Z-Man Launches Digital Game Platform

Z-Man Games recently created F2Z Digital Media, Inc. to develop and launch digital versions of board games. F2Z Digital Media Inc. is an entirely independent company from Z-Man Games. F2Z Digital Media Inc. will have its own dedicated team to create quality digital versions of games developed by Z-Man Games, as well as titles from its partners.

F2Z's creation and Z-Man Games' move into the digital gaming arena is not surprising when you consider that over 19 million iPads and 37 million iPhones were sold in the first quarter of 2013, with 56 billion apps being purchased in 2012 alone. For 2013, that number is expected to increase to 82 billion.

The first game to be launched by F2Z Digital Media will be the very successful cooperative game Pandemic! The second edition launch of Pandemic! took the world by storm and sold thousands of copies in the U.S. alone. An iPad version is now in the works and its release date should be announced shortly.

The digital version of Pandemic! will soon be followed by its two expansions. After them, the next product in the pipeline will be Parade, a card game from one of Z-Man Games Japanese partners.

Civilizations - An Expansion For Clash Of Cultures

If you are a fan of Clash of Cultures, you will be excited to know that Z-Man Games announced an expansion to the game: Clash of Cultures - Civilizations. Unfortunately, it is not expected to hit the market until December of next year, 2014.

Clash of Cultures - Civilization adds 14 new civilizations to the game in an attempt to recap the development and contours of the civilizations that stretch across World History, from the Stone Age to the invention of gunpowder. Each of the 14 new civilizations will have its own unique advances as well as different leaders.

The expansion will feature new City pieces that players can use to increase their city's size. However, Clash of Cultures - Civilization does not increase the maximum size of four city pieces around a settlement. Therefore, players will now have to be selective and strategic when selecting which City pieces to choose when expanding settlements.

Another addition that comes with the Civilizations Expansion are "Elephant" and "Horse" units to the game. A fun fact that translates very well to the game is that not all civilizations had access to elephants and horses. Therefore, not all of them have access to elephants and horses in the game, either. Of course, the Civilizations Expansion is still a year away so more details will be released in the upcoming months.

Bad-DM commends Z-Man Games on this expansion, or its intent, at least. Many people who have played the original Clash of Cultures have complained that the game feels more like a light skirmish game rather than a civilization development game. The reason for this complaint is that there is nothing that really differentiates one civilization from another. Hopefully, this will be addressed in the upcoming Clash of Cultures - Civilizations Expansion, with the addition of culture-specific leaders and technology trees.