I was certain I’d never have any time for roguelites. To clear up confusion about this most ambiguous of genres, by this I mean games that have permanent or mostly permanent death states, where losing means starting again from the beginning, with finite resources, and not necessarily any end goal. In fact, if you’d asked me a few years back, I’d have said this was the antithesis of why I play games.

… [visit site to read more]

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>

We had no idea what a roguelike resurgence there was going to be back when brutal yet light-hearted dungeon-running RPG Dredmor was released in 2011. Sure, a few were doing the rounds, but they were rare enough that this tongue-in-cheek take on perma-death adventuring seemed ever so special. It still is, even if what it’s doing seems rather more commonplace today. It’s got wit and strangeness as well as a mean streak a mile wide. … [visit site to read more]

We’re seven years old! (Actually, we were seven years old last month, but we’ve never been much for punctuality.) And so by way of celebration we’ve curated the latest weekly Humble Bundle, and that means we’ve chosen some of our most beloved indie games from the past seven years for the Pay What You Want sale. An esoteric bunch, but so very beautiful, all. If only there were room for all the delights of those many wonderful years. As ever, some of the money goes to charity, too: we chose EFF and Medecins Sans Frontieres. Find out more, below, or simply click over the the bundle itself.

… [visit site to read more]

Clockwork Empires is a citybuilding/Lovecraftian survival sim from Gaslamp Games, they of the splendid Dungeons of Dredmor, in which you manage and protect Imperial colonists attempting to build a life on a new frontier. A new frontier which just so happens to contain Other Creatures. While it might be a dramatic departure from the successful roguelike that went before it, it does retain the horror-comedy tone. It arrives on Steam Early Access tomorrow, but I’ve been playing it for the last few days.> … [visit site to read more]

Do you long to schmooze with the stars at video game launch parties? Oh, if only you knew Johnny Activision or Ian Ubisoft! Or had the dubious privilege of being ‘games press.’ You’d be a knockout in a fancy gown, I just know it. Alternatively, a little more down to earth and plaid shirt-y, a plucky young group of indie developers in London are starting collective launch parties for loads of their games at once, and you–yes you!–are invited.

The first is on Monday, July 14, in this here London and it’s free. You could meet an actual real indie developer, play some actual real indie games in an actual real indie workspace/basement/pub, and wake up in a Dalston gutter with an actual real tattoo of the Steam logo across your neck.

… [visit site to read more]

Imagine if so much of the bullshit Peter Molyneux has talked over the years was actually in a game. A simulation game where each tiny human lived their own lives, had their own thoughts and feelings and memories, and behaved accordingly. It’s a claim we’ve heard so often that it’s hard not to dismiss it out of hand. So much so that when Dungeons Of Dredmor developers Gaslamp Games were claiming it, I demanded they stop and prove it to me… They did. Clockwork Empires, a colonial village building sim (of sorts) pulls you in with the cult monster worship, but you stay for the extraordinary AI.>

… [visit site to read more]

While the main Humble Bundle is diverting itself from gaming with a really quite splendid collection of audiobooks, it seems to have snuck out one of the best collections of games so far in its Weekly Bundle. Rather than showcasing games from one studio, this week it’s a collection of Roguelikes. (Everyone who wants to have a fight about the terminology, please do so here.) That’s Paranautical Activity, Dungeons Of Dredmor Complete, Hack Slash Loot, The Binding Of Isaac + DLC, Teleglitch Die More Edition, and Sword Of The Stars: The Pit Gold. Cor.

(more…)

If you place some kind of weird one-trailer-per-day restriction on yourself and are currently fretting about finding Mr or Ms Right: The Extremely Brief Videogame Preview, then look no further. Clockwork Empires, the latest ball of bits and bytes from Dungeons of Dredmor developer Gaslamp Games, just got its first trailer, and it’s sending RPS’ hyper-sensitive Delight-O-Meter into a tizzy. The game is a 19th century steampunk colony builder, but the trailer reveals that it’s so very much more than the staid stew of trite aesthetic cliches that description seems to imply. Somehow, it manages to prompt tearfloods of both uproarious laughter and bitter sadness within the span of, like, a minute. Also, there are giant squid monsters. Enough of my blathering. Watch.

(more…)

We’re a couple of days late with this, but I felt it really deserves a mention. Spiderweb Software, the studio that creates classic isometric RPGs, has just celebrated its 20th birthday. There aren’t many studios that can claim that, especially with the original team still working there. Of course, it helps that the original team is Jeff Vogel.

(more…)

Aw, the game name doesn’t have any dots! I’ll just sadly power down my Acronyminator and pack it away. Sorry, chap. I know. I was excited, too. Even so, I’ll forgive the Q.U.B.E. developers Toxic Games for naming their first set of Q.U.B.E. levels Against The Qlock. I am not above torturing language until it screams uncle, and I also appreciate a good rub of the nethers as much as the… Wait, Qlock means clock, doesn’t it? Not… [blushes]. Excuse me, I have to heavily rewrite my fanfiction. (more…)