One of PC gaming's finest co-op experiences is coming to a rectangular productivity-enhancing device near you. How many times will you "accidentally" kill your friends in Magicka: Wizards of the Square Tablet?

Developed by Ludosity, the folks behind the lovely Bob Came in Pieces, Wizards of the Square Tablet is a whole new adventure in the Magicka universe, capturing all the hallmark features of the series and trapping them in a flat rectangle of power. It's got four-player online co-op. It's got the elemental-combination spell system. It's got plenty of accidental murder. Throw in exclusive items for the iPad and Android versions, cross-platform play and the ability to touch yourself for hours (well, a digital representation of yourself... or whatever, just don't tell me), and you've got a game that most certainly is this one.

I mean, I can't say it'll be amazing, I've not played it yet. I can be excited though, so imagine meet hooting and hopping in my chair.

Magicka: Wizards of the Square Tablet is coming. They didn't specify, so I can't say soon. Before you die, surely. Hopefully.

Hyper-complex medieval strategy game and one of our 2012 GOTY nominees Crusader Kings II has a new expansion on the way, and the announcement trailer just hit the web. Old Gods will place you back in good ol' 867 AD, when Vikings ruled the land and seas. This pagan-themed jaunt will offer "hundreds of new events," and more of the dense, challenging gameplay the series is known for.

With new armies and empires to control, and hundreds of new years to do it in, Old Gods will presumably steal more hours of your life than ever before. For those of you who've been waiting for some Viking drama of sex, politics, bloodshed and sweet helmets, look out for Old Gods on your PC later this year.

Niche PC publishers Paradox held a big event earlier today, unveiling a range of new titles and DLC for existing ones. The one I'm most excited for is The Old Gods, a Viking expansion for my 2012 GOTY nominee Crusader Kings II.

In the game, until now, the Pagan and Zoroastrianism religions had been denied to player characters; they're now on the table, with particular attention given to the Vikings, who now get all kinds of fancy features like looting, pillaging and sacrifices, along with a new earlier 9th-century start date for the game (it previously began in 1066).

Due out in Q2, it'll cost $15.

Other things announced at the event include some new DLC for medieval combat game War of the Roses (starring Brian Blessed!), an expansion for Victoria (involving the race for African possessions in the 19th century), a tablet version of Magicka and a new game, top-down strategy title Leviathan Warships.

You may have noticed. I like Crusader Kings II. I like it a lot. But I like it for all kinds of reasons, many of which I didn't get space, or time, to dwell on last year.

Like the way that, very quietly, the game has been continually and fundamentally updated by the development team since its release almost a year ago. Sure, there's been paid DLC expansion packs, but even for the regular user who just bought the game and nothing else, there have been so many tweaks, changes and additions to the core experience that update notes, traditionally something to worry about with PC games, are with Crusader Kings II something to look forward to.

Take, for example, the latest notes, updating the game to v1.09 (in preparation for a new paid DLC pack). Yes, there are bug fixes, but there are also things like this:

If married, women now fool their husbands about the parentage of children born from the bastard birth event

Louis d'Evreux now has the correct mother

Tweaked deathdate of Mubashir, Duke of Mallorca, and made him eunuch

There is now a small chance that the Golden Horde will convert to Nestorianism

Fixed error in polygamy event

So good. So, so good. The best part is that, as hilarious as they are in isolation, in the context of the game they make complete sense.

Crusader Kings II Updates Released [Steam]

No, it was built over a much longer period of time than that. But hopefully Legacy of Rome will be worth the wait—some of the DLC for the excellent strategy game has been disappointing, and some has been quite good. And let's not forget that you can also mod CKII into the best Game of Thrones video game on the market.

The folks at Paradox seem to have cottoned to the similarties between their game and the world of George R.R. Martin, seeing as how they describe the expansion thusly:

The second expansion for the critically praised strategy/RPG Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome will focus on the Byzantine Empire - the Greek continuation of the Roman Empire - as well as on the Orthodox Church. Crusader Kings II explores one of the defining periods in world history in an experience crafted by Paradox Development Studio, the masters of Grand Strategy. Medieval Europe is brought to life in this epic game of knights, schemes, and thrones.

Oh, I see what you did there, Paradox. WELL PLAYED.

Here's what will be added in the expansion, which is slated for a release in "Q4 2012."

• Explore the intricate Faction System: Join a faction to put pressure on your liege, and keep track of factions in your own realm
• Raise standing armies: You will now be able to use retinues to have standing armies in your domain: the size is determined by technology
• Experience Factional Revolts: No more easily defeated rebellions. Disgruntled vassals will now band together in revolt against your rule through their faction
• Appoint Orthodox patriarchs: Orthodox kingdoms and empires can now control their own heads of religion and their powers, instead of being dependent on the patriarch of Constantinople
• Streamlined mobilization: You will always raise a single, larger levy from your direct vassals; no need to worry about the opinions of the lower vassals
• Leader Focus on Combat: Appoint your generals wisely, their traits& skills are now of vital importance on the field of battle. More commander traits are now added to increase the importance of your choice of military leaders
• Explore Byzantine Events &Decisions: Legacy of Rome includes many specific events & decisions to make the Byzantine Empire come alive
• Improve your ruler: You can now actively strive to improve your skills or traits through the new Self Improvement Ambitions

But will there be bathhouses and pornographic graffiti? Time will tell. Here, dig some more images:

It's not like I wasn't in love with Crusader Kings II enough as it was, but ever since the wonderful Game of Thrones mod for the grand strategy title turned up, it's been destroying my social life.

Having been first released in May, a major update has just been made that not only fixes a bunch of bugs and crashes (the mod is still in beta, remember), but also introduces playable Wildlings, and a beefed-up Night's Watch to combat them.

A few less exciting changes were also made, including some improvements to the mod's visuals and the addition of a few new quests.

[RELEASE] A Game of Thrones v0.2 [The Citadel]

Given the fact most big games are made by Westerners for Westerners, we don't often get the chance to assume the role of a serious, proper Islamic (or even Middle Eastern!) character. And no, Ubisoft, a fairy-tale, clichéd ideal of a Persian Prince doesn't count.

So it's awesome seeing Paradox give Crusader Kings II players the chance to do just that with an upcoming expansion for the game called Sword of Islam.

The Islamic factions, once walled off as unplayable in the game (and more often than not the enemy, given the time period involved), are now there to be played, with Paradox going the full authenticity route by changing how the game's titles, marriages and laws work to better accomodate the differences between Christian and Muslim realms.

The map has also been expanded to include more of the Middle East and Eurasia as well.

It's out next month, and will cost $10.

Those who'd prefer Westeros to the Middle East, well, there's something out now for you as well.

Over the weekend, the first playable release of Crusader Kings II: A Game of Thrones was made available for public download. And it is already pretty much the perfect Game of Thrones video game.

I mentioned in my review of Crusader Kings II earlier in the year that the systems put in place by developers Paradox seemed ideally suited to George R R Martin's fantasy universe. While there are larger things going on like Kingdoms falling and wars being fought, CKII places just as much importance on the more personal side of feudal rule: marriage, politics, alliances and back-stabbing. Which just so happens to b the same blending of the big and small picture that that makes GoT that much more appealing to a wider audience than your standard fantasy tale.

It was only last week, then, that in lieu of a decent official Game of Thrones title I was recommending people keep an eye out for a Game of Thrones mod for Crusader Kings II instead. Turns out you didn't have to wait long, because it's not only been suddenly released, but it's already surprisingly playable and, more impressive, comprehensive.

Beginning during Robert's Rebellion against the mad King Aerys, CKII:GoT lets you play as any title-holder in Westeros. And I do mean any. The mod team has certainly done their research, as going beyond the big names like Aerys, Robert and Ned Stark are hundreds of lesser lords and officials, some featuring as characters in the books/TV show, others only mentioned briefly or in passing.

What does this mean? Everything I said about the main game in my review applies here, only everything I loved about CKII is now magnified, because I'm not playing as some random English Duke, I can play as Ned Stark. Walder Frey is there, and he has 100 kids, and they can all be married off to unsuspecting husbands/wives/victims. Even The Wall and the Night's Watch are there, though without Wildlings in this beta release, they're not doing much.

Honestly, it's worth a download just to use it as an interactive Game of Thrones encyclopaedia, clicking through the family trees and lineages and histories not only learning about the world, but admiring the amount of work that's gone into this mod.

In terms of what it adds or changes to the vanilla CKII, there's nothing too different. There's a new war system in place to better handle the nature of the conflict (since it's one giant civil conflict), a new assassination system and the incorporation of knights into the character system. Aside from that, and some welcome (and extensive) re-skinning of CKII's graphics, things play mostly the same as they do in the standard game. Some added, extra events - winter is coming, prisoners demanding trial by combat - are a nice touch.

I haven't run into too many issues so far, but I've only been playing as the Starks, and I've only been playing over the weekend. I'm sure something will pop up sooner or later, this being the first beta release of a mod, but whatever. It works, and it's stable enough to enjoy. Know though that it does need some balancing, especially with regards to how strong King Aerys' forces are early on. Get past the early wars, though, and things seem to settle back down to a more normal pace.

If you're a strategy game veteran, you'll have no problems here. Those who are big GoT fans but who haven't played a game like Crusader Kings II, don't panic; it may look complex, but it's surprisingly easy to get a handle on, and you can have enjoyable games only knowing the very basics of its structure. Later playthroughs, where you can dig a little deeper, will only get better.

You can download the mod at the link below. Note that, being a mod, you'll need a copy of Crusader Kings II first, which you can get here.

UPDATE - Seems Crusader Kings II is $10 on Amazon, or $12.50 as part of a deal including other Paradox games. Great timing, that!

A GAME OF THRONES v1.02, A MOD FOR CRUSADER KINGS II [Official Site]

In today's magically delicious episode of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Chris P. Bacon claims that while not one video game has portrayed magic perfectly, several have come close. He should know. He is a wizard.

I've always been a fan of magic users in games. A magician who always has a bag of tricks for any situation and an ace in the sleeve should all else fail. A sorcerer who can reshape reality with unthinkable powers. But, to this date, I've never seen a magic system in a videogame without a few glaring flaws.

Why is it that a warrior or rogue can jog an unlimited distance then swing a weapon for minutes on end while never breaking a sweat or slowing down even slightly, yet wizards often find themselves out of magic and just standing there with little to do. Muscles never tire, and yet magic energy from some unknown impossible source often does.

Now, of course magic needs its limitations, otherwise there would be no reason not to blast the strongest spell all day over and over again. A cooldown system is a fine enough choice, yet it becomes very robotic, going through a consistent rotation of the same spells thoughtlessly just about everywhere.

Then, there's the D&D style, as used in, for example, Baldur's Gate 2 wherein you think of what spells you'll want tomorrow within limited slots then fall asleep until you can use them 8 hours later. It's rather clunky, yet it does cause you to go through everything in your spellbook according to the direness of the situation. It does seem rather silly that a whole party has to wait 8 hours for the wizard to take a nap before he casts one little remove curse spell. Or resurrecting a dead friend first thing in the morning before you brush your teeth.

I should add here that I do love the game Magicka. Big spells took a little time to type in as quickly as you could, practice and premeditation definitely helped, walking was slow when ready to cast so you can't instantly disintegrate enemies on sight, you never just run out of steam and stand there like a dope, and there was all sorts of interesting combinations to try, always a perfect tool for the job. The only drawback is that this system required a very particular control scheme, one that not every game will necessarily facilitate. Also, no one I know owned the game so I just played it single player about a dozen times over and over.

Another honorable mention should go to Two Worlds 2, getting the spell cards and elemental levels was a pain and it was still a mana bar system but it did allow creativity, fun experimenting, and a certain uniqueness between every mage who didn't go with a cookie cutter I-read-it-off-the-internet model.

I thought of a method that may be interesting to try which combines the D&D model and the basic mana bar. You can preselect a limited number of spells which cast instantly but at variable mana costs. But you can also cast from your entire spellbook at variable casting times which leaves you open and mostly stationary. This way you can choose between a quick burst of instant offensive magic or a collection of defensive spells to be used quickly, but non-clutch needs such as long-term damage per second and basic over-time healing can be cast without eventually getting tired and watching someone swing a 6 foot long greatsword for the rest of the fight without as much as needing to sit down in a chair to catch his breath.

What are some other games systems or your thoughts on how magic should best be handled?

Keep your space operas and fighting things things, my favourite game of 2012 so far has been the wonderfully deep marriage/backstabbing simulator Crusader Kings II.

It's a shame, then, that the game now has the year's worst DLC to date. And that's including a game where you're being charged for the ending.

On April 17, developers Paradox will release Crusader Kings II: Ruler Designer, an optional add-on that will let you either customise existing rulers or allow the user to create news ones. In other words, it's a character creation tool. You know, the type everything from FIFA to Skyrim packs in as an essential part of the game.

Here, though, it's going for USD$5. And you don't even get a fancy 3D model or new set of animations for it. You get to tweak a 2D portrait and move your ruler's stats sliders around.

Crusader Kings II Ruler Designer DLC Announced! [Paradox]