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The herd probably wants to be free. I cannot directly communicate with any of the fantasy creatures that move ahead of me, even if they are more than ready to follow commands. I move to the left, and they shift their path to the right, even if that means going straight toward an obstacle that they cannot push through. The Calicorn will probably turn around in a few seconds, so I issue the stop command and then move all again slowly, making sure to guide them carefully around obstacles. I know there’s a flying threat up ahead, even if the game doesn’t allow me to scout too far, so I want to be careful and prepared. The herd is ready to charge and run to a safe place. I just need to give them the command at the right time. Herdling is developed by Okomotive and published by Panic. I played on the PC via Steam, with the title also on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 5 from Sony, and the Xbox Series X and S from Microsoft. The video game combines herd management wi...

Abu Bakr Al-Saddiq took one of the religious sites that grant victory points, so I decided to take one of his cities as compensation. Two axemen, one archer, and my leader, Kavad, managed to execute a quick raid. I then shifted into a defensive position and started developing my cities, trying to get one to maximum population while preparing another to build a majestic Colosseum. We researched most techs, built many gold mines, connected our cities, and tried to maximize gold production. Space is at a premium, and I decided the population was more important than production. Our scouts raided as many goodie huts as possible, and our traders managed to open up a profitable route to Roman-held Carrhae. But I had only one city that pumped out combat units when I had the resources. When Abu Bakr returned, he had more units than I expected and was very focused on seizing hexes. He avoided the Romans altogether and sent horsemen and swordsmen my way. I shifted my entire s...

As we all know, the Ninja Gaiden series has always been about fast-paced ninjas, action and third person gameplay. With Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, the series takes a very interesting turn to the platforming world, and it does that in a rather amazing way. Unlike the other Ninja Gaiden games where the focus is on Ryu, here we play the role of a young ninja from the Hayabusa village, called Kenji. However, what makes the game incredibly fun is that as you play, you encounter a skilled assassin Kumori who ends up dying, and you take over her powers. The dual-power approach and the ability to even control Kumori for small amounts of time adds a lot of depth to the gameplay and story as well. For me, the ability to lock some of the levels behind Kumori’s powers or not even being able to complete a level without her shows how important it is to master both ability sets. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of ways to use those abilities in levels, and each time I did that, I fe...

Set in the world of Glorantha, RuneQuest: Warlords is an upcoming turn-based strategy game based on the classic RPG RuneQuest, developed by Viruos and published by Slitherine. The game has three factions that translate into three different playstyles: Children of the Storm, Lunar Empire, and Chaos. RuneQuest: Warlords features an 18-mission story campaign that promises to take players across mythic landscapes and fierce conflicts between the three factions. As it happens with this type of games, combat mechanics are easy to learn, yet hard to master. The four missions I played had a wide range of objectives from defending positions or NPCs, to obliterating a certain number of enemy units and conquering specific locations. The preview version only has four missions, and you can only play with the Children of the Storm faction, which can be described as fast, mobile and aggressive. One of the heroes that will join your retinue from the second mission belongs to the L...

Having played Grand Emprise, I didn’t expect the developer to come up with a second game so soon, but it’s interesting that they did so. And that’s because Grand Emprise was quite fun for what it was, yet it got overshadowed by many other survival games arriving at that time. I didn’t think that the original was an exceptional survival title, but for what it was, it definitely managed to add a creative set of ideas, especially when it comes to the use of time travel. Grand Emprise 2: Portals Apart was said to bring us a more curated experience rather than a complete open world, so how did it do? Let’s find out! Right off the bat, you enter an ancient world via a portal, a stunning place where you’re not exactly sure what to do, other than explore. That does sum up my experience with the game, to be honest, because unless you know how to play survival games, Grand Emprise 2: Portals Apart doesn’t offer a whole lot of explanation when it comes to what you need to do ...

The eighth installment in the Anno series, 117: Pax Romana, takes players way back into the past to Ancient Rome, the earliest historical setting in the franchise. Another first for the series is the fact that players can now choose between starting provinces: Latium or Albion. For the purpose of this preview, I chose the Albion map, which offers a more challenging experience, but also some interesting options like the ability to combine both Celtic and Roman cultures to develop my city. The Celtic kingdom is positioned in an area with a lot of marshes, which, typically, should pose a major issue when you want to expand your settlement. Thankfully, many of the Celtic buildings require they are built on muddy terrain. Regardless of whether you’ll convert your entire population into Roman culture, the start of your settlement will always require placing some of your production buildings on the muddy terrain in the marshes. One thing that I found very interesting abo...

In a world where AAA studios strive to outdo each other with hyperrealistic visuals and sprawling open worlds, The Biggleboss Incident arrives like a warm, nostalgic breeze from the ‘90s. Developed almost single-handedly by Adam Bunker, a veteran media creative turned indie game developer, this quirky point-and-click adventure proudly embraces the charm of retro gaming without trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it aims to do something far more admirable: entertain, delight, and pay tribute to a bygone era of gaming. Bunker, who has spent nearly 20 years writing, strategizing, and crafting content across various media sectors, poured five years of work into this personal passion project. The result is a hand-drawn, fully voice-acted, compact adventure that invites players into the surreal office space of Biggleboss Inc. With a playtime of approximately 4–5 hours, it’s tailored for players who grew up with LucasArts classics and now have a bit less time on their h...

Following the lukewarm reception of Mafia III, the folks at Hangar 13 have decided to take completely different approach while working on the next installment in the series, Mafia: The Old Country. Everything that most fans and critics have complained about in Mafia III has been removed, and what’s left is a linear game that lacks any type of side content. Mafia: The Old Country feels like a traditional mob story that doesn’t push the formula forward, but it’s not a step back either. In a sense, Mafia: The Old Country is a return to roots, as both Mafia and Mafia II are third-person linear, narrative-driven games, whereas Mafia III is an open-world oriented title. Mafia: The Old Country is an origin story that focuses on Enzo Favara, a youngster working at the sulfur mine of one of the Dons in the region, Don Ruggero Spadaro. Following a clash with one of Don’s brutal lieutenants, Enzo flees the mine and inadvertently ends up on the territory of another mafia boss...

Sporting Goods Shop brings you a unique opportunity in life, and that’s to make you a store owner. If you love sports, then you most likely always wanted to create such a store, and Sporting Goods Shop is one of the games to help you do that. You grab your virtual money and start creating an amazing, expansive and rather interesting store, all up to your liking. The primary focus is to get a few shelves and start displaying the items you want to sell, set a price and open the store, then get people’s money via the cashier’s post. Naturally, a shop’s focus is to net a profit, and you can do that, eventually. But first, your focus is on expanding, hiring a cashier, getting the merchandise and putting it on display. As people buy more and more items, you get to have enough money to level up your store, sign new deals, and all in all, it becomes a very fun experience to try and meet your next goals all the time. That’s the thing I like the most about Sporting Goods Sho...

Games like Cult of the Lamb have quickly managed to take the world by storm, since you have a base, but also go through various levels trying to eliminate enemies and acquire resources. Dinotica is a game similar to that, but this time around, we have a whole lot of dinosaurs to collect, hatch, train and use in battles. Right off the bat, Dinotica stands out with its beautiful style and visual design. The game looks great, and it only gets better since you have the elements you want in a cozy title. You can build a base, accumulate resources and put your dinosaurs to work. Not only that, but there are dozens upon dozens of dinosaur types, each with their own look, stats and features. In order to progress and unlock stuff, you need to go on expeditions. And these will embark you on all kinds of battles, which can prove to be difficult. When you enter any expedition, you hop on the dinosaur and the game transforms into a bullet hell experience. Every map you clear wi...