[iOS] Nightfall -Universal

[Bullwinkle]

According to a post on the developers Facebook page, Ascension and Food Fight servers were down yesterday so that Nightfall could be submitted to Apple.  Usually that takes about a week, sometimes less.

I'm very excited about this release.  Playdeck seems to know what they're doing, and it's looking good.

Nightfall menu video

Nightfall gameplay video

[MonkeyFinger]

That looks interesting, I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

[Gratch]

Don't have a clue what was going on in that video, but it sure looked purty.  I assume this is a CCG game conversion?

[Isgrimnur]

Deck building game, no collectible aspects (except for expansions, of course).  Read more about the source game here.

[Misguided]

Don't have a clue what was going on in that video, but it sure looked purty.  I assume this is a CCG game conversion?

Me neither, but like Isgrimnur said, this is a deck builder like Ascension or Dominion. I've had so much fun playing Ascension and the iOS version is being made by the same people, so this will be an insta-buy for me.

[ydejin]

Deck building game, no collectible aspects (except for expansions, of course).  Read more about the source game here.

That's good.  I like Deck Building games, but Magic and its ilk make me too nervous from a pocketbook perspective for me to want to try them, even though they seem like they would be a lot of fun.

[Isgrimnur]

I loved it when I played at Origins last year.  I won one of the events, which allowed me to pick up the first set at a discount from the booth.  Aside from trying to teach one friend to play it, I haven't been able to play it since.  I'll be picking up the app so that I can play hepcat and Zarathud and continue trouncing them like I did last summer.

[rittchard]

Love the design and look but the gameplay looks confusing - did you find it easy to pick up?

[Isgrimnur]

It's easy.  It's all color-based.  You start by playing a card.  It has a big colored moon and 1-2 colored moons next to it.  If you have a card with a big moon of one of those colors, you can daisy chain it.  For the expansions, the big moon color lead-in can add the Kicker element. 

Once you're out of cards, the next player gets the opportunity to carry off the chain, etc, until everyone has a chance to play every round.  Then, everything resolves in reverse order.

Then you attack with all your previously summoned creatures, opponents block, and all your creatures are removed to the discard as well as any killed by blocking.  If you get through, you add wounds to your opp deck, which have powers to them.  When the game ends after a preset number of wounds are awarded, whomever has the fewest wounds wins.

[Harkonis]

Uno without numbers? 

[Bullwinkle]

Uno without numbers? 

It's maybe not quite as easy as that.   

But if you understand Deck Building games, it'll be fairly easy to grasp.  There are some different mechanics, with Chaining being the primary one.  And in addition to the pool of cards that everyone can purchase, each player has two sets in a private stash. 

Also, it can be a disconnect for some that because they use character names instead of generic terms, you'll have multiple Franz Orloks attacking each other.

It's a fast-moving game, though, and I think it'll translate to iOS really well.

[Bullwinkle]

It's out!

$4.99

[Dreamshadow]

Can't wait to get this tonight.

[Isgrimnur]

Isgrimnur OO in Gamecenter. 

[Harkonis]

wish I had an ipad, man these card games are tough on the phone

[Bullwinkle]

I have to say, the Tutorial seemed a little overwhelming, and I know how to play the game!  I'd be interested to hear what new players think.  It seems you may want to read the included instructions first.

As with Ascension, though, it's about knowing the cards.  It's a little more challenging on iOS than real life, since not all the information is always available (your hand disappears to show your minions, the stock disappears to show opposing minions), but they've done a remarkable job of showing you most of what you need to know when you need it.  And you can always tap to reveal the other info.  Still, I never feel like I have the complete overview I want.  Not a huge problem, though, and I'm not sure how else they could have done it.

The moon system may make it seem like Uno Deckbuilding at first blush, but it actually makes it more complicated than Dominion, as it adds a step to the strategy.  You can't just buy a card if you don't have any moons in your deck that would let that card work.  I find that I'm looking at the moons first and what the card does second when buying, which isn't the best strategy, since I keep getting trounced when playing with even 1 AI at level 2.

I rarely play Ascension with more than 1 opponent, but with Nightfall, I think more players works better.  More chaining happens, which is more fun.  However, I forgot how much you have to pay attention to what you're chaining when.  There are some cards that only work in your chain, of course, but there are other cards that are going to attack a minion, even if the only minions out are yours.  And by the time it gets to you, that may be the case.  And there are more subtle differences, too.  There's one guy who makes everything cost one less influence if he's in play.  The AI hates that guy.  So it seems the only time that he'll be useful is on your own turn.  Even then, I've put him in the chain, had the AI play a special card, and he's goine before I have a chance to get him out there.  Also, if I do get him out, since all minions have to attack at the start of a turn, he's usually gone before I'm buying anything.  He seems so useful, but I never get to use him.  I've got to figure him out.

And the AI loves Furious Melee.

Anyway, I usually play this with my daughter.  She is a player who chains because the moons go together prettily.  I have to talk her through the consequences.  As usual, I'm not prepared in the least when really playing a game (I never culled my deck in Dominion until I started playing with a real adult human, for example). 

But I'm already loving the game.  One of these days I'll play against real humans, too.

[Misguided]

I have to say, the Tutorial seemed a little overwhelming, and I know how to play the game!

A LITTLE?!?

Holy crap! They fly through the damned thing, never once explaining how any of the card effects change anything, how a player gets wounded, why the kicker activates the one time it does but not any of the others, or pretty much anything else, except how you chain.

I still have no clue how to play this...will definitely have to read the rules.

[Bullwinkle]

I have to say, the Tutorial seemed a little overwhelming, and I know how to play the game!

A LITTLE?!?

Holy crap! They fly through the damned thing, never once explaining how any of the card effects change anything, how a player gets wounded, why the kicker activates the one time it does but not any of the others, or pretty much anything else, except how you chain.

I still have no clue how to play this...will definitely have to read the rules.

Ha, I thought it might have been me.

I can tell you that you get wounded if you don't have minions to block with during an attack phase AND ALSO if someone plays a card that attacks a player directly (although some cards can block that, too, IIRC).  It's sort of like MtG in that regard.

The Kicker activates if it matches the large moon of the card just before it in the chain.  The fact that it glows is a huge help in the digital version, as it's easy to miss with other stuff going on, and it's not always a good thing when it activates.

It never felt like a complicated game to me IRL, but it seems so on the iPad.  The rules aren't super long, though, and they'll definitely help.  More than that, though, playing the game and getting familiar with the cards will make the difference.  They're going to need to tweak that tutorial in an update.

[Vinda-Lou]

And the AI loves Furious Melee.

How is the AI overall?  I never play online (yet?), so this would be a solo purchase most likely.

[Dreamshadow]

I am in love with this game so far.  (And Hark just kicked my butt at the game.  He got five 2 and 3 attack minions through on one turn.  Game WAS OVER at that point. )

[Isgrimnur]

Throw me an invite for the next beatdown.

[The Grue]

I have to say, the Tutorial seemed a little overwhelming, and I know how to play the game!

A LITTLE?!?

Holy crap! They fly through the damned thing, never once explaining how any of the card effects change anything, how a player gets wounded, why the kicker activates the one time it does but not any of the others, or pretty much anything else, except how you chain.

I still have no clue how to play this...will definitely have to read the rules.

+1

I kind of figured it out despite them blowing past it all, but they really could have explained things better.  I always looked at the card game in stores and never picked it up, but I think after playing this, I will get the first set of cards soon.  Definitely seems like a neat game and I will read through the manual to make sure I understand everything.

[Cragmyre]

I know I'm getting an iTunes card for Easter   so I'll be joining you all after this weekend 

[Isgrimnur]

Yeah, trying to read/remember on the phone is making it a bit difficult to play on the fly in a timely manner, but then I haven't much touched the cards in almost a year, so that's not helping me either.

[The Grue]

So from watching the behavior of the AI, it can be a viable strategy to inflict wounds on yourself instead of your opponent?  I never thought of that as a thing you could do (I've only played 3 games now), but I guess if I think about it, if your opponent has a good deal of wounds out there and you don't want to feed them more so that they could potentially draw a ton of cards on their turn, you could just put the wounds on yourself to get through the wound deck, but not feed your opponent.  You'd pretty much want to use this if you had only a few wounds and your opponent had a bunch and you were near running out of wounds, I would guess.

That seem like a strategy?

[USMC Kato]

Isgrimnur OO in Gamecenter. 

Hey hadron, I sent ya a friend request. My new iPhone is up and running

Edit: oh and I'm USMC Kato on gamecenter

[Isgrimnur]

Two minute timer?  That's going to be one short game.

[USMC Kato]

Two minute timer?  That's going to be one short game.

Yeah I'm a noob and I screwed up creatin that first game sorry 

[Isgrimnur]

No worries.

[Harkonis]

Now if only we can convince Dream to not let you win Hadron... he keeps sending everything at me every turn 

[Isgrimnur]

You're a constant threat in every game I've played with you.  Maybe your reputation precedes you. 

[Harkonis]

Card games are different! I assure you! Just ask Kato about our MTG games 

[Dreamshadow]

Balance!  I'm going for balance.  Hark was the only one who didn't have wound cards yet, so I thought I'd share some with him!

[Harkonis]

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/7t93l920ab/Nightfall_Quickplay_Guide.pdf

[Isgrimnur]

Balance!  I'm going for balance.  Hark was the only one who didn't have wound cards yet, so I thought I'd share some with him!

WTF happened to balance?  Did you really think I needed 16 wounds to end the game?  Once someone is past 10 in a 30 match, they're going to lose. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go dig myself out of the pile you buried me under.

[Dreamshadow]

Balance!  I'm going for balance.  Hark was the only one who didn't have wound cards yet, so I thought I'd share some with him!

WTF happened to balance?  Did you really think I needed 16 wounds to end the game?  Once someone is past 10 in a 30 match, they're going to lose. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go dig myself out of the pile you buried me under.

For some reason, Hark forfeitted the match, you were the only person I could attack.

[Isgrimnur]

Odd.  Is that what happened when someone's name goes red?

[Dreamshadow]

*nod* I've never hit the forfeit button, I assume there is some sort of confirmation, but I do think it is a bad idea that forfeit is right next to Lobby.

[Isgrimnur]

And this has forced me to confront one of my personal demons.  I have a really hard time maintaining an even demeanor when I feel I've been found in the Alps in competitive games.  It's made even worse when I'm playing a faceless opponent over the Internet.

[Dreamshadow]

And this has forced me to confront one of my personal demons.  I have a really hard time maintaining an even demeanor when I feel I've been found in the Alps in competitive games.  It's made even worse when I'm playing a faceless opponent over the Internet.

If it makes you feel any better,  I never make a play thinking 'Oh, (opponent name) will hate this!!'  I make the play because it simply is a good play to make, and/or helps me win the match I'm in.