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 […]
Strategic eXpanse #33 – 4th Anniversary Hangout Session!
eXplorminate turned four years old! So Nate, Troy, Joshua and Mark had a some fun hanging out and talking about 4X and gaming in general. They had A LOT of fun, so much so, that some strong language made it on the podcast. Listeners, beware!!! Thank you for following us for four years, because we […]
2017 End of Year Statistical eXamination Part 2
You can find part one of this article series and all associated charts HERE. eXplorminate is entering its fifth calendar year of existence, thus we now have four years of market data from our time to examine. It’s been a very exciting period for 4X. Some call it a Renaissance, others a Second Golden Age, […]
Nate Asked – Day 2
Greetings and Salutations eXplorminators, here is part two of the series. Enjoy Joshua Why talk about the games I’m not playing? I guess it says as much about the state of gaming today as those that I do put time into. It’s been a heck of a year for our favorite hobby, but that […]
Endless Space 2 Review
Back in 2012, Amplitude Studios almost single-handedly resurrected the Space 4X genre from a cryogenic sleep with Endless Space. While it was not a perfect game by any means, its revolutionary mechanics and fantastic storylines made it an instant hit with turn-based strategy fans. To date, ES has sold well over a million copies on […]
Stars In Shadow Review
In the Shadow of Orion The original Master of Orion, published by MicroProse waaaaaaay back in 1993, is undoubtedly a classic. I know that’s like spouting “the sky is blue” or “water is wet” around these parts. MoO1 spawned a great sequel and an arguably not-so-great sequel to that sequel. Although MoO didn’t officially create […]
2016 End Of Year Statistical eXamination Part 2
In Part One, I reported just the facts about 4X games released within the lifespan of eXplorminate (2014 and on). In part 2, I’ll be offering my own analysis and observations. Before I jump into that, though, I do want to give a shout-out to SteamSpy.com, Steamcharts.com, and Metacritic. Without them, this kind of analysis […]
A Question (Or Three) Of Strategy
I sat down for my first session of Blizzard’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm. I’d watched some Let’s Plays and completed the tutorial. I’d read up on my hero of choice and studied the game mechanics and map objectives. Then, the match started. The gates opened… I realized I had no idea what to do. […]
Stars in Shadow Sets Sights on September EA Launch Announcement
Publisher Iceberg Interactive announced today that Stars in Shadow, the upcoming Master of Orion II-inspired 4X title from Ashdar Games , will enter early access on Steam and other digital platforms on September 15, 2016. Iceberg will also conduct hands-on demos and organize press interviews with Ashdar Games at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany next week. […]