Author: Christian Donlan
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Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley review – it’s just lovely
Fight, albeit gently, for nature in this playful exploration game. You can’t throw a rock in Brighton without hitting a moomin. There are boutiques and galleries devoted to them. They’re on our teacups and our beach towels. They’re on plant pots by our windows and on the rough-papered covers of fancy Tove Jansson reprints stocking…
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Final Fantasy 7 was a different kind of blockbuster
Up front: I have never played Final Fantasy 7. I’m one of those unbearable hipsters who has only played 12, and won’t shut up about it. But with the new game out, I’ve discovered that I have fond memories of FF7, this massive game that I have never played. Also: although I didn’t play it,…
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Game of the Week: Star Wars: Dark Forces and the challenge of remasters
There’s a lovely line in Rick Lane’s review of Star Wars: Dark Forces. Actually, the piece has no shortage of lovely lines, but one stood out for me in particular. “The result is a game that looks sharp and fresh, but crucially, not new.” Dark Forces is our Game of the Week, of course, and…
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In Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor and Helldivers 2, the vital spirit of twin-stick shooters lives on
There’s a certain kind of game that has you running in circles. This isn’t because it’s poorly designed or lacking waypoints. It’s because it’s frantic, endlessly generous, and loves to throw horrible things in your path. It’s unfair in the very best way. It’s an arcade game. Specifically, it’s a twin-stick. All twin-stick shooters bow…
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Balatro review – near-infinite poker possibilities
Poker goes into the blender and emerges in fine form. A week into Balatro – Balatro were jesters and fools in ancient Rome; I googled it – I’d say that this is the Goldberg Variations of Poker. It’s Poker: Possibility Space Edition. It’s a roguelike deckbuilder that starts with the basic poker hands and then…
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Game of the Week: Finally, a game with the guts to ask, “What if middle child syndrome was a Volvo?”
In the Zone, causality goes into the blender. The past and the present and the future do not always follow in polite order. No wonder, then, that I knew Pacific Drive would one day be our Game of the Week when I played a demo build and almost died because I grabbed my car’s windscreen…
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Kingmakers is the glorious embodiment of one of gaming’s most powerful rules, and I am here for it
Hello. One of my favourite pieces of writing about games, not that anybody asked, is from Sid Meier. It’s the fourth, I think, of his 10 rules for game design. The first rules have laid out the scene: choose a topic you have passion for, define your axioms, refine your axioms. All good stuff. And…
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My special power in Arco is running away
I will always have a soft spot for simultaneous turn-based games. These are the games, taking a cue from the likes of Frozen Synapse, in which I make my move in secret, my enemy makes their move in secret, and then both moves play out at once and there’s nothing we can do about it.…
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Game of the Week: Helldivers 2 is a reminder to always bet on Double-A
When my daughter was learning to write her own stories at school – learning composition, I guess, in the language of education – she’d come home with poetry and essays about animals and little bits of this and that, all of which she was fine with, but never more than fine. When it all clicked…
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Mario vs. Donkey Kong review – the Switch’s protracted farewell continues in style
This charming puzzle-platformer makes a welcome return. The Switch is safely into its Vegas residency era now. So safely, in fact, that with the greatest hits out of the way it’s offering up some deep cuts and B-sides. I am all for this. Following on from the Super Mario RPG remake, here’s Mario vs. Donkey…