Deus lo Vult is a board game for two to four treacherous and greedy marauders and murderers. Based on opulent European manuscripts of the 12th to 15th centuries, the game draws heavily on the military games played by the medieval aristocracy all over the world: shogi, xiangqi, chaturanga, and backgammon. You control an army of crusaders trying to loot as much treasure from the Holy Land as possible. At the same time, you hinder the progress of other players using the mutually shared army of the Saracens. God is watching the Crusades closely and often intervenes with Divine Will events that you may use to your advantage. I give the designers a lot of credit. It is not easy to approach a game where religion is involved. Get invading while it’s hot, only three days to go on this one at the time of this post. You can find it here.

Since I heart Japan, our next stop takes us to the RPG world of Oddity high.

Oddity High is a tabletop RPG about the life of a Japanese high school student – one who’s also got one foot firmly in the bizarre. It’s influenced from the ground up by anime, manga, and video games that take the life of a high schooler and drive it off the deep end: Haruhi Suzumiya, the Persona games, Hatoful Boyfriend, and many more. You’re a high school student that’s probably nowhere close to being ordinary. Whether you’re dealing with aliens, psychics, ghosts, demons, eldritch gods or sentient cats is up to you – but whatever it is, you’re in the thick of it. Fortunately, by happenstance or by design, you’ve got a gang of like-minded, equally-abnormal friends at your side – and with their help, you’ve got a fighting chance at surviving it. Just don’t forget that you’re also going to need to survive high school, as well. Oddity High is powered by the Apocalypse Engine, the system used by legendary and award-winning games such as Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, The Sprawl, Urban Shadows, Fellowship, and many, many more. It has 11 days to go and has already doubled its funding goal. If you back this project, just don’t pick vanilla.

The final project this week could use a little love if it’s going to make it. Dreeples are dragon meeples, and I think they look great! I think of the pictures shown their most practical use would be for Tsuro, but I do enjoy the picture of using them as replacements in monopoly. This campaign is also for an original a game called dreeple wars if your looking for a little more damage to inflict. The dragons are set to ship and burn villages near and far in December. 22 days to go in the current campaign.

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Digital versions of Ticket to Ride have undergone a major upgrade. Most importantly, all now support cross-platform multiplayer mode, so even us Android players can pick up live games with you iPad people. Also supported now are vertically-oriented maps. The first, of India, provides bonus points for looped routes. Digital Ticket to Ride is available on Android, iOS, and Steam.

Dominion, the original deck-building card game, has finally hit mobile. Both iOS and Android versions are free-to-play with the base set of cards. Expansion card sets are available as in-app purchases ($90 for everything). Beware though, even single-player mode requires a live internet connection.

Cogwind’s Revenge is an iPad app version of True Dungeon, complete with puzzles, combat, and even token-collecting.

Linkee, the trivia-ish party game of identifying commonalities, now has an Apple TV version. Instead of hitting a buzzer, the first to figure out a link is supposed to grab the remote and shake it over their head.

Defiant Development is in the process of releasing four separate new scenarios (three are out so far, one more will be before the end of the year) for the Steam version of its deck-building, action RPG, Hand of Fate.

Dragon+, Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons mobile-app-magazine, is now also available via the web, so it can be read via desktop browser.

A Macau Challenge Pack has been added to digital Splendor. The twist with this one is that it requires players to capture specific cards.

Magic: The Gathering Puzzle Quest is now a thing and available for both Android and iOS (free-to-play but with in-app purchases). In the game, it’s match-3 puzzle play that produces mana.

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In December of 2013, both Dungeon and Dragon magazines ceased publication, ending Dragon’s thirty-seven year run. In an editorial announcing the cessation of publishing, Wizards of the Coast story design manager and editor, Chris Perkins stated that as WotC was focusing on developing Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, the two supporting magazines would be going on hiatus. Now that 5th Edition has been released, Dragon magazine has suddenly returned as a app. Is a revitalized Dungeon far behind?

Released on Thursday for iOS (with Android support to come “soon”), Dragon+ features an aggregator for Wizards of the Coast’s Tumbler and facebook content as well as downloadable issues. Currently available in the app is the Elemental Evil Awakens! issue, which can also be accessed on iOS devices through the Newstand app. Dragon+ users can subscribe to future issues, which also appear to be free.

Inside the actual issue are fifteen articles, a few ads, and other content, taking up 25 screens. While most of the articles in the debut issue read like ads for the current D&D storyline, there are some interesting things inside. A retrospective of earlier versions of the classic Temple of Elemental Evil adventure and a list of elemental trinkets are pulled from player contributions. “Video Highlights” links to the Dungeon Masters Support Group and the Acquisitions Inc. video series on YouTube. A strategy guide about taking down a Black Dragon ties into the Tyranny of Dragons and Elemental Evil storylines (and feels a bit like the old “Ecology of…” Dragon articles). Pieces about other D&D offerings on your computer: a look at the Neverwinter MMO and a look at Sword Coast Legends.

Worried about spoilers? You should be. “Travel Talk” is an in-setting travelogue featuring some of the locations within the Princes of the Apocalypse campaign, complete with spoilers for players. Mike Schley’s Dungeon Masters’ map from Princes of the Apocalypse appears here, with all the locations in the game clearly marked (including the “Reaver Ambush”, “Shallow Graves”, and “Delegation Ambush” sites clearly marked). Why this version instead of the player version appears in the article is unknown, but for you DMs out there, it is something you might want to warn your players about.

Likewise, the “Elemental Evil: Unearth the Deception” article pretty much gives away the whole game. Have you seen a movie trailer that revealed nearly everything, including the big twist in the ending? That’s this article.

So, what’s Dungeon+ then? Several puff pieces of adwork, crowdsourced content, and some interesting original content, all for free. That original content is good and worth the price, although it’s really giving players a peek behind the DM screen. Because of the massive spoilers I have to recommend against reading the issue unless you’re the one running the game.

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Wizards of the Coast has started posting Dragon and Dungeon magazines for sale in the DnDClassics.com webstore. So far, just two Dragons and four Dungeons have been posted (at $5 each) and all are from the era of 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons.

I only wish we could get reprints from the 1st edition period. I can’t believe I threw mine out!

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