A great thread on r/games right now features recollections of levels so frustrating, or difficult, or obnoxious that they prevented gamers from returning for a second playthrough. There are some classics, like the “Cortana” level of Halo 3, the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time, and the descent into B
If you ever played The Longest Journey or its sequel, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, you’ll be happy to know that a third game in the series is in the works. It’s called Dreamfall Chapters, and if it’s anything like the older game, it will have wonderfully deep characterizations. Adam Smith at Rock
A portrait of a free-to-play cash cow: It was a typical weekday night after work: Lee slipped off his shoes, climbed into bed with his iPad, and booted up Clash of Clans. The free-to-play strategy game, in which he went by the name “Metamorphaz,” had quickly become a favorite stress-reliever for him
Usually when you play a game with a customizable character, your avatar ends up looking like an idealized version of yourself. But what about those of us who want a warts-and-all avatar? Joshua Dennison at Pixels or Death wanted an avatar with a pot belly, but found no games to fulfill this desire.
Looking at the Ouya controller and the Wii U Pro controller, it seems like videogame inputs are reaching convergence. But some games will still be defined by their unique interfaces. Punch the Custard takes usual videogame inputs and surrounds them in custard. Brandon Boyer at Venus Patrol explains:
We told you about Jack Lumberjack last April, then we recommended it to you in our Playlist. It’s just as fun as a game about a grief-mad lumberjack taking his revenge on trees sounds like it would be. It turns out Owlchemy Labs had bigger plans that we thought. They took a copy of the game to the 2
Do you remember the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) educational initiative for countries without public school systems? OLPC got tired of trying to teach children things, and decided to help them help themselves. OLPC left a box in a remote village with enough solar-powered tablets for each child. OLPC
Pixel art has been having a renaissance for the past few years. Its less popular cousin, low-polygon art, is still finding a niche; these designs by Tim Reynolds have me convinced that it’s a form worth pursuing.