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platformer

On Rusty Trails, a videogame about the absurdity of racial prejudice

On Rusty Trails, a videogame about the absurdity of racial prejudice

3 min read News
While On Rusty Trails may look like yet another 2D platformer at first, its creators at Black Pants Studio took it beyond that simplistic impression by enabling a discussion about race through the game’s primary mechanic. “It was one of those days where I read the newspaper and there was an article
HackyZack is about living with anxiety, but you probably won’t realize

HackyZack is about living with anxiety, but you probably won’t realize

2 min read News
HackyZack is a “shitty metaphor” for creator Zack Bell’s thoughts and feelings on his own past. (“Shitty metaphor” is his phrasing, by the way.) It takes a Super Meat Boy (2010) approach to platforming—its meaning abstracted and then scattered among undeniably crisp platforming challenges. But where
Next up for the creator of TowerFall, a game about climbing a mountain

Next up for the creator of TowerFall, a game about climbing a mountain

2 min read News
There’s a mountain near my house where I grew up and it was a regular exercise for teenagers to climb up it as the sun fell, and then race back down chasing the light. Since it was a small peak, and since I lived in the foothills of the Appalachians, it seemed like a bent grandfather to the craggy p
It might be impossible to stop grinning at Burrito Galaxy

It might be impossible to stop grinning at Burrito Galaxy

2 min read News
When someone talks about nostalgia in videogames, there’s a solid chance they’ll also be talking about Metroidvanias or slick indie platformers. Super Meat Boy (2010) ends up being notable for its tight air control and precise jumps—the weird setting and throwback cutscenes are kind of a bonus. But
Slain! is a disappointing death growl

Slain! is a disappointing death growl

5 min read Review
Heavy metal is the musical and theatrical manifestation of mankind’s lizard brain. It’s an auditory siege that rifles through our ancient and violent nature that was once necessary to survive. This music transmutes those base emotions through myth, metaphor, and performance through modern instrument
Videogaming’s most endearing, clumsy robot is making a grand return

Videogaming’s most endearing, clumsy robot is making a grand return

3 min read News
It was a welcome relief amid all the Just Dance-ing and Watch_Dog-ing at Ubisoft’s E3 2016 press conference to see the reveal trailer for Grow Up—a sequel to last year’s charming plant growing/climbing game, Grow Home. BUD, the red, stumbling robot from the first game reprises his starring role, and
Right on: Cuphead’s 1930s-style animation will exist beyond boss fights

Right on: Cuphead’s 1930s-style animation will exist beyond boss fights

2 min read News
The fine folks behind Cuphead have their own E3 announcement and it’s a doozy—their 1930s-animation-inspired game will have platforming elements. That may not seem like a lot, but before now, Cuphead had been touted exclusively as a boss-rush game. One-on-one battles against large enemies that didn’
Bound brings a much-needed dose of ballet to the videogame lineup

Bound brings a much-needed dose of ballet to the videogame lineup

1 min read News
Alongside the newest edition of God of War and a horror VR title, Sony Santa Monica talked about a smaller, quieter game at their E3 Conference. Bound is a 3D narrative platformer set to release August 16th. Bound doesn’t look like any other game currently out, both in terms of its unique take on lo
Don’t Kill Her turns murder mystery into a hand-drawn delight

Don’t Kill Her turns murder mystery into a hand-drawn delight

3 min read News
Call him Wuthrer, call him Wuthrer Cuany—call him any name you like. Just don’t call him conventional or compromising. The Swiss artist’s latest project, Don’t Kill Her, is an ostensibly two-dimensional adventure game drawn entirely in pencil. The title is up for vote on Steam Greenlight and is curr
In Defense of the 3D Platformer

In Defense of the 3D Platformer

10 min read feature
Let me say it up front: the new Ratchet and Clank remake is magnificent. It also feels extremely strange, as though it hails from a parallel universe that isn’t quite our own. In this universe, the 3D platformer is ascendant. Good games are defined by everything it has in abundance: by the quality o
Upcoming game uses MS Paint-style art to evoke peacefulness

Upcoming game uses MS Paint-style art to evoke peacefulness

2 min read News
Gebub’s Adventure forces players to look past the origins of the creature they have been given control of, instead looking forward at the game’s world and secrets. Created by John Wallie, Gebub’s Adventure is a “peaceful adventure game” that will send the titular Gebub on an exploratory journey thro
Mario & Luigi Paper Jam Bros. folds in on itself

Mario & Luigi Paper Jam Bros. folds in on itself

5 min read Review
There’s something strange—maybe even broken—about fetishizing materiality in a digital world the way Mario & Luigi Paper Jam Bros does, though it’s not the first game to do this. I first noticed this in another Nintendo game from last year, Yoshi’s Wooly World, which trades on a contradiction. It’s
Unravel wants to help us mourn, but doesn’t know how

Unravel wants to help us mourn, but doesn’t know how

4 min read Review
Unravel begins with a letter from its creators that thanks you for purchasing the game. It explains to you the power of the medium, the senses of love and loneliness about to be explored, and how long they as a team have been pouring their hearts into it. The font and spacing makes it resemble the p
Burn in hell, Yarny

Burn in hell, Yarny

2 min read News
A videogame called Unravel will be released tomorrow. It may be a good game, and it is certainly a good-looking one, with a soft focus and hazy depth of field; tree leaves rustle convincingly and thick snowflakes pile up as the camera pans ever right-ward. It appears to make use of this tactile worl
The aliens in Somerville definitely don’t come in peace

The aliens in Somerville definitely don’t come in peace

2 min read News
“If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the American Indians.” That quote belongs, unfortunately, to one of the greatest minds of our age, Stephen Hawking. It’s not an uncommon sentiment, of
Celebrate Swiss architect Le Corbusier by defacing one of his masterpieces

Celebrate Swiss architect Le Corbusier by defacing one of his masterpieces

2 min read News
What better way to celebrate it being 50 years since influential Swiss architect Le Corbusier’s death than redesigning his famous Villa Savoye? Oh, not actually, of course. We couldn’t possibly bear to spoil what is considered by many to be one of the keystones of modern architecture (and also an of
A beautiful 3D platformer to celebrate our worship of coffee

A beautiful 3D platformer to celebrate our worship of coffee

2 min read News
It’s almost surprising that there isn’t a giant Starbucks logo to be found among the pastel-colored environments of Caffeine shown in its first trailer. If it were made back in the ’90s, during the height of the genre it belongs to—the 3D platformer collect-a-thon—it would likely have some form of c
Go back in time to save time in the adorable Tick Tock Isle

Go back in time to save time in the adorable Tick Tock Isle

2 min read News
Described as a spiritual successor to the delightful Cat Poke, Tick Tock Isle is a point and click adventure game that doesn’t want to reinvent the wheel—and it’ll charm the pants out of anyone who thinks that wheel is outdated or boring. The demo was originally released four years ago by the duo of
Play the platformer hidden behind your desktop

Play the platformer hidden behind your desktop

2 min read News
Did you know that there’s an entire platformer hidden beneath your desktop? Alright, it isn’t there right now. But if you go ahead and download Simon Milfred’s game Omni there will be. It brings a delightful twist to the windows that we use to peer into software and the internet on our PCs. The idea
Mushroom 11’s new trailer demonstrates growth through destruction

Mushroom 11’s new trailer demonstrates growth through destruction

1 min read News
It’s amazing how far Mushroom 11 has come from its original 2012 prototype. The theme of that year’s Global Game Jam was an image of the Ouroboros, a serpent eating its own tail. Creators Itay Keren and Julia Keren-Detar took this concept of cyclicality and gave it new life in Mushroom 11, which put
The King’s Bird looks like one of the most graceful platformers yet

The King’s Bird looks like one of the most graceful platformers yet

1 min read News
The feeling of movement is arguably the most important thing in a platformer. Super Meat Boy’s outrageous complexity might not be as engaging if its hero weren’t so smoothly controlled, and Thomas Was Alone was granted mounds more character by the sheer perfection of its jump button alone. “a strong
MANOS: The Hands of Fate-The movie-based game we never knew we needed

MANOS: The Hands of Fate-The movie-based game we never knew we needed

2 min read News
Generally speaking, videogame adaptations of movies have got to be the lowest tier in the hierarchy of bad videogames. Whether we’re talking about Austin Powers Pinball, the infamous E.T. the Extraterrestrial on Atari or 2011’s Smurf Dance Party (which featured such musical gems as “Who Let the Smur