You may or may not know this, but both of Valve's hugely popular Portal games were based on ideas from students at DigiPen, a college based in Redmond, Washington that seems to churn out the most incredible video game designers annually. The original Portal was based on a student game called Narbacular Drop, while the second title was inspired by another DigiPen game called Tag: The Power of Paint.
Cart Life is special. Not because it is "a retail simulation for Windows," but because of everything it doesn't tell you in that one-line description. Because it's a game about mundaneness, tedium, exhaustion, and disappointment that still manages to be engaging, moving, and inspirational.
I often have this strange urge to play overly-challenging indie games that I know will make me scream out in anger over and over again. Titles like Super Meat Boy and VVVVVV are difficult as hell, yet overcoming them gives me this incredible sense of victory that cannot be matched elsewhere in the video game world.
Your daughter Angie has been traveling in Europe, but her latest letters hint that she discovered something mysterious (and possibly dangerous) in Italy. You travel to the town and discover she has gone missing, vanishing after a phantom called Silhouette showed up. In order to find her you seek the help of Virgil, a painter whose artwork can predict the future, and hope his foresight can give you the clues you need to find Angie!
War is a horrifying and bitter experience even in its most base form—that is, two walls of armed human beings throwing themselves at one another. But war is really hair-raising when it becomes subtle, shadowy, and sneaky. Infestor is a compelling, if straightforward, platforming/puzzle game that demonstrates how the loud work of an army can be done with a single, silent germ.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm meant to live the life of a cowboy. I love cooking food over an open flame, and I've always thought horses were pretty cool. Far as I know, those are the only real requisites for becoming a good old fashioned buckaroo. But I'm not sure I could handle the immense heat the Wild West is known for, and I'm also terrified of snakes. Guess I'll just have to live out my dreams through Ostrich Banditos' Westerado, a totally free browser game that has everything a cowpoke could want.
The story of hopeful young people leaving behind their humble farm homes for the lights of the big city is as old as city life itself. When the first cities and towns were established, girls and boys left the country and battled crowds and homesickness to leave their names amongst the teeming masses. Disney City Girl is a Facebook social game that narrates the new, exciting life of one such gal, and her in-game efforts pay off far more than they would in the real world—but hey, who wouldn't like to have everything handed to them while living in New York City?
The legend of King Arthur has been retold countless times, and Polish developer Artifex Mundi's Time Mysteries seriesalso embraces the complex morality tale. Basing its lore on Arthur's friend and advisor, Merlin the Magician—or more correctly, Merlin's family tree—the series has thus far been solid but flawed, telling confusing stories and exhibiting a troublesome lack of creativity. The third game in the series, Time Mysteries: The Final Enigma, continues that unfortunate trend.