March Roundtable: Luck Mechanics

March Roundtable: Luck Mechanics

Happy March! Here in the Pacific Northwest we’re sandwiched between bitter winter and the slightly warmer temperatures of spring, but mostly it’s just cold. How lucky we are! Thanks for applauding my super smooth transition—this month we’re talking about luck and luck mechanics in games, which is different from actual luck. I would know, considering I lose every board game I play because I have no actual luck. (more…)

GYGO: In Another Life, I Would Have Loved Doing Taxes With You, an Anime Girl

GYGO: In Another Life, I Would Have Loved Doing Taxes With You, an Anime Girl

Welcome to another Wednesday! For some inexplicable reason, I’ve jumped back into Tropico 4 lately. Why Tropico 4 and not the two other versions that have come out since? Well, because I’m too lazy to buy another one, and I don’t know what I’m missing. I had a hankering to benevolently rule an island and no hankering at all to research which edition is best. I also picked up Vampire Survivors for mobile while traveling, and it turns out it’s the perfect game for whiling away some time on a train. I was feeling pretty good about lasting eight minutes or so until I just looked at how long other people spend on a single playthrough and now I remember why I don’t usually play roguelikes.

Anyway, let’s talk about the news! (more…)

HUDs Up: Taking a Dive into Our Favorite HUDs and UIs

HUDs are a tricky thing—we tend not to notice them unless they’re bad, because, for the most part, they’re meant to provide us with necessary information and little more. But when games really go the distance, a good heads-up display can be as immersive and interesting as any other element of game design.

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Review: Burly Men at Sea is a Gorgeous, Folkloric Adventure

Brain&Brain bill themselves as independent game developers and quiet adventurers and, in the case of their recently released Burly Men at Sea, the title fits.

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