Few games would boast of allowing that, perhaps only cracking a nervous joke in patch notes addressing the bug’s removal, but it’s a proper listed-in-the-trailer feature of Crusader Kings II‘s latest mini-expansion. Way of Life launched yesterday, injecting a little more personality into your pawns. WoL lets you give characters a “focus”, a passion in life that they’ll follow and pursue. Some folks like gossip, some are happiest when hunting, and some, well, some really want to marry their cousin. CK2 is basically a weirder, stabbier, and more difficult version of The Sims anyway, right?

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I have accidentally killed Peter Cornelius. I have accidentally killed him several times and this has included (but is not limited to) the time that I launched a rock at his head, the time that I electrocuted him and the time that I pushed him off a cliff. On each and every occasion it was an accident and I don’t think I was entirely in control of either my actions or my powers. I am sorry, Peter Cornelius, associate producer on Magicka 2.

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The headline isn’t entirely factual. POP: Methodology Experiment One might seem like a product of the demoscene, being an experimental series of audio-visual viginettes, but it isn’t. To find out where it came from (maybe) you could buy the fresh new Game of the Saeculum Edition, which has arrived on Steam. It contains a developer commentary by creator Rob Lach that is, according to the trailer below, “whispered in a bedroom voice”. It’s also three times as long as the actual game so the whispering may be a little rushed.

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I bet you haven’t, you naughty scamp. And you really ought. Secrets Of Raetikon is an incredibly beautiful, peculiarly peaceful game about being a bird. And building weird statue things. And avoiding mean birds. And collecting magic glowy things. It’s the sort of game you remember absolutely adoring on your friend’s Sega Megadrive but not being able to remember what it was called.

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Evolve is from the makers of Left 4 Dead, and it’s similar to its predecessor in that it offers asymmetric FPS multiplayer between four human soldiers and a player-controlled monster. The difference is that the monster is huge and evolving, and the different skillsets of the human characters need to be put to careful use if they’re going to have any chance of succeeding.

We recently sent Angus Morrison to developers Turtle Rock Studios to have a play of some of Evolve’s game modes and to talk to the team about what they’ve learned from MOBAs, what their intention is as far as esports goes, and how they suspect tactics will develop once the game is out in the wild. He returned clutching not just an article of words about the game, but a video – for those who like words and moving> pictures. Fancy.

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Last year’s SimCity disappointed me. Beautifully presented, it was nevertheless cramped, buggy, and content to throw thousands of simoleons at me no matter how good or bad I was at my job. It broke my heart a tiny bit. When I heard that Colossal Order were working on Cities: Skylines, I wondered if they might just pick up the pieces. Already experts on making games about transport and infrastructure, their pedigree suggested that Cities: Skylines might just be the civil engineer-cum-defibrillator that I needed to fix everything.

Sitting down to watch Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen play with a very early build of the game, I found everything remarkably recognisable, perhaps even too familiar. Cities: Skylines looks an awful lot like the the last SimCity and that’s not simply because it demands a floating, eye-of-God perspective and buttons for laying down roads or stretching out industrial estates. Its interface is laid out in a very similar way. Many of the overlays work in a very similar way. I’m immediately reminded of how the Warlock games, also published by Paradox, looked very much like a fantasy mod for Civilization V.

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Spritual Syndicate sequel/remake Satellite Reign arrived on Steam Early Access last week. Can it possibly live up to its hallowed Bullfrog cyberpunk squad shooter legacy? I jacked in to find out.>

The bad news: we’re running out of things that we want spiritual sequels to! Everything we ever wanted is coming true! CRISIS IN VIDEOGAMELAND.

The good news: Syndicate remake (of a sort) Satellite Reign is hot>. … [visit site to read more]

Yesterday, Hatred was removed from Steam Greenlight. Despite having more than 13,000 votes and being the seventh ranked game of 2,000+, the isometric killing spree simulator had its page removed and Valve told the developers, “based on what we see on Greenlight we would not publish Hatred on Steam. As such we ll be taking it down.”

Now it’s back and developers Destructive Creations have posted what appears to be an apologetic email from Gabe Newell regarding the decision. That’s below.

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Kerbal Space Program has been floating through the inky black of game development for years now, edging closer towards the ultimate goal of being a structured space program management sim. It’s now in orbit above that target, having moved from alpha to beta and added new features like base building, refined features like ship construction, and a lot more. There’s a trailer introducing the changes below.

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Daniel Linssen of Roguelight fame has once again been inspired by a Ludum Dare competition to do wonderful things with the metroidvania formula. Namely, to fit a delicious and beyond hefty platformer into a single screen and call it bird song.

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