Whenever I’ve been away from my computer for a couple of days, I browse through new releases on Steam and elsewhere, hoping that something interesting will have slithered outta nowhere like an RKO. Usually I’m at least vaguely aware of a games existence long before it’s actually available to buy, which means I rarely enjoy an experience like the one that went along with my discovery of Deadnaut this morning. It’s from the creators of the personality-packed and almost-great Zafehouse: Diaries, has a demo, and it sounds like Dungeon of the Endless meets Space Hulk by way of Betrayal at House on the Hill. It shall be mine.

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Look, Humble. I’m concerned. You’re a decent, polite store and I dig what you do, yet I notice you’re following that ruffian GOG into seasonal anarchy. I know, I know, they seemed so pleasant but look where you both are now: ignoring the supreme power of the Sun and launching ‘Winter Sales’ even though the winter solstice isn’t for another ten days. Did you even think about how that makes the Sun feel? I don’t care how great your discounts are – and wow okay some are great – this is just plain rude.

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Hearthstone’s expansion Goblins vs. Gnomes wasn’t the only big release in virtual collectible card games this week, mind. Tuesday brought the second card set for Hex: Shards of Fate, another free-to-play which I hear is awfully popular and quite good. (And Mojang’s Scrolls is due to launch today.) Looking at Hex now, I see so much of Magic: The Gathering that I should run screaming before it drags me in. But the ‘Shattered Destiny’ expansion is out and oh no I think I even know which Magic cards inspired some of these. Help don’t let me download this client.

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Do you like dramatic shots of cool spaceships looking cool in space? Because boy oh boy, the trailer accompanying EVE Online‘s latest big update ‘Rhea‘ sure has some cool spaceships. Shiny metal usually holds few thrills for me, but watching this I’m beaming at EVE’s new ships and improved graphics, especially the ship which looks like a cross between a Nighthawk bomber and a Mega-City One block, starlight glinting off cruel facets. Should you have an interest in EVE beyond cool spaceships, let me tell you this update has done a few interesting things too.

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Well, he eventually rebooted and remade war of wizards Spectrum classic Chaos Reborn, which I’ve had a lot of fun with over the last few days, and which took to Steam Early Access yesterday. You can read more about that here. But what happened to the co-creator of X-COM, Laser Squad, Magic and Mayhem, Rebelstar and more over the last ten years or so? While so many long-standing developers have seen their stars rise and rise, Julian Gollop seemed to fall out of sight. In this concluding part of my big interview with him, we talk about where he’s been, why he turned to Kickstarter for his comeback, how he was doing Early Access long before it ever existed, his thoughts on latter-day X-COMlikes such as Xenonauts, Invisible Inc and Mordheim, and the pressing question of whether we’ll ever see a new X-COM or Laser Squad=style game with him at the helm.> … [visit site to read more]

X-COM creator Julian Gollop did have plans for his own new version of the legendary strategy game, but abandoned them in the wake of 2K’s well-received XCOM. “I seriously considered that before Firaxis announced their XCOM,” he told RPS in an interview published today, “but of course once they announced it I thought, well it d be a hopeless cause because it s just not going to get the same traction.”

“I may have been completely wrong in thinking this by the way,” he added. When I suggested that he’d probably have succeeded nonetheless, he added that “I probably could have. I don’t know.” The Laser Squad and Chaos developer, who yesterday released wizard-battling strategy remake/sequel Chaos Reborn on Steam Early Access, hasn’t entirely ruled out an X-comeback of his own, however. “Well, we ll see. Got to finish Chaos first.”

I think it’s on all of us reading this to let him know below that that a new Gollop-made XCOMlike is far, far from a hopeless cause, eh? Also below: the game Julian Gollop almost made instead of Chaos Reborn.

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Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na Vi s Dendi at a dessert buffet cart.>

Last week YouPorn finally announced the name of the Dota 2 team they’re sponsoring. It’s Team YP now but was formerly known as Play2Win. I had never heard of them.

YouPorn have been snuffling about the Dota 2 scene for a while now and there has been a whole bunch of speculation as to who might add the YP logo to their branded jerseys. I want to run through why I think this is a bad move for pro-gaming, regardless of who ended up with the deal.

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“Wander around weird worlds looking at stuff then write about that” sounds like my job, but it’s also Elegy for a Dead World. Trapped on distant and dead alien worlds inspired by Romantic poets, our intrepid explorer wanders around, wondering what happened there and how they once were. Then we write little notes for other players to read, sharing our visions. Our John quite liked the build he played back when it was Kickstarting. Elegy launched today, costing about a tenner.

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Adventure games have been experiencing a resurgence this past year, but our favourite was by a developer that’s hit a creative peak of their own after grinding away at the genre persistently for years. It’s The Wolf Among Us.

Adam: Wolf-a-Mongoose, as my computer just autocorrected, pips a couple of other contenders to the post in this category thanks to its new-noir style. If the quality of Tales From the Borderlands keeps up after a surprisingly strong start, it might be Telltale’s best series since the first Walking Dead, but in the battle of Clem and Bigby, the wolf is king.

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Ludum Dare 31 entries have 19 days of judging left, and there’s already some gold to be found within. The theme this time is “Entire Game On One Screen”, and amongst the 2637 entries is The Entire Screen Of One Game by Tom 7. A platform game where the platform game is the character jumping about in the level of the platform game which is also the character, and that character is in fact the level of the platform game, which is the character in the game…

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