There have been a few updates to major games in the past week, and this is your opportunity to find out about some of them. For the most part, these updates relate to a few tweaks, refinements and general refinements to existing products. Although in one or two instances you’ll note that there are actual expansion of game content, which is always the most desirable type of expansion.

Magic: the Gathering

A fairly substantial update in terms of back-end support was releasing on the 2nd of August. It contains: “performance tuning that should improve app stability”, which I’ve yet to see if it means I can play the four player version on the iPad 1 still (the answer is no). Other improvements have been upgrades to the graphics display, audio playback, framerate, and multiplayer connectivity. There has also been a number of tweaks to cards as well as some additional premium content.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico has upped the ante on its multiplayer feature with the introduction of turned-based play and asynchronous chat capacity. Perhaps what grabbed my attention though is the extensive update to the AI, with very specific tweaks to the 2 player variant and allowing online games to be supplemented by an AI player. Also, check out a few smaller fixes for intuitive play.

Ticket to Ride

This is easily the biggest update of the lot. It includes a new map as an in-app purchase, and now you too can play on Legendary Asia. Legendary Asia is itself part of the maps of Ticket to Ride expansions that they have been releasing. Sadly, the other Asia board hasn’t yet been included, which includes options for six players to play and one awesome triple track. However, if the replay of Ticket to Ride has faded since release, this is a good time to blow off the metaphorical dust and explore a new continent.

PLUS there are a bunch more achievements, and new opponents designed for each of the specific maps (in Europe, Switzerland, and Asia).

7 Wonders Companion

Every time I look at this app, I hope it is indicative of the eventual 7 Wonders iPad app we were promised last year, and the more developments that are released I hope it brings us one more step closer to seeing it alive. What this update includes is incorporating the bits and pieces from their latest expansion Cities. This introduces two new wonders. It also improves user interface and gives you in-app explanations for their hieroglyphics.

San Juan

Of course, the most exciting bit of news is the release of San Juan on Friday. Expect to see a review of this coming out Wednesday. Stay tuned.

Review By: Angelus Morningstar

Completed a Masters of Jurisprudence at University of Sydney. I am an activist, dramaturge, and instigator of strange mind experiments. I’m a storyteller, and I mostly tell stories about people. These aren’t always stories you’ll find written down, they can be stories told over a coffee, told by firelight, told through art act and lifestyle. Of course, we all tell stories. We love our little fictions, lies and dreams – I just like to embellish a bit more than most. My current project of substantial size is called Eidolon. It can be found here: http://www.eidolon.me