Tag: Playdek »

Playdek and Stone Blade Entertainment have released of an in-app expansion for Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer, called Realms Unraveled. The expansion features the Dual Factions mechanic that lets heroes join more than one faction at a time. This gives them the abilities of both and, paired with the Multi-unite mechanic that lets heroes of the same faction unite, you can build some devastating card combos. The expansion also comes with 14 new cards, including new transforming heroes, constructs, and monsters, to add to your Machiavellian strategies.

“Some Ascension fans call Realms Unraveled their favorite expansion ever,” said Joel Goodman, CEO, Playdek. “We hope you will try it and see if you agree.”

You can download Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer for free on the app Store. Realms Unraveled can be bought in-game for $2.99.

At this point in the month, you or at least a few people you know are probably getting ready to scramble around (or are already scrambling around) for Thanksgiving Dinner. It's a hectic day of precise oven utilization, but there's also the whole family and camaraderie thing.

We've already put together a handy list of useful apps that should make your Thanksgiving a breeze, but what if you want to unwind while staying in the holiday spirit or practice for the insanity that is to come? Well you're in luck, because now we've got a list of a half-dozen iOS games that evoke all sorts of Thanksgiving feelings - both heartwarming and... well, not so heartwarming.

Playdek, makers of Agricola, Tanto Cuore, Ascension, and more, is having a huge sale this week.

The sale includes Agricola for $2.99 and Decks I and K (available via in-app purchase) for $.99 each. You can also get Tanto Cuore for $0.99 and the Ascension Expansions (excluding Darkness Unleashed) are on sale for $0.99. Darkness Unleashed is on sale for $1.99.

This sale is only running until December 1, so pick up your copies soon.

It's time to get excited, mobile card gamers; Playdek has announced its Halloween Sale. Their top three games - Nightfall, Lords of Waterdeep, and Ascension - are all on sale for the rest of the month.

Nightfall is now $0.99 (previously $2.99). Lords of Waterdeep is $3.99 (previously $6.99) and its expansions are $0.99. Finally, Ascension's Darkness Unleashed expansion is on sale for $1.99 (previously $2.99) while all other expansions are $0.99.

This Halloween treat is only available through November 1, so pick up these great games on the cheap while you have the chance.

Playdek has announced that three bundles of their card and board games have made their way onto the App Store.

Board game fans can now find Lords of Waterdeep and Agricola together in the Playdek Board Game Bundle for $9.99, whilst card game players can get Tanto Cuore, Nightfall, Fluxx, Penny Arcade the Game: Gamers vs. Evil and Food Fight together for $7.99 in the Playdek Card Game Bundle. For those who can't pick between the two bundles and fancy getting more for their money, all of the previously mentioned titles along with Can't Stop can be gotten for $14.99 in the Playdek Deluxe Eight Game Bundle.

All of the above bundles are available on the App Store now.

Playdek and Stone Blade Entertainment have released Rise of Vigil - an in-app expansion for the iOS card game Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer. The expansion adds a new energy shard mechanic, which gives players the ability to upgrade heroes, monsters, and constructs. This changes the dynamic of certain cards; making weaker ones potentially much more powerful.

Rise of Vigil also includes 46 new center deck cards; including 11 new Monster cards, 24 new Hero cards, 11 new Construct cards, and new starting deck art as well as new background theme art and music.

Joel Goodman, CEO of Playdek says,  “We’re excited to release this new expansion to the popular Ascension series and we thank fans for waiting. The new energy shard cards energize the gameplay by making players rethink old strategies.”

You can download Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer for free, and purchase the Rise of Vigil in-game update for $3.99.

GMT Games wants to bring Twilight Struggle, the 2-player cold war strategy game, to iOS. They are Kickstarting the project with a goal of $50,000 to fund Playdek’s development of the game. Backers of $15 or more will receive the 'What If?' Expansion designed by the original game's developers Ananda Gupta and Jason Matthews.

What If? is a new mini-expansion that lets players explore alternate starting situations for the two superpowers. This expansion will contain eight cards, one set of charts and tables, and the rules on how to play.

So far the Kickstarter has reached $169,019 of the original $50,000 goal, five of the stretch goals have been met and several more scenarios have been unlocked.

Playdek has released quite a few great iOS ports of board and card games over the years, and now most of them are on sale. We're talking games like farm and family simulator Agricola, fantasy town and quest manager Lords of Waterdeep, and bizarre "King of Maids" competition Tanto Cuore - just to name a few.

You can check out the full list below, and feel free to shop your heart out.

Fluxx ($0.99)
Lords of Waterdeep ($5.99)
Summoner Wars (Free)
Agricola ($3.99)
Food Fight ($0.99)
Nightfall ($0.99)
Penny Arcade the Game: Gamers vs. Evil ($0.99)
Tanto Cuore ($0.99)

Unsung Story, Playdek's upcoming tactical RPG, seems to be moving along quite nicely. The Kickstarter project, which only started last week, is already past the halfway point with 24 days to go. I think it's safe to assume that a fair number of people want to play it, yeah?

Playdek CEO Joel Goodman was gracious enough to answer a few of our burning questions regarding Unsung Story. Specifically questions about the game itself, the Kickstarter project, and the involvement of Yasumi Matsuno.

148Apps: Playdek has one heck of a repertoire filled with a TON of great ports of some classic games. Do you think the mechanics of any of those games, or what you've learned while creating them, may have had an influence on what you've done with Unsung Story?
Joel Goodman (JG): The AI system we have created as well as our asynchronous gameplay mechanics will most definitely have an influence on what we will be able to do for Unsung Story. We also maintain a high quality level for all of our games.

148Apps: A tactical RPG seems like a fairly big change in genre from Playdek's typical work. Was it a challenge to start developing something so different or was it an idea who's time has come?
JG: It was a ripe opportunity that just sort of happened. When the opportunity came, we jumped at it. Plus tactics gaming fits our wheel house.

148Apps: Was Yasumi Matsuno a part of the project from the start or did you have the basic idea for Unsung Story in place first?
JG: Yasumi Matsuno developed the concept entirely from the start. We only asked for a tactics game and he took that request and hit the ground running. It is amazing to see the concepts and ideas he is able to come up with when given creative freedom.

148Apps: Will there be any form of multiplayer mode or is it being designed as an entirely single-player affair? Personally I wouldn't mind the latter in the slightest.
JG: There will be multi-player, but the core experience for the story is single player.

148Apps: It must have been difficult deciding where to place stretch goals for the Kickstarter project. Were there any goals you would shift around if given the opportunity? Any that you wish you could have included in the base game? Are you finding that backers are generally being receptive to them or has there been some pushback?
JG: The response has been incredible, and our backers are giving us tremendous feedback on the rewards and goals. We will be making modifications to those as we go based off of the suggestions we are seeing come in.

148Apps: Regardless of how the Kickstarter campaign goes (I'm guessing very well based on how much it's made so far) Unsung Story will still be coming to mobile, right?
JG: Yes, however we hope to get the game into as many player's hands as possible on their platforms of choice.

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We'd like to thank Joel Goodman for answering our questions, and are anxiously looking forward to getting our hands on Unsung Story.

There's been more than a fair bit of buzz surrounding Playdek's upcoming Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians project. It's a pretty big departure from the developer's usual (and excellent) ports of physical card and board games, a Kickstarter campaign to bring more talent on board and expand onto several other platforms just began a few days ago, and Yasumi Matsuno (Vagrant Story, Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics) is involved. However, the legendary game designer's level of involvement in the project has been somewhat unclear. Up until now, anyway.

Last night Matsuno broke it all down over Twitter in order to clear it all up. He isn't spearheading the development. Rather, his involvement "is limited to the original game proposal, world design, and story." It's not a bad thing in the slightest when you consider that those three elements are pretty much what he's known for in the first place, but he won't be overseeing the project directly.

He does go on to state that, while his involvement with Unsung Story is pretty much finished at this point, a successful Kickstarter campaign could see him jumping right back into it. So if they end up hitting their goals to bring Unsung Story to the Mac, PC, Vita, and 3DS, we'll be seeing a lot more of him.

Playdek and Yasumi Matsuno (Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII) have been working together to create the tactical RPG Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians for quite some time now. And the fan response has been so big that they've decided to expand their vision.

They've taken the project to Kickstarter in order to push things even further. Now the plan is to try and raise enough through funding and stretch goals so that they can put together a dream team including Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, Ogre Battle), along with the duo of Alexander Smith (Final Fantasy VIII, Front Mission 3, Parasite Eve 2) and Joseph Reeder (Final Fantasy XII, Crimson Shroud, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions) for translation. That's a lot of fantastic talent, I do declare. With enough funding they also plan to bring the game to Mac and PC, as well as the Vita and 3DS if they meet further stretch goals.

If you're interested you can check out the Kickstarter campaign, which just went live today.

Summoner Wars has a new promotion going on where all in-app expansions are available for free for online play, letting players enjoy the extra online competition at no additional cost. There are over 9 different decks to choose from, which increases the challenge and allows players to create custom decks for online play. All users need to do is download the game ($0.99), create a Playdek account to gain access to each deck, and begin casting spells in online battles.

Tanto Cuore is a Japanese anime-style deck-building card game where players take of the role of a master of a mansion full of serving maids. It's the player's job to hire maids and become the king of maids by acquiring victory points. Watch out for private maids, though, as they can both affect the gameplay in a positive and negative way. The game also includes asynchronous and real-time online play.

“The Japanese hobby game market is expanding, and Playdek as the U.S. leader in this space will further this expansion by growing hobby gaming through the prevalence of mobile platforms,” said Joel Goodman, CEO of Playdek, in a press release. “Tanto Cuore and our partnership with the prominent Japanese publisher Arclight is a significant step into this market.”

Playdek has ported some fantastic card and board games to iOS over the years, such as Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer, Agricola, Penny Arcade the Game: Gamers vs. Evil, and more. However, the recently-announced Unsung Story will be their first original IP. And it's being created in partnership with Yasumi Matsuno, the legendary designer behind Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, and my personal favorite, Vagrant Story!

The first property based on Matsuno's visionary world will be co-designed by renowned French board game designer Christophe Boelinger, which will be released in 2014. The game introduces the world of Rasfalia in an exciting digital card game played online. The game pits two players against each other in a fast-paced and engaging struggle. Featuring innovative new game play mechanics, the card game will appeal to a wide variety of players through the immersive, strategic game play Boelinger is known for.