Eight-Minute Empire

Eight-Minute Empire

It’s very well done port of the Red Raven Games' board game of the same title. I played the analog version and I have to say that the digitized brother is more enjoyable. Things like glows, and victory point sum-ups are pretty obvious.. but now I can see how much this stuff works and it really does! Now I can tell who is winning and why - when playing board game it was always kind of mystery ;-)

Due to factions' leaders characters, soldiers, and soundtracks it’s much more climatic than board version (I have never supposed I can tell such a thing).

Real player with 15.1 hrs in game


Read More: Best Board Game Casual Games.


I Beta tested this for a few weeks. I never tried online play, only local. It was rock solid when played locally. I found only one minor bug, and it was fixed before I reported it (someone else had reported it the day before).

I wasn’t even going to try it out, because this is (I thought) not the kind of board game I like. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong! Highly addictive, very fun, and super fast. My favorite play is versus 2 AI characters (you can play locally against 1-4 others, any combo of AI and humans). There’s some luck, but a lot of tactics (some strategy, but it’s often overshadowed by luck, so it’s mostly tactical). There are 3 levels of AI. I’ve lost to all 3, I’ve beaten all 3, but generally the AI levels accurately reflect their ability. I played only about 3 dozen games, so perhaps I’ll get to a point where the AI doesn’t provide enough of a challenge. But even if so, this definitely seems worth the money to me.

Real player with 12.5 hrs in game

Eight-Minute Empire on Steam

Samurai Cat

Samurai Cat

Good gameplay, good idea, but you should fix the slow motion when the golden mouse is the last one, because if the player tries to attack it more than twice, they won’t want to see slow motion if it’s not dead yet

Real player with 4.8 hrs in game


Read More: Best Board Game Cute Games.


I knew that my time playing checkers would serve me in life, I’m having fun here with this cool cat!

Real player with 3.9 hrs in game

Samurai Cat on Steam

Athena, the rabbit - Jigsaw Puzzle

Athena, the rabbit - Jigsaw Puzzle

Such a cute, short game with an adorable bunny at the center. Picked it up for a whole 50 cents, but would have paid the $1.99 if I had to. Relaxing fun for anyone. That 576 pieces achievement can be done with any puzzle. Looking back on it, I would have chosen one that had more distinctive color changes. It is rather hard with one that has a lot of sameness throughout. But you do get to chose.

Real player with 59.9 hrs in game


Read More: Best Board Game Family Friendly Games.


Very cute game and cute rabbit! I was so involved in the riveting story shown via Instagram photos.

Unfortunately not any time keeping mechanics that would be helpful for a speedrun of this game. There was also no way to turn off the photo of the puzzle in the background because it kind of makes me feel like I’m cheating. Still, I wish/hope for an update or a sequel to Athena’s life.

Personally I muted the music for this game (it’s not atrocious, but there is no volume slider, and I just felt listening to Dedo on Dedo by Simply on repeat for hours was more fitting)

Real player with 6.9 hrs in game

Athena, the rabbit - Jigsaw Puzzle on Steam

Northmark: Hour of the Wolf

Northmark: Hour of the Wolf

IN A WORD: MAYBE

IN SHORT:

OF A SIMILAR NATURE TO: Hero of the Kingdom

WHAT TO EXPECT: Very short. Story-driven objectives. Fantasy setting. Overhead map movement. Minor RPG elements. 31 locations to visit, some with multiple areas. 196 card deck battle system. Limited number of basic puzzles. Virtually zero replayability value.

ACHIEVEMENTS: EASY.

STATUS: COMPLETE.

WHEN TO BUY: ON A SALE.

More info below….

Real player with 7.3 hrs in game

Okay I’m going to try to keep this simple as honestly I’m pretty confused how I feel about this game.

I enjoyed every minute of playing it, but at the end of it I’m feeling empty. I literally did everything I could, fought every battle visited every location cleared every arena and got every achievement. The game could be finished easily a lot faster than my own clocked hours,

I was crawling and searching through the dust hoping for more content.

What is here is really solid, good battle system, a decent selection of cards.

Real player with 7.1 hrs in game

Northmark: Hour of the Wolf on Steam

Radius Hex: Ink Shapes

Radius Hex: Ink Shapes

Organize by rotating ink-filled stamps to form beautiful shapes,

When completing the puzzle the stamp is pressed on the paper, printing your watercolor painting!

Features:

  • 30 carefully designed levels;

  • Original soundtrack composed especially to help you relax;

  • Relaxing gameplay, perfect for those looking for casual puzzle;

  • Beautiful hand-drawn watercolor art.

Radius Hex: Ink Shapes on Steam

Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game is set in the Dresden Files universe, with characters and plot mechanics from the books becoming cards that work for or against you. Each book is its own set of obstacles, advantages, foes and cases that become the board that Dresden and his allies try to overcome.

If you are the kind of player that runs away from a challenge because of a bloody nose, Dresden Files is not for you. You will lose in the beginning, a lot. I know I did. To win takes elements of both skill and luck, like any other game with cards and dice. However, it seems the more I play, the luckier I get … hmm, that could be the skill factor of being able to recognize the better plays to make and better risks to take.

Real player with 371.4 hrs in game

This is very much a Marmite game, you’ll either love it or hate it with equal measure. For me its a winner, a game I can turn on anytime I have a few minutes to kill and don’t want to be bogged down in something more involved. and if you’ve played this game in its real world form you’ll appreciate all the Automation this digital rendition brings.

Pros: Its nicely put together and contains all the characters a Harry Dresden fan could wish for the mechanics of the card battles are easy to learn but difficult to really master which makes each victory one to be savored.

Real player with 192.8 hrs in game

Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game on Steam

Tatsu

Tatsu

If you like backgammon look no further. Very nice concept for a board game.Thinking to buy a physical version as well. The only problem is that the AI is way too easy even on hardest level. High difficulty level should be more about optimal play than hostile rng. But it is a casual game with endless replayability and serious depth. At the moment the players database is small -though you can always find easily an opponent- but this is a quality classic board game that will eventually be recognised. It is relaxing to play and it takes same approach as backgammon: One should play lots of games and with better players than him/her self in order to become better.

Real player with 505.2 hrs in game

After more than 100 hours playing this game, I owe it a review. Blueline developed this digital version of the game, but it was a board game first. I believe it came out last year (2016), and it’s from the mind of John Yanni. He also designed the very very fantastic Hive. Blueline also developed the digital version of that game.

I know Tatsu won’t appeal to everyone, but I really dig it. It’s my come home from work, turn on some music/podcasts, and relax game. As much as I love Hive and other abstract strategy games, they can be very stress inducing at times. Tatsu certainly rewards strategy and skill, but it’s much more chill for me.

Real player with 476.4 hrs in game

Tatsu on Steam

Steam: Rails to Riches

Steam: Rails to Riches

Would I recommend this game? Perhaps, but if it has to be a binary answer, I tend to say “no”. Once you figured out how to play this game, it is some fun if you like strategic board games. But the in-game tutorial wasn’t any helpful to me. In the end, I watched a video on YouTube explaining the physical edition of this game, and figured out the rest by observing the AI and trying out stuff, taking a couple hours untill I finally knew what I’m doing.

There are also some glitches. Rotating track pieces, or changing the piece after you accidentaly picked the wrong one, feels quite clumsy. Undoing an action requires redoing the whole phase. You cannot always zoom out, which is in particular a problem when moving goods. If you accidentally attempt to do an illegal move a warning pops up and you have to wait until it disappears by itself, which is quite annoying. Some elements (like the action cards) are unnecesserily small, so unless you know where you have to click, you don’t have an idea what you are doing (in particular when playing from the couch).

Real player with 23.0 hrs in game

Some of the physical map expansions don’t seem available (yet? ever?) but it’s a good implementation of the boardgame. Fully cross-compatible between Steam and iOS – I’ve had two games going at a time for a while, and I can play my turns on either platform. Game servers have had a tendency to randomly go down on occasion during my several weeks playing so far, but only delays playing for some hours or overnight. Touch play on iOS phones can be a little finicky in dragging and dropping hexes; the undo button can certainly be your friend! Animations could use an option to speed up. (UPDATE CORRECTION: such an option already exists under the options menu, and the fastest version is handy for me.) I’ve turned off the repetitous and somewhat shrill sfx.

Real player with 16.3 hrs in game

Steam: Rails to Riches on Steam

Alice in Wonderland - a jigsaw puzzle tale

Alice in Wonderland - a jigsaw puzzle tale

is a non gamer, this is definitely a recommendation. its nice to come home from work and bash out a puzzle without having to spend a lot of money and have big puzzles sitting in the house. good value game!

Real player with 51.9 hrs in game

Cute puzzle game. Many puzzles with different colour scheme. 100% achievements done after completing all puzzles. Fair pricing.

I strongly recommend getting their bundle with maaaaaany hours of gameplay!

Real player with 34.2 hrs in game

Alice in Wonderland - a jigsaw puzzle tale on Steam

Spacious Snake

Spacious Snake

Nice puzzle game that uses simple mechanics but manages to offer a lot of nice challenges. You play as a snake , but you must plan your moves carefully as some movement restrictions are in place. Overall, the game is a nice time-killer for puzzle fans.

Real player with 2.7 hrs in game

A very simple mechanic, but different with different levels, but very well thought out. I loved the whole game itself, the soundtrack, the way the difficulty gradually evolves, the visuals and even the feeling of satisfaction when finishing a level. idea very well thought out and executed 10/10.

Real player with 1.1 hrs in game

Spacious Snake on Steam