Games of the Year 2013

Making lists is fun, so here’s a list of my favourite games released in the year of our lord 2013. I haven’t played almost all of the games, but I have played some of the games. No, I haven’t played Skyoshock, or Gone Home, or The Stanley Parable. I’m so, so sorry.

Oh and, I did play The Last of Us, but not enough of it to give it a place here. Soz bbz xoxo.

For the second year running (here’s last year’s picks) I’ve failed to narrow down a top ten, because I’m an indecisive buffoon. Here’s my top 13, because 2013!! Geddit? I did it on purpose.

My Best / Most Important Articles of the Year

WHO LIKES END-OF-YEAR ROUND-UPS?

WHO LIKES END-OF-YEAR ROUND-UPS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT ME??

Well, okay, nobody really. But this is my fucking blog and I’ll cry if I want to, so just back off and leave me alone, yeah?

No, wait, please come back. Somebody? Somebody wallow in my self-satisfaction with me, please? It’s no fun if you do it alone. You guys are mean.

AppStorm: The 7 Most Criminally Underplayed Games on Android

There’s no question that smartphones and tablets have become by far the biggest gaming platform in the world, surpassing dedicated gaming devices with the sheer size of their user base and gaming software on offer. However, it is worth considering that the Google Play store is an environment which creates only a few gaming mega-hits per year, with many hopeful, worthy titles quickly fading into obscurity.

For an independent game developer, these struggles for exposure are often insurmountable. Google’s openness and transparency regarding app download figures provides a sobering — and often depressing — insight into these difficulties, with many games boasting a shocking lack of players. Here, we have collated 7 very worthwhile gaming experiences on Android that have most definitely flown under your — and almost everyone else’s — radar, but are well worth playing.

Read the full list at AppStorm.

Pocket Gamer Biz: Nice platform, shame about the marketplace: A PlayStation Mobile developer reveals all

Thomas Hopper talks life on PSM – a lengthy interview/discussion with Thomas Hopper, prolific PSM dev. Cheers, Thom!

‘Whatever your view on PlayStation Mobile – and, such have been the fortunes of the platform to date that, chances are, many of you simply won’t have one – you can’t knock it for a lack of variety.

Alongside a host of acclaimed titles that have also made their mark on smartphones (Rymdkapsel and Nostatic Software’s Quiet, Please! both of note) sit a series of pet projects – half finished hobby efforts utilising Sony’s marketplace as something of a playground.

However, there’s also a third kind of game that, though far rarer, warrants just as much attention, if not more: quality PlayStation Mobile exclusives.

They’re so rare, in fact, that we can only think of one developer betting the farm on such a strategy. For all but one release, PlayStation Mobile is the only place you can play games by Thomas Hopper – 11 games in all now sat on the store including his latest release, Super Tank Poker.

But what is life like as a developer operating almost entirely on a platform that even the most vocal advocates would have to admit hasn’t set the world alight. And why would a studio opt to take a path in the first place?’

Read the full feature on Pocket Gamer Biz.

Pocket Gamer: Check out Colossatron’s abilities to repair, power-up, and anger the military in this new video

 

Halfbrick has released a new video for upcoming smash-’em-up Colossatron: Massive World Threat, highlighting the snake-like robot’s abilities to adapt to military threat.

Cleverly framed as a televised crisis report, Colossatron gameplay is presented here as live news footage.

So, yes, there is a well-turned-out news anchor in this news report. In fact, said news presenter hits General Moustache – gun fetishist and leader of the force against Colossatron -with some facts about the robot’s resilience.

Read the full story on Pocket Gamer.

Pocket Gamer: SpaceChem Mobile, Deus Ex: The Fall, and more star in our Halloween iOS sales round-up

When anything vaguely noteworthy occurs in the world, you can rely on iOS developers to take advantage, slashing prices like opportunistic cockney market traders.

And Halloween, in this country at least, definitely qualifies as ‘vaguely noteworthy’.

Here, then, we’ve rounded up the best iOS games in the Halloween sales. Mainly so that you don’t have to.

Read full story on Pocket Gamer.

GameRanx: I Haven’t Played Many of Gaming’s ‘Classics,’ and I’m Fine with It

I’m a funny sort of gamer, I suppose. Growing up, I always had a strange compulsion to seek out games that nobody else was playing – rummaging through bargain bins, pre-owned marketplaces of unknowns. Potential gems, probable muck.

This is an instinct that’s stuck with me since childhood and, as I get older, I see little changing. I still have an eye for the obscure and the under-appreciated, but the bargain bins are digital now. This is why I now spend much of my free time playing, and writing about, indie games. I still get that childhood thrill of discovery with them, and for me that’s half the fun. Sharing discoveries with others via my writing? Even better.

Read the full article at GameRanx.

The Indie Game Magazine Issue 35: 11 Pages of My Work

My interview with Odd Sock Games:

My editorial on indie minimalism:

My review of Skies by Cuve Games:

My review of Velocity Ultra by FuturLab:

 

You can buy the issue here.

IGM Mobile: ‘Lone Survivor: The Director’s Cut’ Review – No Need For Light In Your Dreams

Lone Survivor begins by telling you to complete ‘The Ritual’: dimming the lights, using headphones, and even disabling the reassuring ping of trophy notifications. From this moment on, you know it isn’t messing about. It is an atmosphere that wants to consume you entirely. It is serious stuff.

Originally developed by Jasper Byrne for PC and Mac, this Vita version was made possible by the conversion kings at Curve Studios — the team responsible for bringing Thomas Was Alone and Stealth Bastard Inc. to PS Vita. Lone Survivor positions you as a man living out of his apartment block, just eking out a day-to-day existence foraging for baked beans and flashlight batteries in a desolate, infected world. Struggling to sustain your survival is routine, and monsters are now a part and parcel of life.

Read the full story at IGM Mobile.

Also, this review was retweeted by the game’s creator Jasper Byrne (6,300+ followers) and Sony man / Vita saviour Shahid Kamal Ahmad (8,500+ followers). That’s nice.

God is a Geek: A Celebration of GTA V’s Music – 3 Volume Album Hits iTunes

 

Everyone’s still talking about GTA, right? Good. With the release of Grand Theft Auto V, there’s predictably been all manner of praise floating around the internet — a sizeable chunk of which has concerned the excellent use of music.

Read the full story at God is a Geek.