Game Reviews8.4/10
Entropy Review: Building Machines Is Easy — Explaining Them Isn’t
A puzzle game of gears and pistons, wherein machines must be built without word of instruction.
CLAY TRIBUNE / THE ARCHIVE
Tag: game design
Game Reviews7.8/10
Hue Review: Color Switch Puzzles Shine, Final Levels Stretch
A hue changes, and the world bends around it — a small game of color, light, and rooms unseen.
Thief Designer Says the Graphics Arms Race Should Have Ended With 2010’s Alan Wake: ‘The Fidelity Curve Has Become Outrageous’
Thief designer Randy Smith Evergreen says the graphics arms race peaked with 2010's Alan Wake, and modern fidelity costs too much for immersive sims.
Game Reviews9.1/10
Mark of the Ninja Review: 14 Years On, Still the Sharpest Blade in Stealth
A deep dive into Mark of the Ninja, a 2D stealth classic that turns silence into a weapon and shadows into armor, still a masterclass in game design.
Polygon’s List of 15 Classic Games Proves Great Graphics Aren’t Everything
From N+ to Lemmings, these 15 classic games prove that gameplay beats graphics. Polygon's list shows why great mechanics last longer than pixels.
Game Reviews9.7/10
No 3D Platformer Has Matched Super Mario Odyssey Since 2017
Super Mario Odyssey remains the Switch's finest hour: a joyful platforming triumph with dense kingdoms, perfect controls, and endless surprises.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s Auto-Jump System Worked Fine — Here’s Why the Remake’s New Jump Button Is a Step Back
Nintendo's Ocarina of Time remake adds a dedicated jump button, but Polygon argues the N64 classic never needed one. Here's why the change may not improve much.
Game Reviews9.4/10
Super Mario 64 Gives Mario Room to Move — and a Camera That Can’t Keep Up
A castle holds worlds beyond it, and Mario moves through them with a set of moves that changes what a game of this kind can be.
Game Reviews8.1/10
Metroid hands players no map and makes discovery the reward — 8.1/10
A buried world of dark passages and terror, wherein a fighter seeks the dread Metroid, guided by nothing save memory and courage.