I move the pawn on the far right side forward two spaces. That’s my go-to starting move. It frees up my castle guy. I know many things about the Chess, including the names of all the pieces. Like Castle and Horsey and Pointyhat. I know things. That’s why I know that something has gone wrong when the Kingperson piece on my opponents side of the board disappears up a flight of stairs and into a darkened realm. Am I… am I supposed to keep playing Chess? Well, in a game that’s part Chess and part rogue, I have to do both. Welcome to Chogue. (more…)

This week, we have a load of adventures and stories for you to play. You can be rude at a tea party while surrounded by a bunch of older folks, or become a dragon looking for dragon eggs. You can travel through space on a whale full of ghosts bugs, fight to reclaim your palace as a talented fencer, or simply avoid fire and collect roses for your love. There s quite a variety to be found in the free games that have released recently so why not take a journey through them and enjoy? (more…)

With E3 finally out of my system (though I know our Brendy is still writing odds and ends about games he saw), Gamescom has jerked violently into my sphere of awareness. Slow down! We’re fine. We’re good. With over a month to go, I might even recover from E3’s sleep loss in time. I like Gamescom, and not just because it’s close to my timezone and focuses more on the weird PC games you’d expect at a German show – though obviously I am a sucker for job simulators. I feel we’re so close to seeing another breakout hit like American Truck Simulator, though sadly Bus Simulator 18 hasn’t quite proven to be that game (not that it’s bad, mind).

What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on!

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Time to shoot bullets with bullets made of bullets again. Charming roguelike shooter Enter the Gungeon is getting a major expansion next week, for the always-nice price of free.

Announced as “coming soon” in August 2017, it’s safe to say this got delayed a tad, but according to developers Dodge Roll on Twitter, the Advanced Gungeons & Draguns expansion should be out next Thursday, July 19th.

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First-person puzzle games with vague Portal inspirations are common enough, but The Spectrum Retreat looks to be an especially polished and stylish take on the sub-genre. Thematically, it’s about escaping from a creepy sci-fi hotel staffed by faceless robots with the aid of a mysterious benefactor on the phone. Mechanically, it’s about stealing and using colours, and it’s out today. Below, a rather sinister launch trailer. (more…)

I am a lowly aspirant with nothing but my name and my failing body. I am uninitiated. I am a worm in the dark, crawling through the pages of the secret histories of the world.

I’m playing Cultist Simulator.

This is a game of apocalypse and yearning , in which players attempt to direct eldritch forces and hidden gods without the faintest idea of what they’re doing. Yearning and apocalypse, certainly, but it is also a game of ignorance. This is the essential magic of the game. (more…)

LEGO The Incredibles is out today. Again! It landed in America a month ago, but thanks to publisher Warner Bros wanting the game out on the day of the similarly delayed European film release, we’re only just getting it now. Someone needs to tell them that the internet has No Oceans. Still, European parents wanting something to play with their sprogs have one more option today that won’t make you wish for a meteor to drop out of the sky.

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You can be anyone, this time around, echoes the husky voice of 60s trip-trailblazer Timothy Leary, as kids play on arcade machines that fade into the grinning face of the good doctor himself. You re the first generation in human history to know how to control your own nervous system. As the soundtrack hits heady new heights of grooviness, a troupe of long-haired youngsters dancing through sunny fields appear on screen. Change your own reality, he smiles, as the music swells.

This is a promotional segue for retro game Mind Mirror part psychology-lite self-help exercise, and part esoteric voyage into the bio-energetic realms and beyond. It s the one and only published game written and designed by Timothy Leary, an ex Harvard professor, many-time outlaw and prolific dabbler in all things psychedelic. (more…)

Some people just want to see the world burn – fans of the Burnout series’s Crash Mode especially. Released today, Danger Zone 2 by ex-Criterion devs Three Fields Entertainment looks to recapture some of those mindlessly destructive thrills. From the looks of the new gameplay footage below it’s an improvement over the original (which constrained the action to bland, boxy concrete crash testing facilities), but I still remain unconvinced.

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Synthwave is in vogue, speedrunning is big news and grappling hooks will never not be in style, which makes Rifter (from solo indie dev Maximilian Csuk) potentially too cool for school. Hasn’t stopped it from being punctual, though – probably the speedrunning part at work – as it launched today, and I’ve had fun in the little bit I’ve played so far. Below, a very swooshy launch trailer.

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