Vertical Slice Demos Provide a Clear-Cut Advantage
Who said a home has to look like one? Any place that’s safe and has a bed is a valid spot to call home, and that thought alone should get anyone’s creative juices flowing. Why not make something completely different, something unexpected and even bizarre that most players wouldn’t even think of using as a ho
Rather than going for an evil wizard’s castle, however, why not instead create a lava blade house, which looks like a sword stuck into the ground? That’s the path AtrixStd went for in their build, which also has a tutorial available on their YouTube chan
Galactic Café went a step further with their Stanley Parable demo, creating new content not just for the free demo on steam, but for various venues that showcased the game. While all offered a short bit of meta-commentary on the nature of demos (pretty much the only way you could convey the core concept of the game without spoiling it), each was tailored to a specific scenario. The demo at PAX took some lighthearted jabs at Octodad (which was just across from it in the Indie Megabooth), and at one point made the player stand up and apologize to the audience for playing the demo so poorly. A special version made for Game Grumps addressed Danny and Ross by name. In this case, the demos were an unbridled success, building enough hype for the small indie game to garner 100,000 sales in 3 days.
We’ve stumbled into some uncertain times, dear readers. I can’t say I’ve ever experienced anything as intense as the Social Distancing Era. As we watch doctors of all kinds on the news recommend that we stay home as much as possible, we’re faced with new challenges to overcome. Those of us who self-isolate may find this to be a troubling time — especially if it affects our income, work, childcare or health. Yet “social distancing” doesn’t have to mean completely cutting yourselves off from your support network! Path of Exile is a beautifully robust ARPG that will help bridge the gap. It’s like if Developer Grinding Gear Games basically wanted Diablo 2 back, so they created their own Grecian-inspired version. It’s all there: awesome loot, a unique ability-gem loadout system, a massive skill tree that allows you to create inspired builds. It features online co-op so you and your buddies can play through the story together. The best part is that it’s free-to-play, Ditto Transformation so it’s an ease on both your mind and your wallet during these trying times. Path of Exile can be found on Xbox One, PS4 and PC which means a wide audience will be able to enjoy playing.
Ellegard (for me) and Gabriel begin conversing in hopes that he would regain his memory and in doing so, mentions something about Lukas’ jacket, saying that he has seen others wearing it inside of the Witherstorm. With this comes Jessie’s first big decision, either allowing Lukas to leave in hopes of finding his friends or make him stay to help in your fight. This is only the first of many heartrending decisions that need to be made throughout the entirety of this episode. While most of these decisions are among the toughest in any of the episodes, they help dictate how the game will end and who will be standing next to Jessie when it does. This episode lets you customize your decisions a little bit more, allowing you to decide which weapon you want to create for the final battle, which armor you would like to wear, and even in what manner you will enter the Witherstorm. It isn’t much, but that’s far more customization than most Telltale games allow. While it is important to be careful with your decisions, it’s more important to learn who your real allies are and dictate how you want your destiny to unfold in your fight towards saving this blocky humanity.
We’re all familiar with the standard demo format: you play a section of a game (almost always the tutorial up until just before the first boss), and then everything comes to an abrupt halt while a screen either asks you to unlock the full game to continue, or tells you when it’s coming out. If you’re very lucky (as in the case of most Devil May Cry demos) you’ll get to play through a level and fight a boss out of context. This might convince you to get the full game, or tide you over until a game you’ve been waiting for has been released, but either way, it’s almost always stuff you’ll have to redo once the game proper begins.
The world is currently in a tough place with most everybody being told to stay indoors and keep away from others in an attempt to combat the rapid spread of COVID-19. With many beginning to feel the the negative emotional affects of social distancing, it may be a good opportunity to turn to video games to participate in a new or beloved video game ripe with social interaction. As such, we’ve compiled a short list of titles that could help gamers come together during this temporary new world. Note that the intention of the article is not to make light of the pandemic, but instead provide a resource for those feeling the effects of Social Distancing to find a community to embrace.
