Richard 
Everyone loves a digger. Big, fun, burly machines with lumbering dirt-scoops. What’s not to like? If you’re so inclined, you can even visit one of four digger-based UK theme parks. Developers Atomicom are hoping the only thing that people will like more than diggers, are diggers on a hostile alien planet. Structured as an open-ended …
There’s nothing better than a good bedtime story. When I was a young bairn I used to sit under the blankets at night and read with a torch. As the nights get longer and colder, snuggling up with a good bedtime story is essential. NAIRI is a great bedtime story. NAIRI tells the story of …
Let’s not beat around the bush – Boom Ball: Boost Edition is Arkanoid in 3D. How much can you do with 3D Arkanoid? It’s nicely presented. There are sixty levels, grouped into themed sets like a harbour, penguins and farms. The graphics recall PopCap’s classics – cute, colourful and tactile. The music reminds me of …
Creativity is an odd thing. Sometimes, restrictions impair creativity. You can almost sense how the weight of expectation and a desire to stick to a certain formula spoils some games. Sometimes, however, creativity feeds off restriction. Freedom Planet started life as a Sonic fan game. Designer Stephen DiDuro clearly loves Sonic. But, by scribbling in …
I’m currently 30 hours into Puyo Puyo Tetris with my wife. She keeps beating me. I see Puyo Puyo’s fall across my vision as I sleep at night. Her nonchalant face, as she beats me for the fifth time in a row, causes sweat to form on my brow as I slumber. I awake in …
No trip to Japan would be complete without spending a fistful of Yen in the country’s many, many, arcades. The arcades I visited even began to make me envy Japanese culture. It was social, fun, and most had scores of games – often spread over several floors – to cater to all tastes. Speaking of …
Some games are about war. Some games are about exceptionalism and individual struggle. A few games are about fascism. Most games, however, are about numbers going up. It sounds simple, numbers going up, but Dungeon Rushers proves that it’s a subtle mechanic, and one that’s easy to get wrong. Let’s start with the basics. Dungeon …
Please pay attention to the following public service announcement: Ikaruga is out now for the Nintendo Switch and you should definitely buy it. Ikaruga is, quite simply, brilliant. In case you’re new to Treasure’s celebrated classic, it takes the form of a vertical ‘bullet hell’ shoot-em-up, where you fly a spaceship around trying to dodge bullets and enemies …
SEGA surprised everyone a couple of weeks ago by announcing that Football Manager was not only coming to the Switch but that it was available immediately. It seems a slightly odd time to launch as the season is almost over. That said, if you support a team that’s performed poorly this season it does provide …
The eponymous Bertram Fiddle made his debut on PC a few years ago. Making sense to start at the beginning, the first part of this on-going episodic adventure has now found its way onto the Switch eShop. A point ‘n clicker with a decidedly British sense of humour, TAOBFEOADB (as we’ll be calling it from …
I’ve been in Japan these last few weeks, and is often customary for a self-respecting gamer, a copy of the latest Famitsu has found its way into my bumbag. The only slight issue is that I can’t speak Japanese. So, get ready for me trying to guess what’s going on from context and some massive …
Miner-cum-platformer SteamWorld Dig – originally released on 3DS in 2013, and on consoles a year later – is a game that gets to the point quickly. Within minutes of booting it up, you find your uncle’s corpse and his trusty pickaxe and descend into the nearby mine to scavenge for gems. It really isn’t interested …
Dating back to 2013, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood on Switch is a conversion more belated than most. It’s a welcome enough eShop addition though, and for a reason that may not be immediately obvious – the series’ roots can be traced to 2010’s moderately successful WiiWare game Max & the Magic Marker. This puzzle-platformer …
For a few years I stopped gaming. There were a few reasons. A new relationship meant that I just didn’t have much alone time anymore (and my other half didn’t really care about any game that wasn’t Zuma), I’d started getting into modern boardgames instead, but mainly I just fell out of love with games. …
There are a few different origin stories for the ‘Nintendo Seal of Quality’ found on Nintendo games. One of the theories states that after the American video games ‘crash’ of 1983, Nintendo wanted to reassure purchasers that what they would receive would work. Too many games on other consoles failed to meet the basics of …