Trine was a 2D yet 3D platform puzzler, in which you controlled 3 different characters each with unique skills, as they fight/swing/levitate their way across a traditional fantasy world. It was really charming, had simply gorgeous visuals and had some really clever little physics-based puzzles. I was sold on it from the demo, but I went and bought it from Steam as soon as it was out and played through it both by myself, and with my 10 year old cousin in the local co-op feature (I was on the keyboard, while she used a 360 gamepad). The only thing it was lacking was online co-op, which the game would have benefited hugely from. Apparently, Trine 2 will have such a feature, and its going to be great.
There was a trailer released at E3 and it looks to continue the story of the knight, thief and wizard, though how exactly they’ll justify them getting back together will be amusing, since if I remember rightly they managed to separate themselves at the end of the first game, after the ridiculously difficult final level. Not that it matters, I just want more cool physics puzzles to jump around in and I’ve never seen such a quality looking giant toad in a game before. The original Trine only came out on the Playstation Network and the PC, so I hope this time they release it on XBLA since it’d fit in very nicely. Though again, I’m mostly interested in the PC version, since it’ll clearly be the prettiest.
Dome Keeper is an excellent little spin on the tower defense game, in which you play the role of a jetpacking miner defending his base from swarms of aliens, whilst searching for a hidden relic buried somewhere beneath him. And now, with this huge free update, you can play it with friends.
I want to talk about Cloudpunk, a game where you get to be a flying-car delivery driver in a futuristic cyberpunk city. Its world is an incredible achievement of environmental design, and while the gameplay itself may be basic, the city of Nivalis is a thing of beauty to behold. Nivalis is built out of hundreds of hand-modelled cuboid buildings; there’s nothing procedural about it. Apparently it took 3 years for the devs to design the city, and it really shows.
I do love me some quality pixel art, and it doesn’t get much better than this. Cast n Chill is a cozy side-scrolling fishing game by small indie dev team Wombat Brawler, with absolutely gorgeous visuals. It’s simple to play, and you you can dip in and out of it at your leisure, making it a fine addition to our collection of coffee break games.
You might have heard of Pokémon. I can’t quite believe that date. 1996!? Holy crap. 21 years ago, apparently, I got well into this strange Japanese game about collecting made-up animals, stuffing them into balls and training them to fight each other.
Format: PS3
Release date: 2010
Heavy Rain is more like an interactive movie than a game, and it is mostly excellent. It’s a game about choices and living with the consequences. I played it through twice myself, just to see how different decisions affect the story and its ultimate conclusion, but to say that my first try was emotional would be the understatement of the century. This game almost broke me. I’ll tell you how soon, but first I want to recount the story of one of my friend’s choices… Like I said, watching Heavy Rain is just like watching a movie, but watching your friend play Heavy Rain gives you an amusing bit of insight into their psychology. The results can be hilarious.
Is bingeing bad for us? It seems an obvious question, but I have been thinking about it lately, while revisiting Lost, the tv show that started 22 years ago (cripes, I feel old). Back when it was airing, my friends and I watched it religiously every week, talked about it in great detail, eagerly awaiting the next episode. It was the definitive show of its time, sparking debates and endless theories. It felt great to be a part of that, the sense of all experiencing the same thing together over a long period of time – most seasons had over 20 episodes, which is way more than most shows get these days – and they aired one by one, every week for several months. In today’s age of bingeing a show from beginning to end, I wonder what we are missing by not taking our time.
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