Look, I know it’s the end of March. Does that matter? Does that mean last year didn’t happen? Some of us just wanted an extra three months to keep hunting for shrines, and to keep reaching for those elusive chicken dinners.
In our final episode of Side by Side Joel and I take a look at Metanet Software’s triple-distilled platformer, N++.
The requirements for playing Die Gute Fabrik’s Johann Sebastian Joust (or ‘JS Joust‘, or just ‘Joust‘) are high. You need the game which comes bundled with Sportsfriends, the local multiplayer compilation that Joel and I covered in Side by Side season 1 quite extensively, you need a PS4 or a computer running macOS or Linux, you need two or more PlayStation Move controllers, and you need space. Oh, and friends –physically present friends– let’s not forget those. As such, and despite owning Sportsfriends, I’ve never been able to play a real game of Joust.
Until now.
This week Joel and I are the men who stare at goats. And barley. And clay, and bowls, and beer and various other things related to Studio Wumpus’ Sumer.
Quick heads-up: I think this is one of the best episodes of Side by Side.
In this week’s episode of Side by Side we take a look at Toys for Bob’s Playstation Archon-like The Unholy War. Yeah, Toys for Bob, the folks behind Star Control and… Skylanders.
In the first episode of our new and shiny third series, Joel Goodwin of Electron Dance and I take a look at Alientrap’s delicious roguelite shoot ’em up Cryptark.
Joel’s been on a roll these last couple of weeks and managed to get out the final two episodes of season 2 which take a look at Gang Beasts and Abyss Odyssey. Next stop: season 3!
It’s time for a new episode of Side by Side and this time Joel and I venture into the psychedelic crustaceous wilds of Vomit Crabs. Chunks will be blown.
“A realistic crab fighting simulator with REAL CRAB PHYSICS. You duell [sic] each other in the form of laser vomit battles and teleportation. Just like real crabs do in the sea.”
So, uh, yeah. Video after the jump.
This is a post all about funny events that really happened.
I’ll start at the top with a confession.
Last year I got myself a press badge for the Philadelphia-based gaming event Too Many Games. Then, after attending the event, I struggled with how to write an article about it that properly captured the zeitgeist. As a result, a draft for this article, sans content, sat in the drafts folder on this site for an entire year. Steerpike can attest.
Seeing this unfinished draft sitting there, taunting me, I resolved that I would attend the event again, and write about it this year, as penance. Of course, this year, I forgot to register for the press badge in advance, so now I had to pay at the door. I can’t feel too bad about having to pay, since enjoying the event gratis one year means I should very well pony up the next. Anyway, I feel much freer to write about the conference in my own words this way, without any puff.
Last week Joel posted up our latest episode of Side by Side where we discuss Powerhoof’s Crawl, a competitive (sorta) co-op dungeon crawling arcade hack and slasher.
Episode 6 of Side by Side is now up! (Well, it was up a couple of weeks ago but I sacrificed Magicka 2 for some Disney and Orlando ‘magic’.)
I’ve dabbled with Magicka 2 since Joel and I played it last year, both on my own and with friends who I played through the original with. I was very surprised to find that they didn’t click with it. Like, at all. They gave it just shy of a couple of hours and got a refund. Though they were unsure what felt ‘off’ about it, I attributed it to a few things.
Games, games, games! Everybody’s got some games! Games, games, games! Games for you and I to play!
As always, there’s a lot I didn’t play this year, mostly because of games from previous years. One in particular from a very previous year. Like, 2001. But that’s okay! Here on Tap we don’t let that kind of thing spoil a good list. A good wordy list.
Wow, where did 2016 go? It feels like I was just writing a —
Haaaaa…. Just kidding. 2016 has been regarded by many as a kind of rough year, from a personal or historical perspective. It was a perfectly good year for video games, though. Let’s start off with a few obvious picks, then a few not so obvious, some runners up, and finally, in the spirit of 2016, a few complaints.
I badgered Jay into writing this series. I felt that if anything needed his particular treatment, his uniquely Dobryvian acid humor, it was RimWorld. He’s outdone himself. But then, he always does.
“I did something different with Part Four,” Jay said. “Sort of a tonal shift. The pure humor angle wasn’t working.” What he has done instead is circle back to the point he made in Part One: that the player creates unique internal stories within each game, and that’s what makes RimWorld so memorable. This, the final chapter of Death in Fire, is one of those internal stories.
Anyway, consider yourself warned: the series title is not necessarily ironic in meaning, and if that comes as a surprise then you haven’t been paying attention.
— Steerpike