What are we all playing this weekend?

Happy April Fool’s Day! Or is it? It is, and you can tell by how video game studios are demonstrating their truly rubbish sense of humour. Luckily for us, April Fool’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, which means few people are around to receive their awful e-mails. Unfortunately, I am working today, so me, I’m here, I’m reading these. Don’t worry, I’ll try to protect you.

What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on. … [visit site to read more]

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Wot I Think: Learning electronics with Bomb Squad Academy

If there’s one thing I’m sick of, it means I’ve had some sort of head injury and forgotten the many, many, copious things I’m also sick of. But amongst their number is the cavalcade of recent games that feel the need to try to trick me into learning computer programming. You know, I’m good thanks. I’m 40 this year, my brain has pretty much established over multiple attempts that it just isn’t willing to let in computer programming, along with French, the difference between “affect” and “effect” [not to mention “defuse” and “diffuse” -ed.], and the HTML for embedding an email address. You program the games, I’ll play them. Ta.

Anyway, so there’s a nice new puzzle game out called Bomb Squad Academy [official site], a game about defusing bombs against the clock, and – WAIT A SECOND! This game’s teaching me electronics! Why I oughtta… … [visit site to read more]

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It’s Spring Again devs launch One Eyed Kutkh free

After unraveling the mysteries of Earth’s seasons in It’s Spring Again, Russian team Baba Yaga Games are adventuring into the stars to explore tales and mythology from Russia’s Far North. Today they released One Eyed Kutkh [official site] for free. It’s a simple and pleasant adventure game about a one-eyed creature who crashes his spaceship on a strange planet and, I’m told, will “have to get to the ninth heaven, deceive the Sun and the Moon and steal their space-boats.” So far, er, my Kutkh has only broken another space-boat he found. Whoops. Have a peek in this trailer: … [visit site to read more]

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Everything wrong with the first three minutes of Thimbleweed Park

My very first interaction in Thimbleweed Park [official site], and most likely anyone else’s, was to “Look at Willie.” I don’t know who I’m playing yet, nor who Willie might be, but my German accented chap has appeared on a screen with two interactive items: a gate, and a slumped drunken man called Willie. So I looked at him, he being potentially more interesting than a gate, presuming that my character would inform me that either he knew this man and needed to speak to him, or that he did not. I got neither. Because “Look at Willie” speaks to him. … [visit site to read more]

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Wot I Think: Excellent physics-puzzler Snake Pass

Smarter than half a dozen BioShocks despite looking a bit like it fell from a lost GameCube promotional disc, Snake Pass [official site] is an animal physics game without the slapstick comedy that often entails. (Tail, like a snake has).

I’m not sure if it’s best referred to as a platformer or a puzzle game. The main activity in Snake Pass is progressing from one platform to another, but where historically (hiss, like a snake) platformers involve high-speed bounding from place to place, this is about slow-speed slithering, climbing and clenching. You’re a snake, see. Snakes don’t jump, apart from in that bit in David Attenborough when one of them snatches a hummingbird out of the air or something.

… [visit site to read more]

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Hacknet Labyrinths cracks out today

It’s a good day for fans of crashing through firewalls with their password crackers blazing. Hacknet Labyrinths [official site], a big expansion for one of the top ten hacking games, has just been released. It’s a new 3-4 hour storyline that takes place near the end of the main story, a sizeable chunk of new stuff for a game that wasn’t very long itself. As part of an elite crew of hackers, you’ll be chatting over IRC, planning and performing “data heists” with new tools and clandestine programs, and generally hacking the planet.
… [visit site to read more]

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Total War: Warhammer 2 announced

With their business in The Old World concluded, The Creative Assembly have announced Total War: Warhammer II [official site]. The strategy sequel is off to visit the Lizardmen, High Elves, Dark Elves, and another faction being kept secret for now. Get a look at this lot in the announcement trailer: … [visit site to read more]

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