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Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.
  • DragonVale Wings is more DragonVale, but not really
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    • iOS
    DragonVale Wings is more DragonVale, but not really

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    When it first launched back in 2011, DragonVale was a phenomenon. Yet despite an army of copycats (my daughter is currently nursing a Dragon City addiction, so I'm speaking from experience), Backflip Studios didn't seem too keen on revisiting the IP.At least not until now.DragonVale Wings hit the App Store this week, but it's not quite the DragonVale follow-up that fans might be expecting. Rather than a dragon breeding city builder, Wings is a Flappy Bird-alike, and not a terribly good one at that.
  • Alaska Natives Tell Their Tales in Never Alone
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    • PC
    Alaska Natives Tell Their Tales in Never Alone

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    The stories of our fathers are rarely written down. What we know of our family, our past, and to a certain extent our culture has survived because of the tradition of oral storytelling. In some cultures this is more valued than others. For the Indigenous People of the Americas, telling stories is essential to the preservation of their culture and heritage.So why not share these stories through a more modern medium?Never Alone will be the debut release from Upper One Games, a studio founded by the Cook Inlet Tribal Counsel in Anchorage, Alaska. They're the first indigenous-owned studio in the US, and that's a title they wear proudly. "Video games are powerful tools for making the history, tradition and culture of indigenous peoples relevant to both the next generation of Native people and the rest of the world," said CEO Gloria O'Neill in a prepared statement.
  • Kentucky Route Zero Act III available now
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    • iOS
    • PC
    Kentucky Route Zero Act III available now

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    Remember Kentucky Route Zero? I sure hope so. It was our pick for 2013 Game of the Year, and not without good reason. That said, only the first two acts of five have been released, and considering the "it'll be ready when it's ready" response the studio has given for questions about Act III, it seemed like we might be waiting a while longer.Good news… we're not! Kentucky Route Zero Act III has now been released into the wild. If you already own the game on a season pass (and if you own the game, you absolutely do) you should be able to grab the game now. Steam buyers will receive it as an automatic update, while those who purchased through the Humble Store will need to tackle their download manually.But enough chatter - it's time to get a David Lynch kinda weird up in here.
  • Rovio-published RETRY Is More Flappy Bird than Angry Birds
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    • iOS
    Rovio-published RETRY Is More Flappy Bird than Angry Birds

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    When Flappy Bird took the world by storm earlier this year and the App Store was flooded with clones ranging from Flappy Bee to Flappy Miley Cyrus, it wasn't hard to see this as a fad that would eventually reach its breaking point.  But still - even through that fog of copycats, I couldn't help but think that there was something ingenious about Flappy Bird's simple gameplay mechanic. Nolan Bushnell compared it to grunge rock; gaming stripped down to its most basic.It was only a matter of time until we saw that mechanic employed in more polished ways.Flappy Golf was really the first instance of "hey, you can do something neat with this!", but the Rovio-published RETRY - now live in Canada, Finland and Poland - is the best we've seen so far. 
  • Pixel Noir: a JRPG for the Sam Spade Crowd
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    • Android
    • iOS
    • PC
    Pixel Noir: a JRPG for the Sam Spade Crowd

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    Indie RPGs aren't terribly uncommon nowadays. Neither are indie RPGs with a retro flair. But an indie RPG with a retro flair that's also set against a film noir backdrop?Ok, you've got my attention.Stepping into the shoes of a shamed police detective turned private eye, Pixel Noir will task players with finding clues, interrogating suspects, and - since it's also a JPRG at heart - engaging in turn-based battles with some unexpectedly gruesome foes. Pixel Noir definitely piqued my curiosity, but it also has me thinking out loud: Is film noir the next big trend in games? Pixel Noir's existence seems to have come along right at the same time as the sci-fi gumshoe adventure Last Life, and both seem to have timed nicely with the release of Third Eye Crime.Even Telltale's been getting in on the action with The Wolf Among Us.Pixel Noir will be wrapping up its Kickstarter later this week, and it could use your help to cross the finish line. Be sure to check out the official project page, and if you like what you see, send a pledge their way.
  • Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is 50% off, should you want to kick it old school
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    • iOS
    • PC
    Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is 50% off, should you want to kick it old school

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    With the new Call of Duty announcement still hot off the presses (Kevin Spacey, WHAT ARE YOU DOING??), what better time is there to remember the long time ago of 2007 when CoD first became the defacto name for online shooters? That's right - the latest offer on Gamezebo Deals is for none other than Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.Normally available for $19.99, you can snag a Steam key for this "modern" classic for just $10. I haven't heard back from my mathematician yet, but if my amateur calculations are correct, that's a savings of 50%!Less talking, more buying. Then shooting.
  • Mark of the Old Ones: Fun with Tentacles
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    • iOS
    • PC
    Mark of the Old Ones: Fun with Tentacles

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    As you can probably guess from the name (assuming you're well-steeped in literary horror), Mark of the Old Ones is a game that embraces the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. But after watching the trailer, I'm more inclined to think that the game was inspired by Wacky Wally - the classic wall-crawling octopus that came in a cereal box and lost his stickiness after his third attempt at adventure.It's a strange comparison, but bear with me. Or better yet, watch the Mark of the Old Ones Kickstarter video below to see the gameplay in action.
  • Blizzard Is Giving Away Their Early Classics
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    • PC
    Blizzard Is Giving Away Their Early Classics

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    Every studio had to start somewhere, and with Blizzard, that somewhere was still pretty amazing. Do you remember The Lost Vikings? That was Blizzard. Rock n' Roll Racing? Blizzard, too. Even Blackthorne, which admittedly, I'm a little hazier on, was an early Blizzard property.While all worth a download (especially since they're free), I'd like to call particular attention to The Lost Vikings. It was arguably the first puzzle platformer with a "switch between different characters to solve the puzzles" mechanic, it was unique enough to inspire a whole sub-genre of puzzle platforming. And also, it's just pretty damned great.It's also worth noting that fellow Gamezebo scribe Steven Strom thinks that The Lost Vikings' Olaf the Stout could be making an appearance in Blizzard's upcoming MOBA Heroes of the Storm. And that would just be… wow.