Author: [email protected] (Christopher Livingston)
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The Taskmaster videogame has a creative mode so you can invent your own custom tasks and challenge your friends
With comedy game show Taskmaster about to begin its 17th series later this week, I shudder to imagine how many people have suggested ideas for tasks to Little Alex Horne over the years. The number must be in the thousands, and I’ll bet every Taskmaster fan has at least a few good ideas for tasks…
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‘Is Dave The Diver an indie game? I would say no,’ says game director
Every year—and sometimes multiple times per year—the same gaming debates pop up all over again. Review scores: are they good or bad? Are esports players real athletes? Should difficult games always have easy modes? And don’t forget the interminable yellow paint debate. The definition of “indie game” is one of those recurring discussions, and it…
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My favorite game at GDC is a first-person puzzler where you build a mansion of mysteries one room at a time
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Stop me if you’ve heard this one: you’ve inherited an ornate mansion on a sprawling estate from a mysterious relative, but in order to claim it you have to complete a challenge listed in that relative’s will. A classic premise. But there’s a pretty hefty twist on that formula in Blue Prince, a first-person strategy…
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One of Wordle’s most requested features has nothing to do with words
When I meet with Jonathan Knight, Head of Games for the New York Times, I have one big, burning question: “What’s your Wordle streak?” He takes out his phone to check. “I’m at 184 right now,” says Knight, who before joining the New York Times worked as a producer at EA, Activision, Zynga, and Warner…
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Library heists, bandit bribes, and multiple orgasms: how I became a happy king in medieval strategy sim Norland
Sometimes I wonder what kind of king I’d be, and every now and then a game comes along that makes it abundantly clear I’d be a terrible one. Currently, that game is medieval kingdom sim Norland, which feels like a mashup of Crusader Kings, RimWorld, and Mount & Blade. It’s got strategy, settlement-building, management, and…
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Enshrouded’s new 2024 roadmap has dozens of features players have been clamoring for
Co-op survival RPG Enshrouded got off to a great start in early access with over 2 million players diving into its massive fantasy world to build elaborate bases, battle monsters, and… well, honestly, mostly to build elaborate bases. While player feedback has been almost entirely positive, there have been a few requests (technically, a few…
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Steam’s latest hit is a fantasy autobattler about how many magic items you can fit in your backpack
I’ve been wondering when a game might finally tear me away from last month’s indie Steam hit, poker roguelike Balatro. Turns out it’s Backpack Battles, a PvP-ish (I’ll explain that in a second) autobattler about playing inventory tetris with a bunch of magic items. It arrived in early access on March 8, and within two…
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Why survival MMO Dune: Awakening won’t have sandwalking: ‘It looked ridiculous and it made you walk really slowly’
Walking around on the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, is a dicey proposition. Gargantuan sandworms are attracted by the rhythmic tremors caused by footsteps and quickly arrive to gulp down whoever is stomping around on the sandy dunes. That’s where the sandwalk comes in, a method of dune traveling practiced by Arrakis natives known…
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We’re riding shotgun with Pacific Drive to give away a free copy of the game and a carload of great gear
Everyone loves taking a road trip. Hop in the car, step on the gas, and head toward the horizon. In driving survival game Pacific Drive it’s not quite that simple thanks to bizarre and deadly anomalies that are lurking along the road—but as you’re speeding through the hazardous exclusion zone, this giveaway will make your…
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‘I don’t play poker at all’ says solo developer who made the poker roguelike I can’t stop playing
As a poker fan I’m always on the lookout for a new poker game. I’m especially keen to find games that use poker in interesting new ways—like RPG We Slay Monsters or roguelike Poker Quest, both of which use poker hands as a combat system—and if it’s a poker-type game I can play on the…