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Former Good Morning America child star, Tom spends his time these days writing lots of things for people to read. He's a fan of independently developed video games, and always roots for the underdog. Send him animated .gifs on Twitter: @tomscott90. He likes those things
  • Astroids is a perfect example of how the Trademark system is supposed to work
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    • PC
    Astroids is a perfect example of how the Trademark system is supposed to work

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    Earlier in the year, I received an email from the CEO of Industry Entertainment, Nemanja Bondzulic. The sole purpose of the email was to promote Industry Entertainment's upcoming space game, Astroids: Space Game of The Year, an ambiguously-titled game that involves flying a spaceship through an asteroid field.Immediately I was confused, believing I had somehow missed the standard release that typically comes before a Game of the Year edition. So I did some searching, and it turns out that the developers were actually calling their yet-to-be-released game, the "Game of the Year". The phrase "game of the year" was actually its own bullet, on the bulleted list attached to the press release. I noted the fact that the developers were based out of Serbia, so I dismissed the questionable title as an attempt at humor which was lost in translation.Atari, on the other hand, wasn't cool with the title. A recent email from Bondzulic explains that Atari, likely in the defense of their classic Asteroids property, is requiring that Industry Entertainment rename Astroids: Space Game of the Year to something else. 
  • Browser Pick: FAIF
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    • PC
    Browser Pick: FAIF

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    FAIF is a quick-and-easy game of chance where players select five adjacent tiles on a game board, and attempt to defeat their opponent. The trick to the game is that while five tiles are selected, the game decides which of the five tiles is triggered.Each tile-type triggers something different. There are four tile types: heart, sword, gem, and skull. If a heart tile is chosen as the winner, the player receives one extra health point. Landing on a skull instantly removes one health point. Winning a gem tile awards the player gems in the amount of how many were selected in the group of five. If a sword tile is the winning tile, damage is done to the opponent equal to the amount of skulls in the group of five. So basically you cannot damage the opponent without taking a risk of being hit yourself.
  • Darkest Dungeon focuses on mental health over swords and sorcery
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    • iOS
    • PC
    Darkest Dungeon focuses on mental health over swords and sorcery

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    As the new generation of video game consoles is absorbed into households all around the world, millions of people are getting their first glimpse at the next generation of video games. Unquestionably, the majority of these gamers will gleefully murmur "it's so realistic" as they hack their way through Ryse, or blast their way to the frontlines in Killzone. Realism is what many developers aim for, and the easiest way to appear realistic is to simply look realistic.Realistic graphics go a long way towards helping to immerse the player into the game's story.  However, that realism stops as soon as the battles begin.  While some lucky few may make it through a battle, or even a war, unscathed, no one escapes the mental damage that being exposed to such carnage causes. Few games have ever stopped to take into consideration the psychological toll of battle on a character, let alone allow the player experience those side effects as part of the game.The game developers at Red Hook Studios have been itching to explore how players will handle heroes who are liable to suffer from the mental side effects of battle, in their upcoming game, Darkest Dungeon. 
  • Only One Review
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    • Android
    • iOS
    Only One Review

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    Before I even knew what was happening, I had a magical sword in my possession and the bad guys were teleporting in to try and kill me. Naturally, I reacted as any magic sword-wielding hero would when facing down a horde of enemies: I paid $1.99 and froze them all with my newly purchased frost spell —but only after I had to put the fight on hold in order to decline rating my experience thus far.Only One is a fun game that is hampered by constant, tacky reminders that you can spend your money in the game to power-up your hero. While it would be silly of me to say that a developer has no right pointing the player in the direction of where the in-app purchases reside, I feel like it's counterproductive to stop the game every time a new pair of items in the store are available to purchase. Point the player in the store's direction the first time it becomes available; anything beyond that and it feels like a nagging merchant following you through the flea market, trying to get you to buy his stuff.Ignoring the bouncing arrows and pop-ups reminding the player to rate their experience, Only One is a relatively fun game. Developed by Ernest Szoka, Only One is a top-down sword fighting game where players battle atop a mystical battleground, high up in the clouds. Enemies teleport in as others are dispatched and they can all be killed with sword attacks or magical abilities that the player unlocks by spending the points they collect from slaying other enemies. Kill an enemy and they drop loot; knock an enemy off the side of the battleground and more points are awarded, but the majority of the loot will follow the doomed opponent off the edge.
  • Build and defend your space station in SBX: Invasion Base Defense
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    • PC
    Build and defend your space station in SBX: Invasion Base Defense

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    Developed by Wakeskater Studio and available now on Desura, SBX: Invsaion Base Defense is a neat little tower defense title that puts players in control of a space station under siege. As is expected in tower defense games, enemies spawn in through warp gates and head straight to the space station, dead-set on its destruction. To protect themselves, players are equipped with a fancy ship that can construct defenses on the fly. From walls to turrets to power sources, players will be busy scrambling around their space station ensuring that the defenses will hold.Things get complicated when the player must defend both the space station and the outlying asteroid mining colonies, which are the lone source of resources needed for essential upgrades. Players must strategically place power supplies and attempt to use their own ship's laser cannons to ward off enemies attempting to zero-in on the mining colonies.
  • Children of Liberty voice cast to feature talent from Borderlands, Fallout, Gone Home
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    • iOS
    • PC
    Children of Liberty voice cast to feature talent from Borderlands, Fallout, Gone Home

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    A recent video uploaded to Lantana Games' YouTube account details the voice actors who are providing voices for a few of the characters in Children of Liberty. Attentive gamers may recognize a few of the voice actors included. Ashly Burah (Tiny Tina from Borderlands 2), Chris Ciulla (various Fallout: New Vegas characters), and Sarah Elmaleh (Katie from Gone Home) have all signed on to voice characters in Children of Liberty.Lantana Games' upcoming historically-accurate 2D stealth platformer, Children of Liberty, promises "fast and fluid" gameplay with hide and seek stealth mechanics. History buffs should take note that Children of Liberty is set to tell the tale of Paul Revere's famous night ride, and the mysterious events that led up to that iconic moment in American history. 
  • Browser Pick: Atomic Creep Spawner
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    • PC
    Browser Pick: Atomic Creep Spawner

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    During the frosty winter days of December 2012, French game developer Sébastien Bénard spent one full weekend focused on developing Atomic Creep Spawner in forty-eight hours for the Ludum Dare 25 game jam. Bénard submitted his game for the competition event and ended up winning first place in Best Game Overall, Most Fun, and Best Graphics. Atomic Creep Spawner was a runaway hit, and lucky for gamers, is free to play on Bénard's personal website.Games developed during Ludum Dare 25 had to follow the theme "You Are The Villain," and in keeping with that, Atomic Creep Spawner tasks players with spawning dungeon minions in an attempt to keep the hero from collecting treasure and destroying evil artifacts. The game has only two levels, but I had enough fun my first time through that I immediately restarted the game over again. 
  • Classroom Aquatic: The world’s first stealth trivia game
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    • iOS
    • PC
    Classroom Aquatic: The world’s first stealth trivia game

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    Those of us who attended school in a traditional classroom setting know the feeling all too well —glancing over one's shoulder to sneak a peek at a neighbor's test paper, a quick glance up to make sure the teacher was preoccupied, and then a side-long stare in an attempt to catch a glimpse at the smart kid's answer. It's almost a rite of passage. Game developer Sunken Places is attempting to turn that sensation into a videogame with Classroom Aquatic.To make things interesting, the classroom in Classroom Aquatic is, well...aquatic. As a foreign exchange student in a classroom full of dolphins, players must cheat their way through an impossibly-hard exam that they are in no way ready to take. Avoid getting caught cheating three times while getting all the answers correct on the test and the player beats the level.