Maybe it’s just a symptom of getting old, but increasingly I want to revisit games I feel I could yet get more out of far more than I want to play something new. I’ve got these two awful tendencies: one is to run away from something if it’s too demanding, and another is to be so preoccupied with collecting or unlocking everything that I don’t stop and smell the flowers. I deny myself appreciation for and insight about some games because I’m too worried that I’m missing out on some infinitely more ephemeral aspect of them, like whatever’s behind that door or what that high-level spell does. So these are just a few of the games I want to play again, in an impossible world where I had the time to. … [visit site to read more]

An entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made. From intricate wargames to soothing peacegames, the broad expanse of the genre contains something for everyone, and we’ve gathered the best of the best. The vast majority are available to buy digitally, a few are free to download and play forever. They’re all brilliant.

… [visit site to read more]

My word, check you> out, Chaos Reborn [official site]. Don’t you get bigger and prettier every time I take a look at you? I quite like the stark, neon outlines it used to depict its assorted bestiary back in the old prototype, then I liked the later move to Fantasy-Tron-With-Figurines, and now I like the ornate, characterful land its latest Early Access update presents even more. X-COM co-creator Julian Gollop’s Chaos Reborn always felt like a boardgame in videogame’s clothing, but its tailor has done so fine a job this time that it’s increasingly hard to see the boardgame beneath it all. Also new as of this update is a whole lot more equipment stuff, so you can unlock customise your wizard as you play. In other words, the metagame has begun. … [visit site to read more]

Who’d win in a war: Pagan Min out Far Cry 4 or Gandhi? Sure, Min’s great at murder and oppression and has a crack army and all that, but push Gandhi too far and nukes will fly. In Civilization V [official site], anyway.

Custom civilisations are one of the more common Civ mod types, but I do like the look of a new mod adding Pagan Min and the nation of Kyrat. They’re mostly focused archeology and exploration, see, though can always deploy those horrible sneaky Hunter soldiers, the gits in the hoods who pelt you with arrows then vanish. Yeah, you can have them.

… [visit site to read more]

Toward the end of February, Richard Moss documented the great AI wars that were sweeping through the Civ V [official site] community. If you haven’t read that feature, you should do so immediately. I’d intended to follow the 42-player AI-only game as updates arrived but when I checked in yesterday, it was my first visit in a good while. And, to my horror, I found that the game had stalled. Something was rotten in the code of Japan and the save file crashed when processing the nation’s 239th turn.

The save file ended up in the hands of Firaxis but Battle Royale organiser TPangolin managed to find a solution before hearing back from the devs. A few hours after I checked in, the problem had been fixed. The AI wars continue and, by thunder, they make for good reading.

… [visit site to read more]

A strange thing happened in the Civilization community r/civ on January 10, 2015. Inspired by similar, smaller-scale offerings by a Twitch.tv livestream and fellow redditor DarkLava (from whom he explicitly sought permission), user Jasper K., aka thenyanmaster, shared the first part of an experiment he was conducting wherein he put 42 computer-controlled civilisations in their real-life locations on a giant model of the Earth and left them to duke it out in a battle to the death, Highlander style (except instead of heads they need capital cities).

Since then, the practice has exploded in popularity. Reddit’s Civilization community has AI-only fever, but what exactly is so compelling about watching the computer play a very slow-paced turn-based strategy game with itself?

… [visit site to read more]

I think this was the game Jim suggested I try out a while back, given it’s an XCOM-like with steam-powered magical robots. I like XCOM. I like robots. Steam’s okay, I guess. Sadly, a few hundred nights of being repeatedly screamed awake had destroyed my ability to remember anything at that point, particularly when it came to the exact name of a game with ‘war’ in the title. Fortunately, today brought news that there’s a free demo of WARMACHINE: Tactics, prompting my bruised brain to offer a sleepy “hey, yeah, man, that might be it, y’know?” … [visit site to read more]

Offworld Trading Company is a combat-free, sci-fi real-time strategy game from the lead designer of the sumptuous Civilization IV.

A great concept with a great pedigree can it possibly be as good as it sounds? But enough about Snickers More Nuts, let s talk about Soren Johnson s new game, an Early Access version of which was released this week.> … [visit site to read more]

PAGE ONE, PANEL ONE

Graham lies in a crumpled heap beneath the looming figure of DOCTOR NO IDEAS.

CAPTION: This looks like a job for

PAGE ONE, PANEL TWO

Pip, dressed in a (heroic) frog costume, sits typing at a computer.

PAGE TWO, PANEL ONE

A closeup of a Gchat window with the text “G, are there any games which do violence as well as comics?”

… [visit site to read more]

Hello youse. With XCOM being a game that is significant in the history of PC gaming, I thought I would do something a bit different with my coverage of XCOM: The Board Game on Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Often, when a board game supports solitaire play, I’m asked how well the single-player aspect works. And I’m often unable to answer, because I rarely play board games alone. But with XCOM, I thought I would make an effort. The PC game series is a real single-player, one-mind-against-the-machine experience. How does the board game stack up?

… [visit site to read more]