Video Games
Why aren’t you playing: Dark Souls II
It took me six hours to reach the first boss in Dark Souls 2. During those six hours, I had died dozens of times—including once 30 seconds into the game when a hoard of plague rats devoured me before I could even create my character. So, when I entered the boss chamber and watched as…
Read MoreThe rise and fall of Flappy Bird
We live in a post-Flappy Bird world. As Angry Birds changed mobile gaming forever, so too did Flappy Bird. Made by one man, Nguyen Ha Dong of Vietnam, in a three-day period, the little game that rocked the world took everyone by surprise. Tap the screen to make your bird flap its wings, and keep it…
Read MoreWhy aren’t you playing: Guacamelee!
Is there anything cooler than a luchadore? No, there isn’t, and anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about! However, for those who do not know of the wonder that is the luchadore, I shall explain. Simply put, luchadores are Mexican wrestlers. They’re known for larger than life personalities, excellent showmanship and, of…
Read MoreWhy aren’t you playing: The Sex & Love Edition
It’s Valentine’s Day, and for many of us that will mean spending a day doing nothing more than showering our special someone with affection. For many more of us, it will mean a bucket of rocky road ice cream to mask the Garfield-level bitterness flowing through our veins. For those lacking in lust or love…
Read MoreWhy aren’t you playing: Consortium
You may think me somewhat silly for opening a review like this, but I simply love Consortium’s options menu. You can select your video settings, but what’s more, click the setting itself and a little description of just what you are changing pops up. Don’t know what anti-aliasing is? That’s fine, the game explains it.…
Read MoreWhy aren’t you playing: Octodad: Deadliest Catch
It was during E3 2013 that I was first introduced to Octodad: Deadliest Catch. Watching the Playstation press conference via live stream, the flow of heavy and visceral games being announced was interrupted by a curious creation, Octodad. With the tagline “Loving father, secret octopus,” I had to know more. What followed was a video of…
Read MoreWhy aren’t you playing: Nidhogg
Mark Essen’s creations are more than games. They are art. Featured in galleries such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto, the New Museum in New York, as well as galleries in Brazil and Germany, Essen is an artistic maverick in the gaming world. He is a digital…
Read MoreWhy aren’t you playing: Game Dev Tycoon
I’ve never come across a greater love letter to gaming than Game Dev Tycoon, by Greenheart Games. Starting out in your garage, you are tasked with creating video games. Your journey begins in the early days of gaming on the PC and Commodore 64, and stretches into the present day. As time passes, new technologies…
Read MoreWhy aren’t you playing: Starbound
At a cursory glance, the game industry is stagnating. With the big name developers pumping out game after game, there seems little regard for innovation. It’s lucky then, that while the titans of the industry clash, indie developers are creating fire. Coming out of the holiday season, several games stood out from within the heaps…
Read MoreWhy aren’t you playing: Antichamber
I’ve rewritten this review a dozen times, now. I can’t find words for my experience with Antichamber–not because it was stupendous or too beautiful to describe, but simply because I cannot rightly think of an experience like it. It is truly unique. Antichamber is a conundrum wrapped in a metaphorical enigma, tossed into an allegorical…
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