This is the vault for gaming design, titles released in the past that are still relevant today for design or plot choices.
Rings of Power, in 25 years of gaming journalism I’ve written four articles about the game, even though this is my first in English. On one hand it will be a load off my shoulders if this is the last time I’m publishing something about this game. Maybe, finally, this time I will say everything…
Released in 1985 for the Commodore 64, designed by Ian Gray (“don’t you forget it” he reminds us, in a half threatning way, in a secret message in the code), Fiona Rides Out is the first horror game I remember being literally scared by. As a young kid, I was always more afraid of sounds…
Hello, my name is Damiano. Don’t ask me about Loom cause I have never played it. During that wonderful period that was the 90s, it was the one classic Lucasarts adventure games that no one talked about nor had a copy laying around to play. Monkey Island was everywhere and so were Day of the…
Tie-in games based on movies have always been one of my greatest passions, especially because they tend to be a great showcase of bad design ideas, even more in those rare occasions when the movie they’re based on seems well suited to be brought to the video game realm. It is difficult not to love…
I had barely recovered from the Winter steam sale that here they go again with a new one! Well, this time I’m sticking to my guns and I won’t buy anything, or at least try to. Let’s go with the usual mix of genres and indie classics and relative unknown titles. CITIZENS OF EARTH Have…
No one was paying attention to the end of the decade that fateful 31st of December 1999. Hey, we had more important things on our hands. It was the end of the millennium! Perhaps, people were busy sending heaps of sms to their friends and family and trying to remember to turn off your pc…
The dead end in adventure games is indeed something that is hard to explain, if one hasn’t experienced it first hand before. Saving and reloading is one of those abilities one would wish to actually use in real life. All problems would fade away: forgetting to pay the rent, dying in a car accident while…
Realms of the Haunting. Forged in the Gremlin Interactive studio, protected by a clunky interface, at the center of chaos lies a potentially interesting adventure game. The focus for all realms of existence is the balancing force between good and evil, Dosbox and Windows. A focal point for all energies, and the one element that…
On the blog, I have mentioned how, in the nineties, several novelists got involved in the development of videogames, but that was not all. Several popular musician got in the business at well, at first just for the dreaded “multimedia product” of the mid 90s, when everyone was jumping at the possibility of making a…
The first game I’ve ever reviewed in my life, way back in 1996 when I was 12, was actually 4D Sports Boxing. Or at least I thought that’s what it was called, even though supposedly the official name is just “4D Boxing”. I was downright ecstatic about it, ranting “mamma mia it’s so good!” over…