Stately Play

Author: Tanner Hendrickson

Dicey Dungeons rolls onto PC/Mac/Linux

August 16, 2019 Tanner Hendrickson 3

PC/Mac/Linux Do year hear that? That’s right, it’s the deck-building roguelike alarm! So soon after the last one, too! This time, it’s VVVVVV/Super Hexagon developer Terry Cavanaugh’s Dicey Dungeons, and it’s just wonderful. The pitch? It’s Dream Quest, but instead of building a deck of cards you’re designing your own roll-and-write sheet on which to delegate dice rolls to deal damage and defeat the denizens of these damned dicey dungeons. And it’s a game show!

Review: SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech

May 1, 2019 Tanner Hendrickson 1

Switch This is a very hard review to write. It’s one thing to be let down by a game you’re excited for but quite another when it’s so excruciatingly close to being great… but ends up only okay. By any measure, SteamWorld Quest should be extremely my jam—it’s a deckbuilding RPG, it’s on the Switch, and it’s the latest game in one of the low-key best game series in recent memory. (Go play SteamWorld Heist right now, if you haven’t.) But there’s a stack of little imperfections that compounded and held me back from enjoying the game as much as I thought I would. It’s like the uncanny valley effect—the game is so close to being great that all the little flaws became much more glaring. However, with some small tweaks, I think Image & Form could turn things around. My fingers are crossed, because I really wanted to love this game.

Rev-ewe: Baba Is You

March 15, 2019 Tanner Hendrickson 1

PC/Mac/Linux, Switch There’s been a noticeable uptick in quality spatial puzzle games in the past five years. Games like Stephen’s Sausage Roll, Snakebird, Jelly no Puzzle, and A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build all take the classic Sokoban formula of moving/changing objects to their designated zones/states and put in their own little wrinkles, exploring the possibility spaces created by these tweaks to the formula. I like to call them “SokoButs”, as in “Sokobon, but…” because it’s fun to create microgenres and nobody has claimed this one yet. Feel free to use it, because I sure will. I attribute this recent boom at least partially to the release of PuzzleScript, a free toolset for designing SokoButs, in 2013. PuzzleScript streamlines the game design process via a simple markup for defining the rules that govern a SokoBut’s core systems. Baba Is You is a new SokoBut from Arvi Teikari, and its “but…” is huge: each puzzle’s rules are physical objects within the puzzle. By pushing around nouns, verbs, and adjectives, you rewrite the logic of the game in real time. Basically, it’s PuzzleScript: The Game. Baba Is You is an entirely new kind of logic puzzle, and it’s the best puzzle game I’ve played in a very long time.

Short Cut: Don’t Die, Mr. Robot! DX

May 24, 2018 Tanner Hendrickson 0

Switch • Don’t Die, Mr. Robot! DX is the second game on the Switch in as many months from Infinite State Games, following the excellent Rogue Aces in April. And, like Rogue Aces, DD,MR!DX (Yes, I will be abbreviating the title.) is a fantastic pick up and play arcade game that is well worth a spot on your Switch.

Our Most Anticipated Games of 2018: Tanner Hendrickson

January 19, 2018 Tanner Hendrickson 3

[Right around New Year’s, I’d asked all the writers to pen something about games they’re looking forward to in 2018. I had assumed one or two from everyone, which would lead to a single article with everyone’s picks and that would be it. Instead, each writer sent me a bevy of games making me realize that one article probably wouldn’t cut it. Hey, I love 4000 word articles as much as the next guy, but it’s easy for games to get lost in something that vast. So, I decided to split it all up and give each member of the Stately Staff their own day to shine. Today, Tanner -ed.]

Short Cuts: Hidden my game by mom Series

January 13, 2017 Tanner Hendrickson 0

Since the dawn of electronic handheld gaming, there has been conflict between mother and child. The mother wants chores or homework to be done, but there’s always “just one more level” or a high score just out of reach. At some point, the mother will resort to simply hiding the device in the hopes of boring the child into productivity. The child, of course, instead leverages their boredom into searching for their game. They inevitably find the device, and the cycle begins anew. Japanese developer hap Inc.’s free Hidden my game by mom (sic) series distills and translates this conflict into a delightfully absurd escape room puzzle game format.

Three Games You Can Play To Distract From This Sense of Impending Doom You’re Feeling

November 9, 2016 Tanner Hendrickson 12

I’ve always defended mobile games as more than mere distractions. But today… Today I need some distractions from this newfound sense of overwhelming dread I woke up with, and you might, too. Here are three quality “distractions” you can play today and into the coming months. (And if you’re not feeling particularly down today, here are some good games that are worth playing.)

Review: Picross 3D: Round 2

October 31, 2016 Tanner Hendrickson 2

My name is Tanner Hendrickson, and I am a Picross 3D: Round 2 addict. I freely admit that I have a problem. After tirelessly campaigning for a release outside of Japan, Nintendo of America acquiesced and gave puzzle fans in the Americas (and soon, Europe) the best reason to own a Nintendo console since, well, the original Picross 3D. It was scary there for a while, but we did it. And boy, was it worth the wait.