Fans surely know of those particularly tense moments in Minecraft that involve scrambling to build a makeshift fortress to live out the hostile night. Well, they can look at Craft The World as a more fleshed-out, two-dimensional version of that experience, with some fun tower defense eleme
With brand-new blocks come brand-new buildings, and thanks to the 1.16 Nether update, tons of people have returned to the creative land of Minecraft . The success of Mojang’s sandbox building and survival game comes from the fact that there’s really no set direction to go. Everything is up to the players themsel
What? A game from the music genre is number one? Didn’t everybody stop caring about those years ago and only think of them when they stumble upon a plastic instrument somewhere in the back of their closet? Yes, that’s very true, but I find that as the years go on, I look at the music genre more and more fondly, and miss it’s contributions and capabilities.
They were the icons of an era when gaming exclusives drew lines in the sands and led to some of the fiercest playground battles over system loyalty the industry would ever see. Sonic/Sega fans would push and say “Sonic games are faster, and therefore better. Plus, we’ve got blood in Mortal Kombat.” The Mario/Nintendo loyalist would throw sand in their foe’s eyes and retort, “oh yeah? Well Mario’s about the adventure, and so is Final Fantasy.” It was a time when you usually owned only one system, and you owned it because you would only get certain games. It was…well kind of a glorious age.
For any builders wanting to challenge themselves or seasoned experts looking for new ideas to add to their build maps or survival worlds, huge projects tend to be the best way to spend time. They’re rewarding to make, but difficult to execute. Here’s a bit of inspiration for experienced builders wanting to create massive builds in Minecra
Someone needs to have a nice sitdown with the gaming industry about VR and what it can and can’t do. The ability to transport the viewer inside a scene is incredible, and if that scene happens to be in the cockpit of some kind of ship, then it opens up a whole range of movement options that would otherwise be a bad idea. Putting the player behind the eyes of a protagonist who walks around freely in the standard FPS viewpoint, on the other hand, is something that has only sounded awesome. It’s hasn’t been. Really, seriously, it’s kind of sucked, and while wanting it to be different won’t change that, clever viewing systems just might. So now Minecraft Guide has official VR support, and it’s taken an interesting approach to the presentation that’s a little awkward but usable.
We’ve been running around games killing our friends for years, but Assassins’ Creed was smart enough to really step back from the chaos that results in, and focus on the joy that comes from the hunt and moment of success instead.
The heyday of music gaming may have come and gone, but even if it was ultimately just a fad that we were all caught up in (which I don’t think is the case), it would do absolutely nothing to tarnish the memories of nights spent playing Rock Band with friends, nor can it ruin the fun still to be had in getting the band back together for one more tour.
Updated on March 20, 2025, by Mati Kent-Nye: 14 years after its release, Minecraft continues to be updated regularly, bringing with it countless new blocks to build with and biomes to build in, whether on land, underground, or at sea. Its creative limits are constantly expanding, drawing in beginner and veteran builders alike. The most recent 1.21 update gifted players with an array of new copper blocks, opening up a whole new world of mechanical-themed builds. A new material mechanic, oxidization, was also introduced. Unless waxed, copper blocks will slowly change color from bronze to teal. They can also be waxed in their semi-oxidized state, making for versatile bui
What do I mean by that? In game development terms, a “vertical slice,” is a gameplay segment of finished or near-finished quality that showcases all the planned features of a game to potential investors. At the start of a project, these are a massive sink for time and effort, since they essentially involve doing all the hard parts of finishing a game to complete one 10-minute section. Generally, they’re seen as a bad practice. However, toward the end of development, it’s a lot easier to pull assets together for a vertical slice. Of course, if you’re shopping your game around to publishers at that stage, you’re probably in a lot of trouble, but a standalone “vertical slice” can also serve as a strong alternative to a traditional demo.
Much like Assassin’s Creed, I wasn’t constantly thinking “Wow! What a great multiplayer game this would make!”nwhile playing the original Portal. In both cases, it wasn’t so much a lack of potential for a multiplayer experience that turned me off the idea, but rather the thought of how easily things could get screwed up if not handled carefully. Of course, as is the case with most worries involving game design and Valve, those fears would turn out to be completely unfounded.