While reviewing Cities Colon Skylines 2, I didn't actually go in that hard on public transport (beyond providing it and making it free), despite the urge. Since then though, it's become a game where I don't so much build a single mega-city as a series of experiments.
Naturally, those experiments devolved from a noble effort to remove the stain of cars into a sadistic urge to drive thousands of my own people on a never-ending hell march.
In 2021, Twitter user Thomas Violence, an Australian podcaster who was working in a bar at the time, recounted that a 19-year-old had asked for a refund on their drink because they realised they were too drunk already. One of the early replies was an "ummm actually>," pointing out that you had to be 21 to buy booze in most states, and Thomas Violence responded "I'm one of the dozens of people worldwide that live in a country that's not America". I am reminded of this tweet a lot, and I am reminded of it whenever I log on to Puzzmo, a new daily browser-based puzzle service from Orta Therox and Zach "Zach Gage" Gage.
Puzzmo is great, and currently in a sort of gradually expanding beta where you can sign up to get a chance to be sent a log-in, or existing users can give two friends a log-in (I have used mine already, sorry). Every day you get a few different puzzles, with a subscription model offering bonus puzzles. I've not subbed because I'm just not built for anagram puzzles and I do not understand chess, which form about half of the daily offering, but I enjoy doing the daily fliparts and crosswords a lot. Except>. The crosswords always have clues that are very specific to the USA.
Mad dashes, daring escapes, last minute reversals: these are some of my favourite moments in multiplayer shooters. It’s exhilarating to scream towards the chopper in Left 4 Dead or a dropship in Titanfall.
The Finals is a multiplayer shooter that seems to take place entirely at this elevated pitch. In the dozens of open beta matches I've played, the result is as thrilling as those other games, but also exhausting. I wish it would chill for just a moment so I could fully enjoy its delights - of which there are many.
Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been kicking doors, clicking on shoes to walk, running along walls, and fiddling with buttons on a television in space. Come check out these attractive and interesting indie games, and more!
Sundays are for seeing lots of pals you've not seen in a while. Before you travel over, let's read this week's best writing about games (and game related things).
Remember remember the fifth of November, when either we celebrate someone being stopped from bursting the king or we celebrate someone trying. Sometimes I'm still not sure which. My head says thwarting, my heart says attempting. You wrap up warm, keep your pets safe, and enjoy the shmup particle effects. But what are you playing this weekend? Here's what we're clicking on!
"The game is called Bloodthyrster X," the nerd-coded detective explains, twisting in their ill-fitting suit and furiously shaking an upside-down Xbox controller while their colleagues stare aghast at a TV screen looping a three-second clip of shoddy CGI ultraviolence. "The objective is to run over babies in your minivan while shooting cops and other players. It's taking over the dark web... and IRL."
You don't need me to tell you that fake video games appearing in TV shows and movies are typically absurd and terrible. But just because something is bad, doesn't mean it's uninteresting. Having watched dozens of movies and episodes with fake video games, I'm going to celebrate a few over the coming weeks. Some daft fake games have neat ideas, some shows portray their fake games in an interesting way, and some fake games are even quite good. Let's start now with Deadware, an unknown horror movie which does a great job recreating something a bit bad: a spOooky haunted browser game from 1999.
Readers, I must tell you something. If you're currently playing Alan Wake 2 and haven't> continued with Alan's part of the story after reaching the point where you can switch between him and Saga, STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING IMMEDIATELY.
I know Saga's an infinitely better hang than Alan, but trust me on this. You are ignoring what is arguably the best 15 minutes of video game you'll play all year. Don't make the same mistake I did and play as Saga for 20 hours, only to realise that this> utter masterpiece of a level was sitting here the entire time. Do the right thing. Continue Alan's story. You won't regret it (and spoilers to follow below, obvs).>
What a great little thing. You've surely seen a hundred post-Minecraft games about building a base to smelt iron to build a base, and probably even thought to yourself that they look entirely fine but kind of... redundant? There's only so many times you can walk back and forth from a cave to a forge.
But what if instead of trudging around a grey cave, you were driving a big drilling machine instead? It's so simple, and yet it makes all the difference in GeoDepths.
Final Fantasy XIV’s world of Eorzea is a utopia. Sure, there’s the looming threat of Garlean invasion and/or the possibility of world destruction throughout A Realm Reborn and its expansions - but on the plus side, almost everyone you meet is up for a round of cards.
Over the last quarter-century, Triple Triad has managed to escape its origins as a fun side minigame in Final Fantasy VIII to become a fully-fledged phenomenon in XIV. The Gold Saucer runs regular tournaments, random strangers are happy to be challenged to a match - often throwing in one or more of the game’s many variant rules (though Chaos can do one) - and might even give up one of their prized cards when defeated, with almost 400 to collect as of the game’s latest patches. Emphasis on the “might”: I dread to think of the hours spent replaying NPCs in the hope of a random drop as I filled out my collection.
I headed along to Final Fantasy’s London Fan Fest last month with a fetching deck of Triple Triad cards in hand. (Square Enix provided entrance and accommodation for the event.) Where better to try and live the dream of challenging random strangers to a card game, and learn more about the community that has fallen in love with the MMO in the 10 years since A Realm Reborn released?