With the big issues of the day - jobs, Iran and Chick-fil-A - stirring up partisan passions, it's probably the best time ever to play a computer game about running for president. So kudos go to Stardock for releasing The Political Machine 2012, a game that simulates the messy business of going after the highest office in the U.S.A. and injects it with 100 percent more humor and infinitely more bobbleheads to make it entertainment.
The tower defense genre comes in many shapes and sizes, but there's no denying that last year's Orcs Must Die! was by far one of the most refreshing twists to the genre in a long time. The brilliant combination of tower defense with third-person action led to an addictive mix of strategy and skill. Less than a year later, Robot Entertainment is back with Orcs Must Die! 2, and everything is bigger. While it's impossible to recapture the innovation and surprise of the first title, this interactive death trap is just as fun to spring as the original.
These days, Elephant Games is the hidden object game maker to beat. The company's credits include stellar games like Mystery Trackers: Black Isle and Urban Legends: The Maze. This month, its stable of quality games grows yet again with hidden object psycho-drama, Surface: The Noise She Couldn't Make. This over-the-top adventure explores bold new territory not by journeying to distant lands, but by venturing into the twisted recesses of the human mind.
A Nation of Wind is a remarkable accomplishment. Created as a solo project by indie developer Jameson Wilkins, it combines real-time strategy with "arena shooting" in a game that evokes memories of classic god-games like Populous and Powermonger. But while it shows great potential, and my hope is that one day it evolves into a great game, at this stage in its development it's just not quite ready for prime time.
If someone had thrown the term "match-3 RPG" my way five years ago, I would have replied with a quizzical look and a deep understanding that whoever I was talking to was either confused, a moron, or both. Before you think me mad, try to remember: five years ago the world didn't have Puzzle Quest.
Some games are about telling a good story and some games are about doing stuff; rarely does a single title manage to do both. That's why I'm inclined to forgive the latest in the Echoes of the Past series, Echoes of the Past: Revenge of the Witch for its storytelling shortcomings. This new hidden object adventure by Orneon and Big Fish represents one of the best "doing stuff" -type games I've played in many a moon.
It was inevitable that someone would eventually attempt to replicate the glorious management action found in the super-popular Kairosoft mobile games. Since the very beginning when Game Dev Story got our creativity pumping, the Story series has been a phenomenal source of entertainment.
Just as real-world researchers have long been focused on discovering the lost city of Atlantis, so too have game developers worked on creating virtual environments detailing its discovery and origin(s). But while Eternal Journey: New Atlantis may outwardly seem like another clichéd title to throw into that group, it quickly changes shape, becoming a highly polished and incredibly entertaining science fiction tale set in the far future on Mars.