93: Wheels of Aurelia

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This week we discussed Wheels of Aurelia by developers Santa Ragione. Though technically still in beta, Wheels of Aurelia is a complete experience that expertly blends a driving game with a focus on characters through the use of a interactive fiction. As their website says, “Based on your choices – and the places you’ll decide to visit – you may end up in car chases, illegal street races, or in tense debates that will make you wonder who your travel companions really are.”

Each play session takes 10-20 minutes and can be played on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is available for $4.99 on itch.io. We highly recommend this game for someone looking for a truly unique and extraordinary experience centered around something ordinary we have all done before: having a great conversation while driving.

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92: Board Game Special 2016

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Can it really be two years since our last board game special?! This week we’re rounding up the board and card games we’ve been enjoying when not playing short video games. Join us as we talk about that other gaming hobby!

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91: Apple Design Awards Winners 2016

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As we did in 2014 and 2015, we’ve checked out this year’s Apple Design Award winning games, and we’re back to talk about what they say about iOS as a gaming platform today and in the years to come.

This year’s winners:

Student Winners:

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90: Expand

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Expand is an innovative, difficult to classify game about navigating a circular maze that shifts and expands in response to your movement. It’s a really special experience and we highly recommend it.

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Expand is available for Mac, PC, and Linux on Itch.io and on Steam for $6, or $10 with the soundtrack. You’ll want that soundtrack, it’s great. Expect it to take about 4 hours to complete.

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89: Human Resource Machine

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This week we’re talking about Human Resource Machine from The Tomorrow Corporation. The makers of Short Game favorites Little Inferno and World of Goo have returned last year with a game that is completely different from either of those. It’s a puzzle game in which you use basic programming to solve simple math problems, but we swear it’s more fun that that might make it sound! If you missed Human Resource Machine, now is a great time to give it a second look since it just received a terrific iOS port.

Human Resource Machine is available for Mac, PC, and Linux for $9.99 and on iOS for $4.99. It’s also available on the Wii U, and it has been a part of a couple of Humble Bundles, so check your Steam library! Expect the game to take between 5 and 8 hours.

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88: $5 on Itch.io

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This week we are exploring the insanely varied world of indie game marketplace itch.io. Each of our hosts spent $5 on itch and played two or three games from a variety of vibrant micro-indie creators.

If you’re not familiar with Itch.io, it’s most easily summed up as “bandcamp for video games.” Anyone can post their work on Itch and create a custom store page to tell their story. Creators set prices, from zero to whatever they like, and everything works as a “suggested donation” so you can pay whatever you like above the creator-set minimum. It’s a great place for developers to share and sell their work, especially for games that might be too niche to get through a system like Steam Greenlight. Itch also does a wonderful job of fostering a community by featuring a parade of interesting stuff on their homepage and twitter account.

We discuss a bunch of games this week. We have gathered them together into a collection that you can view on itch.

Mentioned on The Short Game: An Itch.io Collection

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87: The Order: 1886

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This week we played the infamously short game The Order: 1886. Can time (and bargain bin pricing) redeem this beautiful flop? The claws come out as out panel debates the good, the bad, and the artfully blurry of this Playstation exclusive third person shooter.

The Order is available physically or on PSN for $20 regular price, exclusively for PS4. Expect it to take between 7 and 10 hours to complete.

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86: Warbits

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This week we’re talking about Warbits, the long awaited iPhone game that captures the feeling (and many of the specific mechanics) of the popular portable turn based strategy Advance Wars. We discuss what makes Warbits so addictive, how it draws inspiration from its predecessors, and how it stakes out its own territory. We also talk about some of our other favorite asynchronous multiplayer games.

Warbits is available on the iOS App Store for $3.99.

Long time Advance Wars fans Raygan and Shane have been getting crushed by Advance Wars newcomer Nate all week. If you want to do the same, start a game with hashtag #shortgame.

Correction: Small World is only available for iPad, not both iPad and iPhone.

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See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

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85: The Wolf Among Us

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This week we discuss Telltale’s mystery/noire adventure set in the Fables comic book universe, The Wolf Among Us. Released episodically starting in October 2013, this was Telltale’s follow-up to The Walking Dead. Now that the game has been out for more than two years (and ported to no less than nine platforms including PC/Mac, consoles, and iOS) we revisit this great story that many people (including us) sadly skipped.

The Wolf Among Us consists of five episodes, each about 90 minutes in length. No spoiler break in this episode as we only discuss events occurring in the first episode.

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84: Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP

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Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP celebrated its 5th anniversary recently, and we’re looking back at its art and influence. If you missed this game when it first launched on the iPad now is a great time to play it as it has since launched on iPhone, Android, and Steam (PC, Mac, and Linux.) Put on your best headphones and settle in for a memorable groove experience.

SS&S EP is an unconventional point and click adventure game with a focus on music and mood. Art is by Superbrothers (Craig D. Adams) with music by Jim Guthrie and game design by Capy Games.

Expect the game to take about 4 hours to complete. A moon-phase mechanic means some in game events can only be completed when the moon is in certain real-life phases, but this can be skipped without cheating by altering the moon phase at the “Moon Grotto.” It costs about $5 and was included in Humble Bundle V.

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