The key to a good local multiplayer game is simplicity. The easier it is to pick up and play, the better. Almost all local multiplayer games understand this, but some embody that quality better than others. Cosmic Kites from Fishmoose Interactive understands it well. A multiplayer take on Snake, Cosmic Kites takes a simple concept…
The path for humanity into the future is looking increasingly uncertain in 2017. Numerous events, from the financial crisis, the rise of automation, global warming to the election of a certain so-called President, brought about a strong sense that the world is not heading in a great direction. Neofeud takes this bad path to one…
Out of the host of games that I got to check out during BIG Festival in July, Death Squared was easily the one that caused the strongest emotional response. That emotion was bewilderment, with a pinch of rage. It’s a really clever puzzle game that makes fantastic use of dual analog controls as you keep…
Anytime a game comes along that purports to take an otherwise complex and inaccessible genre and make it more welcoming toward newcomers, I’m usually at least somewhat interested. Anything that can make games more widely accessible is always a good thing, especially when it applies to genres that traditional have a high barrier to entry….
Calling Absolver a martial arts Dark Souls would be to do a huge disservice to the incredibly unique experience that French studio Sloclap has crafted. Absolver’s deep combat system is only one of the many elements that make it one of the most fascinating games I’ve played in a long time. Structure-wise, anyone who’s had…
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is an excellent game that against all odds manages to be something more than a mere cheap knockoff under the guise of a franchise crossover. Try as the haters think they might, Ubisoft’s infamous Rabbids don’t ruin the overall experience, and regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of…
I’ve always had a secret love of the London Underground. True, the Tube can be ridiculously overcrowded, confusingly laid out and a nightmare for tourists to navigate, but for the canny commuter or regular visitor, the Underground can feel like an old, reassuring friend. The usual familiarity of the stations with their varied designs; the…
Nidhogg was a perfect distillation of local competitive multiplayer games at their best. Where most of its peers focus on four-player mayhem, Nidhogg was more interested in tense one-on-one duels. But even with the lower player count, it was just as tense and thrilling — both to play and to watch — its game of…
For as popular as side-scrolling shooters are, it’s tough to pull them off well. Not so much the basics, but the finer points — the feel, the difficulty curve, the action itself. It’s easy to make one that has strong fundamentals, but doesn’t quite nail the fine tuning. Graceful Explosion Machine, from developer Vertex Pop,…
Chess is a rather unique sub genre of gaming, especially in the console gaming sphere. When we think about playing chess against an A.I. opponent, we naturally think about playing chess on a personal computer of some kind. Historically, chess has been a staple of personal computers, almost to its earliest days. Chess on consoles,…
