Snag Concordia, Charterstone and other digital board games during Acram’s spring sale
Trading, trains and trying to find a word for cute mountainside villages
Acram’s full catalogue of digital board games are enjoying some reduced prices during the developer’s spring sale. Those interested in packing some tabletop fun into their consoles or mobile devices can snag Charterstone, Istanbul and three other titles with up to 60% cut off their normal cost until May 9th.
Concordia: Digital Edition is a solidly Euro-style board game for two to five players set during the height of the Roman Empire as competing merchants work to establish a dominant hold over the economy. Part of the 2013 title’s appeal is a reliance on complex and interconnected strategies over dice-based luck or card drafting. Intrepid players can appeal to the gods for their favour in order to gain an edge, but whether the time and resources would be better invested elsewhere remains to be seen. Concordia and its DLC is currently 20% off on all platforms.
The digital edition of Stonemaier’s Charterstone is half-off throughout the spring sale, offering players a good reason to try this pastoral city builder. First released in 2017, Charterstone boasted legacy mechanics wrapped in a storybook vibe. Players compete to construct and populate a new village in a campaign that lasts 12 games, marking the board with stickers and other permanent elements. After finishing all the scenarios, the game becomes a unique worker placement title with separate win conditions for more replayability.
Rüdiger Dorn’s Istanbul is another economically minded board game that’s a bit more approachable. Each player is a merchant moving through the city’s grand bazaar - represented by a grid of cards - with a small retinue of assistants. These helpers can be left at stalls to complete that card’s specific action while the merchant keeps moving. The point of the game is to collect enough rubies to trigger a victory, but doing so will require purchasing upgrades, making keen-eyed trades and perhaps intervening on the efforts of your rival merchants. Istanbul: Digital edition is currently 50% off.
Eight-Minute Empire comes from Red Raven Games - the studio behind Sleeping Gods and the Above and Below series - and sits at just under $3, currently. Anyone looking for quick board games to fill a commute or lazy morning on the couch can play through a round in, well…it’s in the name. Players move their tokens throughout the map in order to control regions and earn points but must do so according to the rules on a tableau of cards. These cards can be purchased and changed throughout the game, offering more points or simply disrupting competitor’s plans for conquest.
The online version of Martin Wallace’s Steam: Rails to Riches is 60% off during the spring sale. The 2009 title combines track-building strategy with tile placement and auction mechanics to create a hectic race where players need to both invest in their trains while also pushing full steam ahead towards victory. The board game garnered several award wins and nominations in 2010, so tabletop railroad enthusiasts might want to give this one a peek.
All of Polish developer Acran’s digital adaptations are available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and both Apple and Android mobile devices. Some of the DLC packs might not be available on all platforms, yet. Acran is also handling the upcoming port of Restoration Games’ popular Unmatched series, but a solid release date hasn’t been provided. This spring sale is currently ongoing and will last through May 9th.