Monster Couch developed the digital adaptation of Wingspan, a game that I’ve spent more than 1000 hours playing at this point. So I was naturally interested in seeing what the team could do with Flamecraft, another digital board game adaptation and remarkably similar to Wingspan in that it’s a relatively light and breezy game, designed to be as open and…
You know how the saying goes: When it rains, it pours. Somehow, after decades of Culdcept barely being acknowledged outside of Japan, we’ve now had two releases in as many months. Culdcept Begins has become an instant favourite among my online board game group, displacing even the mighty Wingspan some…
Was Defender of the Crown the first “4X” strategy game to come…
The Touhou Project continues to be one of the most interesting experiments…
TMNT is a seriously well-established brand in 2022. However, if you weren’t there in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it’s easy to underestimate just how ubiquitous the adventures of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael were… if you were a certain age. The Turtles of that era were relentlessly marketed…
Read MoreThere are a couple of different ways that you can approach an apocalypse in art. In most cases, artists depict desperately grim stuff, and that approach makes sense given that in these stories humanity is close to (or experiencing) extinction and mere survival in a harsh, traumatic world is a…
Read MoreMr. Prepper is so disappointing. It could have been something spectacular, given that it weaves a story that is so steadfastly critical of America, but instead it collapses in a whimper that never realises its mechanical ambitions nor delivers on its thematic premise. Combined, those two failings make it frustrating…
Read MoreMario Strikers: Battle League is the perfect example of how a modern arcade sports title should behave. It is fast, furious, and heavily reliant on twitch reflexes and speedy precision. Just like you’d want from an arcade game. It’s also instantly accessible and, at a basic level, a pure joy…
Read MoreThe developers of Pinku Kult Hex Mortis are on to a good thing. The creative vision is exceptionally strong, and the blend of Halloween-aesthetic horror, mystery and RPG is an intriguing one. If only the execution wasn’t so maddingly pedestrian. Pinku Kult is set in a dark and foreboding metropolis…
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The Future You’ve Been Dreaming Of is a voyeurism simulation, and coming from developer qureate, we all knew what that would involve upfront. As the developer has so brazenly shown with Duel Princess and Livestream Escape From Hotel Izanami, qureate’s teams likes the fan service to be heavy and unabashed.…
Read MoreCard Shark is what happens when you take the act of cheating at gambling and make it cultured. Devolver Digital has the most incredible knack for finding games that are just plain good fun to publish, and this is a very good example of that ability. It can be infuriating,…
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Ogre is a classic board game that has been around in some form or another since the ‘70s. It is fondly remembered in the same way that the likes of Hero Quest or earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons are: for older players, these are the kinds of games that…
Read MoreIs there a video game character that has been more exploited than Pac-Man? I’d argue – and I’m right – that Toru Iwatani’s famous pizza slice (or corruption of the Japanese kanji for mouth, depending on which interview he’s giving) – is the video game character that’s been most exploited…
Read MoreTouken Ranbu is a game about pretty boys. Who are swords. And travel around time, Quantum Leap-style. I’ve got to be honest with you, if you had told me that at some point in my life I’d be playing an anime boys game whose closest direct comparison is an ‘80s…
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