X4: Foundations Egosoft As a writer of science fiction, I’ve naturally been drawn to video games within that storied genre. Games such as Freelancer and the age-old Elite series have always been my go-to recommendations when folks ask me which games I admire the most. There is just something so compelling about jumping into a…
Stellaris: Megacorp DLC Paradox Interactive When Stellaris was originally released back in May of 2016, I knew right away that it was going to be something special. I always say “going to be” because anyone familiar with Paradox’s post-release policies knows that there are going to be tons of updates and DLC following each game’s…
Destiny 2: Forsaken Bungie/Activision Gamers are a pretty picky bunch these days, and for the most part that’s understandable. Many developers out there release games that are unfinished, unpolished, or both in order to meet sometimes unrealistic deadlines. When they do that they risk releasing half-cooked games that are either panned outright, or make a…
Aven Colony Mothership Entertainment Aven Colony is a science fiction colony building and management simulator. Initially, it reminded me of a browser game, but more complex. Yet not as fully-featured as other games within the genre. It seems to fit squarely in-between; not overly complex and challenging but also not as advanced as its contemporaries.…
Stellaris Humanoid Species Pack Paradox Interactive I’m one of those gamer geeks who was playing Master of Orion 1 and 2 way back in the day. Therefore, I was pretty excited to hear that NGD Studios was developing a remake of MOO back in 2015. When the newer Master of Orion debuted in February of…
Solstice Chronicles M.I.A Ironward/Nkidu I’ve always loved a good isometric game. Action RPGs in particular have been a mainstay of that top down genre, giving you a view of all of the unfolding events. Heck, I was practically raised on a steady diet of Titan’s Quest (love the recent Anniversary Edition), and of course the…
Everspace Rockfish Games Rouge-like games are quite the experience. Traditionally, they are dungeon-crawlers set in high fantasy settings that utilize procedurally generated levels. This makes them very high risk endeavors, as the player has to be very careful about his choices during combat, as the rouge-like genre also usually entails perma-death. What that means…
Empyrion – Galactic Survival Eleon Game Studios Survival and crafting games are harkening in a new era of the gaming industry. When I think back to games that I used to play when I was younger, during the dawn of gaming, I remember the ones I used to play in the good old arcades (remember…
Endless Space 2 Amplitude Studios/Sega Six hours into my first game of Endless Space 2, I’d managed to carve out a pretty expansive region of the galaxy for my burgeoning civilization of tree people. The Unfallen as they are referred to, were a pacifistic race of ancient tree-like beings whom have just recently taken to…
Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade Expansion Pack Stardock Strategy games have been going through some troubled times as of late. The genre is certainly in a much different place than it was during its heyday, which were arguably the 1990s. Ever since the early days of strategy games, attention spans have become increasingly diminished—seemingly exponentially in…