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  • Seditionis Tower Defense

    Seditionis: Tower Defense reinvents while making love to the classics Seditionis harkens back to classic tower defense games while adding gripping new features—and we can't stop playing.

    I’ll come right out and say it. Seditionis: Tower Defense is one of the best tower defense games on the market right now, which is a surprising feat considering it’s from a first time indie game developer in the form of one man. Any good tower defense game must be addictive and rewarding and abide by a few core tropes, but Junson Chan’s game rises above its peers by gloriously reinventing everything else. Yet loading up this game will take you back to a nostalgic past where tower defense dominated the internet and made the other genres hide in piss in pants terror. You see, the game builds on those…

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    10 fighting game characters that are definitely furries There are some hardcore furries out there in fighting game rosters, and I've put them on a list.

    September 7, 2018

    Forking hell: a decade of Devolver Digital "There was and is no ‘exit strategy' for us, nor for the vast majority of the developers we work with."

    January 7, 2019

    The video games about nothing Seinfeld is famously a show about nothing, but indie developers continue to find plenty of something to work with.

    November 7, 2018
  • ‘Carrion’ makes you actually feel like a monster Like Alien if you were the Xenomorph.

    There’s something therapeutic about Carrion that belies its B-movie subject matter. Despite your role as horrifying Meat Monster, a mass of teeth and tendrils terrorizing unfortunate researchers, this ‘reverse horror story’ doesn’t just revel in its violence. Sometimes, it lets you drop the schadenfreude for a moment, and find a simple joy in taking ownership of its labyrinthine map. Carrion is not a complicated game. It is a simple if satisfying Metroidvania, its puzzles broken up by brief sections of combat marked out by either gruesome eviscerations or tantalizing opportunities for stealth. The star of its show is the player character, the aforementioned Meat Monster. On the surface a deeply…

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    10 ways to instantly end your streaming career To end—or ignite??—your streaming career, you need to get naked, say naughty words, lie, and cheat.

    November 9, 2019

    Video game romance: a lost cause? You can't force love, especially not when it comes to western games.

    July 27, 2012

    These are the most controversial games of all time, according to science We’re sitting here with a beautiful big dataset from Metacritic. It's time.

    February 7, 2018
  • The ‘PC Engine Mini’ is a schmup fan’s fantasy This slice of gaming history can finally be enjoyed without hitting eBay and selling a kidney.

    There’s something funny about how the modern trend of re-releasing old consoles can reflect something of what those machines were. The NES and SNES Classic were slick, packed full of great games, and flew off the shelves. My favourite thing about the Mega Drive mini, on the other hand, was getting hold of a set of non-functioning accessories to clip onto it: a 32X, a Mega-CD, and a Sonic & Knuckles cart. The Neo Geo Mini? Expensive, desirable, filled with brilliant games I’d never heard of. The Capcom Home Arcade takes the form of the Capcom logo, an aesthetic decision I found bizarre until realising it echoed seeing those same six letters on…

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    The worst (best) ads in early video game history We remember some horrific advertising campaigns in gaming.

    May 16, 2014

    A history of griefing: gamers who ruin your day for kicks Sometimes it’s purely for fun, sometimes it’s to make a point, and sometimes it’s even to make a profit.

    December 20, 2020

    “You are not a real gamer” The phrase has become a joke and a cliche - but when someone says "you're not a real gamer," what is it they're really saying?

    September 22, 2017
  • mafia-iii-klansmen

    ‘Mafia III’ is a great racism simulator but a crappy game The n-word was rattled off at the frequency of a Tarantino film.

    If you are willing to look past poor mechanics and lazy mission design, the premise of this game is definitely worth checking out. But overall, the game just isn’t that great. It follows protagonist Lincoln Clay, a biracial African-American, as he returns from Vietnam to the city of New Bordeaux (based on the real-world New Orleans) and resumes working for the black mob. The story operates as a classic revenge tale after Clay is double-crossed in the introductory mission and his friend is murdered. The story begins in such a captivating way but starts to get bogged down by repetitive gameplay. Mafia tells the story as a documentary, showing clips of characters talking in…

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    The Destiny clan that saved a family Think of the average bunch of guys in an online clan and the word 'heart-warming' doesn't usually spring to mind. But then most clans aren't the Dads Of Destiny, a 30,000 strong group bound by two common themes: parenthood, and not being a dick.

    March 26, 2015

    The untold story of PlayStation Home, Sony’s most successful disaster Plagued by problems from the start, PlayStation Home never officially made it out of beta before it was shut down. But it was also very profitable. This is its story.

    July 29, 2015

    The final days of Grainger Games—as told by those who worked there The closure of Grainger Games was a shock for customers — but absolutely devastating for employees.

    April 4, 2018
  • Jim Sterling: seeking refunds for pile of garbage game is racism Less than a “walking simulator,” Virginia is a “watching simulator.”

    To most people, a story-driven video game without any dialogue would be considered limiting. It would be even worse if said game had low-quality graphics, minimal gameplay, and replayability. To journalists who have sipped a few too many times from social justice’s chalice, however, such a game would be considered progressive and game-of-the-year material. Especially if the game’s narrative—what little of it there might be—revolves around social justice. Since gamers are the majority, it’s no surprise that the public feedback to the latest indie darling, Virginia, has been fairly negative. Most feel that the game held the promise of being a lot better than it actually was, but that the completely…

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    The making of Grand Theft Auto 1-3’s music An interview with Colin Anderson, Grant Middleton, Stuart Ross, Raymond Usher, and Pal Mackie—the original composers of GTA 1-3.

    February 10, 2013

    Top 10 licensed songs in gaming There are times when the use of a licensed piece of music is so perfect that it elevates the gaming experience to a new level.

    November 20, 2011

    Before Old Kratos, there was PSP Kratos How Ready at Dawn humanized Kratos a decade before the recent God of War did.

    July 17, 2018
  • No Man’s Sky is unbearably boring 18 quintillion planets and not a whole lot to do.

    I really wanted to love No Man’s Sky. I was among those who hype overloaded at the 2014 E3 trailer, vowing to get a PS4 for the privilege of exploring a vast, fertile, and strange universe. Living out some kind Captain Kirk aspirational fantasy, with hints of Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto. But now I’m bored. I’ve been playing since Tuesday and it’s been a total chore. I feel my hand autonomously pawing at the eject button, fumbling for the Overwatch disc. But I soldier on. Despite No Man’s Sky boasting over 18 quintillion planets, there’s basically only five repetitive things to do on each one. You scan plants and lifeforms to add to a database, find monoliths to…

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    The making of Grand Theft Auto 1-3’s music An interview with Colin Anderson, Grant Middleton, Stuart Ross, Raymond Usher, and Pal Mackie—the original composers of GTA 1-3.

    February 10, 2013

    Mint condition Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridge breaks all records—sells for $156k Super Mario Bros is once again the most expensive video game ever sold. It's-a more money than sense!

    November 23, 2020

    Making a living in Minecraft We speak to James Delaney, who's trying to turn Blockworks' work into a sustainable business.

    April 19, 2017
  • The No Man’s Sky leak is a darkly amusing outragefest A leaker’s early review dashed hopes for those who expected No Man’s Sky to be the gaming messiah.

    No Man’s Sky fans, to put it lightly, have been quite spirited surrounding the release of the innovative space explorer. When the game’s creator, Sean Murray, previously announced delays, he was bombarded with death threats along with a Kotaku reporter who wrote about it. No Man’s Sky fans have projected ungodly levels of hype onto a game they knew little about, as the game appears to offer a completely unique procedurally generated gameplay experience, something extremely rare for major releases. And now with a little over a week before the game will finally be available to the hordes of rabid fans, leaked copies are creating all sorts of drama. More death threats, denial, a whole…

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    You’ll never be able to afford these top gaming battlestations MOM! BATHROOM!

    May 5, 2020

    The 30 moments that defined the video game industry From consoles to genres, from lawsuits to graphics, these are the 30 big moments that define the video game industry—from 1977 to the early 00s.

    August 14, 2007

    The Destiny clan that saved a family Think of the average bunch of guys in an online clan and the word 'heart-warming' doesn't usually spring to mind. But then most clans aren't the Dads Of Destiny, a 30,000 strong group bound by two common themes: parenthood, and not being a dick.

    March 26, 2015
  • ‘Cobra Club’: an amazingly weird celebration of dick pics (NSFW) In Cobra Club you play a man stood in his bathroom taking pictures of his penis. It's deeper than you think.

    In Cobra Club you play a man stood in his bathroom taking pictures of his penis. Mechanically, there’s not much more to it than that. You can apply different filters to your photos, zoom in, change your character’s skin color, and (in what is potentially the best slider ever featured in a game) adjust your character’s erection. However, as you take photos of yourself, chat windows start to appear. Other users of Cobra Club start conversations with you, asking whether you want to see their unbound trouser snake. They’ll send you pictures, you can comment on them, and send back some of your own. The game is all about questions…

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    The making of Firewatch The story behind one of 2016's most unusual, human and thought-provoking games.

    August 12, 2016

    How Fable Legends took down Lionhead An in-depth look at the development of a legendary British studio's final, unreleased game.

    June 9, 2016

    Returning to Runescape, over one decade on We’re going back... back to the browser!

    March 1, 2018
  • 10 reasons Alien: Isolation is the greatest survival horror game ever made I really loved about this game. But I’m writing this with all the lights in my house on.

    You might be wondering why I’m writing this with all the lights in my house on. Or why I take a break from writing after every few sentences to check that there’s nothing under my bed or in my wardrobe. Firstly, how can you see me? Secondly, I’m doing this because I just recently finished The Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation and am now afraid of the dark again. Having been severely burned by last years Aliens: Colonial Waste of Time, I was slightly nervous about this game. However, as it seemed to be going for a more Outlast/Amnesia approach to Survival Horror over the gung ho-ness that has become a…

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    What Frostpunk could learn from real-life survival stories If you’ve idly wondered about the everyday lives of your little survivors, Ernest Shackleton’s failed Trans-Antarctic Expedition may prove a treasure chest of enrichment.

    May 18, 2018

    How Fable Legends took down Lionhead An in-depth look at the development of a legendary British studio's final, unreleased game.

    June 9, 2016

    How Breath of the Wild plays with our nostalgia Nintendo's masterpiece re-invents the Zelda series, and part of that is growing up alongside its players.

    April 13, 2017
  • Hyrule Warriors is junk food gaming at its absolute finest Sometimes the very best kind of game is the one that doesn’t challenge you at all.

    While all games exist for you to have fun, there’s often a whole lot more to it than that. Some games provide a mental challenge, some serve as a simulation of an activity you are otherwise unable to do, and recently many others strive to position you in an adrenaline loop that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Sometimes though, the very best kind of game is the one that doesn’t challenge you at all. These games exist purely to entertain, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Hyrule Warriors is a massive deviation from what you think when someone tells you they are playing a Zelda game, but…

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    17 years ago today, a wild Pikachu virus appeared! W32.Pokey.Worm was not very effective...

    June 29, 2017

    The game dev who cried wolf Indie developers feel it’s hard to get noticed, but trying to stir up fake scandal sets a terrible precedent.

    August 15, 2017

    How No Man’s Sky generates life The game generates its universe and the many possibilities therein from a relatively small set of assets.

    October 18, 2016

Recent features

  • Why Final Fantasy 7 is (still) unstoppable
  • A history of griefing: gamers who ruin your day for kicks
  • Seditionis Tower DefenseSeditionis: Tower Defense reinvents while making love to the classics
  • The ultimate history of fighting games
  • The weirdest fighting games of all time
  • The 11 craziest video game feats ever captured on video

From the archive

  • The magic of video game cartography
  • “You are not a real gamer”
  • Catacombs: the inside story of Square Enix’ canceled shooter
  • How Breath of the Wild plays with our nostalgia
  • The 11 hardest survival simulators

Recent Forum Threads

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  • Post signs of a shitty game.
  • Thoughts on Fallout: Van Buren? Would it have been a good game?
  • What are some other games like Kenshi?
  • Isn’t Elite Dangerous just Star Citizen, but more optimized and polished?
  • What’s the correct way to play retro games?
  • Which MMORPG has the best dungeons?
  • Playing games on arcade cabinets
  • >game has dogs >you can’t pet them

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