Plague Inc: Evolved [official site] typically has you behind the reigns of a pathogen with the objective of killing the Earth’s population. This week’s Shadow Plague update has added quite a different new virulent force, one with a fondness for crushed velvet. … [visit site to read more]
Sundays are for hoping the weather is good so you can go out for a walk, but if it’s not, making a batch of roast potatoes and gravy at home instead… Maybe I hope for a little rain.
We linked this in its own post earlier in the week, but Brie Code’s Videogames Are Boring is the week’s best article, so here it is again. Set aside the nitpicking and talk about its content, yeah?
In a totalitarian society you never know who’s working for the state. It could be a neighbor, family member, or in the case of Beholder [official site], your landlord. Warm Lamp Games say their surveillance ’em up, which launched this week, is inspired by “the oppressive laws introduced by the Russian Government,” and it certainly gives at least a grim portrayal of life under the KGB or Gestapo. … [visit site to read more]
Mekazoo [official site] is an homage to 90’s platformers, looking to draw from games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Donkey Kong Country. It offers five different mekanimals for you to control, and emphasizes momentum and tight controls. There’s also a “hive-mind” co-op mode, in which you and a friend each control an animal, but only one player can play at any given time. What are “mekanimals?” I suppose you’ll have to play to find out. You won’t have long to wait, as developers The Good Mood Creators this week announced a release date: November 15th. … [visit site to read more]
The Swindle’s [official site] cyberpunk/steampunk aesthetic was unique, but the sci-fi concept art posted on Size Five Games’ blog seems like it would adapt even more readily to its stealthy computer hacking gameplay. The developer is considering a follow-up game and has brought in an artist to chuck a few ideas together. The resulting artwork by Gareth Davies has a gritty 70’s/80’s sci-fi look highlighted by pastels and reminds me of Chris Foss’ work for Jodorowsky’s Dune. … [visit site to read more]
Looking at Quur [official site], it’s difficult to say what type of game it is. It’s colorful, to say the least, and it’s also another of those games about how violence is not the answer – or at the very least, as the devs say, “not always your best option.” … [visit site to read more]
Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>
The Sims [official site] are having a mid-life crisis. What started as an experimental house-building and life sim game has become something entirely different. The Sims 3 introduced experimentation of its own in the form of open world neighbourhoods, which met with mixed response, and The Sims 4 is a lighter, happier take on the formula, stripping back on neighbourhood features to focus on the Sims themselves.
Looking back, The Sims 2 may have been the game that found the sweet spot, with enough complexity to make every life a little different and with characters that weren’t quite so removed from reality as the weird cartoons of later entries in the series.
Stardock and Oxide’s Ashes of the Singularity did a lot of things right in its original April 2016 release. It was a decent traditional RTS experience at its core despite some niggling faults here and there. Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation [official site] is a meaty standalone expansion that rectifies both technical and gameplay issues alike. It also bolsters the unit count and makes everything> bigger. Insert double entendre here. … [visit site to read more]
After several months, this week is finally ending. For me, anyway. Apols. if you work weekends and these relentless “Enjoy the weekend funtimes, weekend gang! Let’s have all the fun with our funkends!” posts are a giant spectral hand rubbing its knuckles across your scalp every week. But for simplicity’s sake, I’ll ask: what are you playing this weekend? Here’s what the RPS Chumtime Funend Gamegang are clicking on.
When I was a kid, I played the heck out of Apogee’s classic racer Wacky Wheels. That and another kart racer where there was some sort of alien (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t this one) whose catchphrase was “Burn tachyons!” and I’ve never been able to figure out what game it was since. But now, thanks to developer Ferocity 2D’s dogged desire to bring Wacky Wheels into the future with Wacky Wheels HD [official site], I can play this kart racer again with a modern computer. A lot. … [visit site to read more]