Canabalt (iPhone)

Developer: Adam Atomic Platforms: iPhone, iPod Touch, PC Deceptively simple indie game will leave you breathless If the most primal dilemma human beings face is fight-or-flight, the vast majority of games gun for enjoyment of the former. Understandably so—there’s a strategic, almost tactile intensity to the simulated clash of two opposing forces. Indie platform-action game Canabalt, however, bucks this trend by milking a shocking amount of fun out of a reasonably straightforward flight fantasy. ...  read more

The 10 Best Casual Games of the Decade (2000-2009)

They're called casual games because they have relatively straightforward rules and don't typically require the brow-furrowed commitment of so-called hardcore game titles. But don't be fooled. Just because a game might only last three minutes...  read more

Start Press: The High-Score Scourge

Videogames are fun. This is not breaking news. When we play games, we’re transported to different worlds and set free to explore. When we play games, the clock’s minute hand slows, blurs and then disappears entirely. Our brains are tickled, challenged to solve the puzzles and master the challenges presented to us by the game’s developers. There’s nearly unlimited potential for rhapsodic pleasure in a well-designed game. But lately I’ve been swearing at my games with unusual frequency, spitting out combinations of expletives that, to borrow the words of author Anne Lamott, would “make Jesus want to drink gin straight...  read more