Welcome to this week's edition of News by Numbers, where we highlight some of the can't-miss mobile gaming news each and every week.
Faeria: 1 player draft
Pandora, the draft format for Faeria, has been rejiggered to include a solo mode. Rather than taking on other players for fame and riches you take on AI opponents for…well, no fame and fewer riches. The idea is to provide a more laid back, casual, drafting experience. It's a good idea, not everybody likes taking on other players. The Elder Scrolls: Legends offers the same thing with their Arena mode, in fact, so this is something of a trend for CCGs.
Age of Conquest IV: 2 new maps
Noblemaster can't stop and won't stop updating Age of Conquest IV. The latest update adds new maps for feudal Japan (Sengoku period) and Japan and Korea as well as some AI tweaks. Age of Conquest IV is free-to-play with no ads and IAPs for maps and other nice to haves. There is no pay-to-win here and a really great online multiplayer systems. You should be playing it.
Mysterium: version 2.06
Asmodee Digital has updated digital board __game Mysterium with a new pass-and-play mode (apparently by popular demand) as well as the ability to create private password-protected games (now we're talking) and social features like friends, ignored players, and recent players lists. In progress games are now displayed in the lobby, as well. Oh, also chat emoticons. People do love their emoticons.
Epic Little War Game: 4th __game in the series
If you've been a mobile strategy gamer for years and years chances are high you've encountered Rubicon's war gaming series of Great Little War Game, Great Big War Game, and Great Little War game 2. The games feature one-on-one, turn-based combat between swarms of units that you bring to the battlefield. The games require a fair amount of both strategy and tactics to win. The last one came out nearly three years ago but Rubicon is at it again and poised to deliver a fourth game in the series, Epic Little War Game, toward the end of May. The game will feature more of the same army-versus-army action for up to six players on even bigger hex maps. There's also a map maker so players can create and share their own maps on which to fight. Epic Little War Game looks really good, maybe even epic. Check out the early trailer below and let Rubicon know if you want to help beta test this one on mobile starting April 19.
Race for the Galaxy: $7
The 2007 card game Race for the Galaxy is on its way to mobile, releasing May 3 for both iOS and Android. It's a Euro victory-point game where 2-4 players will compete to build space faring civilizations by playing cards that will build up your economic, technical, and social prowess. Race for the Galaxy will support both asynchronous and real-time online multiplayer (fingers crossed that it will be implemented well) and promises to provide a killer AI to take on if desired. The base game will cost $7 and The Gathering Storm and Rebel vs Imperium games will be available via IAP. If you want to help beta test this one click here and let them know.
Minecraft PE: 300 coins for $1.99
As part of the next Minecraft update, Microsoft will be introducing a new marketplace where third-party content creators will be able to sell skin packs, texture packs, worlds, and so on to players. Those content creators will pocket at least half of the sale income, after retail fees have been applied. To shop at the marketplace players will need an Xbox Live account and will be able to buy coins—$1.99 for 300 coins, $4.99 for 840 coins, and $9.99 for 1,720 coins—with which to make their purchases. I'm interested to see how this works. Will talented content creators be able to make a living off of Minecraft? Surely many will at least be able to convert this into a decent supplemental income source.
Terra Mystica: 20th of April
At long last we have a date for the digital launch of popular board game Terra Mystica. This Thursday. Yup, you won't have to wait much longer to get your hands on it for your iPad or Android tablet. Dave Neumann at Stately Play got a hold of the trailer (below) and seems impressed with the digital port.
[CUT 2017 04 09 LaunchDate]
Rome Total War: 30% off
The barbarians invaded and made a bit of a mess. As a result Feral Interactive is selling some slightly beat up copies of Rome: Total War for the iPad. Ok, I made that up. The game is fine. It is on sale, down $3 from the usual ten-spot asking price. If you've got a newer iPad and have been holding off on this one due to price, time to pounce.
Evolution: 12,000 different species
Evolution, a card game of strategic adaption and survival, is evolving from the tabletop to digital devices near you. Players must champion their creatures by adding traits that will help obtain enough food and avoid hungry predators looking to cut their evolutionary path short. The gameplay is all about natural selection and advantageous adaptation and Darwin would love it. North Star Games, the makers of Evolution, are building the game for both PC and are looking for alpha testers here.
Bit City: 2.5 million downloads
Nimblebit's city simulating clicker has definitely found an audience since its release during March mobile madness. Bit City has already crossed the 2.5 million download threshold, undoubtedly thanks to Apple's featured placement during their indie showcase (and continued prominence on the indie games page). An update last week added eight more cities, including lunar colonies, to the game complete with satellites, lunar rovers, and special moon-based buildings.
Kami 2: 284,000,000 puzzle attempts
I love metrics about mobile gaming, as anybody who regularly reads this column likely knows. I also love infographics. State of Play Games—makers of Kami 2, a recently released puzzle game of unfolding paper triangles—created an infographic to provide some behind-the-scenes metrics about their game's first ten days. Oh, and the game is fun too and well worth checking out on iOS or Android for fans of the puzzle genre.
That's it for this edition of News by Numbers. If you've got a news item worth sharing send it my way on Twitter @MrVigabool and it may show up in a future edition.
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