Get a Promo card with the launch of Sentinels of the Multiverse for mobile devices!

Ladies and gentlemen, mark your calendars for October 16th!  Handleabra Games is launching Sentinels of the Multiverse for iOS and Android on that day.  The first 5000 people to download the app, launch it, and redeem the pop up box will receive 'The Super Scientific Tachyon' card in the mail.  This was the card given out at GenCon 2014 to people who visited the booth and tried out the tablet versions of the game.

The game is going to launch at 9.99 price point and will include content from the Sentinels of the Multiverse Extended Edition.  Ten heroes, four villians, four environments.  At a later date, currently unspecified, more content from Rook City, Infernal Relics, Vengence, Shattered Timelines, and the myriad promo decks will be released.

Can't wait.  I watched a video posted by David Neumann (Board Game Geek, Pocket Tactics) and it showed me some interactions that I had never realized before.   (Video linked below.)

Update:  The release date has changed to Oct 15th at 12:00 noon UTC. Please be sure to double check the local time for you (7:00am CDT for me as an example) so that you have an opportunity to get the promo card!

Second Update:  The display in game for the promo card has changed to an ad about the Sentinels Sidekick app.  They indicated when all the free promos were gone that they would remove the link page in game.

Ticket to Ride, by Alan R. Moon

It’s no secret that Days of Wonder is one of my favorite game publishers. They put out quality games like clockwork, typically elegant, re-playable, and beautiful to look at. Ticket to Ride is the epitome of what DoW creates – a game so simple a six year old could play it, but compelling enough that it’s the second-best selling hobby board game in the US, and one of a very small number of games that I see in every single game library I come across.

Ticket to Ride is for everyone. I love maps and numbers, and TTR has both – but if you love quick turns, little down time, and plenty of tension, well, it’s got those things too. It’s also beautiful – the board, the pieces, the cards, all become something wonderful when laid out on a table. This game feels important. Every time I pick up the box I’m surprised by how heavy it is, and every time I play it, I’m surprised again by how much I enjoy it, despite having played 500+ times before.

If you’re a board game enthusiast, odds are you already own TTR, or at least have played it enough times to have an opinion. If you don’t own it, or haven’t played it, put this on the top of your list. It’s among the three games I ALWAYS recommend to a person starting a new game collection, and I think it should be federally mandated that the app has to be on every iPad. If you’re not already convinced, read on!

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, by Blizzard Entertainment

Hearthstone is a collectable card game played entirely online, produced by Blizzard and similar to the World of Warcraft CCG, but with various features only possible in an online environment. Hearthstone is free to play on the computer (Mac or PC) or on the iPad, and while you can pay for things in game, it’s easily possible to be competitive and enjoy the game without ever spending a penny – I know, I’ve done it!

It’s not as deep or intricate as other CCG’s (like Magic: the Gathering), and it doesn’t offer the same visceral pleasure of buying and opening packs at your Friendly Local Game Store, but Hearthstone is a perfect mix of a compelling game, elegant design, beautiful graphics, and a top-notch interface that’s redefining online games. I feel about this game like I did when I saw The Matrix for the first time: “Whoa.” This is something new, something that’s raised the bar.

If you’ve got an internet connection and a few hours to burn, go download Hearthstone and give the tutorial a try. It’s like traveling to Italy or eating some great Thai food… I can explain why it’s great (and I will after the jump) but to truly understand it, you have to do it for yourself.

(Bonus: I’m posting a short Q&A with Phillip Jenne, competitive HS player and co-designer of NOVUS, at the end of this review. Enjoy!)