I’m a big fan of FTL and basically have the game since release.  I’ve got all the ship except the Cristal one and over 100 hr played on it. So I was quite happy when then announced the release of FTL on the IPad awhile ago. With the recent release on the IPad they updated the game with new content (ship, alien, mod, ship layout).

The game started has a Kickstarter campaign on February 27th, 2012 andthe campaign was a massive success.

Ok! We get it, you like this game but What the game about ?

FTL is roguelike space games, where you control a spaceship that needs to save the Federation from the Rebellion. Has you flee from the rebel force to the federation headquarter to be deliver critical information about the rebel force, you encounter alien race, hostile ship, event, store. You can unlock ship by going through certain event or be beating the rebel Flag ship with certain type of ship. What most notable and very common in the roguelike game is that each time you lose your ship, either no more crew or the whole ship is destroyed, you need to restart the game.

With made me look forward for more game in the space genre here 3 games that caught my attention recently. Please note that because of my love for FTL I’ll probably start a weekly or bi-weekly post on how to unlock ship and various achievement. If you can’t wait you can always check there wiki, its awesome source of FTL information.

P.S: I hope they will make it available on android too.

Cosmonautica

Cosmonautica look quite promising, it’s can be describe has The Sim in space meet FTL of some sort. . The player’s ship is the size of a large townhouse and various rooms can be bolted onto its empty compartments. Living quarters, vending machines, cargo bays, weapons, engines and, wait for it, toilets… At present, there’s not much to do beyond trading basic commodities, but ground missions and enhanced combat are due before release. Take a look.

Related

A life of space trading (indiesgames)

The cosmo-nautica Blog

Planet express simulator (Rock paper Shotgun)

Cosmo-Nautica (indiedb)

Shallow Space

From the look of it Shallow space is a Space 3D RTS game inspired from homeworld. Players will need to mine for resources, advance capital ships and engage in battle to improve your officers skills. You can even design your own weapon configurations and ship modules, and believe me there are plenty of ships to play with!

Related: Dominate the Shallow Space (Indieretronews)

SPAZ 2

I loved the first game even though I haven’t finished it yet. It doesn’t have the same vibe FTL does but I really liked how you upgrade your spaceships and how you can customize them. The game has a bit of grinding to it that can sometime be cumbersome.

SPAZ 1

SPAZ 2 come back with all these mechanic, new ones and with enhanced 3d graphics.

Official Site : http://minmax-games.com/SpacePiratesAndZombies/

I’ve been reviewing game from China game corporation for a while (Koram, Gamebox, Youjoy, just to name a few) So made good game, some not.

But now the tide is turning, soon console will be available there and game maker will be allowed to sell game in the Chinese markets.

But Chinese authority are known to put some restriction on any one trying to do business there so.

Like the Pokémon we got them just for you, here are the top restriction from the biggest Asian country:

• Gambling-related content or game features
• Anything that violates China’s constitution
• Anything that threatens China’s national unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity.
• Anything that harms the nation’s reputation, security, or interests.
• Anything that instigates racial/ethnic hatred, or harms ethnic traditions and cultures.
• Anything that violates China’s policy on religion by promoting cults or superstitions.
• Anything that promotes or incites obscenity, drug use, violence, or gambling.
• Anything that harms public ethics or China’s culture and traditions.
• Anything that insults, slanders, or violates the rights of others.
• Other content that violates the law.
• Game characters wearing bikinis or shorts are prohibited.
• Exposing sensitive parts of the body is not allowed.
• Bodily touching between men and women in games is completely prohibited.

The last three points interesting since Chinese game makers are know to put bikini for no reason (Evony ads controversy, odin quest pics, zombie ate my pizza pinup has main female avatar.)

Related info & source :

China Details Copious Restrictions On Video Game Content (http://www.gamepolitics.com)

Bikinis, Shorts and Inter-Gender Touching Banned (http://www.gamepolitics.com)

With the new movies X-Men: Days Of Future Past, we could expect new game from that superheroes franchise. Uncanny X-Men: Days Of Future Past deliver but is not based on the movie but rather by the comics. It’s available at a reasonable price, with no IAP or online connection required what else can you ask. Oh a review ? I don’t have one but you can check out the trailers or go at Touch arcade for a full review of Uncanny X-Men: Days Of Future Past.

Alien bugs have introduced a deadly virus to a world that’s absolutely obsessed with pizza. The virus turns people into dough-brained zombies who believe humans are pizzas. As it turns out, pizza-obsessed people turn into pizza-obsessed zombies, and the world’s got a huge problem. Humanity faces extinction, but small groups of stubborn soldiers are fighting back. You are one of these soldiers and it’s up to you to defeat the zombies and save mankind.

I think you get the point…

Zombies Ate My Pizza is a browser-based, action-shooter MMO sees players traveling to a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by zombies, where they’re challenged to complete quests with an overall theme of the importance of pizza.

Outside of combat, players can interact with other users, complete exclusive events, and even enter the game’s player-vs-player tournaments.

GamePlay

When you start you can choose your class, you get to choose between a commando and a bomber. A top of that the girl of each class are super sexy so I pick the steamy bomber girl.

Once your class you jump on a chopper and you’re dropped off with Brie, another soldier with a lot of cleavage (what up with that?) to do a short tutorial on how to shoot zombies.

After some killing, you are taken in a safe zone where you’re given a bunch of pointless quest until you got one to kill off more zombies.

Ok that all nice and cool, but seriously guy, where the Pizza? You know where the pizza at your neighbors house because this game is just a copy of Zombie ate my neighbors, but mmo style. They didn’t even bother to change the name they just switched a word to pizza and make a synopsis that doesn’t make sense.

So far the level aren’t imaginative at all either, there is bunch of zombie movie toward you, you shot, they are dead and level done. Sometime there a boss, you run around him shoot, kill and you win.

however I have to say that moving around shooting stuff is always fun, the sexy avatar and other soldier is always welcome.

Play it for free: http://zombies.r2games.com/

More info on Zombies ate my Neighbors

A monkey, a parrot and an adventure full of surprises in the tunnels of Mars: the italian software house Youmble releases “Martian Caves”, a new platform adventure game, free to play on iOS and Android.

In a distant future, two guinea pigs are sent on a mission to search for life forms, but soon the situation goes totally wrong and our heroes have to find their way home through 40 action-packed levels, mazes and unfriendly alien lifeforms!

To survive the trip and return home alive and well Eclecto the parrot and Rudy the monkey have at their disposal the amazing VERNE module ( Vehicle-for-Exploration: Return-Not-so-Essential ), a spaceship that will allow players to walk, fly, shoot and move freely in every corner of the 40 stages of the game, in search of the hidden stars needed to advance.

Check out there video:

Martian Caves, developed by Youmble will be available on May 23rd on Google Play and later on Apple App Store

Note to my reader, this a rant from my good friend Everdan at http://www.twitch.tv/everdan76.  Go to is channel and  follow him.

The other day I was on steam looking what games were on sale. I was looking for a good strategy game to play, you know like Cossack, Starcraft or age of empire. So I’ve selected to strategy tag, on check out which game could be fun to play. I check out the first game of the list and wtf, it’s not a strategy it some kinds of shitty tower defense game. I check out the second game in the list, another tower defense game. I tell myself that probably the only one, the next one probably a RTS or TBS. I click on that third and to my dismay, it was still a fucking tower defense game.

Cossack, that a real strategy game.

It’s seem to me that the strategy game with complex AI and game mechanic that I use to love and cherish are at the same level of those boring, straight to play tower defense. For me tower defense is more a tactical game that a strategy game because you only have one strategy in that kind of game, align towers (plant, heroes, archer) and wait for enemy to die at their hand. The placement of these towers is just a tactical advantage not a strategy. These should be tag small game, tactical game tower defense, but not strategy game. These games are simple to do, much more casual and maybe sometime fun. However a tower defense is nothing compared to a well flesh out real time strategy or even good old turn base strategy game, I still mourn a time when the word strategy meant something not just a series of pixel randomly moving  to get shot by an inert tower.

-Everdan

Catch me on twitch not playing a tower defence game at http://www.twitch.tv/everdan76

It seem that when a service or social network rise service that sell fake user appear too. Twitch is no exception and the site to grab some follower and viewer for a fee is Twitchshop.

Like service where you can buy Twitter follower or Facebook fan, this might seem like a good deal at first (it’s not), but if twitch find out you might have some penalty or even lose your account.

Here the message twitch user received recently promoting this service

I despise seeing people use this in attempt to get ahead of hard working streamers. Hopefully Twitch will track them and ban those fake account.

Related Link

Reddit discussion

Twitch Shop

I wrote awhile ago about how Google incorporated Pac-Man with their logo (their Doodle) for the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man.

I’ve seen some interesting Pac-man version and project since then so I’ve decided to write a little something about it.

Twitch Play Pacman

A Twitch-based experience similar to PokemonPlaysTwitch was created recently only with a Pac-man game re-geared as a massive 2-player game.

Both channels allow viewers to input movement commands. One channel command Pac-man, the other Binky, the Pac-man team eat pills while staying away from blink  and the other channel control Binky to chase Pac-man down and eat him up…

Related : Twitch PacMan

By the way, I’m now on twitch follow me to see my abysmal talent playing Faster than light, Starcraft2 and other game. Specially indies, I’ll try to see if I can screen grab the game I write about here and show them on my stream.

My Channel :  http://www.twitch.tv/chrisdejack

Psychopath Pac-Man

Psychopath Pac-Man is made by the same developer who did Strip’em all. You have to arrange the panel to fit where will Pac-Man will go to meet and kiss ms Pac-Man.

Related:  Browser pick Psychopath Pac-Man

Play Psychopath Pac-Man

Pac-Man museum

Pac man museum is a collection of many remake Pac-Man had. 9 game total plus a free Ms. Pac-Man download until March 2014.

Here the game included :

• Pac-Man (1980)
• Super Pac-Man (1982)
• Pac & Pal (1983)
• Pac-Land (1984)
• Pac-Mania (1987)
• Pac-Attack (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version; 1993)
• Pac-Man Arrangement (PSP version as seen on Namco Museum Battle Collection; 2005)
• Pac-Man Championship Edition (2007)

Pac-Man Battle Royale (2011)It’s available on PS3, Xbox 360 & PC and coming soon on Wii U and 3DSCheck out old classic gamer video review for more information on Pac-ManRelated news: Pac-Man museum: review Ghosts of the past

The Pac-Man 

You can have this full-scale tribute to almost everyone’s favorite classic Pac-Man? Spanning over 70 stages and 10 varied worlds, The Pac-Man will have you taking on the familiar task of devouring as many suspicious, orb-like things as possible while avoiding the wrath of the wandering ghost.

Related: The Pac-Man (indiegames)

The Pac-Man tribute project

A Pac-Man where you can learn how the ghost behave, yes they actually have a A.I. and it’s actually pretty sophisticated.  That’s not all, there is a practice mode where you can see the ghost bait, theirs path and you can rewind. If you are tired of playing always the same level there is a mode to play procedurally generated maps. Pretty hot stuff, so check it out

Check out The Pac-Man Tribute http://pacman.shaunew.com/

FPS Pac-Man

Pac-Man FPS is actually really spooky, you walk through the maze and the ghost seem to just pop in front of you. Definitely a different game, give it a try.

Play FPS Pac-Mac

Pac-Man HTML 5 remake

If you just want to play the good old Pac-Man in your browser check this HTML5 Pac-Man Remake.

Play the HTML 5 Pac-Man Remake (free)

More Pac Man

If want we have here is not enough to satisfy your Pac-Man addiction check out these link to find out other Pac-Man games.

• Best Pac-Man Clone and Spin-off
• World Biggest Pacman
• Pac-Man Compilation

Pocket Gamer delves into the ongoing craze started by Dong Nguyen’s creation Flappy Bird, and the effects it’s had on the mobile market. After rocketing up Apple’s charts and absorbing a storm of online abuse, Nguyen pulled the title down from both the App Store and Google Play nearly a month ago.

That not all on February 27 one third (1/3) of the apps released on the app store were Flappy Bird clone (95 total) according to the guardian.

Hopefully that will slow down, so I can release mine… no really I won’t release that crap…

Has you probably already know. King recently drop his right for the word “Candy”.

I’ve talked a lot about it here, It was almost a certainty that they would drop the case, there just to much game and product created with that word…

In a statement provided to Kotaku, a spokesperson for King said:

"King has withdrawn its trademark application for Candy in the U.S., which we applied for in February 2013 before we acquired the early rights to Candy Crusher. Each market that King operates in is different with regard to IP. We feel that having the rights to Candy Crusher is the best option for protecting Candy Crush in the U.S. market. This does not affect our E.U. trademark for Candy and we continue to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP."

You can check the original article on Kotaku