, and you’ll be prompted with all sorts of story events. You’ll often go up and down. An entire arc (pushing through each age, last I checked I think there were about three) would take 15 hours. Plenty of replay value, simply based on choices in story events.
– Real player with 23.7 hrs in game
Towards the end of the Copper Age, things were finally looking up for my family. After many years of being bottom dwellers in the social caste system my family discovered the “alphabet” and the art of being a “physician”. This thrust us into the upper middleclass, and my only daughter, Senet, became the best child this family had ever seen. She was above the other children in the village with an absolute understanding of science and literature. When Senet left to discover herself she took a sizable inheritence with her.
– Real player with 20.7 hrs in game