Diablo III gets it. Torchlight gets it. Marvel Ultimate Alliance gets it. Titan Quest gets it. Borderlands gets it. Path of Exile doesn’t get it. Van Helsing doesn’t get it. Krater doesn’t get it. Dungeon Siege doesn’t get it. Sacred … Continue reading →

The Last of Us is the most emotionally resonant game you will ever play about plank, ladder, and pallet management. To be fair you’ll sometimes scooch dumpsters around. At one point, you scooch a piano. After the jump, are there … Continue reading →

In the vanilla version of Sins of a Solar Empire, Hypatia would be just another comfortable terran planet. I would settle it, upgrade its civilian infrastructure, and let its population grow for a while. It would eventually be a high-population … Continue reading →

At first glance, Wargame: AirLand Battle might seem like a minor update to Wargame: European Escalation, the brilliantly Cold War RTS from the undersung RTS heroes at Eugen Systems who’ve been quietly innovating and polishing for over ten years (if … Continue reading →

I was several missions into Warhammer Quest before something dawned on me that must be obvious to a lot of you. Warhammer Quest is based on a boardgame. Which explains a lot. But what it doesn’t explain is why this … Continue reading →

You could do worse than The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (hyperbole theirs). Developer Neocore, fresh from a long stint homaging the Total War series with their King Arthur series, is now homaging Diablo. They mostly get the Diablo feel, … Continue reading →

Reus reminds me a lot of SimCity Societies in that it’s about fitting together distinct imaginative pieces into a functioning whole. In the case of SimCity Societies, the pieces are buildings, of course. Each building has unique properties, feeding into … Continue reading →

Although I’m a sucker for the “just add zombies” approach to game design, I’m not sold on its viability for boardgaming. I know there are some co-op zombie games. But I’m over co-op boardgaming that doesn’t have some sort of … Continue reading →

Today is Victoria Day. No joke. It’s a holiday they celebrate in some countries. I’ve never heard of a Europa Universalis Day or Crusader Kings Day or Hearts of Iron Day. Just a Victoria Day. Fitting. Victoria is one of … Continue reading →

It’s a good thing Pinball FX 2 is so good, because I have a few complaints about its recent arrival to the PC. Imagine that. Someone complaining about the PC port of a fantastic console game. After the jump, tilt?

Did you play the Dissidia games for the PSP? I see a handful of Final Fantasy fans raising their hands enthusiastically. But only a handful. Even the die-hardest Final Fantasy fan isn’t necessarily inclined to bang his head against a … Continue reading →

As we all know, asymmetry makes all game designs better. Which is one of the reasons chess isn’t very good. The only asymmetry they had invented back when they made chess was which side goes first. Weak. If I made … Continue reading →

Talisman, a miserable Monopoly-meets-D&D boardgame from a time back when we didn’t have many good boardgames so a miserable boardgame wasn’t such a bad thing after all, is so miserable that the developers of Talisman Prologue for the iOS couldn’t … Continue reading →

“Well is it better than Marvel vs Capcom?” my friend eventually asked. He had started off asking me, “So how is Injustice?” But until I’ve played enough to write a review, I never know how to answer so open a … Continue reading →

Developer 82 Inc pegged it when they named their last game New World Colony. That game plays pretty much as you’d expect, what with the hexes and lumber and villages and victory points. But then they name their next game … Continue reading →