Casual Game News

Inspired by movies like Winnie the Pooh, The Dark Crystal, The Secret of Nimh, Disney's Robin Hood and games like Zelda, Ico and Dark Souls, Ghost of a Tale is intended to be a "small yet beautiful game" with stylized characters and environments that look like movie sets, but that retains "a certain simplicity and immediacy" of gameplay. What's all that mean? In short, it's a fantasy adventure game starring a mouse, who undertakes a perilous journey to the Island of Periclave, a place rumored to abound with treasure - and be haunted by monsters!

It feels like I’ve been waiting four whole years for a proper sequel to my favorite plant-themed strategy game, Plants vs. Zombies. Oh wait a minute, that’s because it has been four whole years since the original Plants vs. Zombies was first released on PC and Mac platforms back in 2009. Rumors began circulating early this year that the sequel would come with the subheading “Garden Warfare,” but the lack of any real confirmation from the zombies themselves left many of us fans thinking: what’s taking so long PopCap?!

Rejoice my fellow Sims fans, because today is a day for jubilation. I can’t say I’m all that surprised about the news, but it’s still pretty exciting to hear nonetheless. That’s right, today Maxis has announced the existence of The Sims 4. I can hear my quirky virtual family murmuring nonsense words in excitement already!

Welcome to our weekend deals round up, or this week’s selections might fittingly suggest, the best weekend deals roundup of 1992.  Why 1992?  Because it’s full of classic games from that era and nostalgia-inspired modern releases!

A lot of good can come from playing video games. It can reduce stress and depression, and even improve the memory of the elderly. But there are some companies out there who wish to take it further. If playing a game can improve you as a person, why can’t it also improve the world around you? This is a question Global Gaming Initiative is hoping to answer.

The darkness inevitably comes for us all, but that doesn’t mean we have to make it easy for it to grab us with its cold touch. Ecotone is a platforming game that encapsulates our struggle against blackness: The fighting, the running, and the sweet soundtrack that accompanies our tumultuous travels (it’s in our heads).

All right, put down that blasted video game. It’s time to read some books. Some video game books. Storybundle.com is offering ten awesome video game-related ebooks that are worth a collective $100—but you can donate whatever denomination you think is fair. Be generous!

We cover plenty of new games here at Gamezebo every week, but the number of games we’ve already covered that show up on new platforms?  It’s staggering.  This Wednesday and every Wednesday, Gamezebo is rounding up the games that aren’t quite new, but might be new to you depending on your platform of choice.  And who doesn't love new(ish) games?

A few keywords to get you interested right from the start: 16-bit, metroidvania, pixel art, Gradius, open-world RPG. Still salivating? That's exactly why games like as A.N.N.E exist. The Kickstarter project by Gamesbymo looks to combine some very well-loved game genres into a stunning platformer/RPG/shmup experience. A.N.N.E is a love letter from gaming's history, and it doesn't attempt to shrug off even a bit of nostalgia as it makes its way to modern players.

Game Dev Tycoon is a fun new simulation game about managing your very own video game development company, and the first release by a studio called Greenheart Games. But like any game on the market these days, the $8 title was at risk of internet piracy the moment it was released. So in order to combat the expected piracy head on, the developers intentionally created a cracked version of the real game, and uploaded it to torrent sites themselves the same day of Game Dev Tycoon’s release. What better way to combat piracy than by giving an interactive lesson on how stealing games can harm a developer? 

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re suckers for lists around here. We chronicle each week’s major iOS releases, tell you which games we can’t wait to play, and even pick the best games released every month. And while April may not have been the most prolific month of game releases, there was still plenty to get excited about – like a new Cut the Rope!

As they’ve proven with the Deponia series, Daedalic knows how to make a solid adventure game. In fact, some have even compared the studio’s recent output to that of LucasArts in their prime. That’s a heavy compliment, but it isn’t unwarranted. The studio has an undeniable knack for telling a good story, and their puzzle design is nothing to scoff at, either.

Great game deals are like the tide.  Some weekends, when the tide is high, there are so many great game deals that we can’t possibly include them all in a single post.  Other weekends, when the tide is low, the deals are few and far between.  

While getting ready for launch, player testing your title is truly a tough and eye-opening experience. Every. Single. Time. You've constructed all these really simple, educating and fun levels, just to realize that players don't play the game 'as they should'. To ensure that your game is played like it is supposed to be played, you need to have a killer first-time flow.

What a long and tumultuous ride it’s been for SimCity players. First, the game didn't work. Next, EA and Maxis took out a bunch of features as part of their attempt to fix the problem. And now, just when we thought the storm was over, Polygon is reporting that the latest patch has brought with it a variety of nasty bugs.

We cover plenty of new games here at Gamezebo every week, but the number of games we’ve already covered that show up on new platforms?  It’s staggering.  This Wednesday and every Wednesday, Gamezebo is rounding up the games that aren’t quite new, but might be new to you depending on your platform of choice.  And who doesn't love new(ish) games?

Dustforce is just over a year old now. How well has it fared in the past year, and what does that mean for Hitbox Team? In this article, we discuss in great detail the financial performance of Dustforce, in the context of our own goals for the game. Come and learn about some of the financial issues of a tiny development team, such as how we funded Dustforce, and how much it costs to make a game.

We love playing games, reading about games, and writing about games here at Gamezebo, but eventually all of that screen time can really put a strain on our eyes. So what do we do to unwind when we’re not glued to a monitor to give you the best content on the internet today? We read a little bit of good ol’ ink on paper fiction!

Several recent court cases, including the EA vs. Zynga lawsuit and the proliferation of “cloned” games, have opened up the debate on how taking too much inspiration from existing games influences innovation in the industry—to the point that an industry body like TIGA even sent out a questionnaire on the subject to its members. The issue is now on everyone’s agenda, as cloning (or “fast follow”) is on the rise again with shorter development cycles on new platforms such as social and mobile. And while many creators of original concepts are unhappy, few actually take action.

Do you enjoy games like Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek, Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart, and Dark Arcana: The Carnival?  Wish you could have helped make those games even better?  Artifex Mundi has just launched a beta testing program that will give you early access to their upcoming games in exchange for your feedback – it’s a win/win!