Tag: HareBrained Schemes »

Golem Arcana, the point-based army-building board game from Harebrained Schemes - and its accompanying app - are now both available. The app will allow users to connect to the game's figures, board, and cards via a Bluetooth-powered stylus - with a tap on the pieces or the board from the stylus sending information to the app.

The board game challenges players to assemble an army and take on the enemy with their combination of attributes and special actions. The story behind everything begins with the rise and fall of the Great Khan, with the ensuring chaos causing tribes and clans to rise up and take back their sovereignty and empires to reclaim their lost territory and honor. Now the heirs of the Khan are battling to take control of the Gudanna Dominion.

The app manages all the math for the player, meaning players do not have to memorize a complex ruleset. The app will also download new scenarios and will tally the results of every game into the overall conflict, with major developments triggered by the collective results of the players.

The Golem Arcana app is available on the App Store now as a free download, and the board game is $79.99.

Shadowrun Returns has gotten a big update and its biggest sale yet. Version 1.2.6, just released, overhauls the combat (including auto-heal) and UI for a better experience. Save options are now much closer to what they are on the PC, with the ability to save during a turn and when in the PDA. A variety of other bugs and tweaks are here as well.

Shadowrun Returns is also on sale for $4.99 - its biggest sale from its $9.99 price on iPad.

In some ways the original Shadowrun was a little before my time. Only a little, though. I was actually just too young to appreciate tabletop role playing games when I was eight. But I did appreciate the kick-ass SNES video game spin-off, and I even managed to come back to (and run) the pen and paper original in high school. Like many people I have very fond memories of street samurai and wage mages, so the news that Jordan Weisman (the original creator) plans to bring it back to PC, Mac, and tablets fills me with glee and makes me squeal like an excited school girl. Complete with jumping up and down repeatedly.

As is the apparently very successful trend right now, Harebrained Schemes has taken their idea to the Kickstarter community instead of a publisher. Ordinarily I’d try to rally the troops in an attempt to ensure that they meet their goal but that’s already happened. Like, a while ago. The developer is already at three times their goal to start working on the turn-based, player-driven RPG. That’s not to say that people should stop donating, though. If they can make another 200K or so (reaching 1.75 million) then Physical Adepts will be added. As one of many who have “seen” what physical adepts are capable of, this excites me.

The project still has a little over two days before it’s finished so we all have time to make our pledges. Virtually all of the game is pure speculation at this point, but I have every confidence in Mr. Weisman and his team. And I could not be looking forward to raiding mega corporations more.

[Via Kickstarter]

It's a whole new world...with pirates!

On This Episode:

Carter speaks to Jordan Weisman of Harebrained Schemes about their new turn-based strategy game for iPad, Crimson: Steam Pirates, as well as discussing the differences between console development and development for modern mobile platforms.

Carter speaks to Another World creator Eric Chahi on the heels of the upcoming 20th anniversary release of the game for iOS, discussing the work that went into making the game work on a touchscreen, as well as his thoughts on how the modern mobile gaming scene compares to around when he made Another World.

Who We Are:

Host: Carter Dotson

Guest: Jordan Weisman, Harebrained Schemes

Guest: Eric Chahi

Music:

"Beatnes7 (Theme to The Portable Podcast)" by The Eternal - Download on iTunes here:

"Nanocarp" by The Eternal

How to Listen:

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Listen on WRGT Radio every Friday at 4pm Central

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Apps Mentioned in this Episode:

It was only a few months ago that we announced that Bungie, makers of the Halo franchise, were entering the iOS market. Under the name of Bungie Aerospace, it wasn't all too clear exactly what games to expect of the developer. That is until now.

It turns out that Bungie Aerospace is the label given to a project by Bungie that's set out to help small independent developers launch their mobile and social games. The first title undertaken through this concept is going to be that of Crimson: Steam Pirates.

Developed by HareBrained Schemes, Crimson: Steam Pirates has some great pedigree behind it with some of its team having contributed to the likes of MechWarrior, Shadowrun and Crimson Skies and numerous other titles.

Crimson: Steam Pirates is going to be a turn-based strategy game that promises a mix of strategy and action as players must anticipate and counter their enemies' moves. As an iPad exclusive, Crimson: Steam Pirates offers the first chapter of the game for free and include 8 missions (or voyages, to keep the nautical theme) in all, as well as two 'pass-and-play' multiplayer scenarios.

Plenty of depth should be on offer with over a dozen types of ships, subs and airships promised. There'll also be 20 crew members with unique special abilities, that will hopefully mix things up nicely. Something else to be excited about: there'll be Bungie.net integration offering leaderboards and what we hope will be a plethora of statistics to compare with friends. Those who have played Halo online recently will know what we're talking about. Bungie knows how to do online statistics wonderfully well.

For the lucky souls attending PAX Prime, Crimson: Steam Pirates will be available to play at the event. For everyone else, it's not long to wait with the game set for release on September 1st on the iPad only.