With a modest aesthetic, simple mechanics and the benefit of having learned from a previous game, it comes as no surprise that Resigns: Her Majesty not only got a glowing review, but also a well-earned spot on our list of the best card games around.
If there was any danger of fans starting to tire of their never-ending regal legacy, fear not: the developers have teased a content expansion that will drop later this week. Better yet, it’ll be free!
They confirmed that this expansion will be coming to iOS and Android devices (and PC), although we’re not sure what the actual release day will be yet. Things tend to launch on a Thursday I’ve noticed, so maybe it’ll be then?
Welcome to the Weekender, your weekly look at the best new games, sales, and updates. We’ve got a few new releases to go over and a whole lot of sales. Let’s get to it!
Out Now
Battleheart 2 (iOS Universal) – Full Review Coming Soon!
Battleheart was one of the first real-time strategy gems in the App Store, and remains a fun game, if a bit dated. It’s seven years later and Mika Mobile just released a sequel on iOS and…well, not much has changed. Battleheart 2 definitely took the if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it approach and features the same real-time, squad-based combat of the original. While it is true Battleheart wasn’t broken, it definitely needed some freshening up. Unfortunately, there’s no advancement of game mechanics or a new, compelling story within which the action takes place. In fact, there’s not much of a story to speak of, and combat consists of cycling through a few repetitive fights until you’re ready to take on a boss. Once you beat him it’s off to a new area on the world map to rinse and repeat.
Combat that felt fresh seven years ago will leave many feeling a bit bored these days. Characters and enemies still sedately trot from place to place in Battleheart 2, which makes micro-managing four characters easier, but is far from the pace of today’s RTS titles. The graphics, sounds, and effects are also about the same as they were seven years ago in the original game, and while reusing some assets is certainly to be expected Battleheart 2 lacks the polish and pizazz of many of its contemporaries.
The biggest change in the sequel is supposed to be the inclusion of a cooperative multiplayer mode. Mika Mobile cites the ability to split your party among up to four players, each controlling their own hero. This sounds really cool and lots of ways to make use of this spring to mind, but I can’t figure out how it works. You pick a region and are asked to select a room name and once you’ve done that, nothing really happens. Maybe if two or more players enter the same room name something happens but I wasn’t able to test it and I shouldn’t have to guess as to how it works.
The bottom line is that Battleheart 2 is a new game with more of the same. This will appeal to many fans of the original, and there’s certainly something to be said for nostalgia, but for the rest of us there are better options out there.
Fighting Fantasy Legends Portal (iOS Universal and Android) – Full Review Coming Soon!
Fighting Fantasy Legends’ Portal brings three more books from the legendary writing duo Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone to mobile life. It covers the Deathtrap Dungeon trilogy—Deathtrap Dungeon, Trial of Champions, and Armies of Death—three adventures full of choices, tests of luck and skill, cards to collect, and of course combat. The gameplay is similar to the previous Fighting Fantasy Legends adventures by Nomad Games. You move through the adventure making decisions about which way to go and what to do at certain points.
There are a number of event locations throughout where you stop and draw a card from a deck full of monsters to fight, treasures to claim, traps to bypass, and other events. Fighting monsters and surviving traps and other trials are all dice dependent. You have a bunch of six-sided skill dice and luck dice. You start out with one success on each die and are able to improve them over time. When you’re faced with a challenge you have to get a certain number of successes out of your dice which varies based on difficulty. It’s a fun system but obviously prone to chance, both positive and negative, so keep that in mind if you’re not a fan of big luck swings. Fighting Fantasy Legends’ Portal is a lot of fun and Nomad Games has once again done a great job evoking the feel of the old-school books. If you’re a fan of those books, the first game, or the RPG/Adventure genre definitely check it out.
Nightmarium (iPad and Android) – Full Review Coming Soon!
Nightmarium is a tabletop game about bringing nightmares to life in the form of creepily combined monsters. You assemble head, torso, and legs from four different fearful genres and unleash them upon your foes. The first player to Frankenstein up five creatures of doom wins. The game is fast and simple to understand with some relatively simple tactics. It’s good for those easy-breezy gaming needs but won’t satisfy a hard-core strategizing itch. It also only offers pass-and-play multiplayer, no online action, so it’s more of a tabletop-game replacement at this point.
The App Store turned 10 years-old this week and Trism launched on its very first day. It became a star on the fledgling store with its bright colors, easy touch controls, and intuitive gameplay. It’s sequel, Trism II, launched this week into a vastly different App Store, one overflowing with puzzlers and games in general. It’s much tougher to stand out so Trism II introduces weird RPG/adventure-like wrapper with walking and talking triangle people, the trisms. You pick a hero and adventure through a world rescuing trisms and defeating bad guys through beating levels of the puzzle. The puzzle gameplay is a bit different as well, rather than sliding rows of the triangles you tap to add new ones to blank spaces and attempt to match up three adjacent same-colored triangles in order to remove them. I found the early game pretty easy and the adventure story a bit distracting, but then I prefer my puzzlers to be largely unhybridized. If you’re into puzzle/adventure mash ups Trism II may be right for you.
Warbands: Bushido is a digital collectable card and miniatures game with a look, feel, and play style that evokes tabletop miniature war gaming. It’s also free right now on iOS, though it does have in-app-purchases.
Hanseatic League trading sim Medieval Merchants has been around since 2013 and is hitting a mere $.99 for the first time ever. It’s only been on sale one other time, so act now if you’re interested!
Text-based adventure, turn-based combat…Dust and Salt just came out last May, looks quite intriguing, and is on sale for the first time for a mere $1. That’s probably worth checking out, right?
Old-school meta-RPG Knights of Pen & Paper is down to its lowest price in four years, just a buck.
Asmodee Digital Sale
A large selection of Asmodee Digital games are on sale this week. We’ve only linked to the iOS store below, but the discounts are also on Android as well.
Act as GM and coach and lead your favorite baseball team to success in MLB Manager 2018, on sale for the first time for $2.
The Quest Games
Classic role-playing game The Quest and the Islands of Ice and Fire expansion are both on sale. Check out our five-star review of The Quest and then get going with some old-school adventuring.
Fortnite’s Season 5 has officially arrived and it’s ready to cause a ton of sleepless nights. Along with the various map changes, new cosmetics, and mechanics, Fortnite’s fifth season comes with a host of weapon balances. While many of the alterations won’t drastically impact the game as a whole, it will give mobile players a more enjoyable experience. Epic Games has also added in a mobile-specific feature for those looking for a more convenient way to shoot as enemies.
The biggest balance came in the form of a damage tweaking to the Silenced SMGs. Both of these weapons never saw a ton of play on consoles, despite their potent ability to quickly kill someone. Given precision aiming on a phone is quite tricky, the SMGs are one of the best weapons you can carry into battle. Here’s a quick look at the patch notes for these guns:
Tac and Silenced SMG environmental damage now correctly matches player damage.
Changed the damage drop-off profile for the Suppressed SMG to be the same as other SMGs.
Fall off starts at 24 meters from 28 meters.
Damage reduced to 80% at 35 meters from 85% at 47.5 meters.
Damage reduced to 65% at 50+ meters from 75% at 70+ meters.
This is going to make the Silenced SMG a bit weaker in most medium range engagements. Ideally, this should be swapped too when someone rushes you or if your shotgun needs to be reloaded. The 80% damage reduction at 35 meters isn’t a steep decline, but it’s enough to make the weapon less viable on mobile. If you do have a choice between a Silenced SMG and Tactical SMG, make sure to pick the latter. It’s much better for quickly taking out opponents with burst damage and can drop at a higher rarity.
Epic games have also added a unique vehicle to the game that will certainly help with traversal. Called the All-Terrain Kart, this golf cart is capable of holding four people and can quickly zip across the map.
All Terrain Kart (ATK)
The new All Terrain Kart (ATK) has room for your entire squad.
Get a speed boost after drifting.
The roof acts as a bounce pad.
Work together as rear passengers to leap over obstacles with the All-Terrain Kart (ATK). Lean back and release at the same time for a higher jump.
While it’s easy to view this item as a novelty, the ATK has a lot of potential – especially for mobile players. One of the biggest issues many new and veteran players face is fluidly moving across the map. This will typically end with players wasting a ton of resources, not having enough time to loot, or getting separated from their squad. Thankfully, the golf kart alleviates many of these problems and can even present some unique opportunities to secure kills.
Unlike its console counterpart, Fortnite mobile players don’t have the fastest reaction time due to the game’s UI. This makes it quite easy to drive towards an enemy, get out, and kill them before they can react or set up a proper defense. It’s also useful since players driving it are way harder to hit since precision aiming on a phone is very tricky. Even though this cart will cause some mischief on the PC, it will absolutely define games on mobile.
Finally, we need to look at the changes directly made to the mobile version of Fortnite. Epic has introduced a new mechanic that allows users to automatically fire at enemies by holding their finger down. Below are all of the patch notes that are specifically for the iOS version:
Autofire has been added as an option on mobile platforms. Enabling this causes the player’s weapon to automatically fire when the reticle is over an enemy that is within range.
Players will be given the option to select their preferred fire mode after launching. All players can change their preferred fire mode by navigating to Options, Custom HUD Layout, then choosing the ‘Select Fire Mode’ option and confirming their selection.
Tap-to-fire.
A dedicated fire button.
Autofire.
Bug Fixes
The Thermal Scoped AR now has the proper visual effects on all devices.
Vehicle passengers can now detonate Remote Explosives.
Entering build mode while holding the “fire” button will no longer adversely affect your ability to build in the future.
Health and Shield numbers will no longer be displayed as your own while spectating.
Having another way to fire your gun is certainly a welcome addition, even if it has limited application. If you are going to use Autofire, make sure it’s with weapons like SMGs, shotguns, Miniguns, and LMGs. Any type of rifle should still be fired by tapping so you can control the bloom and have better accuracy. Overall this is a smart decision that will certainly alleviate some frustration and it can be turned off if you don’t like it. While this update doesn’t fix some of the major problems in the mobile battle royale genre, it’s definitely another step in the right direction.
Let us know in the comments how you’re getting on with the game now that Season 5 has landed.
Fortnite is perhaps the biggest video game in the world right now. Thanks to its addictive take on the battle royale genre, thousands of players drop onto this colorful island in an attempt to be the last man standing. While this formula is nothing new, Fortnite’s unique building mechanic allows users to construct geometrical masterpieces in order to block bullets, gain a height advantage, or just traverse the environment.
However, this can be quite tricky on the mobile port as the controls are not as fluid. Even though building is not as common on this version, it’s still critical that users master this skill when taking the fight on the go. Here are some tips to help improve your building in Fortnite’s mobile version.
How to Build
For the unfamiliar, you are only able to build in Fortnite’s mobile version if the tool button is pressed. This can be found in the middle of the screen to the right of your inventory. The icon is of a hammer and wrench but will swap to one of a gun when you change to the building menu. Once you’re in the building menu just select which of the structure types you want to make. Then all you need to do is tap the screen to build that item of your choice.
Pick the Right Sensitivity
When you start Fortnite the sensitivity will be set to 40. This is a generally good sensitivity, but we don’t recommend going any higher than 45. Playing on a mobile device can be difficult since it’s difficult to precisely aim or place structures. Don’t ratchet up the sensitivity too high otherwise you’ll have a harder time playing. We found that between 35 and 40 is the sweet spot, but you will want to fiddle with it until you’re comfortable. There is no perfect sensitivity, spend some time experimenting with different settings.
Playground Mode is Your Best Friend
The single best mode to learn how to build is the new Playground Mode. Unlike the traditional battle royale modes, you can just run around the entire island by yourself. Resource gathering is increased and all of the loot llamas spawn across the map. This means you can quickly gather resources and just practice building different types of structures. It’s a great way to not only familiarize yourself with the controls but practice constructing cover quickly.
We strongly recommend you go into Playground Mode and just learn to build. It will help commit making certain structures to muscle memory and give you a better chance in battle. This is also a wonderful place to work on your aim, quickly swapping between weapons, or getting a general handle on the movement controls.
Be Practical, Not Fancy
During battles in Fortnite some players get in the habit of trying to produce excessively elaborate structures in order to turn the tide of battle. While there’s nothing wrong with this on other platforms, building on Fortnite mobile is fairly awkward. A lot of this is thanks to users needing to use three fingers at the same time if they want to build, look, and move at the same time. Because of this, sometimes it’s better to just stand still and quickly construct a small base around you.
One of the best structures to get into the habit of quickly assembling is made up of four walls and a ramp. Despite seeming quite basic, it offers a decent amount of protection and gives a height advantage in a battle. If you use the Turbo Building feature, then you’ll be able to quickly spin in a circle to produce four walls. Then place down a ramp and jump at the same time. If done correctly you’ll land on top of the ramp as it’s building.
As your confidence in building increases, you’ll be able to quickly assemble a tower like this. Just remember if someone blows up the bottom then the entire structure will collapse. Keep this in mind so you don’t fall to your death if the base is blown up.
Use the Environment
Another great way to turn the tide of a battle is by building up to or extending a structure already in the environment. Quickly constructing a ramp up to a roof and then throwing down several walls can reinforce your position. This is especially true for dropping into suburban locations like Pleasant Park or Retail Row, where getting onto a roof will let you see around the entire area. In places like Tilted Towers, you can use floors to quickly build bridges between structures. Use this to close the gap in fights or shift locations if you are getting pushed.
In firefights try to make use of natural boundaries to block a foe’s sightlines. Building isn’t always reliable on mobile, so use the world around you to take cover. Once this happens you can quickly construct some cover or a small base so when you enemy pushes they will be at a disadvantage. A single ramp and a wall to connect it to can make a big difference in a fight. It will reduce your visible hitbox and let you fire down at your opponent.
Use Turbo Building
Turbo Building is a unique feature that allows players to quickly construct a structure without needing to tap for each piece. To enable Turbo Building go to the settings and then make sure that Turbo Building is switched to ‘On.’ After this, all you have to do is double tap and hold down to continuously build the structure of your choosing. This is essential for quickly assembling a building if someone jumps you or if a person is destroying your building. Being able to just hold down your thumb and spin to build four walls will give you a needed speed advantage in a fight.
However, the Turbo Building mechanic is also great for just traversing the environment. It’s easy to make a mistake and tap the screen at the wrong time when building a tall ramp or bridge. This can not only mess up your rhythm but kill you via fall damage. Always use the Turbo Building mechanic when constructing multiple structures of the same type. It may take a bit of time to get into the habit of using this mechanic, but make sure to practice during every match.
What would your building tips on mobile be? Let us know in the comments!
You may remember back in mid-June that Feral Interactive are not only still working on their Rome: Total War iPhone version, but have also partnered with Kalypso Media to bring us the wonderful Tropico to iPad.
Tropico is a series of PC strategy games that put in charge of an island in the Caribbean as ‘El Presidente’ – a dictator. It’s a humorous and very charming take on the city management genre, where you must exploit your island’s natural resources as much as possible and play foreign powers against each other. You can use your profits to either improve the welfare of your citizens, or the welfare of your swiss bank account – but beware, rebels could strike at any moment.
As with a lot of management-style games, it’s how you model the interface which will be key to a game’s success on tablets. Feral have recently shared an insight into how they’ve adapted their UI for the game.
Named the ‘Dictator’s Desk’, Feral have created a bar of quick-access items that run along the bottom of the screen. In order, these are:
Intel – where notifications will be stored that demand your attention. Pretty standard.
Avatar – El Presidente exists in the game world, and you can send him places to get short-term boosts and benefits. We imagine this will be a quick-use button to deploy yourself to the map.
Edicts – A core part of Tropico is the ability to change and mould various aspects of your Government and general way of life through Edicts. Some of these will only help yourself, some will help your citizens but will come with a one-off or regular cost. Deciding what kind of nation you want to be and choosing the right Edicts is a key gameplay loop, and quite rewarding.
Overlays – Like any city-building game, being able to look at different types of information is important in knowing where to build. Knowing where the best resource deposits are, or which ground is the most fertile will help you with the placement of your economic buildings. This area will probably have several different filters you can use to help with these decisions.
Construction – Pretty much what is says on the tin. Not all buildings will be available to build – some will be gated behind Edicts, or milestones, or even minimum relationships with foreign powers. Whatever is available to build though will be found here.
Almanac – Tropico was great in the sense that it provided a lot of granular information on induvial citizens. Their name, relationship, political leanings, education level… it all feeds into the mechanics elsewhere, so keeping tabs on your populace is important. Other stats like your diplomatic relationships and the book-keeping will also be found here.
The only thing we imagine a decent UI can’t solve is the finnicky-ness of building and placement itself. Being a tropical island, the terrain doesn’t always lend itself to block or grid based building (apart from maybe residential areas) – being able to finely manipulate and place buildings to optimise resource output etc… was a key part of the game, so it’ll be interesting to see how Feral handle this particular challenge.
At the moment, there’s no concrete release date, but Tropico for iPad should be out by the end of the year.
Playsport Games have announced that they’re working on a third entry in their Motorsport Manager Mobile series. Better yet, we’ll be able to get our hands on it pretty soon!
The developers have been touting the following new features going into MM Mobile 3:
GT AND ENDURANCE RACING
With 6 new championships, MM Mobile 3 is bigger and better than ever before. GT races bring action-packed, wheel-to-wheel action, while Endurance is a Motorsport Manager’s ultimate strategic challenge, with 3 drivers per car and timed races!
A STUNNING SETTING
Monaco makes its Motorsport Manager debut! Manage your cars around la Rascasse, Casino Square and the Swimming Pool. It’s the ultimate test, rendered in a beautiful, detailed new art style.
NEW FEATURES
The Supplier Network sees managers grow their team’s presence around the globe, while Invitational Races are huge annual events, bringing international races with a unique twist. Mechanics are the new members of your team, and their relationship with the driver is all-important!
AUGMENTED REALITY
AR support brings you the ultimate camera mode! Choose your own perspective on the race. Peer over trees, through bridges and down cliffsides as you experience races in a whole new way.
GAME CHANGERS
Votes on rule changes, dynamic AI team movement (including teams going bust and being replaced) and new difficulty settings mean that the world of motorsport constantly evolves – but the challenge stays at your level.
ON-TRACK ACTION
Energy Recovery System, with Hybrid and Power modes, mixes up every race! Will you boost your way past your rivals into clear air, or smartly manage your fuel levels to pull off a genius strategy?
The release date is listed as ‘This Summer’, which according to my thermometer is pretty much now, and it will be launching on iOS and Android via the Google Play and Amazon App stores.
Given that the PC version has only ever had one release, how are you feeling about the mobile spin-offs? Are you excited for this new release? Let us know in the comments!
As commenters wisely pointed out, there are better mobile options for football gaming than EA’s FIFA Mobile, which has a World Cup mode available now. One of these is New Star Soccer, which was the runner-up for our Sports Game of the Year in 2012 (iOOTP Baseball managed to edge it out for the top slot that year). Now, there’s a new front office layer available: New Star Soccer Manager is out today for iOS devices.
While it keeps a lot of the simple tap-to-kick charm of the original, New Star Soccer Manager adds in scouting and recruitment, additional team management layers, training, and even stadium building. There’s plenty to do off the field, but the updated look and feel of the action on the pitch is certainly welcome as well.
Right now, New Star Soccer Manager is only available for iOS devices, and it’s free to download from the App Store. Developer New Star Games says they have an Android version in the works, but that won’t show up in time for this weekend’s World Cup semifinals, unfortunately.
There’s no time like the present to pick up the turn-based tactical robot shooter Steamworld Heist. It’s currently on sale in the App Store for 50 percent off, at £4.99/$4.99.
We’ve talked up Steamworld Heist here before, and that’s because it’s one of the most enjoyable XCOM spinoffs to emerge since Enemy Unknown showed up way back in 2012. Here, the action is side-scrolling 2D, but the turns play out just like XCOM’s – you control a party, and each one has two moves to spend each turn. You can move, take cover, perform an action, and fire as you move your steampunk robot crew through ships controlled by greedy raiders.
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Steamworld Heist’s biggest joy, however, is in pulling off trick shots that knock hats off your robot cowboy enemies (or pull your squadmates out of sticky situations). Instead of dice rolls, you do the aiming yourself, and you can arrange it so that bullets ricochet off ceilings and walls in order to hit targets behind cover. It’s all very charming and surprisingly deep, and you can read more in JP Marr’s four-star review.
Welcome to the Weekender, your weekly look at the best new games, sales, and updates. It’s a holiday week in the U.S. but that doesn’t mean we don’t have some good gaming options for you to peruse as you head into the weekend.
Excellent solo card game One Deck Dungeon keeps getting additional content. A recent update added a new hero, Witch, to the mix. The Witch is equally skilled mixing it up with weapons or magic and has an awesome heroic feat and starting skill to let you roll extra dice. This is on top of Caliana, a maxed-out-on-magic fairy, and Fanatic, an angelic smiter of all things evil, introduced in a prior update. We’ve also got access to a brand new dungeon, the Cinder Plains, where the Hellhound awaits. All three new characters are $1 via in-app purchase. New content or not, if you haven’t tried One Deck Dungeon and enjoy dungeon-delving, roguelike-style games I highly recommend it.
Tim Fowers, maker of great tabletop games that eventually become great digital games, is at it again. This time Hardback has reached the digital world. Hardback is a prequel to his popular word game Paperback and features similar gameplay. You’re a 19th century writer trying to pay the bills. You do this by playing words from letter cards in your deck. Successfully doing so earns you coins with which you can purchase new cards to improve your deck, build better words, and earn even more coins so you can…well, you get the idea. There are special abilities to mix things up and you can draw more cards to press your luck. There’s single player, pass-and-play, and online asynchronous multiplayer. Hardback is largely the same game as Paperback, though there are several changes sprinkled in to make it feel a little more unique. Rather than buying victory points it’s a race to a set score and the ability to make any card wild could significantly alter your strategy. If you enjoyed the original, or word games in general, you can safely assume you’ll enjoy having Hardback on your mobile device.
A combination puzzle/exploration game, Minaurs has you explore the galaxy to discover new worlds, gain new knowledge, acquire rare materials, and rescue other minaurs who proceeded you and became trapped. Your ultimate goal is to reunite all of the lost souls of the Minaur Nation, though there’s quite a bit of paths to lead to that end. There’s a wide variety of expeditions to undertake, quests to fulfill, challenges to best, advantages to obtain, failures to avoid, animals to find, stuff to loot, abilities to learn, and knowledge to acquire. Expeditions are all about coaxing your minaur to go where you want it to by sculpting the ground to limit options. You have to avoid hazards and accidentally trapping it in a very small area. It plays out a lot like an action puzzle. Success opens more options, including the discovery of new planets to explore. Minaurs may actually have too much going on, at least at first, and it’s kind of difficult to sort it all out, but there are definitely some cool ideas at work if you have patience for a learning curve.
Demon’s Rise 2 by Wave Light Games was our RPG of the year back in 2016 and you can check out why in my four-star review. The original game is very nearly as good given all the love and updates it has gotten over the years. Both are on sale for a buck at the App Store and you should grab them if you’re a fan of tactical RPGs.
A tactical RPG in the same vein as the great Templar Battleforce, Heroes of Steel is also by the Terese Brothers and well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre.
Infinity Blade Series (iOS Universal): $.99
Well before Fortnite, Epic Games had the Infinity Blade games on the App Store. Now, the old-school battlers are each just a buck.
Rebuild 3 might be the best colony management and zombie survival game on mobile. You recruit, manage, and level up a team of survivors who must to do all the things needed to survive: grow food, scavenge supplies, kill zombies, and construct shelter. It’s normally $5.99 and is currently three bucks off. Get it.
Siege of Dragonspear (iOS Universal and Android): $5.99 iOS and $5.49 on Android
The missing link Baldur’s Gate game, Siege of Dragonspear, takes place between Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II and just came out back in March. It features a 30-hour campaign that explores new regions of the Sword Coast, within the long running Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign setting. It’s normally $10 and is on sale for its lowest price yet on iOS.
World-building sandbox Pocket Build has a huge quality-of-life improvement this week, cloud saves so you can work on your creations on any iOS device. There are also a bevy of performance and graphical improvements along with some nice lighting changes.
The 2.5 update for Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition has arrived and it includes over 500 changes thanks to the 2.5 Infinity Engine update. You can check out all of the updates here.
What do we have here? It’s a prequel – a ‘pre-quill,’ as the promotional material puts it – to Paperback, the deck-building word game about becoming a famous novelist. Hardback is now out for Android and iOS devices, and it adds a few new twists on the original formula.
As Penelope Quill, great-grandmother to Paperback’s Paige Turner, you’re once again racing to achieve fame as a novelist. This time, however, you’ll be able to use any card as a wild by playing it face down. That means you’ll lose the benefit from playing the letter on its face, but it gives you extra flexibility when forming words. Another new mechanic is four literary ‘genres’ for cards, each with its own additional traits that provide additional strategic options.
Created by Fowers Games, Hardback’s art (again done by Ryan Goldsberry) is lovely and nails the 19th century aesthetic with charm. It’s going for £4.50 or $4.99 on the App Store and Google Play.
