gaming

Over the course of the history of gaming, game designers have allowed players minimal to no choices regarding how the storyline of their game ends. Perhaps they might give the player a chance to decide to spare or kill an enemy NPC or let them pick their party members – but never decisions big enough to feel important. With the emergence of games like the Telltale Series, players are getting more and more power allotted to them to influence their final ending. Games like Silent Hill and Bioshock started to allow players to have one of three to five different ...

Occasionally games will take a break from the typical structures of crafting, battling, and leveling, games to present a softer, more idealistic approach to gameplay. Games like this have started to have much, much more of a presence in the gaming world and have started to ping the radar of more players. Indie games offer a player an experience vs. a challenge, and focus more on the ideas and thoughts their characters are experiencing instead of their goals and accomplishments. Submerged, a newly released Indie game, focuses on themes of exploration and ...

Eisenwald is a magical medieval world that is filled to the brim with those searching for power and status. Exploring that world through quests driven by motivations of status and money, players of the newly released Legends of Eisenwald are treated to a game offering intricate story and in-depth world exploration. Released in July of 2015, the game was published and developed by the company Aterdux Entertainment. Aterdux had previously only released one other game named Discord Times, which was essentially the blueprint of the structure of game that ...

At the very start of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, a message sprawls across the screen informing the player that this game does not hold your hand and that through atmospheric exploration you will discover the truth. This statement could not be more true, and only moments into gameplay it is clear that you are on your own. With nearly open world investigation and a subtle storyline that does not force the player into doing things in any particular order, you are able to fully enjoy the experience of the world created. A beautiful game at heart, it was ...

At a time when fantasy RPG games are dominating the gaming world, smaller games struggle to compete with huge names like Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls to create innovative and beautiful worlds for their heroes to explore. Games like this must continue to be made so that the category is not solely ruled by large franchises; new ideas and creations can be born out of this diversity. One good example is the very fun and very creative ArcaniA: Gothic 4.

Death, loss, fear, and hatred are all emotions that surround the dark and unforgiving world portrayed in The Charnel House Trilogy. A 2D point and click adventure with a retro look, Charnel House has the charm of a small developer’s game, but the ambition of something much larger. Very quickly into launching the game, you become enveloped in the world it offers, dying to know more information that then increasingly vague answers given to you. This 3-part story published by indie game company Owl Cave is short, but sweet and wastes no time easing you into ...

Xanadu is an abandoned space ship littered with blood trails, cryptic audio logs, murderous robots, and intense mystery surrounding the events that have taken place there. Originally a research ship orbiting a strange planet, there has been no contact with the crew for months, and one single operative has been sent in to investigate and hopefully bring them home. Acting as this lone investigator, the player navigates their way through this shadowy and terrifying ship trying to find answers while avoiding the many enemies lurking in the dark hallways. A ...

After a short and unexpected delay, the second book of the game Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey was released this March. Book One: Reborn, released back in October of last year was the first release for the series after an 8 year break during which the game’s creator Ragnar Tornquist reached out to Kickstarter to get support in making the third game in the franchise. Due to the huge gap in time, this third game offers much more advanced graphics and the ability for Tornquist to see more of his ideas realized. It is because of Tornquist’s perfectionism ...

All kids are different, and all parents are different. The most important thing is for everyone to understand each other and communicate about the subject. If parents have hard rules about content that they want to impose, they have to be able to explain the reasoning behind them so the kids understand the rules and internalize the logic being used. Particularly as kids get to be 9 or 10, they’ll have friends that are “allowed” to play contentious stuff, like Grand Theft Auto (sometimes it’s really that the parents of those kids have no idea of the content) ...

The terrain of the planet Shear is devastatingly dangerous and exceptionally beautiful. The planet was populated in an effort to establish colonies far in the distant future. However, when vicious and ruthless monsters began to destroy the civilization, the plant became a warzone. The graphics and story created for the new hit FPS MMO Evolve are unique and enchanting and tell the story of Shear’s birth, death, and rescue with beautiful style. The planet is equal parts treacherous and stunning and the hunters who sneak through its terrain to hunt down the ...