Fi Miller, our Video Editor, was a busy bee during Conpulsion and her honey was video interviews and here is some of that honey and I think this metaphor got away from me a little. Asides from bees though, we’d like to bring you the first two video interviews, with Black Lion Games and Chaos of the Warp respectively. Continue reading
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Fortune Sides With Those Who Ludum Dare: Part 1
Ludum Dare, for those of you who aren’t familiar, is a competition where games developers and like-minded individuals gather to create games around a theme. They’re given 48 hours to do so and this year’s theme was minimalism. I bravely put on my indie hat and leapt head first into the thousands of games on offer to pick out a random selection (a twenty-sided die may have been involved) for your pleasure/displeasure/apathy. Here’s the first lot.
Interview with Phil Harris, Conpulsion Co-Ordinator
As you may have heard, Team Screen-Shaped (or at least the Scottish side of the team) went along to Scotland’s premier tabletop convention a few weeks ago and we really rather enjoyed it. We recently caught up with Phil Harris, Conpulsion Co-ordinator for his thoughts on how the event went and what the future holds for Conpulsion.
Review: Kairo
Kairo intrigues me. It’s been longer than I like to remember since I last played a game that drew a line in the sand and said, “Here’s some puzzles and nothing more”. It’s become the fashion for puzzle games to be narrative-led and Kairo stands as a striking counterpoint to both the folly and genius of story-based puzzlers.
140 Characters, One RPG: Interview with Tweet RPG’s Sam Richards
A lot of the debate at Conpulsion 2013 revolved around the future of tabletop gaming and RPGs and it was fitting that these debates should take place when Sam Richards was attending. Sam, you see, is in the perfect position to be considered an expert voice on the subject. He’s taken the traditional RPG format and merged it with Twitter to create Tweet RPG, the first RPG that was created for and is intrinsically entwined with social media. I managed to grab some time with Sam before he ran off into the Future of Gaming talk.
Conpulsion 2013: A Sense of Conmunity
There’s a warming sense of inclusion when you walk through the imposing front door of Teviot House. This weekend, the stately corridors forgo student life for the reverberation of d20 scattered on oaken tables. Hundreds of like-minded folk have come together in the pursuit of a common goal: the rampant acquisition not only of joy, but of experiences shared.
Conpulsion 2013: Die-Shaped Eyes
There’s a storm a-brewin’. A cacophony of dice and stats and fiends is descending upon Edinburgh in just a few days, when Conpulsion 2013 opens.
From April 12th to April 14th, Conpulsion will be taking place in Teviot House and we’re going to be there, covering the event. “But what is it?”, you cry at your monitor, forgetting for an instant that the harsh reality of the internet is that I can’t hear you. Conpulsion is a tabletop gaming and gaming culture convention, full of wonderful talks, games being run by experienced GMs and stalls full of home-made chainmail(!). The full programme is available here.
Most importantly, the event’s aim is to raise money for Waverley Care. Waverley Care is a charity that, if I may quote:
“provides care and support to people in Scotland living with HIV or Hepatitis C. [They] have project bases in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Inverness and work across eight health board areas. [Their] purpose is to make a significant and meaningful difference to the lives of people living with these long-term conditions to enable them to participate as fully as possible in the social, economic and civic life of their communities.”
The ticket prices are £10 per day or £15 for the weekend pass and the money raised here, as well as with the restaurants and cafes associated with the event, goes towards this worth cause.
So, if you happen to bump into us, come say hi!
God Only Knows: Some Musings on Bioshock Infinite
There’s a lot that’s been said about Bioshock Infinite and the rafters of the internet creak with the mass of speculation and praise that the game has received. That will not stop us for a second. So here, with the caveat that I’m not going to use any traditional structure for this article and will leap from idea to idea, is what I took from Bioshock Infinite. There will be spoilers after the break. This is a warning. Do not read further without completing the game.
Review: Impire
Contrary to the experiences of every other reviewer of Impire, I’ve never played Dungeon Keeper. I certainly tried, back when my family first bought an old PC from my Mum’s office. It did not go well. The game would stutter and lag and despite my expert technical knowledge (I was 10), I couldn’t ever actually play it. I did, however, play a lot of Theme Hospital, so before you condemn me for what you’re about to read, know this: I do have experience with this building management genre.
