15 years of the best of game-based arts and culture
Games, play, and culture with Jamin Warren
Become a subscriber
The original Sims design documents are fascinating
The Sims, like most transcendent games, feels natural, like it always existed. It’s almost hard to wrap your mind around the idea that very complex and very painstaking design had to go into making something that is so elegant and so parsimonious, but of course, it did. Don Hopkins, a progammer inst
Study shows gaming helps, hurts social life
A Penn State survey of gamers reveals something a lot of us have already figured out on our own: gaming can be both a boon and a curb on our social lives. In an examination of people who played multi-player, first-person shooter games, like Call of Duty and Halo, gamers who organized their lives aro
This XCOM rivalry between an NFL player and a Firaxis producer is too good to be true
Via Game Informer: Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe is an avid gamer and a huge s— talker. Last month, he thought he could defeat Firaxis Games’ producer and designer Garth DeAngelis at his own game of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. DeAngelis wiped the floor with Kluwe, and hasn’t let him live it down. De
The game of the year is free today
The Walking Dead, the episodic adventure game that could, is the game of the year. The first installment is free today for iOS. That’s one hell of an apocalyptic stocking stuffer.
Why did a team of Swedes make a reggae-themed adventure game?
The Journey Down, the delightful reggae-inspired point and click adventure, is now available for iOS, Jah be praised. I and I celebrated irie style by talking to one of the game’s creators, overstand? Theodor Waern, of Skygoblin Games, is responsible for the game’s lovely art style. How did you get
Game Blocks, a tool to teach game development and nonlinear storytelling
Sheldon J Pacotti, writer of Deus Ex, has released a videogame creation tool called Game Blocks. John Walker at Rock, Paper, Shotgun: Described as “a free library of visual programming ‘blocks’ for first-time game developers,” Game Blocks is the result of something Pacotti built for an interactive w
The first North Korean English-language video game is the best indie game of the year
Pyongyang Racer is the first game made in North Korea for Western consumption, and it is a brilliant critique of the tropes of overblown AAA racing games. It’s not fun at all. It’s like the game Bennett Foddy has been working towards his entire life. Instead of a decadent supply of unlimited fuel, y
Revamping Baldur’s Gate and the beginnings of BioWare
An enhanced version of Baldur’s Gate has just been released for iOS. I haven’t downloaded it yet — that much game on a mobile device and always at my disposal is dangerous. I risk slinking off to the bathroom at work or turning my productive commute into an unproductive one. Very soon I will get it,
Subscribe to new posts
Processing your application
Please check your inbox and click the link to confirm your subscription
There was an error sending the email