When You Fall on Your Face, a Philosophical Designer Succeeds
Bennett Foddy’s breakthrough gave players a hammer to climb a mountain of trash. In his newest video game, every step is an adventure.
With Secrets in Every Room, This Manor Mystery Enthralls
Blue Prince follows in the storied tradition of mystery house games while mixing in logic riddles, word games, math problems and many codes and passwords.
In Civilization VII, Empires Rise and Stereotypes Start to Fall
The turn-based strategy game has two Ph.D. historians on the design team and a palpable appreciation of cultures across the globe. It also maintains a deeply colonialist worldview.
Exuberant Video Game Menus Designed With da Vinci in Mind
The menus within role-playing games by Atlus, including the new Metaphor: ReFantazio, unfurl in a sensory feast of color, movement, sound and typography.
Critiquing India’s Politics With Absurdist Games
Studio Oleomingus’s video games, often inspired by literature and architecture, are colorful and playful examinations of some of India’s darkest chapters.
A Publishing Haven for the Offbeat and Irreverent
Devolver Digital teams with independent video game studios and gives them immense freedom. Just don’t kill Jeff Bezos.
A Video Game Made Out of Brick, Clay and Tenacity
The handcrafted Harold Halibut, about a hapless janitor stuck in an undersea city, was more than a decade in the making.
