Review
Review: Kirby Mass Attack
In a move fit for the Twitter and app generation, Kirby gets shattered into tiny—but formidable—pieces. Jason Johnson reviews what may be his Nintendo DS swansong.
Jason Johnson
Interview
James Silva: I Will Destroy Anyone Who Gets in My Way
James Silva, the one-man studio behind the gory cult classics I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 and the Dishwasher series, talks to us about why he’s squeamish, high school band fiascos, and what he’ll do if you try to collaborate.
Review
Review: Super Crossfire
Luke Schneider’s new take on Space Invaders has one twist, and that’s all that it needs. Jason Johnson weighs in on the virtue of simplicity.
Review
Review: Scoregasm
A new entry in an overloaded genre, the twin-stick shooter, Scoregasm suggests that when mathematical formulas cease to surprise, only art may differentiate them.
Essay
The Illogical End
Are all games the sum of their rules and systems? According to the field of ludology, the formal logic of a game is where its soul resides. Jason Johnson argues that bridging the gap between system and meaning is a more tenuous proposition than ludologists acknowledge. Read the first of this three-p
Reset
Reset: Radiant Silvergun
The bullet-filled trajectory of videogame shooters, from Spacewar! to Space Invaders to shmups, may have peaked with Radiant Silvergun, a rarity now playable on Xbox Live Arcade. Jason Johnson explores how 3D threw shooters off course.
Review
Review: Junk Jack
A pixel-themed take on the world-building classic Minecraft demands an objective review, from the highest reaches to the hidden rewards of its fundamentals. Jason Johnson digs into the game’s material.
Review
Review: PataNoir
A new interactive fiction game builds a surreal world out of metaphor. So why does it feel all too real? Jason Johnson interrogates the subject.
Review
Review: SpellTower
A new iPad word game by independent developer Zach Gage illustrates some fundamental conflicts about operating within game systems, and then writing about them. Jason Johnson tries to untangle the letters.
Review
Review: Aquaria
A game about underwater exploration ironically drowns the player in its own vast world. Jason Johnson wants to chart new territory but finds his mind wandering.
Review
Review: Loop Raccord
Experimental game Loop Raccord draws inspiration from the process of video editing but finds unlikely communion with the sonic juxtapositions of John Cage.
Review
Review: Dark Souls
Jason Johnson explores the complexity of a game given to dualities.