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
Read More: Best Board Game Indie Games.
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
Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!™
Rarely have I felt as compelled to write a review for a game as I have for this one. Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble (DHSGiT) offers a peculiar type of challenge. It’s a game of highs and lows. Whether or not you’ll find it fullfilling seems deeply personal in a way I’ve rarely encountered.
At first glance, DHSGiT appears quirky and charming - undeniably unique. A quick look at promotional material suggests 1920’s teenage rebels taking on their school and town with wit and verve. I was excited to install the game. Who wouldn’t love mouthing off to authority figures and getting into all kinds of period-appropriate debacles?
– Real player with 43.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Board Game Investigation Games.
Can’t even remember why I have this game. Probably from one of those bundles with tons of indie games in them. Obviously, I didn’t expect much here (usually, those cheap indie games turn out to be a complete garbage) and launched the game just to see what did I paid for. But guess what? I’ve got hooked and was unable to stop playing until the very end. I’ve literally stopped playing bigger games and just sat there, playing this. Totally didn’t expect that.
So, what is this game? Well, that’s the funniest part. The thing is… it’s hard to tell. Just because it’s pretty much a unique experience. Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! is designed after a board game, but it’s way more than that. It has a plot that involves the investigations and multiple endings, it has RPG elements (you can manage your “party” and level up your characters), it has mini-games and even some visual novel parts.
– Real player with 19.9 hrs in game
Destinies
Great board game companion app, I found no difficulties with the base functionality and I definitely recommend playing it over steam on a laptop with a bigger screen.
My 2 main points of feedback regarding the game in general are:
1. There’s hardly any need or use for the board and the minis of the actual physical board game. We found ourselves looking only at the screen, which had the most up do date information about the locations and map, and forgot to move our minis around in the physical version. The biggest use for the physical map and minis, is to note down the location where items are dropped.
– Real player with 18.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Board Game Adventure Games.
Software used alongside the boardgame.
Fantastic game, really enjoyed.
– Real player with 11.2 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
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
Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown
Having a narrator for a game can go so wrong …
But this game does it well! Charming narrator, music, and table-full of scenery and figures.
Excellent, excellent game if you worry about motion sickness (VR sickness). No chance of that at all.
This is not a full-body participation game. But as a game laid out in front of you to sit at and control – I find it one of the best! I forgot I was in VR, and the index controls are intuitive (close your hand to grab; open hand to let go). This is like playing a pirate-themed D&D game, moving figures, rolling dice, but it all happens beautifully and automatically in front of you. Pieces get knocked over – sometimes by other pieces taking their turn. But everything rights itself moments later. Even that part is funny and charming to watch.
– Real player with 25.7 hrs in game
Great and charming D&D tabletop RPG.
Could be compared with Demeo, as this is also 3rd person, turn based, grid movement, with cards to use on each turn… but its plenty different with ToT being clearly superior in a lot of ways, but also not without its drawbacks.
Table of Tales is a bit different, a bit more in depth story and mechanics wise…. its Narrator tells a story, and voices different characters, there is a bigger story than “big bad lives there, kill it because reasons”.
A full playthrough took me ~4hrs listening to all the dialogue (that can be advanced by pressing grip) and it has some replayeability, as there are a bunch of choices during the adventure that change the storyline.
– Real player with 16.2 hrs in game
Dice Rollers
this game hurts that my piece
– Real player with 11.3 hrs in game
Nice Game. Story is good and it really reflects a lot of TRPG culture.
Worth buying for TRPG player
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
Midget Kricket Fantasy Chat
The main focus of this program is not to be only a stand-alone game. We intend this game to work with other pen and paper role playing games to provide a more immersive role play environment. Our second goal is to provide as much open customization as possible to allow you to enjoy every experience you have with us.
Chat
This is the most important part of our game.
We have a chat system that is built to work differently with every language you choose to use. You are able to type in Common (or whichever language you speak), and have your written words translated into any language we include in this program. This feature will also allow the “GM” to set a custom actor requirement on the languages. This means you may need to have a character that knows how to speak the language of your choice before using this language, and it can also mean that when you send the message you send it out as if you are the selected character. Everything posted in chat will be based off the character you currently have selected. If you roll dice, post information about abilities or quests, or simply type a message then these all will be sent to your friends based on your selected character.
Questing
There is a special section where players can review their quests and in the spirit of RPG we even allow the “Game Master” to create, update, and delete quests on the fly.
Journal
There is a section that is easy to use where you can write notes about your adventuress, and save these notes to either your players own journal or save them to one of your controlled characters journals.
Dictionary
The dictionary we provide will be set up to be used for you to learn the language without the need of translations. We feel languages are more than just images you read. We want to offer the full experience of speaking like an Orc or an Elf. We have the dictionary set up so that each letter and each symbol not only have a name, but they have a sound. More importantly, each one has a description and a proper way to be used. So, when you type a word like “friend” into our system we search for the correct spelling of the word in the dictionary under the language of your choice, and then we post the correct word for everyone to read. We also attempt to correct spelling of the users so that when typing words that don’t exist in the language the word is still written in a similar fashion. For example, one or more of our languages never use double letters such as in the word “ball” so when using that language it will automatically remove the second “l”. We also plan to set up an auto read feature where it enables our system to read what other people post so you hear the words the way they are meant to be read.
Dice
We offer a dice rolling system in both the cases of simple randomized numbers, and actual 3d rolling dice. Our 3d dice system offer different cameras for watching from different views as we drop dice in towers, pour them from cups, or toss them from hands, each meant to get the best roll for each player. We will also offer in the future special weighted dice and many colors, materials and designs to choose from. All rolls and totals will be exported to the chat system as public or private rolls.
Character Sheets
We offer custom character sheets built not only for our game, but we plan to offer them for other games as well. Do you want to build an Orc Battle Mage but dislike the rules created within Midget Kricket Fantasy Chat? Well, we plan to offer the ability to fill out and use sheets from some of the most popular games out there.
Items
Items are the most important part of any game! We are going to build items for Midget Kricket Fantasy Chat, but why not allow you to build neat items for other games? This system will handle different items such as general items that do nothing or complex items that you can equip. With just 1 click have your 1 handed (Holy Ax of Lightning Damage) swing and miss but still call for its area splash damage of fire and acid that rain from the sky! On a small note, each item will also have a “weight” and a “currency value” that you can fill in to use for other games as desired.
Interactions
This is a complicated feature. We will have a form of trade menu, but we cannot promise it will work for every game at this time. We also plan for a store screen to allow the GM to post items in and set custom currency values for each item. This is only meant to speed up the game so that the GM does not need to find each of his custom created items and decide what to sell it for and place it in your inventory for you. The idea for each of these systems to allow players to be able to view, trade, and buy items quickly.
This is a preview of what we currently hope to offer. We do plan to offer more stuff as people join us in our adventures!
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.
Amazing Pyramids: Rebirth
I like this a lot. If you like word games, and especially Hangman, this is worth a look. It consists of a main game with 55 levels, plus 3 mini games.
Each of the 55 levels consists of a pyramid of 7 words, from 9 letters down to 3. You’re shown the category the word belongs to, eg Animals, Countries etc. After a few levels you start to accumulate 4 power-ups, which:
Fill in one letter in the position you select;
Fill in all the vowels;
Knock out 5 unused letters from your alphabet selection;
Discard the given word and give you a new word.
– Real player with 63.4 hrs in game
Not sure if worth the money, but the experience is quite pleasant. The animations could be faster or at least skippable, and sometimes words you put in in a minigame don’t count when they should, but other than that, It’s a great way to chill out.
– Real player with 22.5 hrs in game
Apollyon: River of Life
This is great game, a hidden gem, It draws you in with what seems on the surface to be a card / table strategy game, but soon reveals a rich fantasy story behind the events in the game. The game board has 16 mystical themes, but the “Theme” of the game is an intriguing mix of Cthulhu-like horror and seance-like summoning. It has elements of a choose-your-adventure but goes beyond that with the strategic selection of tokens influencing the outcomes. The game table itself is beautiful and card art captivating to say the least. After playing it for near 100 hours I have learned many techniques to stay alive, yet am constantly surprised by new invocations (stories). Exactly like a great novel, I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
– Real player with 107.7 hrs in game
If you enjoy struggling, suffering and the occult, then this game is for you. It is hard, you will die, you will struggle and you will lay awake in bed thinking on how to proceed.
But man, is it worth it.
– Real player with 32.4 hrs in game