So what is my game of the year? Well unlike the last two years when I asked myself that question, there was a clear winner. In 2007 it was Portal […]
State of the Blog ’09
A year and a fortnight ago I started this site from the idea that I wanted to critique games, as one would do to a book or movie, looking at […]
Nostradamus Check Up ’09
Last year I said I called it to a number of predictions I had made. Then in February I made several predictions about the coming year. Let’s see how I […]
A Wondeful Comment in an Otherwise Shitty Season
Over at Kotaku, I know I know, hear me out. Over at Kotaku they sometimes highlight some of the more interesting comments from their comment sections by giving it their own post, which is better than articles dedicated to breast admiration, though their next post defeats that purpose, but I digress.
In Which I Respond to the Three False Contraints
When I first read Danc’s post over at Lost Garden, Three False Constraints, I called it the stupidest thing I read from the critical community. I decided rather than write an immediate response I would wait a few days to calm down and think it over non-emotionally. I’m glad I did, not because I came to any agreement with him, but because I read this piece by Charles J Pratt over at Game Design Advance. It got me thinking more about the meat of the form of the medium. So I spent some more time thinking and went back to reread his post. Here’s my response.
Indie Game Spotlight – Today I Die
Over at the CreativeFluff design blog I spotlighted Today I Die, an indie game that came out around April of this year from designer/developer Daniel Benmergui. Go play it before […]
The Killer 7 Argument – Braid
It took a while, but I’ve played another game worthy of the Killer 7 Argument. I just finished playing through Braid for the second time after my first complete save was lost to a corrupt hard drive. The second playthrough was a huge help in getting my head around what to make of the game and figure out what I specifically thought of it.
How To Not Spend More Than You Have
Heroes of Might and Magic II is an old game when they were still getting a handle on new design. As great as it is, it isn’t a game that […]
Indie Game Spotlight – Small Worlds
The game was made for Casual Gameplay’s design contest #6 with the parameters to incorporate this content’s theme: Explore. Were I to judge in the contest I would look to […]
The Farmer and the Stork in Heroes of Might and Magic II
The game came out back in 1996, long before the industries present fixation on moral choice. Heroes of Might and Magic II starts off with a choice. The implications between the two men are rather clear in deed and imagery. One man offers a clean conscience and a place in the kingdom and the other monetary reward and a place in the kingdom. This is the truest sense of a moral choice, because yes there is an offer of reward, but it doesn’t happen within the mechanics of the game. The choice has no connection to ludic elements whatsoever.