Finally a real strategy game has come to the IPad. The now popular board game has now come to digital form and is in the app store. The game is a turn based galactic conquest game. It include research and ship building! For a board game it is complex, but it's complexity take a certain form of streamlined simplicity. It's limited to 9 rounds but you have many actions during each round, including explore, research, building ships and orbitals, upgrading your ships and moving your ships. It's an example of extremely straight intuitive and immersive game design.  Thank of a civilization game that can be played in about an hour once you really get into the game. The tutorial is excellent for getting started as well. Did I mention multiplayer? If you have an IPad I highly recommend this game. According to the developer they are currently just behind Minecraft in 5th place in sales on the ITunes store.

Eclipse ITunes

Big Daddy Creation - Eclipse Done

This is another game that crept up on us.  It's a game called Banished and it's a realistic simulator for probably what would be something similar to an early 19th century town.  It features realistic population growth and food gathering.  It's slated for a mid to late 2013 release.  There are more videos and pictures available on www.shiningrocksoftware.com

Gamespot released this video of Total War: Rome 2.  I've always enjoyed the Total War series as it always mixes realistic battles with a sandbox campaign mode allowing to run your country through a grand map.  The Total War series finally comes full circle back to the time period that brought us Total War.  I for one cannot wait to rule Rome and command it's armies.  The only thing Total War: Rome needed was a better UI, better AI and a bit of polish.  This tech demo shows what we have been waiting for all this time.

This is an example of what a great action adventure puzzle game should be like.  It's sandboxy and hilarious.  The beta is on Steam but you need an access code.  I'm not sure if they are still giving out beta keys but if you are interested I recommend signing up for the newsletter at gunpoint.com.  The video above doesn't do the game justice.

Paradox Interactive has officially gone mobile and funky.  Soon after it's Magicka IOS release, it's now releasing Leviathan: Warships a tactical turn-based fleet management game.  It's cross-platform multiplayer is beyond innovative.  Most gaming companies are too scared to try.  This game boasts multiplayer between all major platforms PC, MAC, Android and IOS.  That is extremely impressive and risky move.  You customize your fleet and arm your ships with your weapons of choice.  It will release April 30th, 2013.  Check out this funky trailer.

Civilization V: Brave New World will bring about a much needed improvement to the culture and diplomatic victory.  Policy Adoption will play a more important role with conflicting ideologies becoming more important in how you interact with other civilizations.  The emphasis is to improve the late game experience and make the culture and diplomatic victories more viable and more interesting.  A type of archaeology system will be added to the game.  Trade will become more important bringing about a new unit called the caravan.  A world congress will be featured.  Nine new civilizations and 2 new scenarios and new units and buildings.  This new expansions is slated for release this summer.

Day Z - TBA

Day Z Game Official Site

I am not one of those zombie loving hipsters.  I'm not even a fan of post apocalyptic horror films and games.  I don't really like them, I'm not into the theme.  But Day Z has capitivated me.  I'm a fan of simulations, I'm a fan of realism.  Day Z gives a chance to experience what life could really be like in a zombie apocalypse.  With humans fighting together and against each other in an endless war for beans, ammunition and survival.  Dubbed Hiking Simulator 2013 by some, the great moments come when you meet face to face with another human and must decide weather to try and talk to them or shoot them and steal there stuff.  Looking online you can find some spectacular moments that have been found in the Arma 2 Mod version of this game.  Day Z is truly deserving of it's standalone version and we are all hoping the fews bugs will be few and there will hopefully be far less hacking.  This game has more potential than most games coming out 2013.

The game has been delayed, and understandably so.  The game is ambitious and the technological problems they face are vast.  My guess is we will know more by summer and we can probably expect some kind of beta by Q3 2013.

Arma III - Q3 2013

Arma 3 Steam

The world's premier military simulator is already available on Steam in a Alpha version.  We're all hoping that Arma 3 brings the needed polish and user friendliness that Arma 2 so badly needed.  The Arma series has been notoriously difficult to get into, primarily because it is a military sandbox.  

Europa Universalis IV - Q3 2013

Feature List of Paradox Forum

What are we going to do tonight Brain?  The same thing we do every night Pinky... try and take over the world.  Come on you know you want to.  Pick your favorite country, and go from there.  With a new trade system involving your navy, a revised combat system, revised religion, revised map and everything any Europa fanboy could want.  This is my most anticipated game of the year.

Civilization Brave New World - Summer 2013

This new expansion set to release this summer will feature new much needed diplomatic features and revised trade system.  It will also feature a sort of cultural mini game, featuring ideological wars.  Not a lot of information is out, but it sounds like cultural victories may be more viable and more interesting.  Think cold war scenario.

Stardrive - May 2013, Beta availabe now

Stardrive on Steam

Featuring tons of 4x features, the beta version is out on Steam and the full version is on it's way.  It's 4x space empire game that features the usual ship building and research trees.  The combat system will probably set this game apart from the others.  It features crew boarding and ground forces into the genre, something that has been largely been ignored or abstracted away in other games like Endless Space.  The twist is that it's real time and you can even control one of your ships with WASD.  It's a strange game, something that hasn't really been done before.  I am torn between playing this and Endless Space.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game - August 2013

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

I have never waited so patiently in anticipation of a board game before.  In the genre of the new "living card games" made somewhat popular by Fantasy Flight.  Paizo Publishing, publisher of the now popular D&D reboot Pathfinder is creating a card game version of Pathfinder.  Instead of having the dungeon master tell you what is happening in your adventure, the game tells you what's happening and all of the items, characters, locations and adventure lie within hundreds of cards.  The base set will be released in August 2013 at GenCon in Indianapolis.  Subsequently more and more of the adventure will be released on a monthly basis, adding more and more cards to the game.  Something like a 1000 cards will released by the end of the first adventure.  It's a persistent card, something which hasn't been done hardly at all.  You level up, you find loot and defeat monsters and you keep going until you die.  It's a cooperative game that can even be played solo.

Eclipse IOS - Probably May 2013

Big Daddy Creations

The board game is a hugely successful space empire building game that is complex, yet streamlined.  It includes ship building and tech trees.  However the game is getting even more streamlined and being put onto the iPad with AI.

Eminent Domain Escalation - December 2013

Eminent Domain Escalation Kickstarter

As of right now there are 57 hours left in the Kickstart campaign for the board game expansion for Eminent Domain.  Eminent Domain is an excellent new twist on deck building strategy and the expansion will probably prove to be just as innovative.  I love playing this game and I am looking for to this expansion.  You can get the original game through the Kickstarter as well.  I highly recommend this game.

Warhammer Quest (IOS) - April 2013

Rodeo Games

Warhammer Quest is one of those unique board games made a long time ago by Games Workshop.  It wasn't initially all that successful, but the world changes and people came to realize how great the game was.  Now the board game sells for $400 on Ebay and there is still no talk of a reprint.  The board game is dungeon tile questing game in which you continue playing and exploring the dungeons leveling up your character.  So the game doesn't end just like every other dungeon crawling game, it keeps going.  You visit towns, get items, fight monsters and level up.  Now the game is coming to IPads and IPhones.  It's being made by the same people that made Hunters which is there own custom strategic fighting game that would probably fit well in the realm of Warhammer 40,000.  I recommend checking out Rode Games