Interstellar Space: Genesis Review
Those tracing the lineage of 4X games will know that the efforts to modernize, remake, or otherwise reimagine the classics of genre is an inevitable, constant, and often ill-fated voyage. Yet into these dangerous waters wades another title, Interstellar Space: Genesis (ISG), which is a self-proclaimed spiritual successor to the classic Master of Orion 2 […]
Seals Victory in Age of Wonders 3
Welcome to another entry in the Mechanical Wonders series! These articles pluck a single game mechanic from a specific game and talk about why the mechanic is noteworthy. Maybe it does something innovative and awesome that others can learn from. Maybe it does something cool but so subtle you never realized it. Maybe it does […]
Leader Bidding in Star Base Orion
Welcome to THE FIRST entry in the Mechanical Wonders series! These articles pluck a single game mechanic from a specific game and talk about why the mechanic is noteworthy. Maybe it does something innovative and awesome that others can learn from. Maybe it does something cool but so subtle you never realized it. Maybe it […]
Children of Morta Review
If you were to ask me at any point over the last four or five years to name my most anticipated game, Children of Morta would be near the top of the list. I first heard about the game when its Kickstarter campaign launched in January 2015. While I didn’t back the campaign, I was […]
Crying Suns Review
When I first laid eyes on Crying Suns months and months ago, my whole body shook with a single word: Yesssss! The game looked to deliver a few of my favorite things: grim-dark pixel art, Faster Than Light-like tactical gameplay, SPACE!, and a hearty dose of narrative storytelling. So onto the wishlist, it went until […]
Monday eXcursion: Warhammer – Vermintide 2
Unless you are striving to avoid all things geek, then surely you’ve heard of Warhammer. You know, that Warhammer. The glorious spawn of Games Workshops, whose name is synonymous with fantasy awesomeness, strategy and tactics games, and unfortunately questionable business practices. But it’s a hell of franchise any way you slice it. For decades, the […]
The Inglorious State Of 4X Games: An eXposition
Greetings! If you haven’t listened to the 33rd Strategic Expanse – 4th Anniversary Hangout featuring all of the lesser (I’m jesting) eXplorminate staffers, then please stop reading this and go listen to that first. The rest of this little rant (thoughtful article?) will make a bit more sense with the proper context. With that out […]
Lost in Space: The State of 4X Games Among the Stars
If you were to ask me to name my favorite fantasy-themed 4X game, I’d enthusiastically respond with Age of Wonders III. If you were to ask about my favorite “civilization” game, I’d tell you that the highwater mark remains Alpha Centauri, a game still eminently playable today. My favorite grand-strategy-ish game would be, unequivocally, Total […]
Crossing The Rubicon: Defining The 4X-like Genre
Preface Classifying games into genres is a challenging endeavor. The terminology for describing games is often loosely defined, or is understood differently from person to person. Even when there is common language, new games are routinely created that seem to defy categorization. For instance, what was once a well-bounded RTS genre is now routinely a […]
