In today’s computer gaming news at marijuanapy.com, learn more about Steamforged Games, a serial collaborator with Bandai Namco on board game adaptations and the company responsible for the previous Dark Souls and Monster Hunter: World board games, is adapting the video game Elden Ring into a board game. Meanwhile, Foundation, which is considered to be one of the best medieval city-builders, is receiving a significant update. The update to Foundation version 1.9 adds a variety of fresh and engaging city management options. Lastly, the latest action role-playing game in the Torchlight series, Torchlight Infinite, has entered a closed playtest on Steam in advance of its scheduled release in October. This comes after the release of Torchlight 3, which was a bit of a mixed bag in 2020. Infinite is free to play with a primary focus on loot and will also be available on mobile devices.
Elden Ring Board Game is in Development
Original Source: Elden Ring board game in the works, because of course it is
Elden Ring is getting a board game adaptation from Steamforged Games, a serial Bandai Namco board game adaptation partner.
In a news release on their website, Steamforged announced the Elden Ring board game will be available via Kickstarter. The news was accompanied by a render for a Margit, the Fell Omen miniature. (new tab)
Intelligent dice-free combat will recreate the game’s hard fights, requiring players to strategize and alter their plans.
Our goal is to create tabletop adaptations that capture the essence of the IP. Expect a dark, beautifully realized tabletop world of mystery and peril with thrilling battle and exploration. “Be prepared to lose hours to this game and be delighted about it,” warned Steamforged co-founder Mat Hart.
It doesn’t explain the game, though. Diceless fighting is typically the key to more functional, balanced, deterministic encounters like in Gloomhaven or Into the Breach. I’m intrigued in how Steamforged might modify Elden Ring’s open universe.
You can sign up for Elden Ring’s Kickstarter on its pre-launch page.
(new tab) Before launch, months pass.
A decent board game? That implies it’s opinion time, but given Steamforged Games’ history, it’ll be OK. The miniatures will likely be fantastic, like with all Steamforged adaptations.
Rules-wise? No Steamforged adaptations are fascinating, inspired, or truly wonderful. They’re functional if complex. The Dark Souls RPG it released this year was so amateurish and mediocre that I wouldn’t recommend it to fans of the series.
The Best City-builder Game Gets a Big Update
Original Source: One of the best city builders around is getting a hefty update
I recently looked at the next wave of city builders, although I’ve also played Farthest Frontier and Cities: Skylines. I found the ideal occasion to revisit one of the best city builders, Foundation, which has been in early access on Steam since 2019. Foundation 1.9 is coming soon, and I got to try it out.
If you’ve never played Foundation, its gridless city builder is one of its best features. I love grids: there’s something satisfying about putting out roads and buildings to create an organized, well-optimized community.
Foundation’s technique, which doesn’t draw highways, is my favorite. As in Ostriv, citizens make paths by walking the same routes over and over, wearing down the grass to form their own highways. You zone for housing, but people construct as they want within those lines. The finished effect isn’t as organized as most city builders, but it feels organic, like a real town over time: controlled, but not micromanaged. It’s nice to see a city flourish over time.
Update 1.9 keeps the game’s organic feel but changes how tiers develop. New buildings are unlocked by wealth. Your village’s prosperity score is determined by your level of wealth (calculated by taxes, trade, and upkeep), how many map tiles you’ve purchased, the number of trade routes you have, your population and status (commoners, serfs, etc.), your city’s splendor (which can be increased by certain building features), and beautification (decoration). Certain buildings are only unlocked after attaining prosperity milestones. For example, you need a prosperity score of 20 before fishing, farming, and baking are unlocked.
I struggled a bit with the new progression system. Spending a lot of gold to access new map tiles early on left me penniless, and my city cost as much as it earned, leaving me with a prosperity score of 19. On my second try, I understood that if I didn’t suck up map tiles too rapidly, I could be more prosperous early on. Expanding was slower than I recall from the last time I played Foundation, and I had to avoid overspending, but my new city is prospering faster in the second layer, and I’m more than halfway to the next set of unlocks.
In order
The 1.9 update adds edicts, a new set of regulations you can apply to a rich town. Edicts have both an advantage and a downside. Tools are a consumable resource needed to build most buildings, although in the early game you must buy them from traders. If you’re struggling to afford or make tools or just wish to use them less quickly, you can implement an edict that returns 50% of the tools when a building is built. The negative is that building will take longer since builders will be more careful with their tools. An interesting compromise.
If your city is loaded with food and you don’t need extra money from traders, you may choose to boost mineral output and cut food production in half. Another edict can give serfs a tax exemption in exchange for comfort (expensive items, etc.). If they are unhappy, pay them off.
Cozy up to the king for more royal vendor visits.
Another new system, privileges, works similarly but without downsides. If you have a high magnificence score with the clergy, you can reduce monastic upkeep costs or add the tithe, of which you collect a share. Cozy up to the king for more royal vendor visits. I’ve just unlocked my first edict and haven’t gotten to privileges yet, so I can’t say how they’ll affect the game. But they do seem like a wonderful way to change the rules of your cities, to give yourself more options to chew over, and to make you feel more like a true medieval mayor making political (or even moral) decisions than a town manager selecting where the new cheesemaking building should go.
You can specify victory conditions for your city in the update, a sort of primary mission. It may be as basic as luring 100 citizens to your community or attaining 1,000 prosperity. It could be challenging to develop a thriving city without any trade money. These win conditions are optional, but they sound like a wonderful way for experienced Foundation players to add further challenges.
No date has been set for Foundation’s 1.9 upgrade, but a preview period is planned for mid-September so players may try it out.
The New Torchlight Game on Steam May Not Be What You Think
Original Source: A new Torchlight game has begun playtesting on Steam, but it may not be what you expect
Torchlight Infinite, the latest ARPG after 2020’s mediocre Torchlight 3, has entered a restricted playtest on Steam. Infinite is a free-to-play mobile loot game.
Torchlights 1 and 2 (2009 and 2012) are great memories. Torchlight was one of the first 2010s top-down, loot-heavy ARPGs like Diablo 3 and Path of Exile. Its bright art style and simplified build making make it stand apart. Runic Games was shut down by Perfect World in 2017, and Torchlight 3 development was entrusted to Echtra Games.
We didn’t like Torchlight 3. Luke Winkie gave it a 60% and said, “It was about the 12th time in a row that I was descending into a cookie-cutter dungeon to fulfill yet another uninspired quest that I began to notice what was missing was more than what was there.”
Perfect World has given the franchise to XD Inc. (opens in new tab). In Infinite promos, XD highlights build and ability variation, loot grinding, and an auction house. On the game’s monetization, XD portrays Infinite as “burden-free gameplay.” While “exclusive drops” can only be obtained by grinding, players can “further [their] personal views on builds and appearance with available microtransactions.”
Infinite could be a great, fair loot-em-up game. Diablo Immortal(opens in new tab) demonstrated it’s a lucrative potential even if it isn’t (opens in new tab). Either way, this isn’t Torchlight. The “ultimate free market” and “grind to get it all” promised by Infinite seem far from the plucky Diablolike I adored in 2009. Wishlist Infinite on Steam and apply for the closed playtest if you’re interested.
Summary of Today’s Computer Gaming News
Overall, Steamforged Games, which has made board games for Dark Souls and Monster Hunter: World, is making one for Elden Ring. Steamforged also revealed in a press statement published on their website that the Elden Ring board game will be available for purchase through a Kickstarter campaign. In addition to the news, a render for a tiny version of the famed early-game boss Margit, the Fell Omen, was provided.
On the other hand, the 1.9 update for the medieval city builder Foundation introduces a number of novel and engaging new city management options. Update 1.9 keeps the game’s organic feel but modifies tier advancement. Prosperity unlocks new buildings. Your village’s prosperity score is based on your level of wealth (calculated by taxes, trade, and upkeep), how many map tiles you’ve purchased, the number of trade routes you have, your population and status (commoners, serfs, etc.), your city’s splendor (which can be increased by certain building features), and beautification (decoration).
Finally, after the hit-or-miss experience that was Torchlight 3 in 2020, the next installment in the action role-playing game series, Torchlight Infinite, has entered a closed playtest on Steam in anticipation of its release in October. It’s possible that Infinite will turn out to be a fresh and balanced take on the free-to-play loot-em-up genre. Even if it isn’t, fellow PC ARPG convert Diablo Immortal proved that it’s at least a very lucrative prospect.
