This.

Alternatively:
With the dawning of the age of virtual reality, the 2010s officially are 90s' gaming dreams come true. Logically, portable digital pets will become the next big thing any time soon — more lifelike, demanding and feral than ever. What animal will your studio digitize, and what features will it have that…

With permadeath and procedural generation having successfully wormed their way into every genre known to man, the third feature of classic roguelikes will surely make its comeback soon, too: ascii graphics. Which emoticon will your game's player character be represented by, and why?

My standard answer to this question was: it depends what you're looking for in those games. I personally would say that you can freely skip the sequel, but should absolutely play the first game. While it is by all metrics (that means, things that can be expressed in Metacritic scores) less good as a game, it's by far…

That would have been my thought, too. I found out that I feel really bad when I find myself at the end of a whole evening or even a day on a week-end with nothing but several hours of playing video games indoors to show for. Then the anxiety inevitably hits me.

I'm always surprised to see how readily people pull out the few debacles but ignore all the good that has come out of Kickstarter.

First of all: much love to Patrick for using an MP3 player instead of any old smartphone. We are a dying species, but we will go under dancing!

My mum lately got a tablet and wanted me to install some games for her — I was seriously a bit pissed off that I could not even find the original Peggle and Plants vs Zombies anymore in the Playstore. As you say, the "sequels" really seem to be the same games, with an added coin slot, after you have filed off…

Could very well be!

Spaceteam is indeed great.

What if it were possible to play something brand new yet maintain the spirit of the arcade games of old?

Yeah, it's a pity that S.EXE ended, even though I do understand her wanting to try something else.

A good Let’s Player can highlight one good idea buried in 60 hours of
blandness, saving you the boredom of having to find it yourself.

I guess you're referring to the option of having the game auto-pause at the end of each turn, then. Sorry for my confusion, but Baldur's Gate is not what I would refer to as "turn-based" — that makes me think rather of systems like the one in Fallout, Might&Magic, The Dark Eye, Wizardry and so on…

Well, Baldur's Gate was only turn-based behind the curtain — it played as real time with an option to pause the game, much like Pillars does. I didn't feel like the difference was too big, but maybe I'm overlooking something there? Where did you feel like not using a hidden turn-based system (if that's even the case)…

Of course not, there are no romance options in the game! #rimshot

On the other hand, all progress-relevant locks I have encountered had a key somewhere or could be circumvented in some way or another (often a more painful way, but lockpicking was still not mandatory).

Of course. It's the "Monkey Foundling" in Sunless Sea. Mechanically speaking, she is only a "mascot" (one type of officer that boosts certain stats), but contrary to the other mascots, say, the Comatose Ferret, she's part of a rather long quest (or "storylet" in Failbetter Game-terms) on one of the islands, the Empire…

Also, it's worth pointing out that the game does not hand out slightly better weapons and pieces of armor ever five minutes, so that you have to spend half your time comparing numbers. I for one like that (and if you like to tinker with your equipment, the options are there.)

Definitely, especially if you ever caught yourself maddly muttering something like: "Those well-written, complex RPG of the past with their complex narrative systems, their choice and consequences, and all that fancy tactical combat — what has happend to them? And while you're at it, get off my lawn, filthy blood…