Erune - Hero Quest with an App?

/

Board Games – Prior to the rerelease of Hero Quest you’d get a similar dungeon crawl every now and then or replacement components to recreate the magic of the original. I guess using modern technology you can attempt to recreate that dungeon crawl with a narrated app. The concept is cool but as I mentioned in my post about Familiar Tale - app based games have the same issue of limited shelf life as the VHS games of old.

Apart from the app “issue” the game looks really cool and having a narrator solves that age old problem of needing a DM that doesn’t get to play with the party. I like the graphic design and box design for this game, everything has a place and they even thought of including boxes to keep track of your character throughput the campaign.

The description from the publisher is pretty good:

Enter the world of Erune and roam through its darkest dungeons... Experience epic quests, fight hordes of monsters and thwart the Master of Shadows' evil plans!

Erune is a Dungeon-Crawler for 1 to 5 players.

Thanks to the mix of a board game with a mobile app, you can talk with your game!

The Spirit of Erune is the privileged companion of your adventures. Guardian of the ancestral knowledge of the world of Erune, it resides in each and everything. Impartial, it does not take part in the conflict between the Adventurers and the Master of Shadows.

The Spirit of Erune is the narrator of your adventure
It allows you to speak with the characters you meet during your adventures.
It punctuates your quests with all kinds of events.
Beware! Your choices have consequences that influence your story!

The Spirit of Erune is a source of knowledge
It will answer all your questions about the rules of the game and the objects of the world of Erune down to the smallest detail.

The Spirit of Erune is luck
It unveils the treasures, the traps and the effects of items among thousands of possibilities!

The Spirit of Erune makes you evolve
It reveals your earnings when you level up, your quest objectives and the winner of the game.

The app is free on iOS and Android but requires an Erune Game Box to be used.

Familiar Tale - There's an App for That

/

Board Games – I don’t know how I feel about combining apps with board games, part of the appeal of a good board game is having everything in one box that you can pick and play after reading through the rules. Age doesn’t matter as everything you need is in the box. When you introduce a media component to the game you’re eventually going to lose a means to access that media. Remember the VHS supported games, DVD or CD guided games, any of these app games that used a no longer supported operating system? I’m not against innovation and it’s cool that publishers are looking at ways to push the definition of where a board game ends and video game begins.

Familiar Tale is on of these app supported games by Plaid Hat Games. The premise seems fun and the miniatures are really cool. You do need to download an app in order to play so there’s that.

Here’s the description from the publisher:

Familiar Tales is a co-operative, deck-building, fantasy adventure for 1-4 players. It's an exciting narrative game in which players take on the roles of a wizard's familiars, entrusted with saving and raising a displaced princess. They must keep her safe from the evil forces that would see her dead, but when it comes to children, it is not enough to merely survive! The familiars know that every choice they make will affect the young one in their care. If they are victorious and the throne is reclaimed, what kind of woman will sit upon it?

Players will explore a massive world through the pages of a fantastical story book filled with branching paths and memorable characters. Fight off enemies, and explore the many nooks and crannies of an enchanted world. Experience a professionally narrated, fully scored, decade-spanning fantasy epic. Easily downloadable for both Mac and Windows, this browser-based app is required to play Familiar Tales. Think of it as an automated game master and storyteller! The app also features a digital, searchable rulebook.

An innovative card play system allows players to level up their familiars by building and customizing their skill decks. Players will use their skill cards to perform all manner of exciting actions throughout their campaign.

Back in the Hobbit Again

/
Back in the Hobbit Again

Board Games – It’s been a minute since I posted, but I haven’t been idle. I just wrapped up Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth. This is one of those hybrid board games that requires you to use an app in order to play it. The potential for this type of game is great, however the fear that an app becomes out-of-date fairly quickly makes some people scared of picking up an app dependent board game.

Read More