Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition
I hadn’t played this game since the 1st edition that came out in the 80s. Back then three Hunters chased a nearly-impotent Dracula around the map, eventually slaying him. Nearly every time, anyway. Dracula had hidden movement behind a screen, and left some rumors in his wake, but the damnable hunter cards would give him away at horrible times, and if you encountered him he would get caught during the day more than half the time (you rolled a die, but the hunters had more cards) - a vampire during the day is as feeble in combat as you would think. We called it “The Frustration of Dracula.” He was fun to play, but it was very difficult to win with him. Still, I have fond memories.
– Real player with 37.3 hrs in game
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While no game is ever going to translate perfectly from the board to digital I have to tip my hat to Nomad games for taking on Fury of Dracula, not just for doing it, but doing a very capable job.
*When you read negative reviews about the lack of 1 vs 4 during initial roll out of the game, I have to point out that this was clearly posted on the store page well in advance and in the discussions. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone and it’s a poor excuse to give a thumbs down. It was perfectly clear and the developers have repeatedly stated why they released it as 1 vs 1 and 1 vs AI initially, along with their plans to work on and release 1 vs 4. Understandably, the developers want to get it right, so we just need to be patient. Their professionalism and consistent feedback to our inquiries leads me to believe they will get it done.
– Real player with 30.8 hrs in game
Hunt: The Unknown Quarry
I’m thoroughly enjoying this game. It’s a great alternative to Cluedo, but slightly more challenging and in-depth, in my opinion. It may take a few games to get to grips with the mechanics, cards and options available, but it won’t be long before you find yourself either being targeted/preyed upon or interrogating/attacking other players. It’s a dog-eat-dog type of survival game, where everyone’s out for themselves including the monster. The theme and daunting background music enhance the game, making you feel slightly uneasy (like prey), not knowing for sure who, what or where the monster is, unless they reveal themselves. Also, playing as the monster is an additional challenge, which requires an alternative strategic approach. You’ll soon find you can’t just go around munching on fellow opponents in broad daylight, but have to maintain a far more stealthy disposition. I felt the game was fairly balanced well, particularly if playing the monster against AI opponents (for mediocre players). However, I haven’t had the chance to properly play any friends online yet, so can’t say if this will be the case against live players, who I think will be a little more savvy. In any case, I believe this could only enhance the game further, making self-preservation more challenging. I’ve seen other comments related to lack of online activity (no one to play with) and about playing for free. For me personally, it’s no big deal, never felt the real need to be able to play strangers online. I took a gamble, bought the game and tested inviting a friend to play (for free), which worked fine, no issues. I was sceptical at first after reading some comments, but am extremely pleased to say how glad I am that I made this purchase. I can’t recommend ‘Hunt…’ highly enough, for those who love Cluedo, Mystery of the Abbey (tabletop games), but then maybe I’m just extremely optimistic and easily pleased.
– Real player with 30.6 hrs in game
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Okay I love this game. Like a lot it mixes a lot of elements I like. It has a huge learning curve as many said which I think could be cut down like if you had a sheet or a tab to check what monsters did what that would be cool. Other than that the people complaining about assholes in chats and that didn’t group play I bet, its would be much easier playing with just friends than random people
Over all I don’t make a lot of reviews but i love this game so fucking much I’m leaving a review.
– Real player with 20.1 hrs in game
Naked News
One of the funniest games ive played in ages. I havent been laughing this much since … i dont even know anymore. Its a wonderful game and definitely worth its price. Oh and since the credits encouraged me to give the creators of the game some feedback: ITS AWESOME, YOU DID A SPLENDID JOB GUYS AND I HOPE THERE WILL BE MORE OF THAT. No but seriously, im willing to spend all my hard earned money on games like this. As uve stated in the credits jokes are getting a worse image day by day and so i love to see guys like you who dont hesitate do be a little bit more daring than most of the other devs out there. Seriously, the price is fair and square for what we get, its a great game and im looking forward to see more of you :)!
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
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Having played Randumb Studios, this one on it’s surface seemed much different as most of the others are horror themed. Fun little game - it’s brief but definitely worth the price and you will get some laughs out of it if you aren’t too dead inside.
I also suspect the game itself is a piece of a larger puzzle that I have yet to figure out but has me intrigued to no end. Recommend this and the other Randumb Studios games!
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
Elder Sign: Omens
Awesome game, very addictive, loved it very much. There is a bit of a learning curve, so to help new people out, here are some basic rules / info about the game:
It’s no lie. The RNG will hate you 80% of the time, but then you will have that one golden run which makes up for it.
Pay attention to the unique stats and abilities of your investigators and make sure you are using the most appropriate investigator for the adventure / challenges you are taking on.
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– Real player with 92.9 hrs in game
For $15 this game find itself in a hard spot between those adventurous enough to spend some disposable cash to try new things and those who want a guaranteed good game. If this game ever goes on sale for $10 or less, I think that many people would be satisfied.
This game is essentially a solo-player board game. You can play it with friends, but being huddled around a computer isn’t exactly the most satisfying experience for playing a board game. So play it solo or at most with one partner. If you want to play with four people, buy the board game. Now it may sound rather unappealing having only one player control all of the characters, however this allows that single player to develop strategies that some parties would not be able to come across easily.
– Real player with 76.7 hrs in game
Mansions of Madness
At the beginning, it didn’t seem to work with my GPU… I’ve tried 800x600, 1024x768, full resolution either in desktop or mobile graphics quality, full screen or windowed and the game never started. I could just hear the rain falling (I guess this is what you hear when you are at the main menu?). The screen didn’t even change, not even in black screen. it just stuck having captured my desktop background.
On the other hand, someone from the software dev team of Fantasy Flight came immediately in contact with me in order to solve the problem.
– Real player with 65.1 hrs in game
This game is a complete rip off. The MSRP is 100$ and you get exactly 4 scenarios with next to no replayability, in some levels the tiles layout and monster spawns change a bit, but thats it (some stay almost a100% identical). The narrative and the core elements are always the same, there arent even branching story trees, like in the first edition. Sure you CAN replay it for the challenge, using different characters etc. but for someone like me, who enjoys the story, there is no replay value whatsoever. The first two expansions are even worse, for arround 50$ each you get the components from the first edition (and its add ons) and exactly ONE mission, 50$ for ONE mission!!! The DLCs are okay, having to pay 5$ each, but Heidelberger/Asmodee can’t be arsed to do their job and localize them. Same with the 4th Expansion, it has been out since last autumn/ early winter and it hasnt even been announced to be localized into German yet. Don’t get me wrong, I really LOVED this game and the missions they made, but 25-50$ for a one time playthrough between 2-4hours is just so horribly overprized, that I can’t recommend the game to anyone who isn’t filthy rich or just wants to play the game for its mechanics, rather than its immersive story. If they should decide to add more digital DLC, and get their shit together with the physical expansions and the localisations, I might change my mind, but for the money you have to invest here you could easily get 3-4 video / board games with way more bang for your buck. Oh and while they offer the game on almost all digital plattforms, there is no way to transfer your purchases betwen them, so you have to buy it again if you want to play it on your apple/ android devices. Technically this app is also rather primitive, no mutliple save games, no customisation options (you have to confirm so much stuff all the time, and there is no way of getting rid of all the confirmations “do you really want to end the round?” YES I DO, thank you very much!). And I don’t think that it can be too hard implementing those things, considering there is a fanmade app for this game, created by one or two guys, that tackles all those issues. So Asmodee/FFG/Heidelberger, please stop counting your money and fix your game.
– Real player with 50.8 hrs in game
Fox & Flock
It’s difficult to criticize cheap games, but I found myself not pleased with my overall experience of the game. The length of the main part of the game is to be expected, so no problems there. However, there is so little replay value even with the quick game option. No multiplayer is a glaring example. My experience with the game in both story and quick play has been to repeat the same moves repeatedly until the ai eventually makes a mistake. If the aim of the game is to win, then I find this to be the best tactic. Of course, the potential exists to not play like this, but also increases the chances of losing on the hardest difficulty.
– Real player with 4.6 hrs in game
This game is an odd combination of stylish visuals, cute presentation, lackluster content, and minor glitches that makes it hard to chose yes or no. I’m going with an overall thumbs down because I am not very enthusiastic about it in the end, but with the low price and its “exactly what it says on the tin” presentation makes it worth buying if you’re interested and want to give it a try anyway. You don’t have a lot to lose if you want to try it.
Actually, if you don’t mind the diluted blood stains (as seen in screenshots, nothing worse) I’d even give a thumbs up recommendation as a family game, since I could see my 8 year old self having a lot of fun with it, and there’s no bad language.
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game
Evil Cult
Evil Cult gives the player control over a Cult which tries to take over key figures in society to spread its influence and complete the Final Ritual, before any of the competing cults.
Generators generate resources, making them an obvious prime target for expansion, yet the easier (cheaper) to influence Adepts increase the probability of gathering Virgins, which serve as resource wildcards and are of course necessary for rituals as a sacrifice.
Sects within the cult allow for some optional micro-management. However, the player’s attention is mainly directed at the expansion on the map, resource balance, and awareness of the Investigator.
– Real player with 15.9 hrs in game
This game represents a very niche and rare computer game genre: the cult simulator. There are only two games I know of in this genre: 1. Evil Cult, and 2. Cults and Daggers, which is also available on Steam. This game has great potential, and is being improved with expansion sets. I highly recommend this game, which also has an excellent soundtrack.
– Real player with 13.1 hrs in game
Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition
The very first thing that should be iterated about this game is that it is by NO MEANS a good way to learn how to play Riichi Mahjong at all. Don’t buy this expecting it to include a tutorial on how to play; the only “help” it includes is a quick reference to what buttons do what when pressed. This game is basically your standard, low-budget, offline Mahjong software that’s pretty common in Japan. As such, it’s marketed towards a demographic which is already, at the very least, passingly familiar with the game and how it’s played. The translation was likely done via google translate in an attempt to make more sales by cashing in on a Western audience who might’ve watched Akagi or Saki and thought “man, I have no idea what the fuck is going on but this looks really cool! I want in!” In that respect, it would seem that the developers were pretty successful in their endeavour, much to the buyers' dismay.
– Real player with 45.0 hrs in game
Pros:
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fully functional Riichi Mahjong on Steam
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“custom rules” like number of rounds, starting points, open tanyao, red fives, etc.
Cons:
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“pretty” and “cute” are subjective. Just a handful of the girls don’t look like shit
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no tutorial for beginners, not even basic stuff like a scoring table or yaku-list. If you can’t play riichi you won’t learn it with this game
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horrible gamespeed. You have the choice between painfully slow and way to fast. Choose slow and one game lasts several minutes. Choose fast and the AI discards 3 tiles in a split second. Best thing about that: If the AI calls on a discard for a win you don’t know who it came from and what it was until a cut scene ends.
– Real player with 11.4 hrs in game
Tharsis
Elder Sign and Alien Frontiers' ugly baby
Tharsis is basically a cheap, space-themed copy of Elder Sign . I’m not giving this thumbs-down because it’s difficult and sometimes you’ll lose just because of bad luck. I liked Elder Sign enough to buy each one of its overpriced expansions (on the iPad version), because although Elder Sign does a piss poor job of explaining how the game works, it’s actually FUN and gives you enough control over the chaos to be satisfying. In contrast, Tharsis feels more like the Iraqi version of Wheel of Fortune: https://youtu.be/Cz8cSpRmowM?t=1m1s
– Real player with 32.3 hrs in game
I love board games, I don’t hate dice, I usually like a good strategy challenge, and I think space & Mars are cool - So I can recommend this to people like me when it is on sale for at least half off. YOU SHOULD KNOW: I’d ignore reviews before August 2016 because a patch was added with a better tutorial, bug fixes, and some missions - All of which were significant additions to the game (at least for me). If you expect something more than a turn based board game, you’re gonna have a bad time. Also, I strongly encourage doing the Training missions before or after beating Easy as well as picking crew abilites that best main reasons for losing a game - Without these I could’ve rage quit before beating Normal mode. Now for a full breakdown that I haven’t seen anyone else give like this, followed by exactly what turns consist of:
– Real player with 24.8 hrs in game
Cultist Simulator
I’m a writer, and I fell in love with Alexis Kennedy’s imagery and lore. I was never into videogames, but the storytelling and atmosphere really spoke to me. I recommend it to dreamers and problem-solvers alike.
– Real player with 1273.0 hrs in game
This game has to be the single most difficult game I’ve ever played, I wont lie.
Like it’s one thing if a game is hard as balls, but this game physically hurts to play.
It’s not even a matter of frustration or anything like that.
All I have to do is look at the game board, and then my head starts to pound.
No game I have ever played before has had me slam my head down on my desk after winning because winning means I don’t have to torture myself anymore …until my brain decides that starting a new run is a good idea, that is.
– Real player with 90.7 hrs in game