The Story Behind the Game: a Q&A with Capybara Games

Capybara Games had a busy 2009. After toiling away making cell phone and iPhone games, the Toronto-based studio finally made a name for itself. First came the addictive PlayStation Network puzzle game Critter Crunch, which was followed up by the strategy/puzzle hybrid Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, one of our top Nintendo DS games of the year. We sat down with Capy’s co-founder and president Nathan Vella to discuss Clash of Heroes and life in an indie studio.

Read the complete feature at GameShark.

Continuity review

The true test of a great puzzle game is whether or not it stays with you, even when you’re not playing it. When you start seeing Tetris blocks while at work or Bejeweled jewels when you should be studying, you know a game is good. And in that regard, Continuity is a success. It may be short, but this student-developed game is one of the most inventive and addictive puzzlers in recent memory.

Read the complete review at About.com.

20 for 2010: Ars’s most anticipated games of the year

2009 was a great year for gaming, with spectacular blockbusters like Assassin’s Creed 2 and Batman: Arkham Asylum and indie gems like Machinarium and Critter Crunch all competing for our precious gaming time. And this year looks to be even better. In fact, just narrowing down our list of most anticipated games to 20 was a task itself, and that doesn’t even include some of the great games that have already been released. But after much deliberation, we’ve settled on 20 great looking games that we absolutely can’t wait for. We apologize for any inconvenience this list may cause to your wallet.

Read the complete feature at Ars Technica.

Gangster City review

With Gangster City, developer Playfish has jumped head first into the crowded world of Facebook mafia simulators. And while the game doesn’t play all that different from other similarly themed games on the social network, in traditional Playfish style, it outdoes all of them in one important aspect: production values. Unlike the majority of Facebook games available, Gangster City looks good, which helps make up for its lack of originality in terms of gameplay.

Read the complete review at About.com.

Small Worlds review

Small Worlds was developed as part of an independent gaming competition centered around the theme of exploration; and it shows. While there is little else to do in the game, the strange and alluring environments you’re given to explore make up for the lack of action. Simply discovering the world around you is more than enough.

Read the complete review at About.com.

Student-developed games show bright future for industry

One of the more interesting aspects of the annual Game Developers Conference is the Independent Games Festival, a showcase for some of the best and brightest people and ideas in the industry. Hidden among the next big indie games is the Student Showcase. Here, 10 student-developed games compete for the top prize and $2,500, and past Showcase winners have gone on to create games like Portal, Flower, and de Blob. This year featured a record 190 entries, and the chosen 10 showcase a bright future for the video game industry.

Read the complete article at Ars Technica.

Hands-on Preview: The Tarot’s Misfortune

For the most part, hidden-object games all feel pretty similar. There are different themes and stories, and various gameplay tweaks that developers throw in to try and spice things up, but the actual game always revolves around spotting hard-to-find objects amongst a mess of other objects. It’s a tried-and-true formula that has worked well across numerous games. And The Tarot’s Misfortune doesn’t mess with it.

Read the complete preview at About.com.

Game competition puts indies, interactive fiction in focus

Jay Is Games is a great place to find some of the best that the casual game genre has to offer, but it’s also a good for discovering new developers. Since 2006, the website has hosted several game design competitions, giving indie developers a chance to win a cash prize and, more importantly, exposure.

The seventh edition of the Casual Gameplay Design Competition, where developers have been tasked with creating an interactive fiction game focused on the theme of “escape,” is currently underway, and entries have been flooding in since November. Ars spoke with Jay Bibby, founder of both Jay Is Games and the CGDC, to learn more about the competition and why interactive fiction may be primed for a comeback.

Read the complete article at Ars Technica.

Decades review

The developers have dubbed Decades “the greatest game in history,” playing off of the game’s era jumping theme. But while it’s certainly not the best game ever made, Decades is a surprisingly refreshing puzzle game thanks to a unique take on the well-worn block-matching formula combined with a simple word and trivia game.

Read the complete review at About.com.

Pulsus review

Like it’s visual design, the premise of Pulsus is deceptively simple: you have to guide enough particles into a particular goal in order to complete the stage. But things get much more complicated than that, as Pulsus quickly becomes an addictive yet relaxing puzzle experience that’s near impossible to put down.

Read the complete review at About.com.