Upcoming Releases – Update 6.8.17

By Chris / June 8, 2017

Coming soon to a mobile device near you!

This is the latest installment of our feature covering what games are currently in development and any details we know. Upcoming Releases are an inexact science as often publishers or developers don’t officially announce a game until shortly before its release. Sometimes when the news does get out earlier, the details are scarce, if not completely non-existent.  Be sure to check out our upcoming game database for a a quick overview of games currently in development.  Click on the images to purchase the board games. 

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Carcassonne (Android...again)

Platform

Android

Release Date

2017 (Unconfirmed)

Developer

Asmodee Digital

The Carcassonne app experience has been an odd one to follow. The iOS version is widely considered to be a classic example of a board game app done right. It is smooth, offers expansions, looks great, and just works. Nothing is changing there, Asmodee won’t be releasing an iOS version. The Android version from Exozert, on the other hand, has some issues. While we make the case that it does offer a fun experience, we admit the app is far from perfect. Lack of expansions are a big issue for an oft-expanded game. The other big one was reliability, over the years the app has had its fair share of issues with online games being dropped/corrupted which is downright infuriating. Exozert eventually got the app to a more stable place and we don’t see those issues anymore, but the messy past is still there. The app looks good and works well for what it is, but it’s clearly not up to the standard of the iOS version. Enter Asmodee who has been churning out quality ports on a regular basis recently. We expect Asmodee will address all of the issues from the current version and deliver the app Android users deserve. The result should be a simple, fun experience of one of the classic gateway games. Asmodee Digital is currently looking for beta testers, so head over here if you want to help iron out some early bugs and get a sneak peek for yourself.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue

Platform

iOS

Release Date

Q3 2017

Developer

RetroEpic Software

Flash Point is a cooperative game which pits a team of firefighters against a raging fire scenario trying to get the victims out alive. The game is currently up for crowdfunding over on Fig.   There are quite a few videos and descriptions up, the app looks like it should be a lot of fun. The game looks to be more of a traditional mobile game than a board game port. The game shares the familiar overhead, angled view as many others, and clearly presenting a great looking game has been a focus for the port. This represents a potentially interesting step for board game ports. Will more developers take the board game source material and turn it into a more traditional, graphic-heavy app? The downside here is that they aren’t planning an Android release, it’s getting more rare to see games skipping Android versions, but obviously some developers still choose to do so. We’ll be looking forward to this one on our iOS devices.

Harald

Platform

Android and iOS

Release Date

Late 2017 (unconfirmed)

Developer

Asmodee Digital

Not much is known about this port, but Asmodee Digital is working on it following their great recent ports of Onirim and Jaipur.  Given their track record, we can expect a multiplatform release, a very polished app experience, and a release date sometime in 2017. Harald is a bit of an odd choice for Asmodee to port. Their recent ports have been of well known, highly rated games. Harald might be a fantastic game, I really don’t know, but it certainly isn’t a big name game. One thing is does share with recent Asmodee ports such as Onirim and Jaipur is that it falls under the hand management/set collection category. Given the quality of the games Asmodee has been putting out recently, we are certainly excited to see what Harald has to offer.

Pixel Tactics

Platform

Android & iOS

Release Date

Late 2017

Developer

Level 99 Games

This is shaping up to be a great digital port. The announcement shares that the game will have online games with leaderboards as well as a 100+ stage solo challenge mode. The base game will have a small set of cards, with more being unlocked via in-game OR real currency. You need to beat the single player challenges to unlock new Leaders. Finally, they are planning on holding structured online events such as seasonal ladders and tournaments. This is quite the feature list, on the surface it checks every conceivable box we can think of, and then some. If the community takes to the game, the online options should be wonderful. As for the game itself, it is a head-to-head battle card game. Both players start with an identical deck and choose a leader which will affect how the other 24 cards in the deck play. The game is currently running alpha testing and is slated for a late 2017 release.

Scythe

Platform

Android & iOS

Release Date

2017

Developer

Knights of Unity

That this app is in development tells you a lot about the state of digital tabletop in 2017. Scythe is the wildly popular game released just last year that has shot up into the BoardGameGeek top 10 (#7, as of the time of this writing). The fact that it is getting the app treatment so quickly is amazing for digital board gamers. Knights of Unity have an active Twitter account and frequently post images of the models they are creating for the game (every Friday, I believe), I imagine they will ramp up their previews as the game gets further along. Scythe is a heavy area control engine builder set in an alternate 1920s. The game won instant praise and has been among the hottest games since release. We are incredibly excited about getting our hands on a digital version. Concrete updates on progress have not been easy to find, but the game appears to be slated for a 2017 release and is right at the top of our “most anticipated” list.

You can find the board game versions on amazon!

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