Side-Scroller “Kingdom” Mixes Elements of Terraria and City Builders
Dutch game developer Noio recently partnered with Marco Bancale of Licorice to port his Flash game to iOS. Following success on the mobile platform by way of winning the Nordic Game Program, the team has made moves to bring “Kingdom” to the PC on the Unity game engine.
Kingdom is a side-scrolling kingdom management game that fuses mechanics found in Terraria and traditional city builders. The player takes control of a single King unit, who spends coin to start a small village and attract settlers; as time progresses and the King continues to invest in his growing empire, players can build castles, recruit knights and archers, and more.
Star Citizen, the highly anticipated space sim from Cloud Imperium Games, just announced its sale of the Aegis Vanguard ship to its backers. The ship has been long-awaited by fans of the yet unfinished game, serving as a United Empire of Earth deep-space fighter. CIG's sale of the ship begins effective immediately and extends through April 6.
Warhammer: Vermintide Has Promise, But Hasn't Yet Capitalized On It
Sunday, 22 March 2015Having played Fatshark Games’ Warhammer: End of Times - Vermintide, I’m left conflicted. I played the miniatures game for years -- spending untold fortunes on it -- and the idea of a game set in an Imperial (the largest Human faction) city falling victim to a mass uprising of the rat-like Skaven sounds fun and exciting. Even more interesting is the idea of a game following the events that occur simultaneously in the miniatures game, as is the case with Vermintide.
PAX East Leap of Fate Preview: Procedurally Generated CyberPunk Action RPG
Wednesday, 18 March 2015Randomly and procedurally-generated content is becoming more prevalent in independent games created by small teams. I discovered at PAX East that this is extending to a variety of game genres and genre hybrids.
Montreal studio Clever Plays has designed a unique twin-stick action RPG, Leap of Fate, that blends elements of magic and cyberpunk lore within a randomly-generated setting. Game Director Mattieu Bégin took me through half a standard playthrough and broke-down the game’s premise, core mechanics, and replayability.
Recap: The Future of MMORPGs with Chris Roberts, Richard Garriott, & Luminaries
PAX East 2015 kicked-off to an energetic, populous crowd earlier today, and the day’s activities concluded with similar veracity: A panel of MMO & RPG veterans collected to discuss the future of massively online gaming, filling-in the entirety of the assigned theater.
Chris Roberts on Instancing, Zoning, Player Counts, & Technological Hurdles
Saturday, 07 March 2015We always manage to include the site's technology-driven coverage spectrum in conversations with Star Citizen visionary Chris Roberts. This has been true since the very beginning of our Star Citizen coverage, which heavily [focused on the technology] of the colossal space sim. Our hardware content greatly benefits from these conversations with game systems engineers, too: Such discussions lend a basic understanding of engine architecture, assisting in the development of GPU, I/O, and CPU test methodology as it pertains to real-world gaming use cases.
In this case, the CIG CEO joined us for an extensive discussion on Star Citizen's great engineering challenges, to include the recently-discussed zone system and instancing mechanics.
Trion’s voxel MMO Trove has been on our radar since last year’s Game Developers Conference, largely because of its vibrant presentation inside a cooperatively-driven game. For followers of our Cube World coverage, this would be the most comparable title. Our very own Keegan Gallick and I caught up with Project Lead Andrew Krausnick to learn about some of the newest features and what to expect in the months leading up to Trove’s late 2015 release.
Sword Coast Legends Revealed, A Traditional D&D RPG With Forgotten Realms Roots
Dungeons and Dragons has had a tumultuous history in video games. The tabletop gaming system has been used to create classics like Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment, and Neverwinter Nights, as well as a slew of less memorable titles.
Freeform Naval Exploration Game 'Windward' Offers Trade, Combat, & City Building Gameplay
Pirate fantasy sandbox game “Windward” has arrived on Steam's Early Access, promising launch in 2Q15. The forthcoming indie title grants players freeform gameplay in a naval environment, spotlighting exploration and procedurally generated maps.
Rebel Galaxy Preview: An Outlaw-Ridden Space RPG That's Not as Time Consuming
Monday, 09 February 2015With the likes of Dreadnought and Star Citizen looming ominously on the horizon, there's a fair split between impending combat-intensive and sim-intensive space games.
In our preview of Dreadnought, we explain that it plays like an FPS might, but casts players into battleships that move on six axes; this creates a fast-paced, competitive atmosphere without imposing the simulation aspects deployed in most space games. Then there's Star Citizen, which has gone off the deep-end with strategic depth, story telling, combat and mercantile mechanics, and roleplaying options. This leaves little room for players who want a space sim without the inaccessible complexity of X3, Evochron Mercenary, and depth of Star Citizen. Elite: Dangerous took a chunk of this niche, but there's room for more.
We moderate comments on a ~24~48 hour cycle. There will be some delay after submitting a comment.