In Subserial Network, humanity as we know it doesn’t exist. Instead, synthetic beings populate the world. They live mostly normal lives. There’s only one rule: don’t connect yourself directly to the net. The synthetics who disobey are deemed “Subserials.” Your job is to hunt them down.
Lucasarts made two Tentacle games and will never make a third, so a group of fans have done some heroic work and made one for us.
One Hand Clapping is a experimental project from the University of Southern California’s games program. It mixes music and puzzles—the player needs to hum or sing to create walkways and raise platforms to proceed through a colorful world. It’s short but memorable.
I scroll through itch.io every week to see what games…
Battletech is a really good tactics game that combines giant mechs with X-COM. I’ve spent many hours building experimental robots and taking dangerous jobs to keep my mercenary corps afloat. Kotaku video producer Paul Tamayo was curious about the game, so I ran him through a mission to learn the basics.
Sometimes, you just want to hit the road. Photon Highway takes cues from games like Audiosurf and Temple Run to create a randomized highway through the stars. It’s great for those times you want to sit back and cruise away from life’s problems.
Battletech’s giant robot brawls can last a long time before one side claims victory. The recently released tactics game embraces a slow, deliberate pace that can lull the player into false comfort. Thanks to an unlikely dice roll, a single critical attack this weekend became one of the most shocking moments I’ve ever…
Battletech’s character creator isn’t really about how your character looks; it’s about who they are, where they’re from, and what they believe.
Spring is here, the perfect time to come out of that backlog hibernation and play some new video games. Here are the biggest ones coming out this season.
Duck Jam mixes WarioWare style mini-games with a touch of absurdist comedy to tell the story of a bunch of ducks trying to make money. Bills, you could say. The fast-paced change from one game mode to another means you need to always be on your toes if you want to avoid begging for bread crumbs on the street.
Capturing the feeling of early AOL chats can be difficult, while crafting an engrossing LGBT narrative can be ever harder. Secret Little Haven nails both, transporting players to the earlier days of the internet and telling a story that is both empathetic and believable. It’s intriguing and a great choice for this…
Enviro-Bear 2000 is an arcade driving game about a bear frantically careening through the forest to grab fish and berries before winter comes. Awkward controls and loose car physics turn foraging into a dizzying affair of hairpin turns and rabid possums. It’s a classic game and perfect Indie Pick.
Riot Games revealed the drop rates for League of Legends’ loot crates yesterday, offering transparency for a system that until now has been opaque. This comes during a time when loot boxes have triggered a great deal of outrage among players, pundits, and even politicians.
Joy Exhibition is a freeform art game in which the player must communicate with a mute alien race by painting. They are given a blank canvas, a massive arsenal of procedurally generated paint guns, and free rein to create whatever art they can think of.
Nuts is a puzzle game where players must set up a series of surveillance cameras to hunt down a squirrel and find their hidden stash of food. Wandering through a hazy maze of trees to find the perfect space to drop a camera is a surprisingly tricky mind teaser that challenges memorization skills. The game’s concept is…
A Road to Awe is an exploration game featuring hundreds of M.C. Escher-inspired digital worlds. Developer lectronice added a new location every day throughout 2017, creating a gorgeous series of mazes, monuments, and museums. It’s this week’s indie pick.
Years of neglect are eroding gaming history. Cartridges rot in garages, companies hoard demos that they will never release, and obscure titles fade into the ether. Some games may even be lost forever.
Hell is a game about cooking eggs. Drop an egg into the pan and watch it sizzle before cracking another egg. But be careful: one wrong move will send you down a road full of demons, pirated DVDs, a Ruger pistol, and the devil himself. It’s bizarre, and it’s this week’s indie pick.
Hey, look! A sleek computer with a piece of fruit embossed on it. Contrary to popular belief, there’s loads of games to be played on Apple computers.
Transfer is a short narrative game by Abyssal Uncreations focusing on artificial intelligence and discovery. Taking the role of an AI after the end of the world, you need to find out what happened and what comes next. It’s moody and intriguing. It’s this week’s indie pick.
