2014 was an incredible year to be a PC or Mac gamer, and even better if you are a fan of classic RPGs. I am both, so I got to enjoy one of the best years of gaming I can recall since before Microsoft entered the console wars! If you love PC or Mac gaming, you must check these out!
Soldak Entertainment is an indie developer making great games, mostly in the RPG genre. From the incredible Depths of Peril, the never-old Din’s Curse, light-but-fun Kivi’s Underworld to the sprawling space adventure Drox Operative. Now for their next game they are dipping into the undead with Zombasite, a post-apocalyptic fantasy action RPG coming in 2015 to Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Brain Training games gained popularity with the Nintendo DS and ‘Brain Age’, and have remained popular for two simple reasons – they work, and they’re fun! But after playing games that feel a little too close to taking a test, it is nice to step back and immerse yourself in something more game-like. That is where KNeoWORLD comes in!
Back in 2008, Hidden Path Entertainment released Defense Grid: The Awakening, which catapulted the popularity of the resurgent ‘tower defense’ genre into the mainstream. In 2012 they launched a Kickstarter project to help fund the sequel, and this week it arrived! Defense Grid 2 is available on PlayStation®4 and Xbox® One and Steam (PC, Mac, Linux).
Spiderweb Software alternates between releasing games in the Avernum franchise and a different game. First it was Geneforge games, and more recently Avadon, his first iPad release. In 2011 he brought the original Avernum to the iPad, and modernized and revamped it along the way so it was worth replaying for everyone. This fall we get Avernum 2: Crystal Souls!
Last year I reviewed the iOS and Mac versions of Red Crow Mysteries: Legion and found it managed to wrap together solid adventure game elements and a story worth following. More than a few hours of gameplay, plenty of content, varied locations, a great story, and a fun adventure. And now it is FREE … grab it now!
Judie and I were huge fans of eWallet from its earliest days, back when we used Palms; we synced the info on our Palms to the eWallet program on our desktop PCs. Later on we used eWallet on our Pocket PCs. Once the app became available for iOS, we loaded it onto our iPhones and eventually also on our Macs.
Just over a year ago I reviewed the iPad version of The Secret Society – Hidden Mystery, noting I “would have reviewed it sooner … but I just can’t stop playing the darn game!” It is a game that constantly sends a ‘rush of good feelings’, but with the annoying hard-sell of in-app purchases. Now it is out on Mac!
Evernote just topped 100 million users; that’s pretty impressive. Even more impressive is the fact that those 100 million users can be found in any of 190 different countries. Taken together, the two numbers speak to the fact that the popular and powerful service meets a truly international need; this milestone reminded me that many of us were early subscribers.
My review of the iPad version of Mystery of the Opera noted that it employs the common ‘woman in peril and romantic interest left to solve mystery’ trope; rather than bogging the game down, it makes for an excellent launching off point! Now the game is available for the Mac, and it remains a fun and compelling experience.
G5 Entertainment and Artifex Mundi has a great recent track-record of hidden object puzzle adventure games, and they continue with the release of 9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek, now available for the Mac! The game tells the story of a reporter lost in a mysterious town in the 1950s and the friend who investigates!
If you want to bring your pictures and videos to life, but you don’t want to got to school to learn how to create a presentation that doesn’t look like a five year old did it, then you’ll want to check out FotoMagico 4. At $99 the application is pricey, but the ease-of-use and output results are amazing.
Nuance has just announced a brand new version of Dragon Dictate. Nuance Dragon Dictate for Mac Version 4 offers voice recognition that is faster and more accurate than ever. In addition, Dragon Dictate includes powerful audio file transcription prowess. I’ve been using the new version of the voice recognition app for Mac for the last week, and I’m impressed.
There are a few developers who have driven indie RPG development for the past several years – Spiderweb Software, Soldak Entertainment and Basilisk Games. Basilisk released the stunning Eschalon Book I in 2007, and followed up with Book II. Now they are back with the finale, available on GoG.com, Steam and Basilisk.
One of my favorite indie developers is Soldak Entertainment, and perhaps my favorite game (I actually like all four) is Depths of Peril. DoP is a game where your choices have consequences, and the rest of the world continues even if you ignore your quests. This ‘indie classic’ Depths of Peril is now available DRM-Free on GOG.com for only $9.99!
This morning I opened my Mac for the first time in … a while, since I mostly use my iPad. I had a series of birthday and holiday alerts I needed to dismiss before moving on. A bit later Dan asked how to get notifications in Mavericks to automatically go away. So I took a look, and it’s very easy!
Has it REALLY been FIVE years since GoG.com opened up to the public? Actually it’s been longer – it was mid-November 2008 when I bought Fallout 1 & 2 and fully embraced the site and its model and began amassing what has become a 200+ game collection on the site. Because they have great games, fair prices, and no DRM….
Brightstone Mysteries: Paranormal Hotel takes you on a journey with Detective Bridget “Biggi” Brightstone as she explores a hotel that holds many mysteries. This is a classic Cateia game, like many others G5 has published before, and I love the way they put together games that combine hidden objects and puzzles in a story-based adventure.
While I never reviewed Eschalon Book II beyond my first impressions, the series remains one of my favorites of the last several years. I declared Book I ‘Indie RPG of the Year’ for 2007 at another site, and have been anticipating Book III for quite a while. Now Eschalon Book III has a release date: Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2014….
If you have been gaming for long enough, chances are you have come across a game that wouldn’t install or that you couldn’t keep running for more than a few seconds without a crash. You used all the tricks you know, consulted support and forums, and ultimately had to face the reality that the game would never work for you.
For fans of traditional computer role-playing games (cRPG), there has been a bit of a drought of games the last couple of years. There have been some really good games, but they have been few and far between. Now there’s a Kickstarter for a new RPG that is something RPG fans can get excited about called Deathfire: Ruins of Nethermore!