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Transistor
There are many things that I wish to say about Transistor, but the story-related ones will have to wait for after the break. I don’t want to spoil anything for you. To start with, this is one of the...
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Finance, Ponzi Schemes, and Cards: Liar’s Poker
Lying to your friends can be exceedingly fun. Unfortunately, other people are often angry when you mislead them in everyday interactions. This is where Liar’s Poker comes in handy; it gives you all...
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New D&D Sneakily Poaches Inclusivity, Narrative
I grew up playing AD&D, as my brothers introduced me to RPGs before I was 7. I’ve since moved away from the various D&D systems, flirting with them occasionally in passing while I instead...
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Buzz Lightyear Simulator: Volo Airsport
That’s definitely falling with style. We can probably all agree that wingsuit flying looks both insane and intriguing. It’s not something that I think I’d be comfortable with doing, but I’m happy to...
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Rimworld: The Magic Continues
Correction: with Alpha 7‘s release, the space magic continues. Or, uh, the starving frontier space magic, beset by violent thugs and now diseases. But let’s look on the bright side of things: even...
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Cooperative Fireworks Puzzles: Hanabi
Try this: set off a totally awesome fireworks show without every being able to look at your own hands, relying instead on what your friends tell you about what your hands are doing.. I can’t say that...
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Pairs
There’s something brilliantly simple about Pairs. This is probably because it’s a very well designed pub game, from the experienced designers at Cheapass Games. Pairs is in some ways a departure...
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Tombs=Raided, Hearts=Won; Tomb Raider Rocks
I don’t usually wish that I paid more for a game. But I liked Tomb Raider so much that I almost wish I hadn’t bought it on sale. I want the people who made it to know how much I liked it, and I want...
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A Red and Pleasant Land: Old School RPGs through a Looking Glass
My itinerant laser-show friend arrived unexpectedly this week, and as such it was immediately time to play RPGs. He brought a copy of A Red and Pleasant Land, a Lewis Carroll inspired setting and...
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Tidbits to tide you over
Hello everyone! This week I’ve set aside time to spend with my brothers, which means lots of role playing games and storytelling and laughter and yelling (also probably more food and booze than...
View ArticleDIE, and other RPG development
I’ve been lucky to be part of several different people’s thoughts about RPGs in the past month. At the beginning of April I was fortunate enough to playtest Kieron Gillen’s DIE RPG, which was quite...
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Receiver 2: stay safe
Hunted by kill drones, you’ll sneak through unnervingly empty buildings, scour for messages left by others like you, and hunt down tapes that teach you about the Threat and what you must do to defeat...
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Hero’s Hour (pre-release version 1.8.2)
Hero’s Hour is so clearly an homage to Heroes of Might and Magic (HoMM), especially HoMM3, that it’s impossible for me to play it without comparing the two. That’s both a strength and a weakness. I...
View ArticleUpdate, 2/10/22
No review for the moment, just an update. I’ve got Sal & Gabi Break the Universe right now, and am looking forward to getting my hands on In The Red soon (which for some reason wasn’t available as...
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Hero’s Hour revisited
It’s grown on me. Hero’s Hour, which I wrote about before, is out now in a full release. The game still feels like the same casual-ish Heroes-lite offering I mentioned before. But with its stability...
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TUNIC
TUNIC is good. It’s great. It has a goofy, simple name that has encouraged Google to serve me both articles about the game and articles of women’s clothing, and it’s drawn me in magnetically over the...
View ArticleChasing realism is a trap
Chasing realism is a trap. This might be true of art in general, but it’s video game graphics that keep reminding me of it. Chasing realism is an expensive luxury. Unless realism is a core part of...
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Hobgoblin (from Mike Hutchinson)
Yesterday I played my first match of Hobgoblin. It was a delight, and an epiphany. I’ve wanted something like this for years. I was in middle school when I got a copy of the core rulebook for...
View ArticleSuffering, Acceptance, & Play
What the hell is going on when playing feels like suffering? Being bad at a game often feels bad to me. That’s most true when I think I *should* be competent, or when I’m playing with my close peers,...
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Why play Diablo when you could play the Hammerwatch 2 demo?
I’m shocked I haven’t raved about Heroes of Hammerwatch (HoH) on this blog before now. I thought I had. Sorry CrackShell, you deserved enthusiastic praise for your previous work. Apparently I only...
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