Spore’s problems can be reduced to one fundamental flaw. It is not EA’s aggressive DRM, the game’s failure to be meet impossible hype, or a mainstream target audience. The flaw is simpler and far more egregious: player decisions that have no consequences.
Nov 27, 2009 | Filed in reviews
I’m late to play Spore, the computer game by Will Wright in which you control a species through its long history, from cell to intergalactic power. I followed news of Spore through its design and release but my work-load stopped me from buying it…until now.
Nov 25, 2009 | Filed in reviews
Oligarchy is a strategy game from Talismapic in which players take the roles of syndicate lords in a banana republic. It is mostly card-based but also has boards with chits for tracking resources and paper money, since the main goal is wealth.
I bought the computer-RPG The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion about a week ago and have been playing it quite a bit. It has an interesting way of handling character levels. I’m not sure exactly what I think of it, but it’s an unusual—and rather fundamental—design choice.
This brief review concerns Expeditious Retreat Press’s free A Magical Society: Guide to Mapping which consists of excerpts from their commercial product A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture. It was first posted at RPGNow.
Dead Inside, by Chad Underkoffler (Atomic Sock Monkey Press), is a game unlike quite any I’ve encountered before. Not so much for the details of its mechanics but for the basic goal of play. The premise is this: you’ve lost your soul and have to get it back. Or rather, you have to grow it back. You do this not by killing things and taking their stuff, but by actually being a good person.
May 18, 2005 | Filed in reviews
This review first appeared on RPG.net.
Conspiracy of Shadows (by Keith Senkowski) is a role-playing game of medieval horror. It casts characters as hunters of truth, battling evil and uncovering clues to reveal a conspiracy of hideous magnitude. It’s aim then, is true horror in gaming, with moral questions raised. And while there’s plenty of combat as well, it’s certainly no dungeon hack.
