Category: News

General game developing news and updates.

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Watch two hours of Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game Gameplay

By Joe Robinson 29 Aug 2018

Asmodee Digital have now put the archive of last night’s Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game stream up on their Twitch page, if you didn’t get a chance to watch it last night. It’s about two hours long, just so you know, and we’ve replaced the embed below with the archived stream instead of the live feed. Enjoy!

Original Story

As Hearthstone continues to dominate the digital CCG market, new and interesting variations on the formula are slowly starting to emerge. Faeria, despite abandoning mobile development, tried to change the game by adding a physical board. The Elder Scrolls: Legends iterated in a subtler way by providing more tactical depth.

The Lord of the Rings: Living Card Game is the latest contender for the throne, but it represents an interesting quandary – for one, it’s an adaptation of an existing, and highly successful physical card game of the same name. Secondly, it’s co-op, not PvP, so you’re playing against an AI opponent who uses slightly different rules and the whole design is bent towards a more bespoke, story-driven experience.

When it first announced last year, it was generally accepted that Lord of the Rings LCG will be coming to mobile. Sadly we’ve heard no further news on that score, but since the game’s out in Steam Early Access today and I’m sure some of you are interested in seeing how it plays, can’t hurt to highlight the on-going gameplay stream over on Asmodee’s Twitch account:

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The stream started at 4pm UTC / 5PM GMT, so you may have missed the beginning, but the archive will probably be made available tomorrow if you want to catch up.

I’ve been playing it myself, and so far it’s proved a fascinating experience – the narrative-driven nature of the game throws up some very interesting and unique mechanics you won’t find in more PvP games. On top of that though, I’m having conflicting emotions over how differently the digital game has evolved from the physical one – the physical game is a very good co-operative card game, and I’m surprised by how much the team at Fantasy Flight Interactive have decided to distil the game’s core tenets and try to mould into Hearthstone’s template.

We’ll probably do a full write-up over on Strategy Gamer since this isn’t officially a mobile thing yet, so keep an eye out over there for more impressions. Otherwise, enjoy the stream!

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Android: You can get Ticket to Ride, Talisman & Mysterium on the cheap [Update]

By Joe Robinson 29 Aug 2018

Update: An eagle-eyed reader has found out what the Talisman expansions were that are part of the bundle. We’ve updated the copy.

Us Android users get a bit of a love today, as we’ve spotted a way you can get some quality mobile boardgames on the cheap via Humble Bundle.

I know, I know – those guys are usually just about getting cheap Steam games, although they have done mobile specific bundles in the past. This latest offer is PC focused, but it comes with some Android-only extras that you guys might be interested in.

At the $1 tier, you can get both Ticket to Ride AND Mysterium on android, as well as PC steam keys for Mysterium, Sentinels of the Multiverse, and the Ticket to Ride Complete Collection.

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Currently, Ticket to Ride is selling on Google Play for $4.99, while Mysterium is £3.99.

If you stump up for the average, which at the time of writing sits at $5.86, you also get Talisman: Digital Edition and 2 DLCs – The Reaper & the Frostmarch – on Android as well. This tier also offers steam keys for Talisman with the Highland and Dungeon expansions.

In terms of other PC games, this tier offers keys for Pathfinder Adventures, the Asmodee digital re-imagined Carcassonne game and The Shattered Timelines expansion for Sentinels. There is a third tier, but no Android games are being offered.

Talisman News

Talisman: Digital Edition currently sells on its own for $3.99, with the two expansions going for $2.99 each. So in total you could get three games and two DLCs with a combined full-price value of $19, for just under $6!

If you’ve yet to pick any of these up (and don’t mind the steam games to boot), this might be something to look into.

At the time of writing, over 26K bundles had been sold and there is thirteen days left until it expires.

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Nintendo details Dragalia Lost, its first new IP created exclusively for smart devices

Nintendo details Dragalia Lost, its first new IP created exclusively for smart devices

For the first time ever, Nintendo is introducing a new IP directly on smart devices! With the Dragalia Lost game, players can enjoy a fast-paced action role-playing game set in a fantasy world of warriors, magic and dragons that’s specifically designed to play on smartphones, but with the depth typically reserved for dedicated video game systems. With intuitive touch-screen controls, colorful fantasy graphics that pop off the screen and the option to join up online with up to three other players in co-op story quests, events and Raid Battles, the game can easily be enjoyed in short bursts or longer play sessions.

Nintendo debuted a video detailing many of the features coming to Dragalia Lost. To view the video presentation in its entirety, visit https://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct/08-29-2018/.

“Our mobile strategy is expanding with the launch of Dragalia Lost, the first original IP from Nintendo to launch on mobile devices,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Fans are looking for a variety of experiences on mobile devices, and this vibrant action role-playing game perfectly complements our other mobile games, while also offering something completely new.”

In Dragalia Lost, players build a customized party of adventurers and set off on a grand journey – one that will take them to a variety of locales to save the Kingdom of Alberia from mysterious evil forces that are corrupting the realm. While exploring the world, players control their party of adventurers in battle, even transform into mighty dragons to unleash devastating attacks. Along the way, players can discover more than 60 companions for their party that will offer a variety of different weapon classes, combat abilities, elemental properties and more.

Battles are performed in real time, keeping players in the action, dragging their fingers on the screen to move their characters, tapping or holding to engage with various attacks, and flicking along the screen to dodge. It’s all very intuitive and easy to pick up for any type of player. And by using the in-game currency Diamantium or Wyrmite, players can summon new characters, dragons or special accessories called Wyrmprints that can be equipped for powerful abilities or bonuses. Wyrmite is earned in the game as a reward for completing quests, while Diamantium can be purchased using real-world money.

Dragalia Lost is all about letting players play how they want. Party members can be customized in all sorts of ways, whether it’s through new equipment or leveling up and earning new or upgraded abilities. Dragalia Lost even offers synchronous online multiplayer with up to three other people who have the game, so friends can share the experience throughout the game’s main story adventure, additional quests and event raids.

For more information about Dragalia Lost, including how to pre-register, visit https://dragalialost.com/en/.


Fantasy Violence
Sexual Themes
Users Interact
In-Game Purchases

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Video: What developers should expect from design tests

In this GDC 2018 talk, Studio Gobo’s Peter Buchardt goes over best practices when taking design tests to help young designers land careers in a field they love.

Buchardt discusses how companies implement design tests for candidates as a default part of their recruitment process, due to the competitive nature of the industry. 

He also provides examples from design tests along with a retrospective analysis, as well as addressing the issues of test time frames and companies expecting completed tests from candidates that do not fit the company’s’ desired profile.

It’s an informative talk that’s definitely worth watching, so developers shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do so now that it’s freely available on the official GDC YouTube channel!

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.

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Battle Chef Brigade dev warns against putting work first

Battle Chef Bridgade launched on PC and Nintendo Switch in November 2017, with a recent update adding features like split-screen multiplayer and new game modes– but alongside celebrating the additions, developer Tom Eastman warns against other indie creators putting life on hold to prioritize work. 

Through a series of Tweets, Eastman highlights his journey of forming Trinket Studios, the studio behind Battle Chef Brigade, after wanting more creative freedom. 

But the team was soon met with many challenges. “Making a character- and narrative-driven game with a new take on puzzle mechanics is a little insane for three people, but mixing 2D combat into that is, frankly, not smart,” he writes. 

To see the project through, the studio ran a successful Kickstarter campaign, took out a loan, and signed with a publisher “all because we believed in this game and ourselves more than anything.” 

“A lot of indie games demand everything from their creators and it’s super bad for developers and player expectations,” he continues. “On the other hand, when someone says that BCB is their favorite game, maybe it was sort of worth it. We have the power to reach so many people.”

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Why Donut County changed halfway through development

Donut County was finally released today after six years in development– but it was originally supposed to be an entirely different game.

Initially a game centered around Hopi culture titled Kachina, Donut County developer Ben Esposito discusses why he decided to switch gears and center the game around Los Angeles instead. 

It’s common practice for developers to create games that draw inspiration from the histories, stories and cultures of people around the world, however, there’s a delicate balance.

Respecting those people’s feelings while exploring their cultural touchstones is incredibly important, and as a game maker it can be easy to make mistakes, especially as a solo dev.

Esposito actually gave a talk as part of the Failure Workshop during GDC 2015, which addresses the mistakes he made working on Kachina, which drew from Hopi folklore, and his journey to understand and learn from what that really meant.

Developers interested in learning from Esposito about important issues underlying cultural appropriation in game development can watch his portion of talk here.