Pro's and Con's Micro Review: Pix n' Love Rush

Platform: iOS
Developer: Bulky Pix

I've been playing quite a few iOS games lately and I wanted to give Pix n' Love Rush a quick review.

Pro's and Con's review: Pizza Boy

Format: iOS
Developer: Acne Play
Publisher: Acne Play

Platform game controls are tricky to get right on a touch screen device. I've played a number of decent platform games on my iPod Touch over the years, the better ones usually leveraging the device's unique interface rather than attempting to shoehorn traditional game controls onto the screen. Pizza Boy is an exception, it emulates traditional physical controls by use of on-screen virtual buttons and, believe it or not, it plays really well and does a great job delivering the look, feel and playability of some of the best platformers of yesteryear on modern mobile devices.

So let's run Pizza Boy through the Pro's and Con's paces, examining the game from a professional and consumer's point of vue.

Shake Out Has Been Signed!

You've got to love in-train WiFi! I'm on my way back to Ottawa from Montréal where I met with the good folks of Îlot 307 and Jouets Boom to play some Shake Out! and hammer out the details of a publishing deal. So, as of about 3:00pm today, Shake Out! Has been signed to a publisher! Keep checking the blog as I hope to be able to keep you all up to date with the process including in-progress artwork for the new version.

The Unnamed Trilogy

So, one day "Unnamed" will be a place name that I will use as a fictional locale for some resource management/city building game ideas I've had. For the time being it remains unnamed and so below you will find a blurb for the yet unnamed Unnamed Trilogy.

I've listed the game ideas in the order in which they came to me. They are, all three, pretty different from one another but all have a central development theme.

The first is a fairly straight forward resource management building game with a mechanism by which your expansion causes resources to become more scarce. The second combines worker placement and a card game wherein cards players play become buildings everyone can send workers to. And the final one is a more abstract tile placement game with three different ways to score.

In this article I'm going to talk about idea number 3. I know, it's weird to start with the last one, but it's the most fleshed out. So here goes.

Shake Out! Review and Contest Up on Starship 613

STARSHIP613

A HANGOUT FOR CAPITAL NERDS

Raffaele Furgiuele of Starship 613 has posted a lovely review of Shake Out! and will also be hosting a contest to give away a signed copy!

Pro's and Con's Review: Of Power and Glory

Format: Board Game
Designers: Allen Lamb
Distributed Through: The Game Crafter

In this review I have a look at a game from a fellow Game Crafter: Of Power and Glory. It's hard to classify this game as it incorporates elements of worker placement as well as a unique, how do I put this... European conquest simulator? In Of Power and Glory, players take on the role of noble families exerting their influences on eight kings of Europe in the hopes of supporting the right kings to ultimately win the game. This indirect influence over the standings of the kings really is the meat of this game and what makes it worth trying. Though the game is fairly deep and strategic it also plays relatively quickly, a game usually lasting about and hour or so.

So, in the usual Pro's and Con's fashion, I'll be giving you a run down of the game from a professional and consumer point of view. Read on to find out what I though of Of Power and Glory.

Great Quote From GDC 2012: Horse Shit!

I wasn't at GDC this year, but I did, as always, follow the news on several sites. Kotaku posted a quote from Dear Esther writer, Dan Pinchbeck that I wanted to share with all of you:

"Of all the turds in the pipe, this is the granddaddy. Games are not too expensive. If you go to the store to buy granola and accidentally buy horse shit, getting six boxes for free is not extra value. Games do not need to add extra content to be a better value. I used to spend a long time pumping money into slots as a kid with this. 'The gameplay never changed, there was no kind of, like, change in the experience, this kind of stuff, I played it, I put a lot of money into it because I loved it."

Now, I do think that adding quality content to a quality product does, indeed, add to its value but I couldn't agree more that there's no point padding a mediocre game out with more crap. Dev time and resources are better spent making a tight, fun, experience rather than a long drawn out slog.