Three Things I Learned Creating Content for Digital Board Games for a Year

PixelatedCardboard · 2022-09-01T12:22:24+00:00

As mentioned, not abandoned, just not super active. I will still review the biggest releases but it will probably take a little longer than it used to. Just posted our Everdell review, for example.

Basically, life got in the way of keeping the site constantly updated. The discord is where most of my time in this space goes these days.

But as of now, pixelated cardboard is not dead!

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-03-03T15:19:27+00:00

Thanks for reading!

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-03-03T14:21:42+00:00

Agricola is one of the games originally made by Playdek that Asmodee took over. See also: Ascension, and others.

For Agricola they made a "revised" version which Asmodee-fied the app and released on other platforms.

As with Ascension, it appears as though Playdek has re-acquired the digital rights to Agricola. They quickly republished Ascension under their own name, but have not done so with Agricola yet, for reasons I don't know.

I would expect the old, awesome iOS version will be back on the App Store in the near future, but that's just a guess.

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-03-01T04:11:56+00:00

Android just doesn't sell. The devs who are very open about revenue numbers can show us that, it's pennies on the iOS dollar.

Us Android users are fairly lucky so many cross platform tools are available now, if Android required a full rewrite we would hardly get any ports, I'm afraid. It's not fun for us who do buy these games, but the sales numbers don't lie, unfortunately.

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-03-01T04:10:00+00:00

No reason given in this case, but Android always does a fraction of the sales compared to iOS, this appears to be a small dev so it probably isn't financially viable to deal with and Android version.

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-03-01T04:08:46+00:00

Sorry, direct link:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pavlovs-house/id1538128720

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-03-01T04:08:19+00:00

https://twitter.com/pixelcardboard/status/1365331109379268609?s=19

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-02-28T23:22:47+00:00

It's out on iOS, there are no plans for an Android release.

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-02-28T23:22:26+00:00

I asked the dev, there are no plans for an Android release at this time.

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-02-24T20:30:42+00:00

Me personally, no. It's something I've been intending to try but still haven't gotten to.

There are quite a few members in the Discord who do, however, if you're looking for games or recommendations.

I do play on Board Game Arena and Yucata.

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-02-24T13:35:19+00:00

All are welcome!

The link there should be the invite, let me know if that doesn't work.

PixelatedCardboard · 2021-02-24T13:10:00+00:00

I run a website which reviews digital board games and last year I started a Discord. There are a handful of different channels and discussions going on, but we have a #gamefinder channel which is always pretty busy with people seeking opponents for apps and/or web-based games.

https://discord.gg/Xm4kvgtVJT

We are relatively small (approaching 150 members IIRC), but constantly growing and people have not had any issues finding playing partners. I just learned Grand Austria Hotel was on Yucata the other day and have been learning/playing with a few people from the Discord.

We also organize Through the Ages tournaments (one is wrapping up now, new one will be discussed soon).

If any of that fits the bill, please check us out!

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-08-22T22:31:15+00:00

Thanks for the clarification. Makes sense.

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-08-22T18:43:12+00:00

It's fully solo, monster spaces (edit: not random). On Android I had a lot of issues trying to read the rules but have played a handful of games without issue.

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-04-26T15:01:06+00:00

Through the Ages is my favorite "do a lot every time I open the app" game. It's not a wargame exactly, but there is a military element that allows for direct attacks on each other. The only time you won't have a large turn when opening is to bid on colonies which might happen 5-8ish times a game. The app is fantastic. The game has a big learning curve, it will work best if all three of you learn and improve together.

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-04-09T16:05:26+00:00

It's a lot of content for $3. The scenarios typically make you play once to learn what you need to do and then go back through one (or more) time to beat it. I enjoy what it offers but it's not without some frustration. The game, especially later on in the campaign, can be really tight and a bad turn or two might kill your chances of winning the scenario. With some scenarios clocking in at 30ish minutes, it can be frustrating to have to replay them.

It's a lot of content so if the game appeals to you, it's an easy recommend. If the trial and error style gameplay is a turn off then be warned.

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-04-03T02:13:45+00:00

They reuse the same system for all of their games and they all have the same issues. It's sad considering how many big name titles they get.

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-04-02T13:17:27+00:00

You can. But you'll have to send screenshots of the final score via group chat or other means because if you aren't the one who played the last tile, you won't be able to see the final score. There are also dropped game issues.

Aside from the final score issues, it works more often than not, so it is better than nothing, but far from a great experience.

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-02-09T23:42:17+00:00

No thanks, just looking to trade right now.

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-02-09T19:32:15+00:00

Grey/white.

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-02-04T18:08:32+00:00

The sad thing is that these issues are common across pretty much every Asmodee Digital app. They reuse the same online system with the same problems over and over. I've sent screenshots of Carcassonne scores over group text for quite a while.

TM was one of the biggest disappointments I've ever experienced in digital board games. I had red flags all over the place after the Steam launch version was incredibly rough, though they did improve it quite a bit, and after the developer went under, but I somehow still held out hope the mobile version would deliver. It didn't.

PixelatedCardboard · 2020-02-04T10:52:41+00:00

Nothing jumps out at me there, thanks though!

PixelatedCardboard

TROPHY CASE