It’s the little things that I value most in survival games—those small, but important details in the environment that let me make reasonable predictions based on my surroundings, or the ability to place items in the world so that I can actually feel settled in my makeshift home. The Long Dark, a fir
Kadeisha Buchanan, the best young player at this summer’s Women’s World Cup, is a fantastic talent, the kind of player you can only dream of being. That’s why the news that a select few female soccer players would be included in the latest edition of FIFA was so exciting. That’s also why the news th
We don’t need an excuse to talk about cats here. Cats are a pretty big deal. We have a “cats” tag and it’s probably the most valuable thing we’ve got. That is, before we set-up our sister site Kitten Screen and take over th– okay, that’s not actually happening (it is in my dreams), but a “Kitten Scr
In city builder games, the player is god. No capitalization is called for here: She is looking on from on high, but she is not omnipotent; she must watch human forces desecrate her creations from the heavens above. Most games grant their players agency they would otherwise lack, but the risk of POV-
Flying a jetpack is hard in Piloteer. Comically hard. That makes your goal of convincing the people of Piloteer’s world that jetpacks are cool and safe and fun even harder—you have to actually land without injuring yourself first. Even if successful, this more often than not includes plenty of flail
Even the release date for The Witness is puzzling at first. It pops up at the end of the announcement trailer like this: “0126 • 2016.” It took a good 10 seconds for my brain to realize it said January 26th 2016. We have another four months to wait for it. We’ve already waited six years since Jonat
Classical music and art reminiscent of the Renaissance period are at the forefront of Masques and Murders, the newest game by designer James D. Patton. Players must navigate court as a lady dealing with the aftermath of her brother and father’s murders, which has left her heir to a fortune. Meanwhil
What would happen if Chess could get drunk? Would the knight fall off their horse? Would the queen take a fancy to one of the pawns? Would the rook go diagonally? This is what the slur-titled Chesh looks to explore. It’s the next game from Damian Sommer, who has already mixed up the choose-your-own-
I first covered Riot — Civil Unrest in the midst of the protests in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray. It’s always the midst of something. The news cycle leaves injustices behind with alarming regularity, but it never lacks for new sadness to glom on to. There’s no comfort in such predictabil
William Chyr has changed the name of the videogame he’s been working on for the past two years or so. What was once known as “Relativity” is now known as Manifold Garden. And, blimey, you can see why this new title was chosen upon seeing the latest screens from the game. It really does appear as a s
This Is My Costume explores life with a non-binary gender identity and its parallels with performative attire. It’s a short point-and-click adventure that was made by game design team Pride Interactive for a recent Ludum Dare, in which the theme was “You Are The Monster.” It begins with the protagon
