Category: Mobile Game Releases

Android users are finally able to find out what all this fuss is about regarding Fortnite. Or you play it on PC and are finally looking forward to being able to play a match on the go. Either way, your time has come!

Beta invites will be rolling out to people over the weekend, with anyone owning a Samsung device (S7 or higher) getting priority access for the moment. The list of supported devices is modest, but they’re being very strict about it. If you’re new to Fortnite and not sure what the hell is going on, we’ve put together this handy guide to get you started…

Installation

Fortnite on Android is by-passing the Google Play store completely, requiring users to download an apk file directly from Epic. This is what is sometimes referred to as ‘side-loading’, and usually requires you to change a security setting to allow app installations from ‘unknown sources’.

On a Samsung Galaxy S6 (Our Editor tried testing to see if he could get in the beta despite not having a supported device. Spoiler: he couldn’t) for example, you can start running the install and it will automatically take you to relevant setting. It will also allow you to check a box that creates an exception only for that specific install, leaving your device protected.

It’s worth noting that what you’re actually downloading is an app called ‘Fortnite Installer’, which then checks to see if your device is supported. If it is, you can then pre-load the game on your device and start playing whenever you get given access, which will be via a separate email.

With the technical bits out of the way, let’s talk gameplay tips & tricks…

SMGs Are Your Best Friend

With the recent nerf to the ‘double pump’ shotgun tactic, SMGs have risen as the dominant force in Fortnite. Even though assault rifles can output a healthy amount of damage, accurately aiming with them on a phone is very tricky.

Given you are restricted to a smaller screen, trying to land headshots can be a frustrating experience. Fortnite’s touch controls aren’t that intuitive, especially if you have bigger fingers. SMGs, on the other hand, are still quite useful when fired from the hip and don’t require a ton of precision. A lot of this is thanks to the high fire rate of the guns and their ability to quickly dispatch targets.

Additionally, the Drum Gun – despite the recent nerf – is still /very/ powerful on mobile. Always bring a Drum Gun with you if you have the chance. It shreds buildings, which is extra effective on mobile since people cannot place walls down as quickly. This weapon also offers a good amount of damage, so you should be able to rapidly eliminate opponents. Finally, remember to always carry a shotgun with you because they are still very useful when playing on mobile. The new double barrel is quite dangerous given the sheer damage potential it offers.

The only weapons we advise on avoiding – at least until you’re familiar with the controls – are sniper rifles. While they are really good for taking out players, hitting someone at a distance can prove difficult.

BE AGGRESSIVE

One of the biggest mistakes new mobile players make is they are too passive when it comes to engaging enemies. We strongly discourage this behaviour since you can easily be overwhelmed by a player willing to fight. When you get into a battle with enemies, be aggressive and attack their position. Weapons like the Compact SMG, Drum Gun and LMG are great for ripping apart structures. Since “spam building” is less of a tactic on phones, most users will be left out in the open for easy pickings.

Once you get a handle on the controls, work on quickly assembling ramps over your enemies position. This not only gives you a height advantage but renders your foe’s cover useless. The only time we don’t recommend rushing into a fight is if you’re both in the same building. It’s very easy to safely peek around corners, so enemies can just wait for you before springing their trap. In this case, take your time and methodically check the building so you don’t get ambushed.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO BUILD

The single most important mechanic to master in Fortnite is building. Whether you’re on console or Android devices, constructing cover is critical to your survival. There are a lot of people who don’t build and simply try to use the environment for protection. Using hills and buildings as cover can save your life, but eventually, you’ll need to build some walls.

To build, select the tool icon in the bottom right corner at the end of your item bar. This will swap to your build menu, where you have to manually tap which tile you want to use. Once selected, you can tap the screen to place your structure of choice. However, if you hold your finger down and turn, you can assemble a box around you. After this is done, add a ramp so you can look over at your foe.

It’s vital to go into the mobile version of Fortnite accepting that you can’t build. The speed and general feeling of building are wildly different than on a PC. Because of this, it may take a few hours before you’ve obtained a strong understanding of how to quickly make cover. Start small and work on just rapidly building a small box for cover. Getting fancy is an easy way to get killed, especially if your opponent knows what they are doing. If you’re looking for more tips, we have a dedicated building guide you should check out – the mobile meta is pretty consistent across iOS and Android.

MOVING WILL BE AWKWARD AT FIRST

As mentioned above, there are a lot of icons that crowd your screen, which can be quite awkward for those of us with big thumbs. This means the positioning of your fingers will factor into your overall combat effectiveness. Try to always keep your right thumb in the bottom corner so you don’t accidentally tap the jump or crouch button. Only move this thumb when you want to jump, crouch, swap items, or fire at foes.

You’re going to have stilted movements – especially if you’re just starting – so save yourself some trouble by using the Auto-Run feature. To enable this, double tap on the virtual joystick to force your character to run in a straight path. This is great for evading the storm and scanning the horizon when moving between locations.

ATKs are also really useful on mobile since they can quickly get you from place to place. Since players have slower reaction times on mobile, it’s completely possible to drive up to someone, get out, mow them down, and drive off. If you see an ATK, make sure to grab as soon as possible.

USE PLAYGROUND MODE

Playground Mode is a special game type that lets you run around an empty island and freely build without concern. Make sure to take advantage of this mode and use it as a way to train yourself. Playing on mobile is quite different, so having an island to yourself is fantastic for learning how to build, move and shoot. Before you even hop into a game, make sure to jump into the Playground.

Since materials and weapons are plentiful, you can quickly begin understanding how Fortnite’s mobile version works. This mode is also wonderful for finding the right sensitivity and learning how to use the Turbo Build functionality. Playground is typically available for a month or two, so don’t put off getting some practice in!

If you do get into the Android beta, let us know how you’re finding it!

Epic have just launched sign-ups for Fortnite on Android. Tim Sweeney made the announcement during Samsung Unpacked, and now you can go to the official website and drop your name (or more precisely, your email) into the hat.

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Seems like Samsung have some kind of semi-exclusive on the beta – initial invites will roll out to anyone sporting a Galaxy S7 or newer, Note 8/9 and Tab S3/S4. According to Pocket Gamer, owners of the Samsung Galaxy S9 or Galaxy Tab S4 will get access to a new outfit.

After Samsung’s turn today, invites will start being emailed out to other users provided you have one of these devices:

• Google: Pixel / Pixel XL, Pixel 2 / Pixel 2 XL
• Asus: ROG Phone, Zenfone 4 Pro, 5Z, V
• Essential: PH-1
• Huawei: Honor 10, Honor Play, Mate 10 / Pro, Mate RS, Nova 3, P20 / Pro, V10
• LG: G5, G6, G7 ThinQ, V20, V30 / V30+
• Nokia: 8
• OnePlus: 5 / 5T, 6
• Razer: Phone
• Xiaomi: Blackshark, Mi 5 / 5S / 5S Plus, 6 / 6 Plus, Mi 8 / 8 Explorer / 8SE, Mi Mix, Mi Mix 2, Mi Mix 2S, Mi Note 2
• ZTE: Axon 7 / 7s, Axon M, Nubia / Z17 / Z17s, Nubia Z11

The following devices are currently unsupported, but Epic are working on fixes:

• HTC: 10, U Ultra, U11 / U11+, U12+
• Lenovo: Moto Z / Z Droid, Moto Z2 Force
• Sony: Xperia: XZ/ XZs, XZ1, XZ2

The final bit of advice Epic has regarding device compatibility is that provided your phone/tablet meets the following specs, the game might work anyway:

OS: 64 bit Android, 5.0 or higher
RAM: 3GB or higher
GPU: Adreno 530 or higher, Mali-G71 MP20, Mali-G72 MP12 or higher

Whether you’ll receive a beta invite if it’s not a supported device is another matter – you can always try. Signing up for the beta requires you to have an Epic Games account.

Remember because the devs are by-passing the Google Play Store, you will need to install the beta via an ‘Unknown Source’ install.

By Joe Robinson 09 Aug 2018

Space Hulk (the original DOS game) is a forgotten gem that by all rights should have inspired an entire genre of ‘real-time tactical horror’ clones. Based loosely on the Warhammer 40k board game (that also gave us the more-faithfully-adapted but less-critically-acclaimed Space Hulk: Ascension), Space Hulk was a masterclass in tension and tactics, with slow, powerful Terminator Space Marines stomping their way through abandoned corridors, and alien Genestealers doing their best to sneak around behind them and tear their hearts out through their armor.

Much like its venerable grandfather, Dereliction sees your squad of marines making their way slowly through a derelict vessel while fighting off swarms of alien bugs as they try to get from point A to point B and close the blast door behind them (ideally, for drama’s sake, at the last possible second.) Dereliction‘s also played in real-time with time-slowing if it all gets too overwhelming. After the encounter you can buy upgrades including new weapons and are free to replay missions you’ve unlocked previously for more coin.

Unlike Space Hulk, in Dereliction you have perfect information about the map and enemy movements. Rather than carefully managing an unknown threat you must deal with an overwhelming threat: but that razor-edge sense of impending doom stays with you. You need to juggle several tasks–locking doors, picking up useful and necessary items, operating terminals–while also being on watch for a stream of bugs that could instantly mess up your whole game plan. Well-coordinated, your marines can easily hold back the horde, but if you let something slip through its game over, man, game over.

The setting is your typical military-style spaceship built of square rooms and unlikely corridors, lockers full of cash and ammo crates stuffed with grenades, all shadowy or sickly lit. Creepy ambient noises and music set the mood perfectly. The story text is even well-composed; just evocative enough without seeming too purple.

Dereliction is dripping with atmosphere, which unfortunately tends to smear all over every important element of gameplay. The interface is largely integrated into the game map, which is highly immersive, but difficult to use. To know what keycard you need for a given terminal you have to peer at the actual in game model. To lock a door you have to spin the camera until you can hold your finger on the keyhole. To look at the map, you have to zoom all the way out, which is elegant at first, but cumbersome when you are trying to get a quick overview of your tactical situation. The lurid acid green floor lighting is the same color as the discs you drag around to identify and control your marines. 

These discs are also where you have info on health status, weapon and carried items. Since you are dragging this around to move the marines they can easily become separated from their vitals. There’s no other way to know at a glance even how many marines are still alive, not to mention what they are carrying or armed with. What’s more, without their discs around them troops gray-black armor blends into the gray-black bulkheads of the ship. If they are stuck somewhere away from their control spot, good luck trying to find them before they get eaten. You do have the ability to slow time while still handing out orders, but that doesn’t help much if you can’t figure out who’s who, where they’re going, and what they’re supposed to be doing.

Controls are especially fiddly. If your soldiers are stacked up it can be tough to grab the one you want. Dragging to move takes precious extra seconds, and sometimes fails if you try to move the wrong way, leaving your finger hovering over the screen for far too long. Some destinations will grab your cursor like a magnet while others won’t activate no matter how hard you try. It also takes a lot of wiggling to get the soldiers facing the right direction.

This is especially a big problem because units need so much handholding they won’t even turn around until the swarm is already devouring them. Pointed in the generally correct direction they will effectively defend their angle but turned too far one way and they’ll stubbornly ignore approaching death. They will also happily wade out into danger if they think that is the most efficient path to where you want them to go.

There’s a good game in here about carefully managing the movement of the aliens and protecting your perimeter. Some features do have opportunities to make interesting gameplay choices. For instance, I loved how locking a door behind you had the potential to backfire if the bugs were able to break through, thus essentially turning the passage into a one way path for aliens only. It was cool how you had to be careful not to break batteries–but they could be used as electrical bombs.

As it is, Dereliction has some pretty fundamental design problems that prevent it from being recommendable. It’s just plain hard to play for now, which is a shame since the atmosphere is so good and the genre is so under-served.

Epic have released Patch 5.20 for Battle Royale sensation Fortnite. As we’re well into Season 5, this isn’t a game-changing update although the double-barrelled shotgun is now a thing. Reading through the patch-notes, there’s a mobile-specific section that’ll be relevant to you guys:

• Customizable fire mode selection screen added to mix and match fire modes.
• Added FPS (frames per second) mode setting for mobile devices.
• Added another individual quickbar button to the HUD layout tool.
• Added mobile Elimination Feed.
• Separated Quickbar buttons are more visible in the HUD Layout tool.
• Harvest tool will now alternate between itself and the previously selected item when tapped.

Bug Fixes

• Completed or expired Challenges are now cleared while navigating between Challenges.
• Ramps will no longer be built through other ramps.
• Shooting when interacting with objects no longer occurs.
• Fixed inconsistency with mobile low power mode support.

As Collin has pointed out in our building guide, building is less prevalent in the iOS meta because of the fiddly controls. Fixing the ramp issues will mean you may have to pay more attention to what you’re doing if you’re trying to throw down some elevation in a hurry.

Also, did you hear? Fortnite’s Android version is by-passing the Google Play store. Whenever it releases, you’ll need to download the game’s APK directly from Epic Games’ website, and then do an ‘unknown source’ install. It’s not as scary as it sounds; on my Galaxy S6 it takes you straight to the relevant security setting when you’re trying to install something outside of the Google Play store. It also gives you the option to only grant an exception for that specific install, leaving you secure against anything you might accidentally download that will try and install itself.

We’re going to put together a proper guide for Android users, including installation instructions, so that you guys can get up-to-speed with the iOS crowd as quickly as possible.

Football fans, rejoice! The next iteration of Sports Interactive’s Football Manager series has been announced. Football Manager 2019 will be launching on PC, MacOS Android and iOS on November 2^nd.

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As with Football Manager 2018, the mobile version of Football Manager 2019 will come in two flavours:

• Football Manager Touch 2019 will be a direct port of the PC game, and only works on tablets. It costs more (FM Touch 18 goes for $19.99 at full price), and has higher spec requirements, but is essentially the PC game on your tablet.
• Football Manager Mobile 2019 will be a slim lined/adapted version of the full game for mobile. It’ll be iOS Universal and work on phones generally, have lower spec requirements and will be priced in-line with other premium mobile experiences. FM Mobile 18 is $8.99 at full price.

There’re quite a few changes coming in FM 2019 – for the first time there will be licensed German DFL teams, for one thing, and they’ll be talking about more concrete game changes towards the end of September.

We have yet to get around to actually reviewing 2018’s FM Mobile and FM Touch releases, so we’ll try and plug those gaps as soon as possible.

Welcome to the Weekender, your weekly look at the best new games, sales, and updates. This week’s bounty is the best SimCity-like game on mobile, two very good puzzlers, and updates to some of the better games out there. Not to be outdone, our sales section features Handelabra’s entire catalog (on iOS) and a few of the best games from the last couple years.

Out Now

Pocket City (iOS Universal and Android [Free]) – full review coming soon!

City builders on mobile tend to be bad. Shallow simulations bogged down by awful monetization schemes have been the norm. Pocket City, the newly released and much anticipated builder, is not one of those. The game is attractive, entertaining, and fully premium. Gameplay is a lot like SimCity. You build a city from scratch and must balance residential, commercial, and industrial zones to prompt continued growth. As the city grows, so do the wants and needs of its residents from police and a fire department, to schools and hospitals, to parks and other entertainment amenities.

Pocket City couples its tutorial with a series of quests that lead you through the normal arc of city development. Quests provide a bonus upon completion and can be ignored if you want to focus on something else. The game also has some nice menu options including cloud saves, the ability to download ‘public’ cities to play, both screen mode options, five different screen resolution modes, and a slew of battery saver options. It isn’t a perfect game, I wish it pushed back a little more as it feels a little bit easy, but Pocket City is the closest you can get to SimCity on a mobile device and is well worth playing for fans of the genre.

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The Sequence [2] (iOS Universal)

The Sequence [2] is a new puzzle game and the sequel to 2015’s The Sequence. The game is all about building an assembly line to move units from an origin hex to a destination hex. It reminds me a lot of Zachtronics’ PC games, Opus Magnum in particular, and after a slow-starting tutorial becomes very engaging and increasingly challenging with new mechanics and bigger game boards. It’s not on Android yet, but the original game is, so perhaps it’s coming soon.

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One More Button (iOS Universal and Android) – full review coming soon!

I’ve got not one but two entertaining new puzzle games to mention. One More Button takes a clever and unique take on the genre by making the movement buttons part of the game itself. You must move them out of your way, place them in specific spots to remove an obstacle, and really plan out your order of operations. Really, my only complaint is a lack of undo button as I’ve had to restart a complicated set of moves more than a couple times due to an accidental button push. This quibble aside, it really is a good puzzle game.

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Dresden Files Co-op Card Game—Expansion 4 (iOS Universal and Android)

Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files exists in an alternate world where vampires, werewolves, spirits, and the Fae are all real. The books are packed full of the adventures of Harry Dresden taking on the forces of evil, and dangerously neutral, with the help of a large cast of friends, associates, and frenemies. There’s also a tabletop card and dice game brought to digital life by Hidden Achievement. Dresden Files Co-op Card Game has gotten a steady stream of updates since release and now, expansion 4 “Dead on Your Feet?” is out and adds Jared Kincaid and Mortimer Lindquist decks and book decks for both Changes and Ghost Story. It’s available via in-app purchase for $3.99.

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One Deck Dungeon: Forest of Shadows Expansion (iPad and Android)

One Deck Dungeon is among my favorite games of 2018 and you can find out why in my five-star review. Handelabra Games did an excellent job of transitioning the game to digital and continues to do a great job pouring new content into it. The Forest of Shadows expansion is a great example. It adds 5 new heroes, 5 dungeons, and 44 encounter cards to the game. The dungeons range from the relatively easy Mudlands, featuring a Mud Golem boss, to the Smoldering Lands, home of a Fire Giant.  The new heroes are Alchemist, Druid, Hunter, Slayer, and Warden and really up the opportunity to optimize your team. The Forest of Shadows expansion is available via in-app purchase for $9.99. The base game is on sale for $7.99 as well.

Star Realms United Assault Expansion (iOS Universal and Android)

The latest and greatest Star Realms expansion is out and available for your gaming pleasure. The third of four expansions in the “United” series will set you back $1.99 and get you twelve new cards. You can check out a lot more about it in our recent news post earlier in the week.

Sales

Handelabra Games Sales (iOS Universal and Android)

Handelabra Games are three for three in bringing great tabletop games to digital life. All three of said games are currently on sale in the App Store (only one is on sale on Android as of this writing).

• Sentinels of the Multiverse – $4.99 on iOS
• Bottom of the 9th – $2.99 on iOS and Android
• One Deck Dungeon – $7.99 on iOS

The Game: Play as Long as You Can (iOS Universal and Android): $.99 on iOS (Review)

Tabletop card game The Game‘s digital version is a one-player affair and is a lot of fun. It’s just a buck on iOS (and normally $1.99 on Android) and worth picking up for fans of solo card games.

Motorsport Manager Mobile 2 (iOS Universal  and Android) $1.99 (Review)

Get your race on with one of the better racing sims on mobile. Motorsport Manager Mobile 2 puts you in control of every aspect of a racing team. You recruit, hire, and train drivers, mechanics, and engineers. You improve your headquarters and supplier networks. You build and upgrade your cars and, last but not least, you manage how your drivers run each race from what tires to use, to how aggressively they drive, to when to fit in the pit stops. I don’t know much about racing, but I do know that there aren’t many better sports simulation games on mobile.  

Age of Rivals (iOS Universal and Android): $1.99 (Review)

Fantastic card-drafting, civilization-building game Age of Rivals is another of the best of 2017 and on sale for half off.

To the Moon (iOS and Android): $1.99 on iOS (Review)

A heartwarming role-playing game is a bit of a rarity, but that’s what you get in To the Moon. It’s the tale of two doctors who travel through an old man’s memories to make his deathbed wish come true. It’s an emotional story, with great music and atmosphere to match, along with deep and powerful characters. It’s not perfect, the controls leave a little to be desired, but it will leave an impression on you.

D&D Lords of Waterdeep (iOS Universal  and Android): $3.99 (Review)

Dungeons & Dragons based board game D&D Lords of Waterdeep is available for a solid discount on both the App and Google Play stores. You play as a masked Lord of the city and must out wrangle your opponents to recruit adventurers to complete quests and thus increase your political power.

Steamworld Heist (iOS Universal): $4.99 (Review)

Speaking of best games, Steamworld Heist was near the top of a crowded field of great games in 2016 and earned four well-deserved stars from JP. It’s also half off right now.

Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!

If you know anything about Baseball, you’re in luck. MLB Manager 18 has no tips, no tutorials, no hints at the rules of the sport or the nuances within the stats. Whereas so many management sims allow a little wiggle room for new players who may only take a partial interest in the sport, this game effectively shutters itself off from any kind of enquiry. In fact, even those who have an extensive knowledge of the American pastime might find themselves completely lost among a hundred menus which offer no solace or guiding nudges about what specific command does what action. It’s a mess.

MLB18 opens with the usual fare of naming your coach, selecting the team you’d like to head up from the American or National leagues. Before even seeing a playing field or batting cage, the game prompts ask whether to simulate the real world of Baseball. Maybe you’d like to tick boxes which really mean very little until the game gets into the flow of things? MLB18 has you covered by asking about pitchers and batters with no shade of why they’re asking.

Once these frustrating opening screens have passed by, we’re met with the most uninspiring handful of menus. Still, there’s no sign of any tutorial so absently tapping at certain boxes in the hope of either starting a season or changing the line-up of the team relies solely on either luck or parsing the information until you stumble into the correct menu option and there’s a list of names that mean very little. Do we tap and hold? Do we tap? Can we rename anybody to make the game more personal? Mess around and find out, because the developer clearly doesn’t want to tell us.

I chose to use the Philadelphia Phillies, for myriad reasons and wanted to dive straight into a game, hoping to have some sway on how my team performs. I entered a game, forgiving the lack of direction thus far and tapped ‘Swing’. My hopes of any kind of interesting interaction were thwarted as I watched a wall of text fall down the screen in a pseudo commentary voice. The pitch of the ball was described as arcing through the air, my batter did his thing and we made it to first base. The static Baseball diamond on my screen changed the colours of a few names to state that the Phillies had grabbed the first base and the game prompted me, asking if I wanted to steal second base.

Why not? Maybe there’s a mini game hidden away that allows me to test the infield players as I heroically dash from first base to second as the pitcher unleashes his ball. Nope. More text, we didn’t steal the base and my batter struck out. Before I even considered trying to swap out players, I decided to simulate a couple of innings, in the hope that maybe the game would show some form of animation of players movements, balls flying out to home runs or sliding into home. Sadly, a few names blinked red rather than black and the menu appeared from before, only now I was 0-3.

Of course, most management games are brimming with menus and stats. That’s mostly why we flock to them, because it’s in the minutiae where we find joy. It seems no matter where I turned, every menu is bland, leading into another soulless list where drop down menus languish, unexplained or even brushed over by the game itself. I know a decent amount about Baseball, I like to watch a bit of Spring training, I catch games where I can, and I stumbled around lists that made no sense to me. Despite knowledge, a game needs some form of guidance. Building a routine of which option furthers play or the calendar, maybe highlights a few of the star players to add into the starting line-up. If I wanted to roam endless boxes of information I don’t really understand, I’d open Microsoft Excel.

I can’t imagine that even the most expert Baseball fan will find much joy here. There’s no option to swing a bat, or throw a pitch, which could have easily been implemented. MLB18 takes everything that makes Baseball an interesting sport and removes it. There’s no passion for the game, or even any hint that there’s a genuinely fun sport within the simulator.

After a time I started changing the strategy of my team – increasing their aggression on running bases, telling my pitcher how to hold base runners, I asked my players to steal bases wherever they could. I found a screen that told me that my personality was “charitable” and that I was “delighted” with the performance of the team. I started rotating players around, choosing different starting pitchers. Not one thing made any noticeable difference. I might as well have just simulated every game using the default settings, because nothing I changed really mattered. The game rolled some imaginary dice or randomly generated a few numbers, translated that into ‘boy howdy’ Baseball commentary and declared my batter swung and missed. STRIKE!

I’d like to say that MLB Manager 18 has a redeeming feature, but it doesn’t. It’s the most lifeless, boring game I’ve played in a long time. Maybe someone who reads every little detail about the sport will find something to love. You have to be an absolute die-hard fan of Baseball and have the patience of a saint to really get anything from MLB18. As someone who supports a team, watches games, plays other Baseball games on mobile and console I wanted to still be guided around and told about the intricacies of this management sim. Instead, I felt like I was scooped up from Little League practice and told to bat in the World Series.

Last we heard, Feral Interactive’s iPhone port of Rome: Total War was due before the end of summer. School summer holidays last until the start of September here in the UK, around mid-September in the US, so they have just over a month before they’re officially going to be late.

While there’s still no word on an exact release date, Feral have just sent out a tweet detailing what requirements your phone will need in order to be able to play the game.

So anything from an iPhone 5S up should be fine, and like most modern mobile games you’ll need iOS 11. Here’s a larger version of the image, just in case:

Rome: Total War for iPhone will be available from the App Store for $9.99/£9.99/€10.99. Users who have already purchased the game for iPad will be able to download it onto their iPhone at no extra cost, and transfer their save file.

Are you looking forward to finally being able to play Rome: Total War on your iPhone? Let us know in the comments!

Before we delve into the Nightmarium, I should make it clear that this is a game that uses the Tabletopia game system. This means that all you are getting is a digital rendition of the game’s components, leaving the players themselves to interpret and enforce the rules. Furthermore, do not expect any AI opponents or online matches, as the only option is to play face to face with a player count of two to four.

Nightmarium is a small, easy to learn card game that only had a limited print run. Consequently, this digital version will be the only chance that many of us will have to play the game. The background story concerns the masters of the Order of Dreamers who have been studying the landscape of dreams for centuries. Even after all this time, one small, dark corner of the dream world subconscious remains off-limits. That place, as you may have guessed, is the Nightmarium, home to night terrors, bogeymen and monsters under the bed. Finally, the researchers have mastered the art of subduing these terrors and moulding them into creatures. The problem is that these creatures are hostile and volatile, often, fighting among themselves, simply disintegrating or escaping to run amok. Yet, despite their nature, these unstable creations do have a use since they offer the only means of reaching the Crystal of Panic.

As a player, you will take on the role of a dream researcher and compete against your opponents to be the first one to assemble five creatures.  The night terrors are made up of 108 individual cards, which are split into legs, torsos and heads. You can work on creating your five creatures simultaneously, but each has to be assembled in a strict order beginning with legs. Most cards can only be used for one body part, but some special cards can be used for two, or even three parts. Each night terror is loyal with one of four colour-coded legions of Horror – Necronauts, Insektoids, Homunculi, or Chimeridae. A creature can be made up from any mix of Night Terrors, but creating creatures from cards of the same legion will give you a distinct advantage.

At the start of the game each player is dealt a hand of five Night Terror cards and on a turn, they get to perform two actions. The most basic action is to draw a card.  A variation of this is to discard as many cards as you like and draw half that number back. There is also the option to play a card from your hand to start or continue constructing a creature. Creatures have to be built from the bottom up; starting with legs, followed by the torso and finishing with the head. As soon as a creature is complete any special abilities that are marked on the individual body parts will activate. These are applied in strict order, starting with the head and working downwards. If a special ability cannot be performed, then it and any other outstanding abilities are cancelled. If you have ensured that the creature is made from terrors of the same legion, then every opponent must discard one card of that legion from their hand. If they have no such card, then they face the larger penalty of having to discard two cards.

Special abilities are worth investigating a little closer as they form the core of the game and ensure that there is more to Nightmarium than a simple primary school matching game. The Weeper ability lets you draw two new cards, whilst the Mocker lets you play an extra card from your hand. The Herald skill is one of the strongest: it offers a combination of the previous two skills, allowing you to draw two cards and immediately use them to construct your creatures. The other skills are more interactive – the Executioner allows you to remove the head from an opponent’s creature and add it to your hand, the Scavenger ability lets you remove an opponent’s incomplete creature. Finally, the Devourer ability lets you discard the top card of any of your own creatures. Identifying how these skills complement each other is at the heart of the game. For instance, a completed creature with both Executioner and Scavenger abilities could first claim the head from an opponent’s creature, thus making it incomplete. Then the Scavenger skill can be used to send the unfortunate soul back to the discard pile.

Nightmarium is a straightforward game that can be learnt in five minutes and only takes about twenty minutes to play. The theme is refreshingly original, with the lovely creature illustrations adding to the game’s overall charm. However, there are frustratingly high levels of luck involved, which makes for a game best suited for families rather than seasoned gamers. In terms of actual gameplay, there is nothing here that hasn’t been seen many times before. However, Nightmarium’s rather ruthless player interaction and neat card combo opportunities make for a decent if unspectacular game.

The simple rules and few moving parts mean that Nightmarium is a good choice for conversion to the Tabletopia system. Although, having to keep your cards hidden from the other players does mean that turns need to be taken in secret, so only one person can view the screen at any one time. Whenever I play I cannot help but feel that the game would be infinitely more enjoyable to play in its physical format; snatching an actual physical card from a rival is so much more satisfying. Tabletopia is an innovative way of playing tabletop games, but the fiddly interface, no-frills presentation and, most tellingly, lack of rules implementation means that it will only ever appeal to a limited market. The rest of us will happily stick with physical copies or enjoy the impressive range of fully featured board game apps that have added advantages like AI opponents and competitive online matches.