By Kevin Stout on April 13th, 2012 The new Hero Academy update adds the Tribe team and their playfield. Hero Academy, Editor’s Choice winning app here at 148Apps, has updated to its 1.2 version to include various game improvements and additions to the game. Additions to the game are a new team and playfield. The new team is called “The Tribe,” an aggressive team that can finish off weak opponents and crystals in one short move. Characters in the Tribe include the Warrior (can instantly knock out enemies under 50% health), the Axe Thrower (extra damage to weak enemies), the Witch (explodes fallen enemies), the Shaman (chain healing), and the Chieftain (an AOE fighter with a charge and a pull). A Tribe-themed playfield has also been added with the team. Hero Academy has also added iPad support and a few tweaks to improve the game, including bigger buttons and a larger Read More

Last week, Robot Entertainment launched a new army for their excellent turn-based strategy game for iOS, Hero Academy. At PAX East 2012, they were appropriately showing off the greenskins next to their upcoming dungeon-trapper PC game, Orcs Must Die 2, so we decided to check out the update. The Tribe differs significantly from the structure set by the other armies in Hero Academy in that they only have one armor upgrade, but have two hero units in their bag of tricks. The Tribe also includes a new tidal wave spell which can move whole armies towards or away from you. The update also offers a new map which is available even if you don’t dish out the $2.00 for The Tribe. It has crystals that are able to fire thorns at nearby assailants once a turn, and a new bonus square which provides magic resistance. Marcin, one of the game’s devs, Read More

Robot Entertainment told us that it wanted to support iPad with a Hero Academy [Free] update, and it wasn't pulling our collective tail. This morning, the talented developer announced that a Universal update is coming "soon." In even better news, a new team called the Tribe is coming soon as well. Robot describes these guys as brutes: "powerful and ruthless, the Tribe are aggressive warriors that are always on the attack," the announcement reads. A convenient class-by-class breakdown of this upcoming team is available on Robot Entertainment's blog. We're most impressed by the Warrior. This little green sweetie can instantly KO any wounded enemy unit under 50 percent health. If we had to guess a date for these releases, we're guessing April 8th-ish. Robot notes that it'll be showing off a Universal build during PAX East. It's hard to imagine that the official release version won't appear during or soon after Read More

Robot Entertainment is making good on the promise of more Hero Academy [Free] content, and it sure delivered the other day. In an update, Robot unleashed the game's third team, the Dwarves, for a one-time $1.99 in-app purchase. These undersized big men specialize in the fine art of explosives and gunpowder, kinda like the Squat in Warhammer 40K except without the exo-armour and all those Land Trains. Robot has an awesome blog post up that details each of the new classes that the Dwarf army is bringing to the fold. It also spills the beans on all the contents of the new update, which brings about some needed chat bug fixes and several neat tweaks, like auto-forfeiting. Hit it up if you're especially curious, and check out our review if you still don't know why everyone is buzzing this. Hint: it has something to do with the amount of little dudes Read More

Hero Academy has fallen a bit out of my gaming attention lately (truth be told, Triple Town is stealing most of my iOS gaming time these days, probably more than is healthy), but it's still an excellent free-to-play title, and I still have about 15 games going on at any given moment. Currently, the turn-based strategy multiplayer title boasts two different teams, the Humans and the Dark Elves, but later this month the game is getting a third team to play with: The Dwarves. The new race will go in a steampunk direction, with rocket launchers and firearms, and will not only specialize in area-of-effect attacks, but gain nice bonuses from the on-board power-ups. The Dwarves will be available via an in-app purchase of $1.99. A few players have complained about the game's balance, saying that the Dark Elves seemed slightly more powerful than the core Human fighters, and that Robot Read More

This week on The TouchArcade Show, the crew powers through mini-discussions about KoRn and mysterious sodas with pumas emblazoned on the can to bring you the latest, hottest, and best in iOS news and commentary. At the top, we dig into Pizza vs. Skeletons for the final time, discuss Hero Academy's sign-up system, and crack into games like Ragdoll Blaster 3 and Dodonpachi Blissful Death. Later, in our news section, we sound off on several juicy topics including the release and subsequent broken-ness of Battlefield 3: Aftershock and Double Fine's Kickstarter. If you'd like to listen in, go ahead and do so via the links below. Additionally, you could subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune and get our episodes the second they hit the Internet for your consumption. All the cool kids do it. Here's your show notes: GAMES JARED'S KITTY KORNER NEWS   #11   Today, 07:33 PM Junior Read More

By Carter Dotson on February 7th, 2012 On this episode of The Portable Podcast, host Carter Dotson and co-host Rob Rich discuss the rash of cloning that's hit the App Store lately, along with recent releases that they have enjoyed. Dark Elves aren’t evil, they’re just misunderstood. On This Episode: Who We Are: Music: How to Listen: Apps Mentioned on This Episode: FREE! Released: 2011-06-23 :: Category: Games FREE! Released: 2012-01-19 :: Category: Games FREE! Released: 2012-01-10 :: Category: Games $4.99 Released: 2012-02-02 :: Category: Games FREE! Released: 2012-02-02 :: Category: Games Read More

The pocket version of Ticket to Ride by Days of Wonder is among the best board game adaptations for the iPhone, and it's just gotten better with asynchronous multiplayer support. Now you can start a game with friends through Game Center, and take turns back and forth across the Internet. The experience is similar to popular multiplayer games like Words with Friends and Hero Academy. This free update also expands the game's local multiplayer mode, so that users on the same Bluetooth or Wi-Fi network can play across devices. Ticket to Ride for the iPhone and iPod touch is available for US$1.99 in the App Store, while the iPad version is priced at $6.99. Days of Wonder notes that Ticket to Ride has been extremely popular. It has sold over 350,000 copies, and a new online game is begun every four seconds on average. The game is definitely excellent, and the Read More

Posted 01/27/2012 at 6:48am | by Will Herring Whether you're looking to challenge someone to a game of chess or go toe-to-toe in a match of phrase-based jousting, a quick trip to the App Store's overstuffed library won't leave you wanting for turn-based action. Hero Academy, a new tactics title from Robot Entertainment -- a studio formed in the wake of Ensemble Studios' closure -- is a lighthearted social strategy game that matches cutesy "My Little Tolkien" combatants with ultra-accessible grid-based gameplay. Players pick one of two diverse "Heroic Teams" -- the conservative knight/wizard/cleric combo of the Council, playable from the get-go; or the slightly more sinister Dark Elves, available as an in-app purchase -- before taking to the battlefield, where they're tasked with protecting a precious supply of crystals from their opponent's onslaught. Each team is allotted five actions per turn, and a rotating selection of randomly chosen units, power-ups, Read More

...mich jemand in "Hero Academy" herausfordern m\u00F6chte, so m\u00F6ge er mich fordern. Warnung: ich bin superschlecht. http://t.co/nzoeWcLy... Read More

Honestly, I'm not very good at Hero Academy. It's a deep game, slow to develop (asychronous multiplayer mode dictates the pace) and tough to learn. Still, I've enjoyed it. It's the first iOS title from Robot Entertainment, the company behind the Steam and console hit Orcs Must Die! (In fact, most of Robot's developers came from the old Ensemble Studios camp that made Halo Wars and Age of Empires). The game's both casual and tactical. You are given a certain number of characters or power-ups to play with per turn, and you can use your limited action points to do things like deploy soldiers on the grid-based battlefield, power them up with more attack or defense, move them around, and of course attack the enemy soldiers. Both teams have gems on the battlefield in different places, and the goal is to destroy the enemy's gems while defending your own. The game's Read More

I've played a lot of iOS games in my time, and have gone through varying levels of addiction with certain titles. Even so, that usually doesn't last for too long. I've never found my own personal Angry Birds or That is, until I picked up Hero Academy [Free] for the first time. Shortly after, I noticed that I was playing a match while cooking, waiting for people to come over, or pretty much any other time I had three free minutes or more at a time. At that point, I identified that I might have found that game that I feel the need to play endlessly. Good news is, all my other friends seem to have the same problem, so that works out for me. Hero Academy is Robot Entertainment's first iOS offering, and I think it's the sign of good things to come. The premise is very basic: You are playing Read More

By Rob Rich on January 13th, 2012 On this, the unluckiest of days, let's keep our minds off of black cats, ladders and salt-tossing and instead focus on what really matters: FREE GAMES!!! Uh-oh. Know what day today is? Yeah… *gulp* Well I for one won’t let superstition get the best of me. In fact, it’s scientifically proven that getting games for free is the best way to change bad luck into good. Lucky (ha-ha!) thing I just so happen to have a list of a few of these zero-cost gems right here. Be sure to check them all out right after the break. (NOTE: Free games are most certainly not scientifically proven to fix bad luck. However, they will kill time while sitting in the emergency room after that “unfortunate incident” with the cat and the Thighmaster.)Hero Academy – Okay, yes, I did indeed just review this game but so Read More

iPhone App FREE! Our Review By Rob Rich on January 12th, 2012 Rating: :: NEVER STOP PLAYING Robot Entertainment proves that they're more than a one-hit wonder with what will most likely be the newest multiplayer sensation for iOS. Developer: Price: FREE Version: 1.0 App Reviewed on: iPhone 3GS Graphics / Sound Rating: Gameplay Rating: Playtime Rating: Replay Value Rating: Overall Rating: Robot Entertainment completely blew everyone’s minds when they recently released the universally acclaimed The experience was something both familiar and totally new, with the developer’s own special brand of style rounding the package out nicely. Sure they’d made a couple of games before that, but this is the one that really made them a household name. And oh look at that, they’ve gone and done it again. In Hero Academy, two players (always and forever as there’s no single player option) duel for supremacy in what would best be Read More