Way Review (PC/Mac)

Way is a game about people. It’s about friends and strangers, about family members, about anyone willing to take twenty minutes to explore the surprising results of a 12-week student project. A brief yet haunting experience, Way is a co-operative side-scrolling platformer that hinges on a simple conceit: you can see things that your partner cannot. In order to “win” the game, you will have to help one another. There’s a catch....  read more

Lexiv Review (360)

There is, in the mapping world, a form called the typographic map. Words are wrought into geographic shapes they name or describe. The meaning of the word and its shape, and the relationship between the two, are key to understanding this map of words. Andrew Gaubatz’s Lexiv, which combines Scrabble and Sim City and tower defense and RPG leveling and slot machines and Breakout, is about building a map of words. Sort of....  read more

The Musical Villages
of Jim Hall's Isle of Tune

Ever since I was young I've had this compulsion regarding windshield wipers—whenever I'm in a car in the rain, I can't help but get into their hypnotic, rhythmic groove. No matter the driving conditions, I find myself bopping my head and humming along as they swipe, swipe, swipe. This habit has produced a lot of interesting beats over the years, from the deep, uneven swing of a pair of oversized bus wipers to fast pulse of a sedan in a downpour. But it wasn't until this week that I saw a videogame designer take that absent-minded compulsion and run with it....  read more

Super Meat Boy Review (Xbox 360)

Developer/Publisher: Team Meat Platforms: Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare, PC Bloody perfect Super Meat Boy is that kid who went to your high school who covered up his savant-like intelligence with class-clown theatrics. A retro 2D platformer in the tradition of NES classics Mega Man, Ghosts & Goblins and Super Mario Bros.—the latter example, of course, a stylistic and acronymic cousin—the game all but defies you to take it seriously. Super Meat Boy casts the player as an anthropomorphic slab of meat, square as a Wendy’s hamburger patty. Meat Boy is determined to rescue his sweetheart Bandage Girl from a dastardly fetus...  read more