I absolutely love that the PlayStation 4 is developing a stable of simulation and serious strategy games, and already, just a couple of years into its life, it is doing better with these genres than almost any console that has come before it. Nobunaga’s Ambition and Tropico 5 are both…
Read More“If you’re reading this, I’m already dead.” What a great start to any game, but how unexpected it was to see at the beginning of a game about hacking. I couldn’t code my way out of a paper bag, how could I code my way out of this? I immediately…
Read MoreI may be a product of the Ontario (Canada) school system but even I have heard the (American) slogan “No child left behind.” So when a game came up with the title of No Pineapple Left Behind, I was intrigued. I may also really like pineapple, but I promise that…
Read MoreIt really does my heart glad when I see game developers take a more mature look at the impact that war has on people. I enjoy the odd shooter and I love strategy games, but, of course, real war isn’t heroic, and even when it’s righteous and soldiers are fighting…
Read MoreI love games that use satire to make some social commentary. No Pineapple Left Behind is certainly shaping up to be one of those games. It has been developed by Seth Alter, a former educator turned developer, and while the game is nominally a simulation/ strategy game in which you…
Read MoreVault 333. Halfway between Earth’s surface and the deepest corners of Hell. When prospective dwellers arrive seeking shelter from the Wasteland with nothing but the clothes on their backs, Vault 333’s Overseer accepts them with open arms. The Overseer clothes them, arms them, gives them food and water in return…
Read MoreIt’ll take you a full weekend to play through the three tutorials in A-Train 3D. In that time you’ll be bombarded with text as the game slowly – but comprehensively – walks you through its myriad of systems. You’ll generally quite overwhelmed with its complexity. But by the end of…
Read More“Who would ever want to play a modern city builder on a console?” is a comment I have heard people ask when they heard the news that Tropico 5 would be headed to consoles. “These games need mice and keyboards and stuff!” Except they don’t. Provided a developer gets the…
Read MorePeople often criticise the annual updates for sports franchises. “Why buy FIFA each year?!?” they proclaim with the righteousness that so characterises ‘gamer’ community, suggesting that their taste in games makes it apparently impossible to comprehend that other people might in fact have their own reasons to enjoying – and…
Read MoreAs I booted up Story of Seasons for the first time, I was greeted with a couple sentences that outlined the developers’ desire for players to appreciate farm life and respect nature as a whole. A message that succinct couldn’t reasonably articulate an impactful environmental message, regrettably, but perhaps that…
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