#so it's definitely got its own niche culture and stuff around original (and fan)works

[not-poignant]

Reading your original works, I'm kind of inspired to post my own on Ao3 as well (I can't publish as I write mostly queer pairings but I live in a place where doing so would put my safety at risk). But I was wondering Pia, is it safe to do so in terms of plagiarizers? Since anyone could access my work for free, would they be able to copy it? (Thanks if you reply!)

The thing with copyright is that if you publish it - it’s yours. If you can establish provenance (i.e. prove that you have drafts on your computer and so on) it’s yours. Copyright protection for original works (artwork, writing and so on) doesn’t require you to do anything special to be eligible for copyright protection, basically.

And AO3 is amazing at chasing up copyright issues.

Also, like, people scaremonger. The chances of original works being plagiarised are exceedingly low. In um...oh god, like 15 years of writing fanfiction, I’ve had my works stolen exactly twice. Once was for a phishing database so I didn’t give a shit (it got shut down anyway - people remember that whole thing right?). And once was someone who basically rewrote all of SALverse in their own words, complete with including Augus and so on - but they accidentally left whole sections in that were mine; whoops. I chased it up on AO3 and it was removed, although the plagiarised version is still on fanfiction.net (honestly that place is trash for site support, don’t use it). That being said, I don’t really care, because it’s not like it’s taking readers away from me (it’s not, it’s pretty badly written).

But that’s like two times out of an aggregate of hundreds of thousands of hits over many many many years.

(Art is a different matter. I’ve had my art stolen a lot and I’m pretty zen about it. I have my template Cease and Desist letter, DeviantArt helps you out eventually, and Etsy is respectful when you chase up that shit.)

To be honest, the biggest risk with posting original work on AO3 is not actually about theft at all, but these matters (rest under a readmore in case you don’t care about the rest lol):

* AO3 explicitly states it’s not a database for original fiction. Which means support and tag wrangling and so on for original fiction vs. fanfiction is low. You can’t for example ‘categorise’ your original fiction into subgenre or anything like that.

* AO3 audiences are generally highly resistant to original fiction (i.e. most have never looked for it on AO3 and nor do they want to read it on AO3). They may read original fiction on Wattpad (and indeed this seems to be the place to put it, I think), but unless you’re releasing chapter-by-chapter or already have like...a fanfiction readerbase who will follow you to original work; it will be very hard to find readers. This is primarily because readers search first and foremost by fandom and not by tag. Original fiction gets drowned as a result.

* If you ever wish to make a profit off your original work that you put on AO3, you cannot link to any profit-making sites on AO3, nor can you ‘hold back’ sections of story and make people pay for it (this isn’t a problem for me (but this is the reason I never say I have a Patreon on AO3), or indeed a lot of people on AO3, but I’ve seen people use original fiction on AO3 for this matter getting swiftly and quickly warned and then sometimes banned from the site - this is so that AO3 can preserve their not-for-profit status, and it will never change as a result - I think it’s awesome and fully support this, and am tired of authors whining about it but that’s a whole other matter).

I would love to see more original work on AO3, and I don’t know your general fandom/fanfiction experience (i.e. if I knew you were a fanfiction writer I’d probably be wording things a little differently? Like, have you written queer fanfiction before? That helps a lot on AO3), but it’s definitely worth keeping in mind that AO3 is first and foremost a fanworks site, and that even if you’re putting up solely original content, it helps to orient to AO3 from a fandom / fanworks perspective (i.e. serialise longer works instead of releasing everything at once, list shorter works with fandom-friendly tags like PWP or hurt/comfort etc., establish a fandom-friendly presence elsewhere, like Tumblr or Twitter or Dreamwidth or something, so that people actually know you exist, because they won’t find you through the Original Works tag, let’s be real.)

As for plagiarism, honestly, people worry about it way more than necessary. To date, that I know of, no person has come to AO3 and stolen original fiction and tried to make a profit off it. (However, I have seen in the m/m original novel industry, people stealing actually published novels and republishing them under another name and making a profit off those, which is like, a consequence of so many novels flying under the radar due to self-publishing lol. And even then, it gets chased up, it gets dealt with.) Works can always be reported; and you know, they are. 9/10 I found out about art theft because someone who liked my art said ‘hey I saw this and am not sure you gave your permission for this’ or ‘this person is stealing your art.’ And that one time the SALverse was plagiarised, a reader told me. So that side of things helps a lot).

(I’m sorry to hear you can’t publish for safety reasons, as well. Make sure your protections online re: publishing are solid in that sense, because the same risks that exist for those who indie self-publish under pseudonyms, also exist for those who publish under the same on AO3, and obviously I don’t know what your situation is - and I think it’s awesome that you’re wanting to take the leap - just...yeah. I imagine this is all stuff you’ve considered already though, and AO3 is an often-overlooked site which makes it easier to fly under the radar on too. But so is Wattpad, and it’s a lot friendlier to original fiction - may be worth looking into as well? Good luck anon!

[iosihexa]

some stuff about youtube fandoms

(Some rambling about fandom culture. This is not meant to be taken seriously or reblogged or anything like that, it’s just.....something that i randomly decided to do. Because it’s chinese new year and I’ve been watching dnp all day. Text under the readmore.)

Youtube, condensed as one large mega-fandom, is arguably the worst collection of people on the internet ON AVERAGE (i know some wonderful people from youtube fandoms, but there are a heckload of pretty awful ones......) because it's so accessible to both fans and creators; at some point people kind of got this odd misconception that being a Youtuber is a- not surefire, per se, but an "easier" way to get a large following, probably because of the examples we have case-in-point (most popular ones just talk about stuff and play games which is a gross oversimplification of their job, but anyways. that's how people see it), as well as the common mindset that "just filming videos all day at home must be great, if it's what you love".

So on one hand you have people, amateurs who believe they can be the next Pewdiepie or Zoella or something, and I'm not discrediting any of their (the amateurs') work- but you have to acknowledge that it takes not only skill and hard work but also a great deal of luck and also, ahem, a little bit of the thing we call the 'genetic lottery' - there's a reason why there are so many popular youtubers who are attractive white dudes. You have these mostly-unsuccessful amateurs, trying to cater to an already-formed audience (many current popular Youtubers have been around since the early days, 2006 - 2008, essentially, and it’s definitely worth noting that being around for the beginnings of the site has resulted in shaping the development of Youtube fandom in and out) and you know what these amateurs also are?

They're fans.

And the fanbase is so widespread and diverse, because it's one of the only truly globally accessible modern media fanbases, because everyone watches Youtube videos, uses Youtube- watching music videos, tutorials, memes, reviews, EVERYTHING, so there's a high chance that everyone you talk to will have at least watched one Youtube video in their life, because a member of family wanted to show them something funny, or they needed to know how to do something, etc. And as shown with TV, the visual medium of Youtube; that is to say, the video, combined with the average Youtuber's vlog length or whatever- between 2-3 minutes and like 15 minutes maximum, makes it the perfect global form of consumable media that caters to the widest audience possible. Short, easier to take in than, say, a book or an episode of anime, due to the general lack of continued storyline, and tailored perfectly to fit the demands of the every-growing consumer market. It's also a lot easier for international fans to try to follow along and understand someone who's talking and using body language and making use of a visual medium than it is to read a book or play a dialogue-driven video game.

And since the Youtube community is so easy to access, for EVERYONE, that means a great deal of aspiring kids are willing to go on and give it a go, or at least make accounts and become those annoying "LMAO!!! XDDDD" comments in the dregs of every youtube video comment section.

The thing is also that a great deal of Youtube fans haven't been exposed to "non-cringey" forms of entertainment, and even still some haven't gotten out of their 2010 phases, so they still make crappy rape jokes and say things like "damn you len!!!" on every video. Because Youtube is so accessible and older videos are just as easy to find as newer ones, so people easily pick up vernacular and various slang trends from 5 years ago.

You can compare this to any other type of fandom: we have the east asia pop culture side; ie. anime and K-pop. Both of which are harder to get to because of the cultural and language gaps, and the fact that they're still a lot less common to run across these days than say, a comedy sketch on the front page of Youtube that your friend showed you, rather than the esoteric niche interests of quirky teenagers who like rewatching Neon Genesis Evangelion in their spare time.

Another example is TV shows, the most prominent being the Supernatural / Doctor Who / BBC Sherlock fandom, which, i must admit, has died down a little at least in recent years. These fandoms come close to Youtube mainly because of the target audience (12-16 year olds consume it best, but there are a lot of older and sometimes younger fans who enjoy it too) and the fact that being popular and broadcast on widespread TV channels in a lot of countries does make it so that 11 year olds try to join tumblr and make up a fake age using a year of birth a few decades before they were born so that they can access that sweet, sweet Destiel content. Or something. I don't know anything about Supernatural.

So, to condense my entire 1000+ word ramble on why Youtube is the most generally unpleasant fandom on the Internet, it comes down to this: As a largely easy-to-consume, widespread media form, it does its job exceedingly well, which allows for a wide variety of people to join Youtube as opposed to consuming content for other, more niche interests. Not that mainstream TV is niche or anything, but Youtube is according to your own time, and TV is not scheduled at the most convenient time for everyone.

This level of accessibility makes it so that it's a lot easier, through the medium and interface of Youtube, with the convenience of the comments and replies section, the likes and dislikes buttons, playlists, recommendations, subscriptions and the like, for anyone to express their opinions, without filtering out the large demographic of younger and perhaps not quite as well worded members of the Internet. The fact that pretty much all of it is completely, totally unmoderated probably doesn't help, either.

Youtube is good, great even, but the fandoms held within are essentially like that feeling you get when you're on a plane and you want to throw up- cold sweats, waves of nausea, generally trying to control your breathing so as to not act upon the sudden desire to expel everything you've eaten for the past 24 hours, wishing it'd all be over already- yeah, that. Oh, but also the euphoria you get when the sickness passes. There was a metaphor in there somewhere.

Edit: I forgot to address another part of why Youtube fandoms are notorious: the ridiculous prevalence of shipping and the unbelievable scope for discourse.

The thing is, that whilst there are a great deal of fans who have evaluated their choices properly regarding various topics, there are plenty of people who haven’t thought about the way their own fan-created content affects the rest of the Internet and, indeed, the original creators, the Youtubers who are at the centre of the fandom. For Dan and Phil, this doesn’t seem to be much of a problem- Dan has expressly endorsed the creation of phan content, in the interest of allowing people to nurture their own creative vices. I don’t have a particularly strong stance in this particular discourse, but there are many, many people who are largely against shipping Youtubers, out of all real-life people fandoms, because Youtubers are the most connected to their fanbase- a lot of source material comes from the fans, and indeed the content of the creators is very much shaped by the nature of the fandom, and vice verse, of course. Youtubers are pretty much guaranteed to have a strong notion as to the general sway of the fandom - whether it be the astonishing prevalence of people that ship you with your best friend / roommate, or not.

Fictional characters are mostly harmless; people don’t have much of a problem with shipping them for fear of hurting real people’s feelings (excluding the widespread homophobia debate, but that’s something for another time.) However, when real-life people come into play, it’s probably quite natural for people to take a few moments and look at fandoms, Youtube fandoms, which focus on real life people, and step back to say, “Hey, is it really on the same level as the people who ship fictional characters?”

And thus is the nature of people’s perspectives regarding the Youtube RPFs.

[recentanimenews]

INTERVIEW: Roland Kelts On Fantasy Worlds And The Impact of Streaming

  Roland Kelts, half-Japanese author of JAPANAMERICA: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., has made a name for himself covering the unique nuances of American and Japanese cultural-exchange. Kelts recently presented a talk titled "Anime and Race" with Arthell Isom for this year's Virtual Crunchyroll Expo. We had the opportunity to ask Kelts a few questions about the impact of streaming, adapting international webcomics, the appeal of isekai, and of course, Twitter.

  English-language and Japanese-language editions of JAPANAMERICA

  With Crunchyroll hitting three million paid subscribers as of July, it’s evident that anime streaming is thriving, especially with young adults. Simulcasts now allow essentially anyone access to the latest hours after airing in Japan. How have you seen this constant finger on anime’s pulse change how fans engage with Japanese pop culture, versus the heavily curated experience of exclusively watching whatever made it to American television networks?

  Everything’s faster. Fans I meet from Boston to Kansas to Los Angeles now ask me about shows that were just released months or even weeks ago on my TV in Tokyo. And simulcasts have also made the US fans hungrier, more demanding, sometimes even whiny. (“Why don’t we have this yet? When’s this coming out? Where’s that title?”)

  At the same time, it creates a zone of delusion, a kind of third universe between the US and Japan where fans think they know everything that’s happening in Japan and what’s right and wrong about the anime industry and how it works just because streaming media delivers the entertainment they want when they want it. 

  I still call that third universe JAPANAMERICA, neither here (Japan) nor there (US) but some kind of hybrid space, and in some ways streaming has only expanded its borders. 

  Image via Netflix

  Anime produced and released for streaming services have seen major cultural impact lately. In 2018, Netflix released Devilman Crybaby to critical acclaim, and more recently Crunchyroll has begun streaming its own originals shows like Tower of God in 2020. In previous interviews, you’ve described younger animators butting heads against the old guards in Japan’s traditional anime industry, compared to other industries like games or design. Nowadays, you have younger studios such as Studio Trigger and Science Saru signing streaming deals to distribute their shows to a wider demographic. Do you see this pivot to web-original anime as a way for younger animators, producers, and even veterans to exercise new ideas they may otherwise not be able to explore?

  Definitely. Masaaki Yuasa told me that if it weren’t for streaming services, Devilman Crybaby would be an old-school OAD collecting dust in the adult video corner of Tsutaya that may have aired once in wee-hour programming on domestic Japanese TV. 

  Two years ago, Go Nagai, the manga artist who created the original Devilman in 1972, told me backstage at Anime Expo in Los Angeles that streaming was the only reason he’d been invited to Los Angeles. “Hey, I’m an old man,” he said, laughing.

  There were always innovative upstart studios like Trigger. The difference is that web-original anime and streaming platforms get Trigger’s works screened in major American cinemas by national distributors like GKIDS, and around the world online, and gets Trigger artists and people like Yuasa and Nagai the VIP treatment at overseas anime cons.

  Emilia and Subaru from Re:Zero

  One of the biggest trends in anime recently is the boom of a genre called “isekai,” i.e “another world” stories where average protagonists get transported into fantastical worlds. In the last ten years, isekai has already explored virtual reality MMO worlds like Sword Art Online to self-aware “Groundhog Day” stories like Re: Zero. Although portal fantasies have always been present in traditional Japanese folklore and a staple of global speculative fiction, why do you think this particular narrative may have gained so much traction with young adults recently?

  One of the trends I write about in JAPANAMERICA is how the constant presence of the internet in our lives can diminish our satisfaction with the real worlds we inhabit. 

  You’re right, of course: portal fantasies have long been a part of Japanese literature, folklore, fantasy, and spirituality. 

  But the world-within-the-world of the internet has arguably overtaken our realities. It’s not only ever-present, it’s superior: brighter, freer (we can click on anything and almost immediately see and hear what we want), and faster. It’s also portable and ubiquitous. 

  Many of us greet the morning not as sunlight through our blinds or the sound of birdsong, but as the OLED or LCD light from our smartphone screen. Our sense of “home” is the emails we recognize, the apps we check, our news, our weather, our sports updates. It ain’t called an “I” phone for nothing. Online, everything’s for me.

  So it makes a kind of sense to me that young adults might be kind of bored with stories that don’t feature immediate and easy access to virtual realities and other worlds and role-playing lives. Stories without isekai-type narratives might feel outdated, boring, even irrelevant to the way we all live now.

    Original creator comics, such as Webtoon series like God of High School, have recently been adapted into series exclusively streamed on Crunchyroll. Series like God of High School feature diverse characters from all across the world in a tournament set in Seoul, a setting we rarely see in television anime. Although many Japanese web novels and amateur projects have since been adapted into professionally produced shows, such treatment is less common for non-Japanese properties. In terms of broadening the horizons for intellectual property, did you ever anticipate the world of Japanese animation and international webcomics to cross paths? 

  I wrote about it in JAPANAMERICA and thought it would happen sooner, actually. On book tours at anime cons, fan artists and amateur comics artists ask me to sign JAPANAMERICA and hand me a copy of their own work in return. I’d read their work on the plane to the next city and sometimes I’d think, this might make a great anime series or feature. 

  But I couldn’t generate much enthusiasm when I got back to Japan. Part of the problem was obvious: language and culture barriers. 

  But also, the Japanese industry is sitting on piles of great intellectual property from decades of manga about every imaginable type of topic and character, plus all the great doujin fan-art that powers the record crowds at the biannual Comiket and fills the floors at Mandarake. Why would they reach overseas to work with someone who doesn’t speak the language and/or understand the codes of cultural and business behavior to take a risk on a property from a foreign land?

  Obviously, the increased involvement of non-Japanese producers like Crunchyroll and others are changing that. Also, newer generations of artists from outside Japan have an even greater sense of how Japanese-made anime works, how it gets made, and how to behave in Japanese business transactions. Plus, I do think online translators, as bad as they may be, have helped ease the transition between languages on both sides, Japanese and non-Japanese.

  Tokyo Big Sight during Comiket 96 last year (photo by Daryl Harding)

  Fourteen years ago, there was no such thing as Twitter. It goes without saying it’s huge now, especially among anime fans. With major events like Comiket canceled this year, alongside dozens of conventions in the states, more fans than ever are converging online. Nowadays, it’s not only incredibly easy to find anime, but also discover a whole community buzzing with activity regardless of what language you speak. How much of a role do you think social media has played in pushing anime from niche to ubiquitous, and what do you hope to come out of this zealous digital convergence for fans everywhere?

  I write about the importance of fan forums and chatrooms in JAPANAMERICA. Anime fans were one of the key drivers of Usenet groups and BBS sites back in the day. In a chapter I called DIY (“do it yourself”), I explain how anime fandom is a bottom-up phenomenon, fired by shared communal passion and the sharing of that passion. 

  But I didn’t know how massive social media platforms would become, or how crucial they would be for Japanese pop culture fandom.

  What sucks is that the discourse on social media is so coarse. When you go back and read exchanges between diehard anime fans on Usenet and old chatrooms and forums from the mid-2000s, they read like middlebrow literature compared to what you see on Twitter, Reddit, and Discord. So many social media posts are made just to get hits, not to communicate or share ideas, and the most provocative, cruel, or just plain daft stuff gets liked and retweeted a thousand times. 

  An ex-friend of mine once told me he was going to market his book entirely on Twitter. I said, well then you’ll get a bunch of responses from people who don’t read a lot of books. But he said he just wanted to sell a lot of copies. He didn’t care about the quality of the people who read them or followed him.

  But I guess that’s the state of most things in America right now, politics in particular. Mass appeal is all that matters.

    Roland Kelts' blog can be found here. Follow him on Twitter at @rolandkelts!

More information on JAPANAMERICA can be found here. A Japanese-language edition is also available from Kodansha.

      Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. He is still thinking about Hellshake Yano. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[waynekelton]

The Best Turn Based Strategy Games on Android & iOS

This particular codex will train and challenge even the most avowed strategy enthusiasts with a maddening variety of scenarios and systems to learn and master from the world of turn-based strategy. Tactics, 4X, Puzzles... across all platforms and many different playstyles, there's a range of turn-based strategy games to celebrate in 2019.

Enjoy, and take your time digesting our top picks of the best turn-based games for Android, iPhone and iPad...

What are the best Turn Based Strategy Games on Android & iOS?

Xenowerk Tactics

Ticket to Earth

Tharsis

Feud

Egypt: Old Kingdom

Farabel

Euclidean Skies

Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind

Darkest Dungeon

XCOM: Enemy Within

The Battle for Polytopia

Invisible Inc.

Imbroglio

Xenowerk Tactics

Publisher: Pixelbite Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: $6.99

Firaxis' XCOM set the bar for turn-based, squad-level strategy games in general, and still remains a highlight on mobile that few have managed to challenge. Xenowerk Tactics, a sequel to the twin-stick shooter Xenowerk, probably won't give XCOM a run for its money but it's a decent tactical strategy game, and one benefiting from more modern design tools. Placed in charge of a corporate-owned Private Military force, your job is to go in and clean up after some kind of experiment goes horribly wrong.

There's squad management and base-development, along with tactical battles that can sometimes be a bit more arcade-y than pure strategy, but they're still hectic and satisfying. There's a really tense tug-of-war between the need to secure your objective and the need to preserve resources, especially when those resources are your veteran troops. Adopting strategies that prioritise securing the escape route first will quickly become the norm, as this can be a punishing game if you let it. Definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a new XCOM-like fix.

Ticket to Earth

Publisher: Robot Circus Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: $4.99

In hindsight, our original score of 5/5 was perhaps a bit ambitious. While an excellent turn-based strategy game, much of Ticket to Earth's appeal and potential rested on the assumption that Robot Circus would finish the final three chapters of the game. They certainly took their time, but nearly three years later Episode 4 was finally released as a free update in October 2019.

With a unique take on turn-based tactics, a genuinely engaging story and plenty of challenge to boot, now that Ticket it Earth is finally complete it definitely deserves your attention, and can be considered one of 2017's silent stunners. Now that it's complete, it might even be one of 2019's stunners as well!

Tharsis

Publisher: Choice Provisions Platforms: iPad Only Price: $7.99

While Tharsis takes a lot of inspiration from board games with dice-based allocation/drafting mechanics, it's very much a turn-based strategy experience through and through. As the player, you're in charge of a group of astronauts on their way to Mars, except everything's going wrong on the last hurdle and you need to manage your surviving team-members, dwinlding resources and a failing ship to the best of your abilities so that someone, at least, makes it all the way to the end. If that means you need eat someone along the way, then so be it.

The game is wonderfully brought to life with an excellent 3D engine, and the app plays smoothly on iPads (which might explain why it's only available for iPads!). Some might find the reliance on dice-rolls to get anything done frustrating at times, but it does feed into the sense of theatre created by the tension and dread as you pray that nothing else goes wrong on the ship as it is hastily patched back together. Imagine Apollo 13 except Tom Hanks ends up eating Bill Paxton - great stuff.

Feud

Publisher: Bearwaves Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: Free

In many ways Chess is the quintessential turn-based strategy game, and a classic that many people try and iterate on over the years. Some we've been fans of, others not so much, but Feud has impressed us the most so far. This free-to-play gem, instead of trying to be too clever or add in extra rules, instead trys to condense the Chess experience into a tied, closed-quarters tactical brawl.

A 4x4 board, with sixteen pieces (eight each side), leaves no room for manoeuvre, so planning your attacks, moves and exploitations is paramount. Matt was very impressed by this bite-sized take on the classic formula, and there's even cross-platform multiplayer (async) as well as pass-and-play. The only thing it's really missing is a ranked mode and some QoL touches - make sure you check it out!

Egypt: Old Kingdom

Publisher: Clarus Victoria Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: $4.99

Clarus Victoria are back with a second entry in their turn-based strategy series based on different historical periods of Egypt. The first game focused on the prehistoric history of the area, while their new game focuses on the 'Old Kingdom' period, which last around 400 years ending around 2100 BC. Back then, the capital of the nation was Mephis and it is here that the player must work to try and build great periods and develop their civilisation.

Resource management is key, and then you must also try and assimilate the other Egyptian tribes through either diplomacy or warfare. It's a niche-style strategy game on a very niche topic, but a breath of fresh air and an excellent pick for those looking for something a little bit different. Read our Egypt: Old Kingdom review for more!

Farabel

Publisher: Frogames Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: $8.99

Given that there are so many ways you can design a turn-based tactics game, for something to come along with a genuinely interesting and clever twist is rare, and speaks to the highest levesl of creativity. Farabel's trick, such as it is, is to start you at the end. You being the story at the height of your power, having just emerged victorious from a long and bloody struggle with the Orcs. But to learn the tale, you have to go backwards in time.

With each level you complete, your forces actually get weaker as you make your way back to the beginning of the war. Within individual turn-based battles there's also some timey-wimey shenanigans your hero character can exploit, making for some devilishly flexible tactical solutions. There are thirteen scenarios in all as part of the main story, and beyond that you can participate in daily challenges, or build an army from scratch to take part in special modes, like survival. All round, it's excellent value for money, even being at the steeper end of the scale.

Euclidean Skies

Publisher: Miro Straka Platforms: iOS Universal Price: $4.99

This game would also fit right in on our Puzzles guide, but there's a healthy enough dose of turn-based tactical thinking that earns it a place on this list (that, and the five-star review it got). It's a significantly different game to its predecessor, and while it doesn't always work the raw ambition this game shows makes it all the more compelling. Even the art style is different - more vibrant and aggressive, it brings the world to life in a way that's unexpected, but also fantastic.

This is a must buy for fans of puzzle tactics games, and while some of the charm is lost in the shift away form Euclidean Land's simplicity, there's plenty of character in this boisterous new chapter. Read our full review for more!

Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind

Publisher: A Sharp LLC Platforms: iOS Universal Price: $9.99

Some strategy gamers will find Six Ages' blend of (sort of) forced immersion awful, where others will lap it up. Fans of King of Dragon Pass - which this serves as a spiritual sequel to - will already be familiar with it. They'll discover a smoother interface and a new setting in a new culture. Forgoing the traditional control and power fantasies of strategic empire-building is a hard habit to give up.

But for those that can make the sacrifice, Six Ages holds a wealth of wonders few other games can match. It wants to tell you a tale of gods and humans, of mysteries and the mundane while still taxing your tactics. It's a bold goal and, while it doesn't always work, the narratives that it weaves are unlike anything else in gaming.

Darkest Dungeon

Publisher: Red Hook Studios Inc. Platforms:  iPad Price: $4.99

With each passing year since its conception and release, Darkest Dungeon recedes into annals of history, into the collective memory of unspeakable legends. In other words: a horrid, demanding and sublimely satisfying little game is fast becoming an all-time classic. Some have balked at the fine-tuning numbers behind its challenges (e.g. pre-Radiant days, the initial Crimson Court balancing), but in general the game’s ‘give-no-quarter’ philosophy has won a die-hard following that keeps coming back for more punishment. With the next expansion The Color of Madness slated to arrive later this year, this is a game whose vicious, compelling cycle will continue for a long time.

XCOM: Enemy Within

Publisher: 2K Platforms:  iOS Universal, Android Price: $9.99

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is still the golden standard for turn-based tactical gameplay, so let’s take a moment to revisit why. Squad-based, knife’s edge combat constantly challenges commander’s ability to scrape victory from defeat. Players make overworld and between-scenario decisions for which soldiers to train and tech to pursue, every bit as decisive as the individual commands given to the squad members in the heat of battle.

The game has its hallmark AAA production lustre and mankind-on-the-brink storyline, and these conventions work in its favour. Keep your squad intact, do the mission, save the world, piece by piece. The Enemy Within expansion content makes this turn-based strategy game even better.

The Battle for Polytopia

Publisher: Midjiwan AB Platforms:  iOS Universal, Android Price: Free (additional Tribes as in-game DLC)

Polytopia takes the crown for best Civ-lite. If this sounds like damning with faint praise, it’s quite the opposite. Because civilization-building builds its challenges and satisfactions with a grand scope and timeframe in mind, trying to miniaturize this genre experience can go pear-shaped in several ways. In Polytopia, the tribes are separated by a single tech (with some glaring exceptions), and the map has been foreshortened to a grid of 256 squares. Units and tech are the same for everyone, but the simplicity of this means a shorter list of decisive, vexing choices.

There is no diplomacy system, but victory is determined by points and not necessarily conquest. The game’s blocky, loose artstyle and easy interface make it an easy game to learn and hard to put down. Only just recently did the support for online multiplayer finally make its debut, and it is this latest change that elevates this title to a must-try.

Invisible Inc.

Publisher: Klei Entertainment Platforms: iPad Price: $4.99

The future came and went, (Invisibly) and it has been cruel to all but a select few supranational, extraterritorial megacorps. Your ragtag bunch of spies and specialists will scour the globe for intel and supplies so they can make one final run, wipe their identities from the omni-vigilant database and live off the grid in peace. Each run escalates if the agents are detected by the guards, cameras or drones, yet the stealth aspect of the game is only one kind of risk calculation among many.

Invisible Inc's AP and power systems mean that even successful runs can be tight, and sometimes making a clean escape is a failure if the team did not steal enough resources. The game’s generous learning curve belies an experience in which knowledge can lead to perfect play and challenge runs for pacifist or no-item wins at even the most fiendish difficulty.

Imbroglio

Publisher: Michael Brough Platforms: iPad Price: $3.99

Imbroglio sounds like a mess; it is in the name. But of all Michael Brough’s excellent, sparse designs, this one has the most player-driven customization and controlled random inputs. Here is ample proof that roguelikes can offer as much strategic challenge as the best of classics. Each character has their own ability and weakness, and the 4x4 grid on which the game unfolds is filled with tiles doubling as weapons. Swiping towards an enemy will activate that tile and fire its ability, with every slain enemy adding experience to the weapon responsible.

The goal of the game is to collect treasure, which upon collection heals the character and causes the walls of the grid to change configuration. Enemies spawn quicker and quicker as the turn count increases, so the whole affair is a race against time to level-up the sixteen tiles while staying healthy and collecting treasure at a steady pace. It is accessible but with a glut of weapons and characters to unlock and the final challenge to beat, it will reward sustained interest and focused strategic approaches.

Other Excellent iOS & Android Turn-Based Strategy Games

We like to keep these lists lean, so we can't feature all games at all time. Still, whether it's a classic we initially forgot about, or something that's been rotated out of the main list to give way for a newcomer, we want to make sure these past genre heroes are not forgotten.

Heroes of Flatlandia

Warbits

The Banner Saga

Chaos Reborn: Adventures

Templar Battleforce Elite

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions

Civilization 6

This is the Police 2

Squids Odyssey

Slay

Starbase Orion

UNIWAR

Shattered Plane

Mini Galax4y

What would your list of the best turn-based strategy games on mobile look like? Let us know in the comments!

The Best Turn Based Strategy Games on Android & iOS published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[miamibeerscene]

Interview – Mike DeLancett, Hourglass Brewing @hourglassbrew

Let’s be honest, one of the hottest and fastest growing breweries in Florida is Hourglass Brewing, based in Longwood. Their bombers are everywhere, and the signature 16 oz. cans are starting to pop up around the state as well. 

I recently interviewed head brewer Mike DeLancett about those cans, wild beers, and SMaSH beers.

 When did you first discover craft beer? What was the beer that really opened your eyes to brewing?

I first discovered craft beer by way of Belgian import beer. My father and grandmother were born in Belgium and I have always been drawn to history and cultures so I started exploring some of that end of my lineage through brands like Brouwerji Smisje, Gulden Draak, various Trappist breweries, and the like in the mid 2000’s. On the American side, Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head opened my eyes to what people could do with hops and other unique ingredients and it all sort of spiraled outward from there. I started brewing on my back porch with friends and seeking the guidance of a number of other local brewers like so many people.

When did you start brewing?

I started professionally brewing mid 2013 by volunteering my time here at the old brewery location. I was between jobs and found myself with some free time and the determination to break into the industry, and basically hung around until we expanded into our new location here. I’ve learned a lot along the way and intend to keep learning for many, many years to come.

What would you say is your signature beer, and how did it come about?

We’re a pretty eclectic crew over here and brew a variety of stuff so we don’t like to pigeonhole one particular signature. But If I had to pick, I’d say the most unique things we are doing are our New England Style Sour IPA’s. My partner Matt is from up north and we started exploring that style early on, alongside the famous “Florida Weisse” fruited Berliners. At some point we came to the realization that the fruity character of the hops would play nicely with the tart acidity of the Berliner style and hybridized them into big hop forward sour ipas with a focus on the fruitiest hops we could get our hands on. Another thing we’re really enjoying is the expansion of our wild and sour program, in particular our barrel fermented sours. We found ourselves getting through second and third fill barrels from our clean side and selling them at a loss as décor. So we steamed a few out and started pitching bacteria and wild yeasts right into the barrel itself and ended up taking our first gold medal for it at Best Florida Beer this year, so we’re pretty proud of that.

How did you come about finding your brewing space?

I can’t speak to our original location as it predates me, but our new location was conveniently located up the street, much bigger, and air conditioned with lots of parking. It seemed like a no brainer when it was time to grow, and if you headed to our old spot there was no way you could miss it.

How do you get inspiration in developing recipes and names for your beers?

Matt and I are inspired by a lot of cultural and historical influences, as well as music, pop culture, and much more. In that vein we always maintain that homebrewer spirit of “ooh, I don’t know what that is, let’s make a beer with it”, albeit probably with a bit more of an idea of how things will turn out than in days past. From there it’s a bit of stretching the culinary side of our brains to see what best accentuates a flavor profile. We like beer that tends more towards nuance and complexity, so we try not to slap you in the face too hard with any specific flavor most of the time. We’re also big fans of real ingredients. No extracts or artificial flavoring. You’ll often find a crew of us processing more real fruit than is sensible, or shucking oysters. It’s all part of the adventure and it breaks up a lot of what could be a monotonous daily grind type process.

What was the inspiration behind the name of your brewery?

Brewing is all about timing. From the brew process itself, to landing ingredients, meeting seasonal release schedules, and having the patience to wait for things to get where they need to be. We do a lot of reacting and a lot of waiting, and the hourglass is just our little reminder that we need to be on top of things and patient simultaneously.

There are a lot of people getting interested in joining the craft beer industry. Do you have any advice for these people?

Read. You can learn so much by reading from others experience. Volunteer if possible. Make yourself available to do the things a local brewery needs help with and don’t overlook the value of sweat equity for education. It also gives you a huge lead on if the reality of the day to day hard work is something you’re actually into or if it’s just romance. Above all else, just educate yourself in every way possible and start brewing at home. The more you understand the process, the more easily you’ll pick up the conversion to large scale. A bit of mechanical or bio chem knowledge never hurts either. Find a niche you’re valuable in and never approach any task like it’s below you.

Do you see an end to the recent Florida craft beer boom?

It think we’ll be growing for another few years but I do personally foresee a near future retraction. We’re seeing a lot of folks who may not have the support they need to survive growing struggles for resources and customer base. While it’s true a lot of us do well sharing the same customers, I have an inkling that there can only be so many sharks in the pond, and that we’ll see a trend towards more neighborhood oriented and specialty breweries. Which I think is great, but it all depends on what you’re in it for. We don’t need 700 mass produced lawnmower beers or we just become what we started out pushing against. But that unique allure of local community artisans creating their own twist on something – I don’t think that’s going out of style anytime soon.

After being behind places like Tampa and Jacksonville, it looks like Orlando is finally catching up to being a beer destination. How do you feel about what is happening in the city and environs?

We’re definitely coming into our own over here. It’s great to see so many new breweries emerging and to hear from patrons that they’ve made the trip to our taproom a planned part of their travels. Orlando is a big spread out town hat can easily support a number of breweries, especially with burgeoning tourist traffic, and with the advent of the Central Florida Ale Trail, and support of Seminole County Tourism Board, we’ve really started organizing a collective of breweries toward a common goal.

What were the origins of the SMaSH festival? How much has it grown?

SMaSH was birthed over a few rounds at our weekly meetings here at Hourglass with our friends over at BrewerLong. We were looking for a way to help unify the craft beer communities that had sprung up around Central Florida, do something to give back to the local community that has supported us so well, and help educate consumers further on what makes craft beer so special and how much the process really matters. Smash beers are a big thing in the homebrew community (which most craft brewers have evolved from), and the focus on everyone using the two same base ingredients to create a plethora of vastly different beers demonstrated the importance of process so well. 

We wondered why it hadn’t been attempted more on a large scale with pro brewers, and suspected the logistics of interrupting brewing schedules and scale had a lot to do with it. After meeting with some ingredient suppliers and a handful of other local brewers we found there was real interest and people were surprisingly open to and excited by the challenge and with the city of Longwood officially behind it, it just blew up from there. For our second year we’ve doubled in size to over 40 breweries and expanded its scope to include breweries from around the state. The community is even more involved and a lot of local businesses have stepped up to support the cause. It’s going to be a big deal. 

You are one of a few Florida breweries canning exclusively in 16 oz. Cans. What made you decide on this format?

We decided on 16 oz. for a couple of reasons. First, we have always prided ourselves on having a true 16 oz. pint in the taproom, and wanted to reflect that serving in our package. Secondly, we’ve got great in house artists and it gives them an eye catching canvas to create some wild and loud cans that draw your attention on the shelf. In an increasingly competitive market for shelf space we felt it was important to echo the character of our brewery through to the retail format.

Who comes up with the phrases for Speakeasy Sunday?

Speakeasy Sunday is a long and ridiculous tradition that we love at Hourglass. We usually leave it up to the manager on shift to have fun with, and if you’ve met our team, you know they’re a colorful group.

Drink Florida Craft, 

Dave

@floridabeerblog

floridabeerblog@gmail.com

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The post Interview – Mike DeLancett, Hourglass Brewing @hourglassbrew appeared first on Miami Beer Scene.

from Interview – Mike DeLancett, Hourglass Brewing @hourglassbrew

[umusicians]

UM Interview: Mother Mother

Canadian Indie Rock band Mother Mother have made their imprint in the Canadian music industry. With over a decade in the music industry, the band have carved their own unique niche in the industry, leaving with them a sense of indivdiduality and awe. Last month, the band recently released their latest record ‘No Culture’. Of ‘No Culture’ Singer Ryan Guldemond commented "No Culture is about something that a lot of us wrestle with in isolation - identity". Amandah Opoku sat down with Ryan to go into more depth about ‘No Culture’, upcoming tour dates and more! Check out the interview below!

Amandah Opoku: Hello Mother Mother, thank you for sitting down with us! Before we kick off this interview, what is your favourite song on radio? Ryan Guldemond: Currently I’ve been really enjoying “Hands To Myself” by Selena Gomez.  I love the super dry, loud whisper vocal performance, and the production itself is very crisp and spacious.  I can turn it up loud without things becoming brash. I do appreciate when radio tracks achieve size in sparsity. Oh yeah, and the guitar part is killer - very sweet and melancholic, which is my favourite emotional convergence in music. AO: Of the songs that have been released within the last year, what are your favourite lyrics you’ve heard that you wish you had written? RG: There’s this line in a Zola’s song called Swooner that’s pretty clever: “That incandescent girl of Incan descent”. Maybe too clever, but it made me smile, and ponder.  I like punchlines that are at once both humorous and thought provoking, driven by word play.  

AO: You recently released your album ‘No Culture’ what was the inspiration behind the albums creation? RG: I was inspired by a personal transition I was making at the time from debauchery to clean living. In doing so I uncovered how deeply I identified with the former accompanying persona, so themes of identity and authenticity are strong in No Culture, often centering around loss, grief and nostalgia. The title itself was born from this experience: the shedding of culture, or societal affectation as a means to become a truer version of yourself.   AO: How did the studio and writing process for ‘No Culture’ differ from your last album ‘Very Good Bad Thing’? RG: There was more emphasis on the songwriting. I spent a lot of time with our producers down in LA writing, and fine tuning the architecture of each song before we even began recording. It was important that every motif, beat, lyric, texture was “perfect” in that they supported the core identity of each song, and the album as a whole. Nothing was for the sake of itself. Once the songs were ready, the recording was quick and clear. That was a new methodology for us, coming into the studio with an almost paint by numbers approach. Everything was laid out, we just had to connect the dots. AO: Writing and working on this record, did you ever encounter a period or moment of uncertainty? How did you overcome this? RG: The writing process was riddled with uncertainty. The confidence I lost by changing my lifestyle spilled into the creative process, and I began to judge my output severely, effectively creating a condition of good old fashion writer’s block.  But I just worked through it. Kept churning out ideas until the kernels of gold started to appear. Bad ideas, or mediocrity is crucial in the mining of the good stuff. They clear a path for unfiltered, raw creativity to travel through. That was a big lesson in all of this: discovering, or reaffirming that the cure for stagnancy is simply the act of doing. It could be anything. Beat your head against a wall until it takes on a pleasing rhythm. Then start singing over top of it. Before you know it, you’ll have an album’s worth of material. If it’s a shitty album, don’t record it. Just keep beating your head against that wall and gradually things will improve. AO: Of ‘No Culture’ what are you most proud of? RG: I think of how honest it is, and how uncomfortable it was and still is to be that honest, and how that signifies change and evolution. I can easily look back at old writing and think, I miss that devilish irony and sardonic bent. But to do that again would be disingenuous, and easier. So I guest I’m proud that I took the harder path in creating a new body of work, speaking from a new voice, even though I wasn't entirely used to its timbre. AO: Of the sounds on your latest album ‘No Culture’ were there any particular musicians or artists that influenced the sounds/direction of the album? RG: I don’t know about specific musicians, but we were definitely inspired by certain production aesthetics, like the simple and visceral quality of hip hop beats and the lush and dreamy synth-scapes of the 80s. AO: What was the biggest challenge you encountered working on ‘No Culture’? RG: Digging up the themes and finding its sentimental identity. I really didn’t want to write 10 songs about various things that were unrelated to each other. It was crucial that this body of work meant something, had a purpose, and acted as a whole. Considering the shaky place from where I started, this was a challenging and daunting prospect. But somehow it found its shape and its voice. And there really wasn’t an A-ha! moment or grand epiphany. It happened over time, of its own volition. AO: In essence, what does ‘No Culture’ represent to you? Is it a statement? Almost, an act of rebellion? RG: To me No Culture represents peace in aloneness. Finding the acceptance of yourself without imposed identity. So yes, it’s a statement. We are suggesting that this a good practice, and by doing so we are criticizing the way so many of us cling to our identification tags, be them cultural, societal, professional, religious etc, in order to feel validated, superior, and as though we belong. Culture of course can be a beautiful thing, adding texture to the human condition, but when it becomes the source of divisiveness, war and oppression, then we lose the very thing which it aims to celebrate, and the one thing we all have in common, humanity. AO: Why should somebody stream or pick up ‘No Culture’ off the CD shelf? RG: That’s an interesting question. It begs a solicitous response, which is hard for me. Someone from the label would give a much better answer, but I should try my best here. I’m not sure I think anyone “should” do anything with our record, but I suppose if someone was looking for a type of music with an emphasis on melody, vocal harmony, lyrical depth and big production, than No Culture would be a good contender. I feel like this album is visceral first, then cerebral. You can listen to it and react physically and emotionally without dissection. But should one crave a more intellectual experience, that is also available within the lyricism and thematics. Someone recently described the album as a trojan horse to a deeper experience. I liked that. AO: In this digital age of streaming where music fans can now consume immediately thanks to apps such as Spotify, Pandora and Tidal to name a few. What are your thoughts on streaming? Do you think they’ve been a positive or negative effect to the music industry? RG: I guess both, but to be honest I start to snooze when this topic comes up at the dinner table. For whatever reason I can’t seem to care about how the music industry evolves or devolves. But I guess streaming is something that’s still somewhat anarchic, cuz people aren’t getting paid and whatnot, but I assume that will work itself out. They’ll figure out how to monetize this digital shitstorm of free entertainment and I can see that being a very good thing. Not necessarily for the industry, in a capitalistic sense, but for humanity, and the balance of things. I don’t think anyone should be walking around with squillions of dollars. Not for doing anything, but especially not for making music. I think celebrity and rich-people culture is kind of unhealthy for the human collective consciousness, so anything to topple those pedestals I believe to be a good thing in the grand scheme of it all. AO: You’ve been a band for well over a decade, what’s one thing you learned as a band that you wish you had known when you first began? RG: I wish we were better at branding in the start. Understanding what the Mother Mother experience was, and reinforcing that in every aspect of the band, be it music, art, wardrobe, sentiment, philosophy. I think we could still get better at that, but in thinking about it now, it’s not really something someone tells you and bam, you’re good at it. It takes time for identity and cohesion within a group to form. I’d also tell myself to write more. Just fucking write, write, write little buddy. Don’t divide life from art. Meld the two, and write songs about it. But this the same thing I’m telling myself today, and will be telling myself in 50 years. AO: Going back to your bands roots, when it comes to finding a name for a creative or collection it’s often a process. Mother Mother may have not been the name you arrived to initially and maybe it’s meaning to you has changed over the years. Today in 2017, what does the band name mean to you? RG: Well we were originally just Mother, and I called us that because this guy at college wouldn’t shut up about how great of a band name that would hypothetically be. His fervour became mine I guess. So it didn’t really mean anything in the beginning. Then we had to change our name because there were other bands called Mother. So we un-inventively called ourselves Mother Mother. So that didn't really mean anything either. What does it mean today? I really couldn’t tell ya. I guess it’s just the name of our band. AO: Besides music, what are your hobbies? RG: I like cooking and taking photos, Jasmin loves yoga, Molly likes crafting, Ali is a big soccer buff and Mike, the new guy… hmm.  Tattoos? Could that be a hobby? He’s got a body suit, so he’s running out of room. Gonna have to find a new hobby. AO: In support of ‘No Culture’ you are currently on your Canadian tour followed by some recently announced dates with KONGOS, what can fans expect from you on the tour? RG: Tons of energy, a very tight set which draws upon our entire catalogue, a couple of very masculine covers sung by the girls, inane and existential stage banter, a drum solo. We definitely take pride in making a proper show of it. I feel like there’s an art to crafting the perfect set, with a contour not unlike that of a story book. You can expect to be taken for a ride when you see us live. AO: Thank you for sitting down with us Mother Mother! Before we end this interview, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans, your supporters? RG: Thanks for employing us!

Connect with Mother Mother on the following websites: https://twitter.com/mothermother https://facebook.com/MotherMotherBook https://instagram.com/mothermothermusic https://youtube.com/mothermothermusic

[waynekelton]

The Best Turn Based Strategy Games on Android & iOS

This particular codex will train and challenge even the most avowed strategy enthusiasts with a maddening variety of scenarios and systems to learn and master from the world of turn-based strategy. Tactics, 4X, Puzzles... across all platforms and many different playstyles, there's a range of turn-based strategy games to celebrate in 2019.

Enjoy, and take your time digesting our top picks of the best turn-based games for Android, iPhone and iPad...

What are the best Turn Based Strategy Games on Android & iOS?

Xenowerk Tactics

Ticket to Earth

Tharsis

Feud

Egypt: Old Kingdom

Farabel

Euclidean Skies

Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind

Darkest Dungeon

XCOM: Enemy Within

The Battle for Polytopia

Invisible Inc.

Imbroglio

Xenowerk Tactics

Publisher: Pixelbite Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: $6.99

Firaxis' XCOM set the bar for turn-based, squad-level strategy games in general, and still remains a highlight on mobile that few have managed to challenge. Xenowerk Tactics, a sequel to the twin-stick shooter Xenowerk, probably won't give XCOM a run for its money but it's a decent tactical strategy game, and one benefiting from more modern design tools. Placed in charge of a corporate-owned Private Military force, your job is to go in and clean up after some kind of experiment goes horribly wrong.

There's squad management and base-development, along with tactical battles that can sometimes be a bit more arcade-y than pure strategy, but they're still hectic and satisfying. There's a really tense tug-of-war between the need to secure your objective and the need to preserve resources, especially when those resources are your veteran troops. Adopting strategies that prioritise securing the escape route first will quickly become the norm, as this can be a punishing game if you let it. Definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a new XCOM-like fix.

Ticket to Earth

Publisher: Robot Circus Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: $4.99

In hindsight, our original score of 5/5 was perhaps a bit ambitious. While an excellent turn-based strategy game, much of Ticket to Earth's appeal and potential rested on the assumption that Robot Circus would finish the final three chapters of the game. They certainly took their time, but nearly three years later Episode 4 was finally released as a free update in October 2019.

With a unique take on turn-based tactics, a genuinely engaging story and plenty of challenge to boot, now that Ticket it Earth is finally complete it definitely deserves your attention, and can be considered one of 2017's silent stunners. Now that it's complete, it might even be one of 2019's stunners as well!

Tharsis

Publisher: Choice Provisions Platforms: iPad Only Price: $7.99

While Tharsis takes a lot of inspiration from board games with dice-based allocation/drafting mechanics, it's very much a turn-based strategy experience through and through. As the player, you're in charge of a group of astronauts on their way to Mars, except everything's going wrong on the last hurdle and you need to manage your surviving team-members, dwinlding resources and a failing ship to the best of your abilities so that someone, at least, makes it all the way to the end. If that means you need eat someone along the way, then so be it.

The game is wonderfully brought to life with an excellent 3D engine, and the app plays smoothly on iPads (which might explain why it's only available for iPads!). Some might find the reliance on dice-rolls to get anything done frustrating at times, but it does feed into the sense of theatre created by the tension and dread as you pray that nothing else goes wrong on the ship as it is hastily patched back together. Imagine Apollo 13 except Tom Hanks ends up eating Bill Paxton - great stuff.

Feud

Publisher: Bearwaves Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: Free

In many ways Chess is the quintessential turn-based strategy game, and a classic that many people try and iterate on over the years. Some we've been fans of, others not so much, but Feud has impressed us the most so far. This free-to-play gem, instead of trying to be too clever or add in extra rules, instead trys to condense the Chess experience into a tied, closed-quarters tactical brawl.

A 4x4 board, with sixteen pieces (eight each side), leaves no room for manoeuvre, so planning your attacks, moves and exploitations is paramount. Matt was very impressed by this bite-sized take on the classic formula, and there's even cross-platform multiplayer (async) as well as pass-and-play. The only thing it's really missing is a ranked mode and some QoL touches - make sure you check it out!

Egypt: Old Kingdom

Publisher: Clarus Victoria Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: $4.99

Clarus Victoria are back with a second entry in their turn-based strategy series based on different historical periods of Egypt. The first game focused on the prehistoric history of the area, while their new game focuses on the 'Old Kingdom' period, which last around 400 years ending around 2100 BC. Back then, the capital of the nation was Mephis and it is here that the player must work to try and build great periods and develop their civilisation.

Resource management is key, and then you must also try and assimilate the other Egyptian tribes through either diplomacy or warfare. It's a niche-style strategy game on a very niche topic, but a breath of fresh air and an excellent pick for those looking for something a little bit different. Read our Egypt: Old Kingdom review for more!

Farabel

Publisher: Frogames Platforms: iOS Universal, Android Price: $8.99

Given that there are so many ways you can design a turn-based tactics game, for something to come along with a genuinely interesting and clever twist is rare, and speaks to the highest levesl of creativity. Farabel's trick, such as it is, is to start you at the end. You being the story at the height of your power, having just emerged victorious from a long and bloody struggle with the Orcs. But to learn the tale, you have to go backwards in time.

With each level you complete, your forces actually get weaker as you make your way back to the beginning of the war. Within individual turn-based battles there's also some timey-wimey shenanigans your hero character can exploit, making for some devilishly flexible tactical solutions. There are thirteen scenarios in all as part of the main story, and beyond that you can participate in daily challenges, or build an army from scratch to take part in special modes, like survival. All round, it's excellent value for money, even being at the steeper end of the scale.

Euclidean Skies

Publisher: Miro Straka Platforms: iOS Universal Price: $4.99

This game would also fit right in on our Puzzles guide, but there's a healthy enough dose of turn-based tactical thinking that earns it a place on this list (that, and the five-star review it got). It's a significantly different game to its predecessor, and while it doesn't always work the raw ambition this game shows makes it all the more compelling. Even the art style is different - more vibrant and aggressive, it brings the world to life in a way that's unexpected, but also fantastic.

This is a must buy for fans of puzzle tactics games, and while some of the charm is lost in the shift away form Euclidean Land's simplicity, there's plenty of character in this boisterous new chapter. Read our full review for more!

Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind

Publisher: A Sharp LLC Platforms: iOS Universal Price: $9.99

Some strategy gamers will find Six Ages' blend of (sort of) forced immersion awful, where others will lap it up. Fans of King of Dragon Pass - which this serves as a spiritual sequel to - will already be familiar with it. They'll discover a smoother interface and a new setting in a new culture. Forgoing the traditional control and power fantasies of strategic empire-building is a hard habit to give up.

But for those that can make the sacrifice, Six Ages holds a wealth of wonders few other games can match. It wants to tell you a tale of gods and humans, of mysteries and the mundane while still taxing your tactics. It's a bold goal and, while it doesn't always work, the narratives that it weaves are unlike anything else in gaming.

Darkest Dungeon

Publisher: Red Hook Studios Inc. Platforms:  iPad Price: $4.99

With each passing year since its conception and release, Darkest Dungeon recedes into annals of history, into the collective memory of unspeakable legends. In other words: a horrid, demanding and sublimely satisfying little game is fast becoming an all-time classic. Some have balked at the fine-tuning numbers behind its challenges (e.g. pre-Radiant days, the initial Crimson Court balancing), but in general the game’s ‘give-no-quarter’ philosophy has won a die-hard following that keeps coming back for more punishment. With the next expansion The Color of Madness slated to arrive later this year, this is a game whose vicious, compelling cycle will continue for a long time.

XCOM: Enemy Within

Publisher: 2K Platforms:  iOS Universal, Android Price: $9.99

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is still the golden standard for turn-based tactical gameplay, so let’s take a moment to revisit why. Squad-based, knife’s edge combat constantly challenges commander’s ability to scrape victory from defeat. Players make overworld and between-scenario decisions for which soldiers to train and tech to pursue, every bit as decisive as the individual commands given to the squad members in the heat of battle.

The game has its hallmark AAA production lustre and mankind-on-the-brink storyline, and these conventions work in its favour. Keep your squad intact, do the mission, save the world, piece by piece. The Enemy Within expansion content makes this turn-based strategy game even better.

The Battle for Polytopia

Publisher: Midjiwan AB Platforms:  iOS Universal, Android Price: Free (additional Tribes as in-game DLC)

Polytopia takes the crown for best Civ-lite. If this sounds like damning with faint praise, it’s quite the opposite. Because civilization-building builds its challenges and satisfactions with a grand scope and timeframe in mind, trying to miniaturize this genre experience can go pear-shaped in several ways. In Polytopia, the tribes are separated by a single tech (with some glaring exceptions), and the map has been foreshortened to a grid of 256 squares. Units and tech are the same for everyone, but the simplicity of this means a shorter list of decisive, vexing choices.

There is no diplomacy system, but victory is determined by points and not necessarily conquest. The game’s blocky, loose artstyle and easy interface make it an easy game to learn and hard to put down. Only just recently did the support for online multiplayer finally make its debut, and it is this latest change that elevates this title to a must-try.

Invisible Inc.

Publisher: Klei Entertainment Platforms: iPad Price: $4.99

The future came and went, (Invisibly) and it has been cruel to all but a select few supranational, extraterritorial megacorps. Your ragtag bunch of spies and specialists will scour the globe for intel and supplies so they can make one final run, wipe their identities from the omni-vigilant database and live off the grid in peace. Each run escalates if the agents are detected by the guards, cameras or drones, yet the stealth aspect of the game is only one kind of risk calculation among many.

Invisible Inc's AP and power systems mean that even successful runs can be tight, and sometimes making a clean escape is a failure if the team did not steal enough resources. The game’s generous learning curve belies an experience in which knowledge can lead to perfect play and challenge runs for pacifist or no-item wins at even the most fiendish difficulty.

Imbroglio

Publisher: Michael Brough Platforms: iPad Price: $3.99

Imbroglio sounds like a mess; it is in the name. But of all Michael Brough’s excellent, sparse designs, this one has the most player-driven customization and controlled random inputs. Here is ample proof that roguelikes can offer as much strategic challenge as the best of classics. Each character has their own ability and weakness, and the 4x4 grid on which the game unfolds is filled with tiles doubling as weapons. Swiping towards an enemy will activate that tile and fire its ability, with every slain enemy adding experience to the weapon responsible.

The goal of the game is to collect treasure, which upon collection heals the character and causes the walls of the grid to change configuration. Enemies spawn quicker and quicker as the turn count increases, so the whole affair is a race against time to level-up the sixteen tiles while staying healthy and collecting treasure at a steady pace. It is accessible but with a glut of weapons and characters to unlock and the final challenge to beat, it will reward sustained interest and focused strategic approaches.

Other Excellent iOS & Android Turn-Based Strategy Games

We like to keep these lists lean, so we can't feature all games at all time. Still, whether it's a classic we initially forgot about, or something that's been rotated out of the main list to give way for a newcomer, we want to make sure these past genre heroes are not forgotten.

Heroes of Flatlandia

Warbits

The Banner Saga

Chaos Reborn: Adventures

Templar Battleforce Elite

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions

Civilization 6

This is the Police 2

Squids Odyssey

Slay

Starbase Orion

UNIWAR

Shattered Plane

Mini Galax4y

What would your list of the best turn-based strategy games on mobile look like? Let us know in the comments!

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