Maia: A game by Simon Roth

Video owned by TotalHalibut via YouTube

For those of us who played games like Dungeon Keeper and Theme Hospital, we have warm and cozy spots set aside for those games. But does that new generation of gamers know the joy that can be held from designing a facility and managing it while trying to cope with the goals set ahead of you?

I've snooped around, and I haven't seen much along the lines of those amazing classics. Some claim to carry that torch, but they just don't really add up to them. We need a game to fill that void. A game to give us near god-like control to build and manage. A game with humor, dark and fun. That game may very well be Maia.

Maia is a sci-fi space colony management game in the style of Dungeon Keeper and Theme Hospital with elements of Dwarf Fortress tossed in. It is about keeping your colonists safe from a hostile alien world as well as managing their needs and making sure they don't go crazy and start murdering each other. It looks amazing but it needs your support to make it the rest of the way on Kickstarter. 

Are you willing to help?

Click here to check out the Maia Kickstarter.

Until next time,
-Dave
(If Maia gets made, I'm gonna control a robot in it and harass all the colonists)

Turkey Day Deals

Psst...hey...I heard you like games...

So you may know this already, but in case you didn't...

...tomorrow is the start of Steam's Autumn Sale.

Lotsa games are gonna be super cheap, just in time for some Thanks Giving turkey coma playing for us nerdy folk on the interwebs.

Personally, I'm going to try and clear out my wish-list with all the great deals that are sure to be had.

Here are some games I think you should look out for and can play with family and friends this season.

Scribblenauts Unlimited; great to play with younger family to help capture their imaginations and enjoy a (some-what) non-violent game.

Little Inferno; A fun little game where you set things ablaze to stay warm. A little dark, but still fun for the entire family since nearly everyone loves setting things on fire.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2; Fast and frantic multiplayer action that is great fun for the slightly older kids to play.

Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of Baskervilles; a hidden object game that parents are sure to love!

Or just look around! I'm sure you'll find something to share with family and friends this holiday season.

Heck, even if you're not into sharing, you should find some freakin' sweet deals for those games you've been keeping an eye on. As for me, I think I'm going to try and get everything on my wishlist!

Have a good one.

Until next time,

-Dave

(I like the holidays. It's the only time I get deviled eggs...)

"Scribblenauts Unlimited" is coming...

So how many of us have; or at least had, a Nintendo DS?
From what I've read, quite a few of them were sold, so I gotta think someone who reads this has owned one. And for your sake, I hope you at least had a chance to try Scribblenauts, a fantastic game where you solve puzzles how ever you can by summoning in whatever you can think of by simply typing it out on your wee-tiny screen.

 I owned a DS for a little bit and Super Scribblenauts (the second in the series) was one of only a hand full of games I owned. When eventually selling my DS, I nearly kept Super Scribblenauts anyway! That's how good of a game it is!

The Scribblenaut games are pure magic, but they were held back slightly by limiting us, the players...

That is, until now...

As I get a little older and transition into becoming a PC gamer, I got super-freakin' excited when I found out that Scribblenauts Unlimited is gonna be on Steam! That's right mah-fukkas! AND IT'S IN HD!

CHECK IT OUT AND BUY IT!

Yeah, you're looking forward to it now, aren't ya'?

...

What's that?! You think this is a kids game!?!

AH-HELL-NAW! This right here is an awe-inspiring game made to gently awaken the child like wonder and whimsy that resides in all of us, you stupid ass-hole! You will love this sweet chunk of creative innocents, damn-it!

Need more reasons to love this game? Okay, here we go!

• Unbound World: An open universe environment that opens up unlimited hours of game play! You can literally play it forever!
• Object Creator: You can make unique objects with unique properties and share them with friends online! Or give them to sworn enemies to ruin their lives!
• Object Library: Store previous items and custom creations in a magic backpack for use later. Like stashing a magic wand in yer pack to smote some dudes!
• Multiplayer: Fuck yeah! (on the Nintendo stuff)
• Merit Board: Where each world has hints stored for whiners who can't handle this! Yeah, I said it. What're you gonna do about it?
• HD: Did I tell you it's in HD? Oh, well I guess you weren't listening, cause yeah it's in HD.

Now that you know you want this game, you should probably know when you're life will be blissfully and ever consumed by the fiery nova of bad-ass-ness that Scribblenauts Unlimited will pound into your succulent face holes.

...

November 20th.

...

For $29.99 plus tax.

...

You should pre-order it now on Steam before the internet decides you don't deserve this game...

Scribblenauts Unlimited is Developed by 5th Cell Media LLC.

SCRIBBLENAUTS and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Until next time,

-Dave

(Did I go a little too far this time?)

Draw a Stickman: EPIC

When burdened with a little bit of free-time and over-flowing with creativity while out in the wilds of the world, I find my mind wandering into traffic and promptly wrecking any concept I have of time. If you don't have this problem and oh so desperately need a distraction from the ever-whirling world around you, me-thinks you should check out Draw a Stickman: EPIC! (watch the video below!)

You draw your hero and their tools and weapons in order to solve puzzles, over-come obstacles, and slay monsters that stand in the way of your quest! With the unique art style and a heavy dose of creative freedom, this game for iPad, iPhone, Windows 8, and Android devices could help you forget how time works.

Also, if you like this game and want to help others enjoy it, you might head over to their Steam Greenlight and giving it an up-vote!

Until next time,
-Dave
(More stuff soon!)

Computer Gaming and Laptop Bags

For those of you know PC game, you know how much fun it can be. The community is kinder and more mature. The games have better graphics with updates and mods pouring freely in. The controls are more diverse and responsive. It's really a great way to eat away your time when you have other things to do...

But if you're like me, you have a gaming laptop. One that costs more than your first car. More power than you know what to do with and quite a bit bigger than those wee-tiny laptop bags or "sleeves" they try to peddle in stores. Those are made to fit 10 inch netbooks and tablets. They aren't made for our kind of machines. Our game playing monsters. My beast of a machine needs more room and more cushion, and by gum, so does yours. 

If you're looking for something to get you by with a great price and everything you need, check out this bad boy down below. The 18" Case Logic Laptop Briefcase. I have one for one of my old laptops and it does what you'll need. Enough room to hold a gaming laptop and a power brick. Maybe a handful of external hard drives, too if that's how you roll.

But, if you want some more room and some more style you might want to check out this one.

The KIKEN 18" Jedi Mind Trick custom Laptop Shoulder Bag.

$100 of cool looking bag with all the room your looking for to hold down your bad-ass computer and accessories. Okay, so it's like $70 more than the Case Logic bag, and they do the same thing and offer about the same amount of room, so why buy this one instead? Well because it looks cool! But you are right. They do the same thing. Personally, I'll probably just use my Case Logic bag since it's held up for years, is a great price, and is still going strong.

Until next time,

-Dave

(Advertising like shameless whores)

XCOM Enemy Unknown - review

Today is a bit of a sad day for me. And it's because I decided that I don't like at game that I was really looking forward to as much as I thought I would. That game would be XCOM Enemy Unknown.

That's not to say that it isn't a fuckin' great game, because it is. I think it's fantastic. Why I don't like it is that I had forgotten how frustrating the original was, and this update leaves that devastation in tact while kicking up the graphics and stream-lining the user interface. The part that I hate to admit is that I hadn't grown any better at the whole tactical, turn-based, squad combat thing since I was like 14 years old.

When playing XCOM Enemy Unknown, you can adjust the difficulty down to "Easy" but at that difficulty, you start feeling bad for the invading alien forces for gravely under-estimating man-kind. But that's not how I think it should be played; at least on Normal and with this nifty function called "Ironman". Besides sharing the same name as my favorite alcoholic super-smart-hero, the Ironman feature auto-saves with only one save, so if your team keeps smeared across the map or burnt to a plasma-induced crisp, there is no way of getting those team members back. It's tough and unforgiving, and I under-estimated how much this game would try to hurt me in real life.

But I'm getting off track. XCOM has strong, stylized visuals and unique designs that me as a player could get behind. Though the armor does remind me of nearly every other space marine I have seen, the deversity on the teams and the even faintest sense of customization really helps make your squad your own...which makes the lose of the entire team just that much more of a gut-punch.

If you enjoy strategy, a good challenge, and a compelling sci-fi setting and story, than take a look at XCOM Enemy Unknown. And if you're like me and remember playing the old XCOM when you were younger and you're kinda sure you had fun, you might as well give it a shot, too! You never know if you're going to like something until you try.

Until next time,
-Dave

Keep an eye out for "Don't Starve"

Recently, I've been diving into PC gaming so very much more. (Guess that's what happens when you get a shiny new computer and have a little bit of free time...)  And being the aspiring game developer that I am, I search for fun, new, and exciting gaming experiences, especially from indie devs.

While lurking around the youtubes, I saw a tiny series by one content creator that never caught my eye before, that was until now...

A highly stylized game where you play a dapper gentlemen scientist who gets dropped off out in the wild, with nothing but your wits and the world around you to help you survive.

Being a fan of survival, crafting, rogue-likes, and unique art styles like myself, you are  bound to come across "Don't Starve" and you will; like me, will love this game.

Yeah, it's pretty fuckin' awesome.

I played the demo a couple of times on Chrome and I found myself eyeing the buy it button from their web-site and dipping into an excellent indie game induced haze. If it weren't for my ever diligent girlfriend asking me about paying my bills, I probably would have spent the low, low, low price of $8.99 that I just don't have on this amazing game.

Hell, lets be honest, I am going to buy the Early-Access of "Don't Starve" just as soon as she isn't looking...

"Don't Starve" is by Klei Entertainment. As far as I can tell, as of October (of this year, 2012) it is in Beta and only available in-browser. It will be a stand alone executable for it's full release. If you wish to purchase the game early, you get 2; count 'em 2 copies of the Early-Access Beta, a full copy of the game when released, regular content updates, you get to talk to the devs to help the game evolve, and a Steam activation code when its released over there. Which, as most awesome indie games, will end up on Steam. 

Find out more about the game and even enter the beta yourself at http://www.dontstarvegame.com/blog/

Until next time,
-Dave

Happy Halloween!