It’s day 23! We’re almost at the finish line, and– hang on. This isn’t right. No, no, we need a do-over. Sorry everyone, we’ll nail it next time.

(more…)

It is terrifying to be an independent developer right now. Before, small teams might compare themselves to a soulless billion dollar industry built on games where Very Large Men shoot other Very Large Men (regardless of the merit of that claim). Now, those same big studios are bringing their absurd levels of manpower and polish to titles that are more empathetic and experimental than ever — often hiring the very indies that used to compete with them. As remasters, re-releases, and long-awaited ports hit every platform imaginable, the time of a game s release has lost all meaning. Katamari Damacy, a title originally released in 2004, can finally be played as God intended — with the power of a NVIDIA Titan RTX. We are lost in a sea of games, and Epic aims to be our new Poseidon.

…I m supposed to say my five favourite games of the year at some point, right? (more…)

After some delays and an embarrassing false start last night that left many of Twitch’s biggest streamers and their audiences staring at a blank server list for hours, Atlas is live in early access. The ambitious player-run (rum?) fantasy pirate MMO from the makers of Ark: Survival Evolved is out at a slashed launch price for the holidays. Looking like a low-tech, mega-scale take on Ark, the developers (now flying the Grapeshot Games flag) hope to cram 40,000 or more players into a single huge shared world.

There will be separate PvP and PvE servers, and both will have NPCs to give quests, crew ships and monsters to fight, but the long-term plan seems to be for players to establish their own empires, built from the first bricks upwards. Check out the launch trailer below.

(more…)

It’s day 22 and, uh, maybe we shouldn’t open this door. Let’s just bolt it closed, even. We’re safe out here and whatever is in there should probably just be left alone.

(more…)

I have not, to this day, managed to be in the same place at the same time as a white Christmas. If you have, please, let me know. Is it still possible to snow on Christmas day anywhere south of Duluth, Minnesota? I have many happy memories of building snowmen, tobogganing, and ducking under snow-laden boughs in the backwoods of Virginia. But none of them on Christmas. I don’t want to say that Bing Crosby lied to me, but. You know.

This is not to say that I have some sort of romantic notions about snow. I know the pain of the DC area’s 2009 Snowpocalypse 1 AND 2. That snowstorm shut down the government! Snow is annoying, cold, ultimately useless and everyone loves it for some reason. Wait. Is that… the dream? Never mind, I’ve come back around on snow. Here are some games for you about snow.

(more…)

Ho ho ho! A merry Christmas to one and all. I hope you have a lovely time, or at least get a few days off work. If you don’t do Christmas, pardon my exuberance: what I’m mostly excited about is that we’ve now passed the solstice and daylight will start returning. I have missed daylight so very much.

RPS are now officially on holiday until January 3rd, though we have plenty lined up to fill your eyes before then. Some of our favourite freelancers will share their game picks of 2018, articles about subjects from seas to smooching are scheduled, Have You Played will continue, and oh god help me I’m told the Christmas cracker jokes will return. I want you to know the cracker jokes are not my fault.

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

(more…)

It s well known that games are an awful mistake that should have never been unleashed on an unsuspecting humanity. That said, here s five that hushed the howling primates that reside in my skull just long enough for me to consider them a worthwhile investment.

Honorable mentions go to Cultist Simulator (For it s alchemical harmony of theme and mechanics), Vermintide 2 (for being the second best Lord of the Rings game ever made) and Prey: Mooncrash (For being more Prey). Not in order of goodness: (more…)

Here’s a free little something to raise a smile before I (mostly) disappear for the holidays – it’s a new Nathalie Lawhead game-o-thing! Desktop Love Story is sweet way to spend ten minutes – living on your desktop in two folders are two files. They’ve never met in person, but the ambiguously_shy_file.exe has a bit of a crush on cute_file.exe, and it’s your job as admin of all the files in your domain to help them. Go on, grab it from Itch and lend them a hand. Or read Lawhead’s design notes on how something as simple and small as this was a headache to create. Love ain’t easy.

(more…)

While I’ve my issues with Amazon’s global mega-monopoly, I can’t deny that the monthly sack of games that Twitch gives out to Amazon Prime subscribers is an oft-impressive bunch. This month more impressive than most – it’s a bundle of Devolver Digital’s best, including Broforce, both Hotline Miami games, Strafe (much improved by updates), Crossing Souls, The Swords of Ditto and recently lauded ninja platformer The Messenger. You can grab a month of Prime (even the free trial) and once it lapses you get to keep the games, to be launched through the Twitch desktop app.

Update: Until December 31st, Twitch Prime also gives you the SNK Bundle, Hacknet: Complete Edition, Smoke & Sacrifice and Poi, all of which you get copies for yourself to keep and a spare to give to friends. The Devolver pack doesn’t come with extra gifts, but is available until January 31st.>

(more…)

Jeff Minter is back on PC with a trio of VR-optional games today, one of which is so cool that Nine Inch Nails made a music video about it. Originally for PlayStation VR, Polybius is – as you’d expect – a trippy thousand-mile-an-hour arcade shooter with hypnotic visuals, although today’s PC release can be played on a regular monitor too. Also out today is Minotaur Arcade Volume 1 – remakes of Llamasoft’s arcade shooter Gridrunner and iOS platformer Goatup, extruded into the third dimension and also playable in VR. You really should watch the NIN video below.

Update: Unfortunately the VR support on PC is for Oculus Rift only – no Vive support at present.>

(more…)