Best asynchronous/PBEM multiplayer turn-based fantasy game?

[Ralph-Wiggum]

My brother and his kids are bored and so we're trying to find a good game that we can all play against each other online. Because our schedules are all different, we're hoping to find a good game that we can play asynchronously (presumably using PBEM). There are a couple of caveats, however. 1) My brother hasn't played a computer game in a long time. We used to have some epic Warlord 2 hot-seat battles back in the mid 90s, but I think the last game he really played was Heroes of Might and Magic 3. So we're looking for something in a similar vein, both gameplay-wise and theme-wise. Any sort of 4x or Warlords/Heroes type game would be good. Especially if it has random maps. It also shouldn't be super complicated/finicky. 2) The computers my brother has don't have the latest hardware and so realistically we would want something that is a bit older. Bonus if it is also on the Mac, since that is his main machine (but his kids have PC laptops).

I was thinking maybe Age of Wonder 3 (which I haven't played), but it sounded like PBEM might bog down unless auto-battle is on and battles seem like a big component of the gameplay. Of course, there's Warlords 3 or HoMM 3 I suppose, but both are pretty old by this point. And it might be nice if the game had a bit more of a 4x mode with it (his son really liked Civ 6 on my iPad). Any other thoughts of what might be a good option? Thanks.

[Blackhawk]

It's an oldie but a fantasticy, but look at Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I think I had that back when it came out. I do remember it being good, but I wonder if the PBEM will be sort of a pain to set up: a quick Google seems to indicate that PBEM requires some additional software outside of the game, which might be tricky for my brother. Any idea how it would compare to AoW 3, which I think has PBEM integrated?

[TheMix]

So, as you mentioned in the OP, the draw of some of these types of games is being able to control the specifics in the battles. I know that I've manually won many battles that the computer lost (generally as I get stronger armies in games like this, I tend to let the computer handle the battles when it tells me I'm likely to win). Do you just have to switch off the detailed battles and let everything auto-resolve?

I just checked Fallen Enchantress, but didn't see a PBEM option.

According to Google Warlock: Master of the Arcane has a multiplayer option. Though it looks like it's not PBEM. Nor does it appear you can lock a game for specific people. You'd just have to jump into the lobby at the same time... I guess. Maybe Warlock 2 has better options. I never picked that one up.

Looks like Endless Legend has multiplayer, but doesn't allow teams. But that sounds like it may be what you want. Not sure if it's PBEM, or whether it requires you all to play at the same time. I don't have my copy installed, so I can't check. If you'd like me to install it, let me know. (And this one would also have the same issue I assume of having to let the computer auto-resolve combat.)

Re-reading your post, I'll add that if you can get around the "how to set it up" hurdles, Warlock is like a dumbed down Civ. It is definitely not very fiddly. Only a handful of races. City development is pretty basic. Units are generally easy to understand. Spell research is pretty easy. Late game heroes with a lot of spell buffs are fun. Oh, and it's an old game, so it should run on an older system. (It is Windows only, however.)

I was reading Warlock 2 reviews. Does not sound good. But multiplayer might work better? I saw mentioned playing Civ 5 with a fantasy mod. So that may be an option for you as well. Maybe you can find a good fantasy mod for one of the Civ games.

[dfs]

CIV iv had the fall from heaven mod. That's awesome.

It's not everybody's cup of tea, but the dominions series is the deepest best thing out there.

[TheMix]

I think I played Fall from Heaven. It had a bit of that Master of Magic feel, didn't it? Not sure why I didn't play it more. Probably a new shiny came along.

I thought about mentioning Dominion. Except he specifically didn't want complex. And I've never gotten anywhere with it. Apparently it was too complex for me.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll look into the Warlock games and Civ IV with the mod.

I tried Dominion (4?) a few years back and it was pretty daunting to me as a newbie to the series. I definitely think it will be too much for my brother and his kids.

I don’t think Endless Legend has a PBEM option, unfortunately.

As for AoM 3, from what I’ve read it sounds like PvP battles have to autoresolve when playing asynchronously, but you can control the battles when fighting again computer opponents in the same game. Since I haven’t played it I’m not sure if that means actual computer controlled opponents or if there are also neutral enemies that computer controls.

[Anonymous Bosch]

It's an oldie but a fantasticy, but look at Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic.

Amen.

It's been quite some time since I last played, but I do remember using the PBEM (Play By EMail) Guide on AoW2 Heaven to get up and running fairly easily.

It's not fantasy-themed, but Sid Meier's Civilization V with the Giant Multiplayer Robot service makes for a superb asynchronous multiplayer option. Fortunately GMR does support mods, so you could play using a fantasy-themed mod if that's important to you. Suffice to say, the GMR service greatly simplifies the process of playing asynchronously, and couldn't be much easier to set up and use. Here's their video tutorial on how to get started:

[Pyperkub]

Dominions 4/5.

Incredibly deep with tons of factions and play styles and a great PBEM community. Compstomp and PvP.

[Pyperkub]

And of course, we're still having fun with Warlords 3!

[Anonymous Bosch]

The computers my brother has don't have the latest hardware and so realistically we would want something that is a bit older. Bonus if it is also on the Mac, since that is his main machine (but his kids have PC laptops).

BTW, one regrettable caveat if your brother wanted to use the Mac version of Sid Meier's Civilization V for a multiplayer game: it's no longer possible to play cross-platform multiplayer games with the Mac version of the game.

This is because of the Mac OS Catalina update that mandated support for 64-bit apps only. So the developer of the Mac version had to update Civilization V to be completely 64-bit to allow Mac users the ability to keep playing the game at all after the forced Apple update. But in so doing, it now means the Mac 64-bit version of the game is incompatible with the PC version, so you end up with a version mismatch error when trying to play cross-platform.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Damn. Unfortunately, it looks like a bunch of the older games we were considering as well don't work on the new OS. I gave my brother some additional options but I think he got overwhelmed and just decided to get nothing.

BUT, reading through these suggestions and looking up all these games has made me want to try some of them out. I'm not as adverse to real-time strategy as my brother, so I downloaded and played for the first time a few matches of Starcraft 2 with a friend yesterday. It didn't really scratch the turn-based fantasy itch, but was still pretty fun (and free!). I need to look into the Fall from Heaven mod; that sounds like my jam.

[LordMortis]

Way back when we played we played Solium Infernum by PBEM *a lot*

You can find dozens of AARs here. It's not nearly as long as other PBEM games.

http://www.crypticcomet.com/games/SI/So ... ernum.html

I have no idea where my license is a decade later. I'm surprised it's still $15 a pop.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Damn. Unfortunately, it looks like a bunch of the older games we were considering as well don't work on the new OS. I gave my brother some additional options but I think he got overwhelmed and just decided to get nothing.

BUT, reading through these suggestions and looking up all these games has made me want to try some of them out. I'm not as adverse to real-time strategy as my brother, so I downloaded and played for the first time a few matches of Starcraft 2 with a friend yesterday. It didn't really scratch the turn-based fantasy itch, but was still pretty fun (and free!). I need to look into the Fall from Heaven mod; that sounds like my jam.

Don't overlook Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. It's highly reminiscent of HoMM3 with a dose of Civ IV thrown in for good measure, and holds up remarkably well. The Age of Wonders Email Wrapper automates sending and receiving of PBEM games, and worked smoothly in my experience (here's a video demonstration showing it in action). It's a low-end game too, so there shouldn't be any difficulty getting it to run with older hardware.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I do think that's an option and I've played it before so know that it's good. I'm guessing it probably won't work with my brother's macbook. I suppose he could just use his daughter's PC, but he seems a bit loathe to do that. Might be worth picking up again for myself, though.

Side note: when looking at these games I discovered that a new Age of Wonder game (Planetfall) came out last year for both PC and consoles. Anyone try it?

[TheMix]

Played Planetfall on the XBOX for PC platform. It was fun. I don't know that it was groundbreaking. And it's not going to become a regular for me.

[LordMortis]

Wiki's list of commercial PBEM is pretty slim but SI made the cut.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: ... ideo_games

Makes me wonder about Atlantis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis_PbeM