I realise, at the end of 2018, that I ve spent much of the year digging back over games released in 2017 and earlier. That s in part because I ve been subject to the demands of evil overlord Graham, but also because I ve been trapped in the gravity well of monster timesinks like Destiny 2 and Divinity 2. When I did reach escape velocity, I cherished my time in the kind of small-and-perfectly-formed games that 2018 did so well: Dead Cells, Celeste, The Banner Saga 3. All of which get honourable mentions in my list, but get beaten out by (more…)

My 2018 in games had me dealing with failure in multiple ways. Designed to move further and further away from the fantasy of the all-powerful player ever looking for an appropriate challenge, these games teach to forgive and accept forgiving someone a past hurt, accepting the lack of a perfect solution to a problem. From the satisfyingly familiar to a type of game I would usually avoid, 2018 had it all. (more…)

I ve spent 2018 particularly distracted, flitting between games and feeling guilty that I haven t quite finished them or spent the time they deserved. Maybe it s because there have been so many good games? Or maybe I m just awful. Either way, I resolve to take better care next year.

Now I look back, I realise that I ve particularly enjoyed a series of games which gave me space to explore them on my own terms. Whether on the scale of giant monsters or the confined scale of the decks of a ship, they ve all felt expansive and generous, and respectful of me as a player.

Also, it s always hard to figure out a five, so shoutouts to Forza Horizon 4, Donut County, Far: Lone Sails and Total War: Warhammer 2 s pirate vampires.

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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…)

Magnificent monster-mashing mecha strategy game Into The Breach has added controller support, so you can now save the world while slouching on the couch. It’s a rare PC strategy game that’s suited for controllers, but Breach seems a fine candidate. Our Alec was excited when Into The Breach added touchscreen support earlier this year, say this was its “first step into ultimate perfection becoming a game I can play while lying down.” Now, for those of us without fancy touchscreen laptops, here’s controller support.

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Mech-toting, turn-based strategy, alien-bug-crushing game Into The Breach is now available for Mac users, which is great news for all our Apple based friends out there. In celebration, it’s also having a 20% off sale, which is great news for everybody else, too.

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We’re just about halfway through 2018 (which has somehow taken both too long and no time at all). As is tradition, we’ve shaken our our brains around to see which games from the last six months still make our neurons fizzle with delight. Then we wrote about them here, in this big list feature that you’re reading right now this second.

And what games they are! 2018 has been a great year so far, and our top picks run the whole range, from hand drawn oddities made by one person, to big mega-studio blockbusters that took the work of hundreds. And each of them is special to us in some way. Just like you are too. Click through the arrows to see the full spread of our faves so far. Better luck next year to the games that didn’t make the cut this time.

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An entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made, now freshened up to include everything from 2017 and 2018. From intricate, global-scale wargames to the tight thrills of guerrilla squads, the broad expanse of the genre contains something for everyone, and we’ve gathered the best of the best.

The vast majority are available to buy digitally, a few are free to download and play forever. They’re all brilliant.

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While we’re all distracted by BattleTech‘s intricate and ponderous mech warfare, the polar opposite, lightning-quick approach to turn-based giant robo-combat has been busy too. Into The Breach‘s latest patch quietly fixes a dozen-odd problems I doubt many of us even noticed this ridiculously slick game ever had, including one that meant getting your whole team killed in the final mission didn’t always mean a game over. Me, I’m happy because this patch marks Into The Breach’s first step into ultimate perfection – becoming a game I can play while lying down. (more…)

Progression is so often an illusion. Many games use the idea of permanent progression as a way of tickling our lizard brains with a growing pile of loot or numbers which constantly tick up, so that we feel like we re achieving something while we sit in front of a computer and repeat the same set of tasks over and over again.

The beauty of permadeath is that it does away with all this. Characters grow and collect things, but then they become permadead, and it s time for a new explorer to begin their adventure. The only thing that progresses is you, the player, slowly learning a set of systems with each failure. At least, that s the theory. We spoke to the designers of Spelunky, Into the Breach, Dead Cells and Rogue Legacy to learn more about persistence within a permadeath mould.

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