CATEGORIES

FACE THE MUSIC

After DMCA takedowns, Twitch has to make peace with the music biz

ALIVE & KICKING

Playing my first match in BLOOD BOWL 3— and surviving to tell the tale.

A Match Made In Skyrim

Bethesda officially joins Microsoft

“I veer off course, stumble over my feet, and send the skater careening”

Breaking virtual shins in SESSION

“Establishing slipways is as simple as drawing a line between two planets”

Building a space empire in SLIPWAYS, one trade route at a time

STEP BACK IN TIME WITH ANOTHER EDEN THE CAT BEYOND TIME AND SPACE

A fresh take on classic JRPGs by industry veterans

DESPICABLE GLEE

EVIL GENIUS 2: WORLD DOMINATION simulates both the devious delights and fiendish frustrations of being a frothing megalomaniac.

RINGER

Charming micro RPG LOOP HERO is one of this year’s first true gems.

KHAN'T COMPETE

Can STRONGHOLD: WARLORDS rebuild the foundations of the series?

OOBLETS

Updates introduce two new areas into the world of Oob.

CURSE CORRECTION

CURSE OF THE DEAD GODS is a sharp and atmospheric roguelike dungeon crawler.

CONSOLE WARS

NARITA BOY is a vibrant retro-futuristic adventure about cyber heroes and digital legends.

FALLING IN LOVE

LEMMINGS still haunts my nightmares almost three decades later.

QUAKE

The blueprint for 3D shooters has lots to teach in 2021.

LORD OF CHAOS

How XCOM’s JULIAN GOLLOP improved on the board games he loved

Unreal World

Two years on, EPIC GAMES STORE is still a golden ticket for developers and irresistible bait for gamers.

LEADING A PEASANT REVOLT IN BATTLE BROTHERS PART II

We return to the Darklands for a grim conclusion.

THE GREATEST INFLUENCER

PC gaming would look very different without CIVILIZATION.

RICE FARMING IN SAKUNA: OF RICE AND RUIN

I planted 100 individual seedlings and loved every second.

RAISING THE BAR

The subtle, hands-off storytelling of HALF-LIFE 2 is still hard to beat.

COOL RUNNINGS

What if advances in PC cooling change the PC beyond recognition?

BUILD ME UP

The joys of creation and destruction in SIMCITY 2000

Breaking Ground

Meet the developers making bugs and glitches on purpose

Ghost Town

I am dead is a playful exploration of life in limbo.

LEADING A PEASANT REVOLT IN BATTLE BROTHERS PART I

Can low borns forge their own path in a grim fantasy world?

NEUROJANK

CYBERPUNK 2077 delivers an incredible setting undermined by an onslaught of bugs.

SIM SETTLEMENTS 2

Tune up Fallout 4’s settlement system.

GREEK CHIC

A puny mortal embarks on a quest to save the gods in IMMORTALS FENYX RISING, and finds yet another massive Ubisoft open world game.

GLASS CANNON

How Obsidian built its reputation for masterful, yet buggy, RPGs

HOBBIT FORMING

This team dedicated ten years to building Middle-earth in MINECRAFT