Fort Sumter: The Secession Crisis
A very faithful implementation of the original board game, which is a Eurogame by design with a historical ACW theme tagged on it. The game does have a decent AI and can be played solitaire as a result. Statistics on your own profile is available and so you can track your own performance vs. the AI. The only downside is the program still has a bug, freezing the solitaire game play from time to time and it seems Playdek was not aware of the issue. The multiplayer is easy to set up and game with score, measuring how you fare against others. However, there is no world ranking in the game, and different level of AI there is not. You can get notification in email when it is your turn in a game with another. A chat room is available but most of the time it is dormant. There is an alternate mapboard to give the game a variant, non-location look but I doubt people to use such a boring map. The gameplay is abstract and there is no manual inside the game or here on the Steam. You have to download it from the boardgame publisher GMT, as long as you are aware of it. This is absolutely a minor for the newcomer as the game itself is abstract and you are quite probably knowing what you are doing in the first few games. Once you get a hang out of the system, the game is smooth and quick to finish in 10 to 15 minutes. Overall, Fort Sumter is a game of tile-placement competing for control of the areas on the map. Score: 6.5/10.
– Real player with 79.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Diplomacy Tabletop Games.
I’ve been on the road a ton in the past couple of weeks and played the hell out of this. In about 60 offline games and a half-dozen online games I haven’t noted any gameplay bugs or rules/cards implementation problems as noted in another review. The recent AI bugfix improved the AI, and it’s competent enough in a mechanistic sense, but it' still a bit weak against experienced players, especially as it relates to setting things up in terms of the long game and Final Crisis. To be fair, that’s something the many human players don’t grok until they’ve played a while (which I have as an owner of the board game).
– Real player with 51.2 hrs in game
Flag Collection
It is a good collection of a lot of flags and banners
from states and organisations worldwide.
The saving function of the flags in the PNG picture
format shows a good quality.
In addition there are some informations about some
flags (banners) delivered with the picture of the flag
itself.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Diplomacy Indie Games.
Entertaining, comprehensive, and educational game, though it’s underdeveloped. It has potential to be great, but needs some more work to get there. I recommend it if it’s cheap, but I ask the creator(s) to improve this game, or they won’t get better ratings.
Basically, there’s a reason this game has “mixed” reviews, but it’s still a good game.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Reiner Knizia Yellow & Yangtze
Strong “Yes” recommendation. 1-4 players.
I’ve played a bunch of games solo and 2 online.
The game is great; levels of complexity in strategy without being difficult to play. Once of my favorite game categories is “deceptively simple”. :-)
I’ve never played the board game, but this port seems authentic and there haven’t been any glitches so far. I can’t comment on the AI since I’m new to the game, but I didn’t see anything dumb and it plays quickly and smoothly.
Seems like this is the kind of game that feels very different depending on the number of players.
– Real player with 192.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Diplomacy Strategy Games.
This game feels ideal for just getting started with online play with few pieces to manipulate and lots of careful strategy to consider. The game is won and lost by very subtle nuances of balance between all leaders. If any faction gets too bloated or carried away with one influence the others suffer and the scoring mechanic is rare, much like Knizia’s earlier Samurai. I like how this game has been rendered, with the building and falling pagodas adding a sense of action to an otherwise pacific game. Also that scoring is so visible and tallied automatically makes gameplay faster than IRL. The mouseover of details of each card are appreciated, but I would also like some hint of the special abilities of farmers to tear pagodas down. This is a case of the online game encouraging cardboard sales because I would buy this box.
– Real player with 86.7 hrs in game
Lux Alliance
This is a simple strategy boardgame, but that simplicity allows for a lot of interesting strategic game play. The combat system resembled the classic Axis And Allies board game rules, but with only two unit types – attack (armor, knight), and defense (infantry). Like that game, you can only build new units in your factory (or castle or city or whatever it gets called).
Unlike most board games (but like Diplomacy), all moves are simlutaneous. Every player issues orders to all units, then when all are complete they all execute at once. This makes attacking a risk, as you must move defending units off a territory in order to attack. Your opponent and you can actually exchange territories.
– Real player with 364.9 hrs in game
I’ve enjoyed this game when I had the regular PC version before as well. It’s something halfway between Risk, and Axis and Allies. There’s more than one kind of unit buuut only two kinds, lol. Additionally though you can also place a new production center. It' also simove, so you have to anticipate what the other powers will do. There are a variety of all against all and team scenarios as well difficulty levels. Within the difficulty levels there are a number of different AIs to play against. The variety of maps to play is fairly extensive - all different eras, themes, some areas, some point to point, some hex grids. I recommend it for those who like Risk level of strategy with a little extra.
– Real player with 72.4 hrs in game
Them Bombs
they are effective
– Real player with 15.2 hrs in game
I love the game concept, it’s fun and you need good communication skills, so it gives that fun challenge
– Real player with 4.5 hrs in game
Strategy & Tactics: Dark Ages
This game delivers some depth in thinking your strategy and tactics in terms of choosing the most effective formation and unit combination. The game might seem a bit difficult at first but once you start grasping the battle mechanics, the game becomes pretty easy to beat although somewhat time consuming depending on which scenario and how much upgrade you have invested on certain type of units. This game delivers some fun and challenge while providing a reasonable challenge and replayability for the price. What makes this game quite replayable once you beat all the scenarios is that you can choose and spend your glory points to keep highly skilled generals and use them again in other scenarios. Also once you have invested in weapon and armor for certain type of troops of your choosing, that upgrades stay for good so when you play other scenarios, you start those scenarios with upgraded stats for the units that you have invested in.
– Real player with 190.1 hrs in game
Early Access Watcher Public Service Announcement
Game: Strategy & Tactics: Dark Ages
Update Version: v1.0 Patch #1
Disclosure: This game copy was bought by the reviewer.
Game Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHc0yrOBAjQ
Strategy & Tactics: Dark Ages is a turn-based strategy title by the developers over at HeroCraft. HeroCraft are no stranger to the strategy genre, making several medieval and modern themed games over the past year. It has been over a month since the game released into Early Access and it has already seen some patchwork to fix some of the crippling launch issues. While the tactics are indeed present in the game, some key mechanics and technical issues make the experience feel more like a battle of attrition than coherent operation.
– Real player with 15.7 hrs in game
Lux Delux
Risking it All
Lux Delux is a Risk game where you play on technically an infinite variety of maps and control various “pieces” as you attempt to defeat your opponents. This plays very much like a board game with very little strategy to it. You’re going to find yourself just build doom stacks of units and then plowing through enemy territory. At the same time, there is immense satisfaction as you finally plow through enemy stacks and make the entire board your color. The unique boards you can play with that users created can range from plain to superb and complex. Despite having the exact same mechanics every time, seeing these new environments and moving your units throughout them makes you feel like you’re conquering completely new areas. Even the hex-based maps that seem to be abundant have their own unique flair to them. This game is not particularly hard, even on hard AI so I recommend at least playing on medium even if you’re a more casual gamer.
– Real player with 77.2 hrs in game
Game Summary:
I’m sure there are several different board games this would be similar to, but when I look at it, it reminds me of Risk. Risk isn’t as notorious as Monopoly is for being a relationship-ruining, hours-long game, but from the times I’ve played Risk it does tend to take a while. Plus, there can be some contention as to what rules or style to base the game off of, as randomly drawing cards can set someone up and screw other people. However, getting to select where to start also has some drawbacks as it can develop an immediate rivalry between two players whilst another can dodge the conflict and conspire against both. This rendition of the game offers the benefits of strategy and territory-conquering board games, without the need for physical space. It also would probably be faster since it’s pretty easy to set up different rules and situations without much effort.
– Real player with 16.7 hrs in game
Oversight
This game is something truly special. It’s smart and sophisticated, with fabulous yet understated art and music. The gameplay is very satisfying, and it makes me feel like an evil mastermind even when I lose! Play this game, you won’t regret it.
– Real player with 2.4 hrs in game
Good puzzle: Castles
Great puzzle game, with cool art!
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
I usually don’t review a game until after I complete it, but if you love puzzles this is a lovely little game. The overall effect is like those delicate prints on glass from long ago. Well worth the sales price of .49 cents USD. Oh, pleasant music to boot.
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
Precipice
Its a pretty good 6/10 game that could be great but it can be extreamely frustrating to play. The concepts are behind it are strong and it does provide you with a sense of fighting the cold war, as you fund rebellions, rigs elections, strategically station your troops and try to come out on top of various nuclear confrontations. The art style and aesthetic are also gorgeous and i’d love to see more animalised takes on famous cold war imagery within the game itself.
That being said there are also alot of issues with the game that are also really frustating. The major issue that needs fixing is the lack of infomation giving to the player, especially in regards to how many turns you have left on a crisis or on how many troops an another nation has before you invade (maybe you should see the military strength of a nation when you deploy a spy.
– Real player with 21.0 hrs in game
now that it has updated to a playable state, i can now approve.
08/22/20
I see that this review is one of the first to be read, so allow me to elaborate on some things that could be improved…:
1. Add and/or improve some perks. Example being some perks involve Warsaw/NATO regions that are utterly useless given that these regions have been nerfed to non-existence. Overall more unique perks to choose from would be nice.
2. (kinda 1-B.) Give an option to have Warsaw/NATO regions worth a lot more. If I recall correctly this is how it was originally designed, them removed in the update. I’d say compromise by giving a toggle option.
– Real player with 20.5 hrs in game