A Great New City-Builder, A Terrific New Zombie Shooter, And More Of The Week's Recommendations And Opinions

There are so many degrees of scope when it comes to the city building format. The genre, that first flourished in the early ‘90s with SimCity 2000 has consistently delivered intricate excellence, with series like Tropico, Frostpunk and Anno, building to the triumph of 2015's Cities: Skylines. But it’s also offered more esoteric takes, with the brilliant Surviving Mars, Before We Leave, and Dorfromantik. But you know what they all lack? A magic light being with a story to tell. So welcome Dawnfolk, a glorious distilling of the genre that streamlines and simplifies, while weaving its own spellbinding narrative. - John Walker Read More

Released earlier this month, Zombieville USA 3D is a new, super-stylish top-down indie roguelike zombie shooter that is both simple and incredibly well made, with fantastically responsive controls and impressive animation and art. And it currently costs less that $10. - Zack Zwiezen Read More

You’ve no doubt encountered someone who posts on social media like they’re Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, right? You know what I mean. These people, usually to simp for billionaires, voice their support for AI taking over creative fields, or justify discriminating against people, love to make their arguments in the most grandiose, wordy way possible, as if they were the one-winged angel himself monologuing over Aerith’s corpse. I think I’ve found the perfect counter to Sephiroth posting: Barret posting. - Kenneth Shepard Read More

Michael Steranka, senior product director on mobile smash hit Pokémon Go, has told Polygon that the game being sold to Saudi-owned Scopely is “actually great.” News of the sale last week understandably led to a lot of concern among fans, especially since Scopely also owns the extraordinarily monetized Monopoly Go. But Steranka claims the same ad-riddled fate doesn’t await the Pokémon catching mobile game, “not now, not ever.” - John Walker Read More