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In the press today…

SAS Creative announces new board game: Carthage!

SAS Creative today announced that Carthage will be launching a Kickstarter campaign on May 17, 2017. Carthage is a deckbuilding board game, in which players move around a hex-based arena and face off in gladiatorial warfare to earn crowd favor, gain armor, and battle to the death. Luke Seinen, the designer of Carthage states, “The board game community really needs a good Gladiator game. A game that makes you feel the fear, risk, and adrenaline of being in a gladiatorial contest. Carthage answers that call!”
Featuring a beautiful Graphic Novel art style, this game uses blended mechanics of deckbuilding, hand management, and ruthless “take-that” combat. Also included, is a unique modular ruleset which allows players to play game matchmaker, altering the game complexity, playtime, and strategic depth.

Luke Seinen and his wife run SAS Creative, an indie graphic design company in Edmonton, Canada. Through his company, he had the rare opportunity to not only conceive and develop his game, but to also personally handle all of the design and graphics. “I love that from start to finish, I was able to have a directive hand in all elements of the game,” said Luke Seinen.

Enter the Theater of Carthage
Under its fifty, imposing arches, each etched with masterful illustrations of man and beast, the Carthaginian theater awakens. Crowds flood inside to witness the grand spectacle of axe against gladius, of life pitted against death: where speed, skill and the favor of the crowds determine one’s fate; where any move can be one’s last. Feeding the hunger of its audience, blade strikes blade and meets flesh. As the sun grows in the Mediterranean sky, gladiators fall, one after another, their bodies echoes of their former strength and glory. Now, it’s your turn!

You step into the arena. The salty sea air mixed with the pungent aroma of sweat and blood burns your nostrils. Having saluted the fickle crowd, you turn to face your opponents. Grim looks of determination meet your gaze. Victory or defeat, only one of you will leave this arena. Victory or defeat, history will remember your name in Carthage.

Carthage.  Easy to Learn… Easy to Die!

Number of players:  2-5
Time Required: 30-60 minutes
Website:  carthagegame.com
Media Gallery: carthagegame.com/media
Facebook:   fb.me/carthagegame
Instagram: instagram.com/carthagegame/

Battle Fantasy Monsters in Augmented Reality with Monster Buster: World Invasion on 24th May

Independent developer Tag of Joy is pleased to announce that Monster Buster: World Invasion, a monster collecting and fighting game with a twist on reality, will be available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad devices on 24th May. In Monster Buster: World Invasion, heinous foes from a parallel universe invade planet Earth and can only be discovered by courageous monster busters, using their smartphones to fight the monstrous creatures roaming around their neighborhood.

“We’ve planned on launching Monster Buster: World Invasion on iOS since its release on Windows phone”, said Šarūnas Ledas, CEO at Tag of Joy. “As Pokemon Go pushed the bar higher than it’s ever been for Augmented Reality games in 2016, we’ve overhauled the combat system, improved monetization and refined the quick fight mode to launch the ultimate edition of Monster Buster: World Invasion.”

Monster Buster: World Invasion swarms cities, towns and the countryside with 40 original hand crafted monsters lurking the streets, monuments and nature retreats. Bo, Elefuntik and Slender are the first monsters to befriend the player and help new monster busters fight and collect others. Players choose one of the three and go on a mission to capture monsters using a location based scan and a smartphone camera to discover monstrous creatures in the augmented reality world. With each quick fight or wild creature battle, players’ monsters gain experience and level up their attack, defense or luck skills. Victorious fights award players with gold coins (in-game currency) and special ingredients that can be used to craft cookies and drinks that give additional boosts.

Each monster has a unique set of attacks that can be further customized when leveling up. New monsters can only be collected outdoors and certain types of monsters only spawn in certain locations at various times making Monster Buster: World Invasion a perfect companion when outside the house for a stroll. However, a ‘Quick Fight’ mode that allows players to fight the nearby monsters without going anywhere is available to fill the free moments when there is no possibility or desire to move around. While it allows players to gain experience and collect loot, ‘Quick Fight’ mode does not offer the option to collect new monsters, therefore still encourages players to go out and explore the real world.

Watch Monster Buster: World Invasion announcement trailer here: https://youtu.be/x-LYyLMMDRs
Visit Monster Buster: World Invasion website: http://www.monster-buster.com/
Follow them on Twitter: @monbust
Follow them on Facebook: facebook.com/MonsterBusterGame

Blue Heaven launching on Kickstarter!

Brainworm Games S. L., an indie videogame development studio, has announced that its first game (Blue Heaven) is now live on Kickstarter, to fund its development.

Blue Heaven is a combination of action-RPG and Hack & Slash that is targeted only at adults. It tells a bloody story from a mercenary’s point of view whose work is to enforce the law in a futuristic and decadent cyberpunk universewhere the main civilization crushed many centuries ago. The new settlements are archaic and little is known about the events that occurred centuries ago, beyond what the  Servants keep in the silicon codices that show very advanced machines that nobody knows how they were built or how they work. That is the basis of a creed that supports a decadent system with the cult of technology, on the illusion of becoming again what they once were.

You’ll be V1CT0R Wylde, a middle-aged man with a serious, aggressive, brave and skeptical personality, and with low life aspirations. Soon, he will have to abandon his world to explore unknown territories in order to save the last bit of humanity left in him, ending up involved in an unpredictable conflict.

As far as we know, this is the first isometric pixel art game that is using rotoscopy to animate their characters with all movements coming from real models that have been recorded to enhance the authenticity of the characters. That way, players will immerse in a game that brings together the classic pixel art with the rotoscopy technique to create a unique environment.

The game is designed to be controlled with a keyboard or gamepad (with no need for a mouse) so it will bring you to an easy playability where it has been taken care of even the smallest details. In the web of the game (http://www.blueheavengame.com/ ) you can find some brushstrokes about the characters and the universe through some letters.

We want to tell new stories without having the frames of what is politically correct. In Blue Heaven we want to create a universe that describes how would be the living in a futuristic cyberpunk Universe, with a very tough environment, and the only way to do that is having a freedom that the big studios can’t achieve as they are afraid of entering those wild lands.”  Said Alejandro Villalba, director of Blue Heaven at Brainworm Games.

About Brainworm Games S.L.
It’s a video game studio created in 2016 whose members have more than 10 years of experience in their fields. They want to tell stories that nobody dared to tell using innovative techniques going to where the big studios never went.

Atlas Reactor: Season 3 Amps Up the Competition with New Freelancer, Map, Stats Feature and More

Face Off Against the Latest Lancer, Meridian, on the Competitive New “Hyperforge” Map Today

Trion Worlds’ genre-defining competitive strategy game Atlas Reactor has now launched its third season, introducing a brand new support Freelancer, a challenging new map, 11 new skins and new Stats, Badges, and Achievements features that allow players to track their individual performance and earn rewards. Details for the new content added in Atlas Reactor Season 3 follow below:

  • New Freelancer, Meridian – Crush the competition as the hammer-wielding new automaton, Meridian, the Herald of Hyperion. The massive, newly awakened mech blurs the line between Frontline and Support, obstructing enemies within melee range, while shielding and healing nearby teammates.
  • New Map, The Hyperforge – Wage war in Hyperbotics’ hi-tech armoury, the Hyperforge, where the open battleground and generous camouflage make for tense, wide-ranging skirmishes.
  • 11 New Warforged Skins – Show your mettle in new “Warforged” skins for Freelancers Kaigin, Phaedra, Su-Ren, Rask and Blackburn, featuring completely robotic versions of these Freelancers.
  • New Stats, Badges and Achievements Features – Set records, beat your personal bests, and see how your skills measure up against everyone in your class with a new Stats feature. Every player can now track, improve upon, and compare their performances in the Support, Firepower, and Frontliner categories, encouraging competition on a brand new level. Badges can be earned comparing player performance to global averages, and new in-game Achievements and Steam Achievements reward players for fulfilling difficult tasks.
  • More Rewards Through Season 3 Ranked – Starting with Season 3 Ranked, which will begin two weeks, all players who participate in Ranked will earn more rewards for participation. At the end of each Ranked season, players will earn special, rank-based Emblems, a massive bonus of Prestige Points that can be used to unlocked Golden VFX swaps for their favourite Freelancer’s primary ability, and more.

You can read more about the wealth of new content players can enjoy in Atlas Reactor Season 3 on the game’s blog.

Described by Polygon as “Dota meets XCOM,”Atlas Reactor has become the must-play game of influencers, earning “Very Positive” from player reviews on Valve’s Steam. Atlas Reactor reinvents tactical team combat, combining competitive, fast-paced turn-based action with simultaneous turns in high-risk battles. Players must outsmart their fellow Freelancers with mere seconds to survey the field, coordinate with their team, and lock in their moves. With teamwork, quick wits, and smart predictions, players can devise the best strategy to take down the competition and achieve victory.

Bring on the nightmares – Nongünz launching on May 19

Prepare to fine tune your twitch gaming skills as Nongünz runs and günz its way onto Steam next week.

Get a taste of the action this nihilistic roguelike will deliver with this gameplay video and a trailer that quickly goes from cutesy to very, very dark.

Release date: May 19

Platforms: PC, Mac & Linux

Price: $6.99/€6.99/£4.99

Steam page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/633130/Nongnz/

That’s all for the Daily News!
~Ciao!