The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game - Definitive Edition
Ever since the online emergence of Magic: The Gathering (sadly not available on Steam anymore), many developers tried to copy the formula and release their own version of a turn-based card game either for mobile phones or PC. A flux of these came in 2015, when even major companies put heavy emphasis on releasing entries of this genre expecting huge income. Many actually became more successful than the original, mainly more and more people began playing games on their smartphones and due to the simpler rules used compared to MTG.
– Real player with 134.9 hrs in game
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How much you’ll enjoy this game partially depends on your expectations beforehand. If, like many others, you’re a huge fan of the physical card game you might walk away disappointed, as it changes quite a few mechanics.
That being said, looking at the product objectively as a whole, it’s pretty solid. Personally, I think they improved on the game quite a bit. Granted, I find the physical card game it’s based on to be pretty mediocre. It’s probably one of my least favorite card games from fantasy flight. Whereas the physical version felt a little stale and slow, the digital version feels a lot snappier, interactive, and overall more intriguing than the physical version.
– Real player with 107.7 hrs in game
Load Roll Die
Exciting and strategic dice combat!!! Its lots of fun discovering all the different ways you can combine different dice faces to create a unique battle plan. The dice and plentiful cardboard landscapes feel really physical and its satisfying rolling a bunch of dice at once and watching them pile up! Dice go brrrrrrrrrrrrr!
– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game
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I was given this game for free a few days before the official launch, so my 2-ish hours are solely based on that build. No, I was not given compensation for playing the game and my review is unbiased.
Load Roll Die is a Roguelite Dicebuilder game, in which you move your little blob character through various randomized maps, fighting enemies and bosses, collecting different types of dice and powers for each die. It’s a very challenging game, but in a way I don’t think it really should be. Being a game revolving around dice, it’s reliance on RNG is almost absolute, with an almost healthy amount of strategy involved, given that you can create some interesting and powerful builds if you have the right powers and the correct dice, but it’s always a gamble to see what you loot from enemies, find in chests and buy from shops, which items are sometimes overly expensive for the small amount of currency you get overall. Enemies get from easy to hard really quickly as well, each one having their own specific builds that sometimes are perfected to do something specific, such as replicating dice, dealing a lot of poison damage, destroying a bunch of your own dice, etc, most of which are extremely reliable and non-RNG dependant, contrary to your shabby builds at those levels. Some other issues lie in QoL stuff, such as some powers being confusing to understand from their descriptions being vague or poorly explained, and how at the start of the game you can start off without any dice on accident, making you unable to advance.
– Real player with 2.2 hrs in game
The Conquest of Go
Edited: Sep. 15th, 2021.
The game is getting better so far. So I think now I would change my vote to ‘RECOMMEND’. Let’s give it a try. And share your opinion to help them make it better for you.
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Edited: March 9th, 2021.
I’ve played the latest update and think the game is much better now. It’s getting in shape.
I’m looking forward for big features in the future. Please keep up good works.
Ps: to players, you could join forum to share your experience and ideas with the Devs to make the game better.
– Real player with 35.6 hrs in game
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First, let me say that I dig the game, and I like that it is put together from a lot of open source / royalty free resources. I have enjoyed playing against my old pal GNU Go, and I particularly like the review portion after games are completed where I can see key moves the computer would have suggested, which has helped me get a better sense of advantageous moves under different circumstances. The approach of the campaign as being a literal conquest for territory is also really cool. However, it doesn’t feel particularly polished at this stage. I would like to see more of a story, perhaps some Go puzzle mini games in between matches. A larger map would be nice too, and it might be cool to have a zoom-out view of the ‘world’ that shows conquered regions as an actual game of Go, but that might be wishful thinking on my part. Finally, its a little nit-picky, but after matches, I feel the resource icons are too small, and sometimes I miss them. Other uses for resources might be worth exploring as well.
– Real player with 17.9 hrs in game
Cauldrons of War - Barbarossa
This is a highly abstract wargame where the abstractions combine elegantly to become more than the sum of its parts. For example, the game has a concept of command points each turn. Each area also has a number representing rail capacity. A rail capacity of 3 means 3 free supply points per turn. When rail capacity decreases in certain area of operations, you are forced to make decisions around prioritizing supply (via truck or horse, which is not always successful) vs. attack/movement. The player is thus forced to tradeoff meeting supply vs. achieving objectives which I think does a good job of conveying a decision that a general would actually need to make.
– Real player with 101.0 hrs in game
Cauldrons of War is brilliantly designed wargame that puts you in total command of either the Axis or Soviet forces from the German Invasion of the Soviet Union in June of 1941 until the Soviet Counter offensive in the Winter of 1942. It is one of the most tightly designed wargames on the market and yet its surprisingly complex. The game worries you primarily about issues that would worry a General In Chief, (Supply, Type of Operations, Force Composition of those Operations, how hard and far to push etc…) without worrying you about things a lot of wargames try to force on you, even if your rank doesn’t make that make much sense (micro-management) and in that sense this might be the closest experience to being a Field Marshall during the Second World War of anything that’s been released as a game. There are only a few things I’d change to make this game even better, 1. I’d like higher resolution maps, the games imagery does what it needs to do but it could be even better with an eye popping military style atlas with a great resolution. 2. The campaign needs to extend a bit further into 1942, playing as the Russian’s is nowhere near as fun as playing as the Germans because you’re the punching bag for the entire game and only have a few weeks at the very end of the game to counter strike, the game should extend a bit further, in line with the historical Soviet counter offensive in front of Moscow. 3. At times some key information about why certain tactics work and why later those same tactics don’t work, feels hidden. The game might benefit from displaying combat modifiers or other items that help inform the player why things are working and why they aren’t. Those are minor issues however, overall this is a brilliant game and for only $5, you can’t go wrong with it.
– Real player with 20.6 hrs in game
Kings of Israel
Great PC adaptation of the board game. Set up works for multiple players only if sharing the same device; play can be split between two players (1 prophet per player) from what I can tell. So far I’ve only played solo. Love the Bible study/trivia option!
EDIT: On the standard play mode, I have now reached level 5 (Saul), which increases the number of prophets involved to three. I personally take about 20-30 minutes per game (unless I lose in the first ten). Based on the settings available for the Custom game option, it looks like there may be as many as four prophets in play at once. In Custom mode, you can also choose which prophets are in play, whereas the standard play-by-ranking mode assigns prophets at random. Definitely recommend playing in Custom or Bible Study mode if you don’t want to affect your level ranking status! Bible Study mode provides both good and bad consequences to your multiple-choice response, making it worth cracking open your Bible (or clicking the online Bible links provided) for the right answer. Highly recommended to you if you like turn-based games, strategy, and fun ways to engage with the Holy Bible!
– Real player with 56.0 hrs in game
From a secular perspective, it really depends on what you are looking for in a game. This game is rich in its representation of historical content, if you accept that it is based entirely on the Bible. It makes extensive use of RNG, which I understand is not popular among many gamers, but is a very appropriate way to represent human behavior. Not that it is random per-se, but in life humans will often either surprise you, or at the very least the number of things they might do is so varied that trying to make a specific prediction in a moral-political context is not likely going to be accurate. It really feels appropriate to have so much RNG in this context, but there is a little you can do to maximize your output. In short, this game uses mechanics that are generally not very popular, but in a highly appropriate manner for the subject matter.
– Real player with 40.1 hrs in game
Dungeon Solver
If I could give a neutral view, that would be great, but alas, it not possible.
But I’d still recommend getting it if you want to relax AND are good at solving puzzles - as you need all heroes alive, not just the warrior to get it through, so can’t sacrifice the wizard so the warrior can attack the enemy.
You have you use the brain of yours to get anywhere, but if you don’t this game aint for you.
– Real player with 24.4 hrs in game
One game mechanic, having to press skip on every single turn, makes a 2 hour game into a 16 hour game. This becomes extremely tedious as you move through the game. the Skip enemy turn button should simple be a toggle, would make the game more enjoyable.
Since the developers are actively fixing the small aforementioned issue, it does not significantly take away from the puzzle solving value included in this surprisingly deep game.
– Real player with 14.4 hrs in game
Raiders of the North Sea
I can’t stress how awesome this game is! The board game is fantastic. You get to build a crew and go off on raiding expeditions to get plunder! There’s something inherently satisfying about that. The game mechanics are innovative. You place a worker to take an action, and pick another up to take another action. And there are limitations on what actions you can take based on the color of the worker token. All of this adds to the strategic depth since it limits your options and therefore makes you plan ahead.
– Real player with 25.1 hrs in game
Raiders of the North Sea is a beautiful competitive digital board game, where each player represents a clan of warriors, racing for the most VP (Victory Points) and living the Viking mythos by pillaging, making choices that lead to pillaging, making offerings with the loot from pillaging and then pillaging a bit more! In case you didn’t get the memo pillage is the name of the game! The game is a worker placement where players each take a turn making strategic decisions about where to place their Viking workers. In each turn you either make two moves by placing and then removing another worker or you can straight up pillage (if you meet the criteria). The only thing that’s left to luck are some helpful dice that may aid you in conquering most locations and cards drawn that represent potential rading warriors that you can hire or 1 time use. Anything else is pure strategy, so there is not much luck involved! What I find most interesting, is the player dynamic. Each of your moves may (and should!) anticipate the other players possible moves, in order to stay one step ahead of the game, “forcing” your oponents to the lesser choices. The pillage locations are split in 4 tiers, each one giving potentially more VP (Victory Points) than the previous tiers! Interestingly, the game ends a) if someone conquers the second to last fort (last tier location), b) if someone runs out of offerings (base location that trades pillage loot for VP) or c) someone runs out of Valkyrie tokens (tokens that each represent your clan’s heroic deaths!).
– Real player with 17.7 hrs in game
Tiny Traffic
This is an enjoyable and leisure type puzzle game where you coordinate up to three vehicles in reaching their respective destination points. Utilizing gates, barricades, fences, and tunnels you have to navigate each vehicle through the grid, moving and rotating the allowable dynamic blocks in their allowable orientation to safely reach the end of their trips. The puzzles get increasingly harder as different objects are introduced into the puzzle and you find yourself utilizing unique techniques and tricks in order to meet your objective. A number of them really want to bend your mind just trying to prevent the vehicles from hitting obstacles or each other.
– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game
If you like comfy/chill puzzle games then I highly recommend giving this game a shot. It’s a lot more challenging then it looks as well
– Real player with 8.8 hrs in game
Fantamal
HECK YEAH - I got an offer letter for college! It’s not Harvard or anything, but it’s still something…
HUH!?? This place is NOT like what I’d imagined! My professor just gave me a couple of quick lectures - like some kind of in-game tutorial for noobs - and then ran off! Leaving ME to take care of his creepy-looking animals. Actually… I’m not even sure if these are even animals at all? Professor called them ‘Fantamals’. Am I in some kind of Farm-sim Valley?
WHAT?! Someone stepped up to me while I was out shopping, and is challenging me to a Fantamal fight! He keeps his one in a weird bottle…
That’s right - Professor gave me one of those bottles too when he gave me the Fantamal. Guess I should’ve paid attention during that tutorial instead of just clicking through…
Ok then - I Got It! Let’s Fight!
[Game Introduction]
Inspired by farm-sim and monster-collecting games, you will collect different Fantamals and train them up, learning about their combat potential to earn credits at college. Explore the universe to learn about and unlock different Fantamals in different towns.
[Game Features]
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Collect* produce from Fantamals in your very own research ranch.
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Produce farm goods using different machines and cookware.
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Deliver* goods to customers and fulfil orders.
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Tame* Fantamals in the wild and train them up, or place them in your ranch for production.
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Learn* about Fantamals, earn college credits and unlock loads of great prizes!
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Meet* NPCs, make friends and battle against them!