Sometimes it’s tempting, as both a Kickstarter backer, or just observer, to let rip on projects that are months or even years late. One project that’s extraordinarily late, and one I backed in the early heady rush of Kickstarter retro-excitement, is Two Guys SpaceVenture. From the original creators of the Space Quest series, they surfed the wave created by Tim Schafer, then many of the old Sierra gang, and managed to squeak through a half million dollar project. Aiming to create a spiritual successor to their hit-and-miss adventure series (Activision own the rights, despite almost certainly never planning to do anything with them), they pledged to have the game out in February 2013. Well, yes, that somewhat missed. Rage?

Perhaps. But the good news is that while the most recent release date is an astonishingly distant 30th November 2016 (an epic three and a half years late), they’ve created a mini-game that’s to be part of the final release – Cluck Yegger In Escape From The Planet Of The Poultroid – and are giving it to backers today. And it’s a spoof of Five Nights At Freddy’s.

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Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes [official site] is a co-op game for two or more people where one is faced with a bomb covered in symbols, buttons, mazes and counters, and everyone else is looking at a defusal manual. They must keep talking to solve those puzzles, or somebody explodes. Pip, Adam and Graham took it in turns to explode, then gathered themselves to discuss the finer points of bomb defusal.

Graham: Four symbols! Pig’s tail; lightning bolt; apostrophe bum; triangle spiderman. In what order do I press them?>

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Baron Nashor might be getting a roommate, deceased wards will stick around on the map and the League of Legends marksman role will be getting an overhaul. Those are just some of the gameplay changes set to appear in LoL’s beta environment over the coming months according to the game developers at Riot.

Let’s take a look:

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Orks should not be allowed to pilot spaceships. I imagine their first attempts to reach the stars were a lot like my first attempts to launch a Kerbal Space Program: nasty, brutish and short. And yet, somehow, through a combination of determination and hunger for war, the ‘orrible creatures have their own fleets in Games Workshop’s spacebiff strategy game, Battlefleet Gothic. The upcoming digital adaptation, Armada [official site], has captured the unique flair of scrappy Ork ships, as revealed in the new screenshots, above and below.

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I haven’t played an Anno game since it was a series about building quaint trading colonies in the 18th century, and so I’m quietly impressed by these videos of Anno 2205 [official site]. Not because it’s set in the future in which you build moon colonies and ferry goods with spaceships, but because its landscapes look so big and pretty. Step below and learn about some modular buildings, sure, but also just look at the vast metropolises.

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There might be no sign of any Dawn of War III – come on come on come on come on – but new-ish Relic owners Sega seem determined not to let the beloved Warhammer 40,000 strategy series lie entirely fallow. Last month they put out a new map for the first Dawn of War and today, four years after its original release, Dawn of War II – Retribution [official site] just received new, paid DLC. It’s loosely Hallowe’en themed, but it’s Only War enough in its own right to be good all year round.

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Outlast was one of the first shiny-polished horror games to rise from the growing trend for first-person unarmed spooky walkers in 2013. It was pretty good, Ben said when we gave him a pair of extra-strong pants and sent him into a spooky asylum.

Developers Red Barrels today announced a second round of spookings for autumn 2016, though it looks like Outlast 2 [official site] will be headed somewhere quite different. Judging from the short teaser trailer and a few bits of artwork, I’m going to guess… a reclusive religious community in the American South, and perhaps a little The Hills Have Eyes>-y? See what you make of it:

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

“Hello, may I be of service?” chirps a Protocol Droid and I bolt, finding a safe spot in a nest of crates and clutching my wrench tight. “Aww I’ve driven a client away,” I hear echoing after me, “I’ll likely be downgraded.”

I am a big enough babby that I’ve never finished System Shock 2 properly, only in its tension-defusing co-op. Even then, Looking Glass and Irrational’s FPS-RPG left me chilled by something as cheery as the greeting of an exploding robot.

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The Town of Light [official site] is a fascinating game. Initial trailers suggested it would be another in a long line of horror stories playing on the abandoned asylum setting. I expected jump scares, deformed creatures forced into straitjackets and maniacal laughter. Instead, as Alec discovered when he spoke to the developers earlier this year, this is a game concerned with “the true meaning of mental illness”.

As revealed today, the game will be released on February 23rd and I’ve spent a few hours exploring an early build.>

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Update: There’s now a press release with a couple of extra quotes.

Update 2: A little more on what Paradox actually intend to do with White Wolf now they own it. There’s going to be “an immediate change”, and “multiple digital games titles are planned.” More below.

Swedish publisher Paradox has purchased “White wolf and all properties” from EVE Online firm CCP – a final nail in the coffin of the latter’s troubled plans for a World Of Darkness MMO. This also means that Paradox now owns the rights to Vampire: The Masquerade.

It’s Paradox’s “biggest investment ever;” White Wolf will, however “operate as an independent entity with a dedicated team.”

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