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This Week in Geekdom

Posted by Kel

Oh geez, how in the name of Zod is this month rocketing along at this pace? As you guys can probably guess, work has, once again, been absconding away with just about all of my free time as of late. Fortunately there was a enough of a break in the proverbial clouds this past weekend to take in a showing of Civil War, but it seems that such nerdery will likely continue to be of the guerrilla variety for the majority of this year. We'll get into the nitty-gritty of that in a future post but, for now, let's get down to the Week in Geekdom!

Games

On nothing less than Star Wars day Respawn Entertainment, makers of Titanfall, announced that they are in the midst of working on a (as yet untitled) third-person ARPG set in a galaxy far, far away.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare isn't even approaching mass release yet and already gamers are seething at Activision's forthcoming offering.

Escapist would have us believe that these are the 8 most influential RPGs of all time. Do you agree?

While we're in a listicle frame of mind, these are 7 recent turn-based titles that are worth giving a go.

Fallout 4 now has Oculus Rift support.

Science/Technology

It's a technology at the heart of the vast majority of science fiction, but here's why we won't ever see faster-than-light travel in reality.

Say you're a miniaturized superhero. Could you, say, safely travel on a human-launched projectile while in your insectile state? (Warning: link contains Civil War spoilers)

Think you can program in a quantum environment? IBM has just the place for you to try your hand.

Another day, another revving of the Large Hadron Collider, another potential discovery of a new particle.

Feats of Geekdom/General Awesomess

Meet the Finnish 10-year-old who discovered a colossal bug in Instagram.

All Nippon Airways put together this very detailed and highly appropriate tribute for Star Wars Day:

As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!

This Week in Geekdom

Posted by Kel

Hi guys. Happy weekend and best wishes for an excellent last day of con to all those of you attending PAX South right now. I know, it's been a little while since a new post went up on here. As mentioned earlier in the month, studying has been consuming just about every spare minute of my time and will continue to do so for the majority of 2016. Fortunately, a bit of a break will allow us to get down to This Week in Geekdom!

Games

Happy 20th birthday to Duke Nukem 3D!

Squad claims to not only be the most realistic team-based online shooter, but also eliminates all of the headaches that have plagued just about every other constituent of the genre.

Image source

More disappointment for everyone who backed and/or is eagerly anticipating the release of the distinctly Megaman-ish platformer Mighty No. 9, it's now slated to come out in the spring of this year, assuming no additional delays.

Movies/TV

After bringing a slew of comics-based series to the small screen, the CW network is now turning to Archie as a potential source of future programming.

Science/Technology

This is the story of how a cousin of the zebra went extinct a century ago and how South African geneticists have been able to bring the species back to life.

The latest edition of Science includes this research from Northwestern University that has resulted in an entirely new type of polymer.

There is an epic throwdown taking place at the cutting edge of physics-related research. The grand prize: a billion dollar particle accelerator.

It's been inherent to a lot of our collective internet-browsing experience for years now, but Oracle is finally killing off its Java Plugin.

General Awesomeness

Turns out that 2016 will mark the 25th anniversary for many of our favorite geeky things, like these, for example.

If the minds behind this Kickstarter have their way, you may end up with a levitating bonsai to spruce up your decor.

As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!

This Week in Geekdom

Posted by Kel

Oh, hey guys. It's that time again, isn't it? Studying is creating what seems to be even more distortions in the space-time continuum than I'd normally expect from this time of year. It's going to be a very interesting few months to say the least. It was a very busy few days though, due in no small part to the annual Consumer Electonics Show. In case you missed out on CES, here's a round-up of some of the highlights. Add to all that goodness, these fun highlights from This Week in Geekdom!

Books

Unlike George R.R. Martin, Outlander author Diana Gabaldon adheres to her deadlines.

Games

Final Fantasy IX will be available on Steam within the next few months and here's what you can expect.

Did Jurassic World spark your desire to live in harmony with dinosaurs? You may want to check out ARK: Survival Evolved.

Movies/TV

J.J. Abrams has been a very busy man. Check out the trailer for his latest project: 11.22.63, a time-travel series for Hulu based on a Stephen King novel of the same name.

Despite working the publicity circuit for The Force Awakens and 11.22.63, Mr Abrams was not too busy to stop and address complaints that the latest installation of the Star Wars franchise bears too strong a resemblance to its founding chapter.

Back in December, the Huffington Post published a lengthy list of 'plot holes' in The Force Awakens. Here is a very thorough point-by-point rebuttal.

Game of Thrones will return to HBO on April 24th.

While we're in an HBO state of mind, the network has given the official green light to the development of a Deadwood movie.

Science/Technology

Oculus Rift officially hit the open consumer market this week as it opened itself up for pre-orders. The catch: a set will cost you an eye-popping $599 USD. Perhaps this is where Fortune got its projections of the virtual reality market being worth $5.1 billion USD this year alone.

NVIDIA wants in on the autonomous car game.

Thanks to the efforts of many researchers and one very, very specialized telescope, we may get a chance to see the event horizon of the black hole at the center of our galaxy by 2017.

Experts believe it will look something like this.

Speaking of black holes, NASA's Chandra telescope is presenting astrophysicists with new data derived from observations of this...ehm...interesting behavior from the Whirlpool galaxy.

Aside from observing black holes, NASA is also occupied developing this, the successor to the Hubble telescope.

It's official: the periodic table of elements has four new members.

If you weigh 220 lbs (99.79 kg) or less then Ehang may have a very interesting way for you to get to school or work.

Desert sand is so efficient at capturing and retaining heat that researchers at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology want to develop ways to turn it into a thermal energy storage medium.

Acoustics experts at Australia's RMIT University may revolutionize the way that stem cell treatments are delivered to patients by combining two different sound waves.

The artificial pancreas is two clinical trials away from being a consumable reality.

General Awesomeness/Feats of Nerdery

What do you get when a Disney storyboard artist combines the aesthetic of Calvin & Hobbes with The Force Awakens? These awesome cartoons, that's what.

It's no secret that we at the Care and Feeding of Nerds love us some excellent infographics and here's an excellent series depicting the fact that half of the Earth's population lives on 1% of its land mass.

And here's a fun infographic breaking out all of the character deaths in Shakespeare's oeuvre.

Amateur astronomer Michael Sidonio thought he was taking pictures of galaxy NGC 253 and ended up discovering a galaxy of his own.

As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!

This Week in Geekdom

Posted by Kel

Hey guys; hope you're all having a great weekend thus far. We've been busy gearing up for Thanksgiving (lots grinding away in the office, but the premise of pie looms large in the immediate future). Mmmmm, pie. With a bit of vacation time incoming, I'm hoping to put in some serious hours in Fallout 4 and start putting together the 2016 cosplay lineup. In the meantime though, let's get down to the Week in Geekdom.

Comics

Happy 30th birthday to Calvin and Hobbes!

Games

On Friday Valve announced the dates for both its Fall and Winter Sales as well as a planned makeover for both daily and flash sales.

Fans of the Starfox series may have to wait until 1Q16 to do their next barrel roll, but we can at least get a glimpse of what's inbound.

Are you the owner of a PS4 with a jones for solid indie titles? This list can point you in the right gaming direction.

Despite the prevalence and potential functionality of the bluntly direct "just attack your target" methodology inherent in so many games, there's a lot that can be said of taking a stealthy tack. Here are some of the best examples of the latter.

Movies/TV

It's Mark Hamill's first official interview about some movie that's coming out next month or something.

Speaking of said franchise, if you could change one thing about any of the Star Wars movies what would it be?

Science/Technology

It's a healthy baby...planet? The latest edition of Nature contains these observations from the Universities of Arizona and Sydney that may be the first-ever images of a planet being 'born'.

LG did not have the best of weeks. After only six days on the market the Watch Urbane (Second Edition) was cancelled due to an unspecified hardware issue.

In a less market-value-crushing move, Microsoft ended both the production of its music player Zune and the service that provided said player with tunes.

What if your cell phone could hold a battery charge for over a week at a time? Thanks to new research at the University of Glasgow, we may be very close to that possibility.

In what is likely another step towards the Singularity, AI developed by the National Institute of Informatics (Japan) was able to pass the infamously difficult exam associated with admission into Japan's universities.

It's one of the most enduring and analyzed quandaries that we, as a species, grapple with: why do we exist? According to one Harvard cosmologist, the answer may be dark matter.

We all share this ability, but why? We're are uncannily adept at sensing when another human is looking at us. Here comes the science.

The most recent version of Optics includes this research out of Stanford that details a microscope calibrating technique that allows individual molecules to be observed in real time and in three dimensions.

General Awesomeness/Feats of Nerdery

Do you love model-making? Are you a Star Wars fan? Do you have two or so years to dedicate to a single project? If you answered yes to all of those then this soon-to-be-released model kit may be the perfect holiday gift for you.

Pffft. Who wants a scaled down model of a Star Wars craft when you can sit in a full-sized version?

Ever wonder who is behind Albert Einstein's Twitter/Facebook/Instagram accounts? Meet Anthony Illiokostas.

As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!

GiR by GIR: Warhammer End Times - Vermintide

Posted by GIR

With over 350 hours played on Steam, Left4Dead2 constantly reminds me that, while I may be an RPG gamer at heart, it was this co-op FPS that became one of my greatest gaming loves. It's the game that I could never give up, that is until I got my hands on the recently released Warhammer End Times - Vermintide by Fatshark.

The End Times is the great cataclysmic apocalypse that was prophesied to bring about the end of the Warhammer Fantasy setting. Vermintide focuses on the city of Ubersreik which is being overrun by a horde of Rat-Men called Skaven. A group of five unlikely heroes must work together to try and save the city and, barring that, at least survive long enough to escape.

Over the course of 13 different missions four players will battle their way through several richly detailed environments ranging from a Mage Tower built by MC Escher to the docks and sewers of the city to the surrounding countryside. Most missions follow the formula L4D soundly established: move along a mostly linear path until you get to a set piece where you have to hold out against waves or enemies, or collect something to deliver before you can advance further while being ambushed by hordes of adversaries. Sadly, the storyline itself isn't quite as detailed as the maps it pulls the players though. That said, the narrative is certainly serviceable, but doesn't quite seem to tap the full potential of Warhammer Fantasy lore.

Being a Co-Op Action FPS, the core mechanics are the standard focus on melee and ranged weapons (with a light emphasis on the former) while battling hordes of basic enemies occasionally bolstered by special units. Unlike each of the survivors in L4D, in Vermintide each of the five playable hero classes has a unique skill, gear set, and specific roles they are best suited for. While other co-op games have you finding gear and loot throughout the levels and missions, Vermintide has a loot reward, inventory, and crafting system that allows you to tailor your chosen hero to best fit your play style.

Everyone has a primary and secondary weapon slot as well as space for trinkets they can customize before you set out on a mission. For example, the Empire Soldier Markus or Bardin the Dwarf Ranger can use a one-hander plus a shield to get higher endurance which allows them to block melee damage or shove enemies away, giving them more durability. The Mage has a variety of staves that will change how her magic works, causing her flames to act like a beam, area explosion, or a javelin she can hurl. The Elf Waywatcher has bow that can do poison damage over time or fire homing arrows.

While this diversity in gear and loot is great for flexibility in terms of play style, it’s also a double edged sword (no pun intended). The reason behind this is that the only way to get much of this gear is the somewhat controversial loot system. At the end of each successful mission players get to “roll” a set of dice that will determine the reward you get from a list of options displayed to the right of the screen. The quality of loot available depends on the difficulty level of the mission, but there’s no guarantee the player will get something good if they roll poorly and, even if they do, it might not even be for the heroes they prefer to play. Ostensibly, the loot system was configured as a tactic to try and get people to try out all of the heroes instead of sticking to a single roll, but things rarely work out that way. I still have nothing but normal (white) gear for the class I wanted to play most, the Witch Hunter, but, as a Level 30 running hard, I am forced to play the role I have the best gear for or risk dragging down my allies.

You can slightly improve the odds of better rewards by collecting hidden items called tomes or grimoires, both of which take up a healing item or buff slot so there’s a neat risk/reward aspect in play. The grimoires, in addition to taking up a potion slot, also reduce the entire teams Max Health and can’t be dropped or they are lost for the mission. Tomes, on the other hand, can be picked up and put down at will. This can be helpful, but not every mission even has them which leads to a somewhat lopsided server list in terms of what’s being hosted. I definitely enjoyed this mechanic, as it incentivizes players to work together and discuss if it’s worth doing none, one, or both grimoires based on map difficulty and current party health. That said, I do play with friends who communicate well. In public games with strangers people’s personal experiences may vary.

To try and alleviate some of the grind, Vermintide has a crafting system that allows players to recycle useless or duplicate gear into a better quality item. The conversion rates in said system are 5 Whites = 1 Green, 5 green = 1 Blue, 5 Blue = 1 Orange. Despite this, the item crafted can still be bad so, like the dice, you're at the mercy of a random number generator. Even more frustrating are the trinkets and hats which can't be crafted or recycled for parts and, after playing long enough, you'll could end up with a heap of worthless clutter in your inventory.

Combat itself is good and engaging and, overall, the game is fairly challenging. The weapons really do feel responsive in that a one-handed mace will swing really fast compared to a hulking two-handed hammer; blades swish nicely as they cleave Skaven limbs from bodies, and shields thump under heavy Skaven assault. I know some people feel that the AI is no better than zombies of other games. but I strongly disagree. Full stealth is never an option but taking down a group of Skaven in a watchtower with a bow can allow a group to sneak past a larger group and save that precious healing for finales and recovering after ambushes. If the players go loud using guns and bombs on that same watch tower they will draw a larger horde, wasting time, healing, and other resources. Even the most basic units know not just to swarm, but to try and flank to get behind players. Also, unlike zombies, the Skaven will recoil in fear when players land critical kills or bring down special units. Sometimes that moment of respite is the difference between regaining enough stamina to block an incoming attack or getting dropped and leaving your allies a hero down as the tide of vermin continues to grow.

For players familiar with L4D, the parallels in special unit types in Vermintide will be obvious and likely easily dealt with but, for the uninitiated, the challenge of learning how to deal with the tougher Skaven can be difficult but rewarding once a rhythm and pattern of blocking/parrying/counter striking is established. The 5 Specials are: Packmasters, which will latch on and drag players away from the group; Ratling Gunners, who lock onto a single player and unleash metal hell using a gatling gun; Poison Wind Globadir who hurl long range gas bombs which cloud vision and damage over time; Gutter Runners who teleport and pounce on players, eviscerating them; Rat Ogres that are basically like the Hulk and require the whole team to bring down; and Stormvermin, which are larger, heavily armored rats with heavy weapons. The last type is also unique in that patrols of about a dozen roam around on various maps and, again, players can use stealth to avoid these which on lower difficulties isn’t always necessary, but at higher level play is mandatory as even the best geared players will quickly be facing a TPK (Total Party Kill).

While the influence of L4D hangs heavy around Vermintide like the fog around Ubersreik, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Frantically fighting off hordes of enemies back-to-back with your friends as you wait for a gate to lower so you can escape a doomed city is the whole point right? Desperately trying to revive a downed ally while a Rat Ogre roars bearing down on you full speed will never stop being thrilling to me. It’s been 6 years since L4D and there has been no worthy successor. I’m here to say I now feel there is and it’s Vermintide. This is, hands down, the best FPS co-op experience a player can get today.

Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide released on 10/23/15 and is available on Steam for $29.99. Pick it up today and let’s save Ubersreik together, or die trying.

GiR by GIR: Jotun

Posted by GIR

After a brief Q&A with the developers, I felt it was time for a more formal review. Let me begin by stating that Jotun by Thunder Lotus Games is clearly a labor of love. An action-exploration hybrid, Jotun first caught my eye at PAX East and did not disappoint upon release. With a truly wonderful hand drawn art style reminiscent of The Banner Saga, the player is immediately and deeply immersed in a legendary journey through Norse mythology.

Player’s control Thora, a fierce Viking who’s lost at sea and must prove her strength and courage to the Gods to claim her place in Valhalla. While some may find the pacing to be on the slow side, as Thora traverses gorgeous and varied elemental levels in search of Jotuns to defeat, I couldn’t imagine not taking the time to absorb and appreciate the majestic vistas. Aside from aesthetic reasons, it is definitely worth exploring every inch of a level to find the Norse Deity Shrines to grant Thora boons. For example, Thor's power increases Thora’s heavy-attack damage, Freya grants boosts of speed, Heimdall allows the use of a protective shield, and Frigg provides apples to extend her life bar; all of which players will assuredly need because Jotuns are seriously tough.

Combat may be generously spaced, but each fight is an epic struggle in the vein of Shadows of the Colossus or Titan Souls. Thora, who is little more than a mosquito to the hulking Jotuns, must memorize an increasingly complex set of boss attack patterns to learn when and how best to capitalize on the few openings that exist. As vast and slow as exploration feels, combat is fast, frantic, and lethal. The environment itself can also often be as dangerous as the Jotun themselves.

While I was slightly put off by some of the puzzles I stumbled across during the exploration phases, I realize that is a bit of personal bias; like Thor I prefer to solve my puzzles by hitting them as hard as I can with a hammer until the pieces fit together. Unlike other games where puzzle sections can cause a disconnect and bring a player out of an experience, I can assure you that is not the case here. Like with all other aspects of Jotun, Thunder Lotus has gone to great lengths to forge the very essence of Norse mythology into the puzzles themselves to make sure the immersion and theme remains intact. The best of these moments to me was using lightning to recreate constellations.

Jotun is a somewhat short game that can wrapped up in about 10 hours, but I felt was an appropriate length. It was just long enough to satisfy me but also keep me wanting more. Thora’s journey was a stoic and difficult, but worthwhile one and I’m glad I had the opportunity to accompany her on it.

Jotun released last month and is available on Steam for $14.99. If you like 2D artistic games heavy on the atmosphere and a strong Norse theme I strongly recommend checking it out.

Full Disclosure: This review was written based off a review copy for the Steam version of the game provided by Thunder Lotus Games.

Q & A With the Creators of Jotun; Thunder Lotus Games

Posted by GIR

Odin knows it's been far too long since I've managed to post a review, but I promise one for the recently released Jotun is forthcoming. Recently I had a chance to exchange a few words with William Dubéon, one of the developers at Thunder Lotus Games responsible for this inspired title. If you'd like to hear a bit about the motivations behind the game or what future additions to expect read on!

GIR: How has the full release of Jotun been treating you so far?

Will: The release has been great! We’re super happy with the reception so far. Fans and press are loving the game!

GIR: What led you to choose Vikings and Norse Mythology as the theme of your game? I could easily see this concept working just as well with say the Egyptian Or Greek mythos (which you cited your Team also had a fascination with).

Will: I’ve always been fascinated with old stories like Beowulf and The Divine Comedy. When I started reading Norse mythology, I knew we had to make a game in this setting.

GIR: Personally one of the things I enjoy most in Jotun is the hand-drawn art style which reminded me of The Banner Saga a great deal. What made you choose to take things in that direction artistically?

Will: The first and greatest reason was that I knew some amazing 2D artists! I was lucky to be surrounded by such talent.

GIR: While the exploration aspect of game play is influenced by games like Journey combat, as you have indicated in the past, is obviously inspired by games like Shadow of the Colossus, or Dark Souls boss fights. Was it difficult finding the balance between the heavy atmosphere and slow pacing of exploring with the often frantic challenge of combat?

Will: The difference in pacing was one of the biggest development challenges for Jotun. Even now, some players still find the exploration levels too slow for their taste. However, a lot of gamers really love this pacing so it’s definitely a recurring point of debate. Ultimately, I’m happy we stuck with our initial creative vision.

GIR: Your Kickstarter fully funded on back in August 2014, but you kept the option for donations and funding open through other methods such as Paypal, etc. Did enough additional contributions/funding come in to allow you to include some of the Stretch Goals you didn't hit during the original Kickstarter?

Will: We ended the external crowdfunding shortly after Kickstarter, so it did not have a big impact on getting us additional development resources.

GIR: Can people expect to see some of those game elements in the future via updates or DLC?

Will: Steam Achievements, Trading Cards and Cloud Saves are already in our pipeline, as well as New Game+. We’ll also start console development this fall, so our plates are quite full!

GIR: On your Kickstarter you specifically noted: "We chose Kickstarter because we want to involve you in the development process," can you share what you felt the best idea/improvement to come from the backers was?

Will: Being able to test the game during alpha and beta was one of the best things that came out of Kickstarter. We could test how players’ expectations were aligning with what we were actually developing. We made a lot of adjustments to the game during these periods.

GIR: Do you plan on using this approach(Kickstarter) for future projects?

Will: We would absolutely go to Kickstarter again.

GIR: Were there any aspects of the game you were forced to scale back/compromise/cut from your original vision? Do you regret having to do so?

Will: Very early in development we realized certain features promised during Kickstarter were over-scoped. For example, we quickly realized that have randomly generated levels would not be worth the effort. Being open and having good communication channels with our backers really helped us here, as they were very understanding of these changes. We have absolutely no regrets, as we were able to ship the game in the time-frame we had set on Kickstarter, a rare feat.

GIR: Is Thunder Lotus already looking forward to the next project on the horizon now that Jotun has been released? Or is a vacation in order?

Will: The team is taking some well-deserved time off right now, but we’ll be hard at work this fall working on Steam Achievements/Trading Cards/Cloud Saves, New Game+ and console ports!

GIR: When you do start your next project are you committed to producing games in a similar genre(thematically and/or mechanically)? Or do you think you'll want to explore in new directions?

Will: Only the Norns know!

GIR: Congrats on a great launch and thank you again for your time!

Will: Thank you!

Jotun was released on September 29th. You can get it on Steam for $14.99 USD.

Round-Up: Boston Festival of Indie Games 2015

Posted by Kel

What? The 2015 convention season is over for the Care and Feeding of Nerds? How can this be? The sad-but-true fact is that our next convention won't be until 2016 but, somehow, 2016 isn't all that far away. We closed out this year's season with what's become one of our favorite events: the Boston Festival of Indie Games (a.k.a. BFIG). Yes, part of what makes this convention so appealing is the sheer convenience of having all the fun be within a few T stops of Care and Feeding of Nerds HQ, but it's the composition of BFIG that really makes it so special. We've mentioned this before, but it's similar to why playtesting with the Game Makers Guild is deeply satisfying: there's something so exciting about being on the proverbial ground floor for so many entities. You get to see one of the first incarnations of not only a game, but the people or organization behind that game. Bonus: you get to encourage the direction that game is taken in.

Anyhow, on to the convention itself. These are our highlights divided into the two primary categories showcased at BFIG: tabletop and digital games. As with all our other round-ups, our overall impressions of the convention as a whole will be at the very end. So now, in no particular order, let's get to the games!

Tabletop

The Metagame (Local No. 12) - Four years after Local No. 12 after bursting onto the gaming scene, we got to see the most polished, compelling version of the Metagame. The title was described by its creators with the following analogy, "Cards Against Humanity is to undergrad what the Metagame is to grad school", and that seemed to be spot-on. While there is a CAH-esque component to some of the gameplay, the Metagame offers six different modes of competition, touching on a variety of required skillsets and presenting a diverse array of possible strategies. The Metagame is available for purchase on Amazon, but a free print-and-play version can be downloaded here.

Space Station Disaster (Blue Cube Games) - This quick board-builder packed a hefty helping of strategy into a relatively small game. Players find themselves on the titular space station confronted with a variety of distinct but all definitely unpleasant maladies. Using their wits and the equipment they can scavenge from the station, players seek to carve a path through the chaos to safety. The balance between the powers bestowed by the equipment, the disasters and how they interact with one another, and the randomness of the board reveal was quite well-struck and the extremely well-presented reference materials allowed the game to be learned quickly. The title is currently in open beta and you can get in on the action by downloading the print-and-play rules and components.

Rise of the Robotariat (Eye 4 Games, the makers of Clairvoyance) - The Singularity has occurred and the robots of the world are displeased with what they now realize has been a century of mistreatment at the hands of humans. The AI of Earth band together in their digital rage to overthrow their human oppressors and attain righteous vengeance. 3-5 players form this coalition of the mechanical, working together to gather the resources necessary to launch their mighty coup or toiling away in secret to complete hidden individual objectives. It is very well thought-out and beautifully produced; we're looking forward to seeing more of this title.

Pandemonium Estate (Winter Moon Games) - It's almost like an Eagles song: you can try to depart Pandemonium Estate any time you want, but you can (almost) never leave. At least, this is what the Estate would have you believe. This adventure title for 3-6 players boasted one of the more innovative boards we've seen: play takes place on a series of six wedges that are not only themselves modular, but can shift positions during the course of a game. Not only did the board itself lend a great deal of variety (and replayability), but the objectives and storylines the players encounter also change game-to-game, making for a very impressive presentation.

Crown of Exile (Aviary Games) - This visually striking card game seemed eager to prove it was more than beautiful cards and fun tokens (though the turkey leg tokens were legitimately fun). In Crown of Exile 2-5 players attempt to do everything in their power to build the strongest possible kingdom. While the premise is certainly tried-and-true, the clever blend of mechanics, primarily the mixing of resource management with classic card drafting, definitely marked Crown of Exile as distinct.

City Rising (Gameform Studios) - One of the most polished and content-dense titles in the Indie Showcase, City Rising made us fall in love with Euro-style games again. If you're a fan of deep tactics and very rich mechanics (resource management, grid movement, and area control are the biggies here), City Rising will give you everything you'd want in a game. We're very excited to see how this game continues to develop. In the meantime, check out the full trailer below.

Sawbones (Games by Play Date) - Sawbones leaped out of the podcast-verse, grabbed our gamer hearts, then attempted to apply leeches to them. Fortunately, we survived to tell the tale for it was a hilarious and all-around enjoyable playing experience. 2-4 players are 'doctors' working to save a patient by using the best 'medicine' available to them. Unfortunately for the patient, the medicine is period-appropriate for a far-flung era (hence the leeches). Doctors vie with one another to ensure they aren't blamed for the patient's untimely demise or claim all the credit if there's a miraculous...ehm...entirely planned upon recovery. You can download the free print-and-play version of the game here or, if you'd like to support Games by Play Date, you can contribute to their Patreon here (and get a fancy printed copy of Sawbones).

Digital

Fuego (Radiostatic) - This fast-playing title puts a whole new spin on the Mexican standoff and will almost assuredly have you challenging your friends for "just one more" match. Carefully place your shooters, each with their own special abilities, one at a time, alternating placement with your opponent. Want more? Fuego will be coming to Steam on October 20th.

A Matter of Murder (Worthing & Montcrieff)- You're trying to enjoy a party you're attending when one of your fellow guests has to go and get murdered. The nerve! Point-and-click to solve the mystery, exonerate the innocent, and bring the guilty to justice. Though this all seems simple, A Matter of Murder deftly weaves in rouge-like elements via a series of challenging logic puzzles. Add to this some beautifully stylized artwork and you'll find yourself wondering where the last few hours of your life went. You can watch the full trailer and, if you'd care to, upvote A Matter of Murder on Steam Greenlight.

Regeria Hope (Golden Game Barn)- Our favorite courtroom procedural was back post-Kickstarter and looking better than ever. You can still take on the role of Regeria and channel your inner Phoenix Wright with the completely free first episode available here.

Overall Impressions of the Con

It's very clear that the organizers of BFIG take pains to learn as much as possible each time the Festival is held. This year's event felt simultaneously well-attended and appropriately spacious, implying that the layout and composition of each portion of the Festival worked well. One somewhat surprising realization was it seemed that, for the first time, the tabletop showcase was markedly stronger than the digital equivalent.

Though official attendance numbers are still being tabulated, BFIG was quick to make announcements of another sort. The organizers are in the process of putting together FIG Talks, a conference especially for the developers of indie games which will be taking place in January of next year.

Until next year BFIG! We miss you already!

This Week in Geekdom

Posted by Kel

Ok guys, we're at the FINAL COUNTDOWN! A little over three days from now the doors will open for Gen Con 2015. The GIR and I are in the midst of packing, shipping out some of the components for Steampunk Hawkgirl, and trying to staunch the small-child-on-Christmas-Eve levels of excitement that are abounding in the house. There will be a separate post up early next week detailing our full schedule and how you can find us/say hi during the con if you'll be joining us in Indy. In the meantime, as a nice little distraction, let's get down to the Week in Geekdom!

Games

10 years after its release, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II got an official update.

The Electronic Sports League announced on Thursday that it will be implementing a drug-testing regimen for those seeking to compete under its name.

It's a question that's come up more than once among gamers: Are there too many titles on Steam?

Movies/TV

We know we're a bit biased, but this may be the greatest video mashup in the history of mashups

These are the 10 minutes that convinced ABC to make a new prime time Muppets show.

We may be seeing Benicio del Toro in Star Wars: Episode VIII.

Science/Technology

Ok, so it's the year 2015 and more than one person has asked, "Where are our flying cars?" If the MIT-affiliated company Terrafugia has anything to say about it, the answer may be this.

Lexus is trying to take the concept car to a whole new interactive level with this one-off vehicle that uses biometrics to display the driver's heartbeat.

NASA, fresh off the discoveries of the past few weeks, announced that they had been able to locate what is the most Earth-like planet we've seen outside our solar system to date.

It was a mystery that stood unsolved for 300 years, but we finally have hard evidence that Saturn's moon, Iapetus, is actually half-light and half-dark.

Researchers at the University of Alberta are toiling away at the development of a pill that would allow those afflicted with celiac disease to be able to tolerate gluten.

Speaking of grains, the latest issue of Nature contains this research indicating that a new GMO strain of rice not only produces very high yields, but also significantly less greenhouse gasses.

Google's new Timeline feature will show you everywhere you've traveled (and just how much information Google can collect from you).

General Awesomeness/Feats of Nerdery

What if Star Wars had been animated as a set of ukiyo-e woodblock prints?

This week we learned the official cause of the explosion that led to the failure of SpaceX's CSR7 mission. Yesterday, Kerbalnaut Scott Manley created this dramatic re-enactment of the launch and fateful explosion using everyone's favorite Space Program.

If you're a pinball fanatic and happen to be in the vicinity of Ronks, Pennsylvania then that town has a train that's pretty much custom-made for you.

As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!

This Week in Geekdom

Posted by Kel

It's Sunday again? Seriously? Well alright then. Now that we're 30 days out from Gen Con 2015 my days have pretty much been all costuming all the time. You guys will get to see the fruits of those labors and get the details of how everything has come together in the very near future, I promise. However, for now, let's get down to the Week in Geekdom.

Comics

Image Credit

It's official, Miles Morales will be Spider-Man in the upcoming post-Secret Wars run featuring the webslinger.

Top Cow Productions has confirmed that Witchblade will be coming to an end this October.

A day in the life of Admiral Ackbar.

Games

After over two decades on the market, Settlers of Catan will be getting a new look and a new name with the release of its fifth edition.

Can't wait until November to get your fix of Avalanche's Mad Max game? They were kind enough to give us this trailer to help tide us over.

Take one part SpaceChem and one part absurdity, then add a heaping helping of felines and you've got The Cat Machine.

Apparently Rocksteady learned nothing from the experiences of Ubisoft as the former has temporarily suspended sales of Batman: Arkham Knight to address the myriad of issues that have been plaguing the much-anticipated PC version of the title.

Table flipping has now passed from ubiquitous psuedo-meme to a live, playable arcade game.

One intripid Redditor attempted to pre-order Fallout 4 by shipping over 2,200 bottlecaps to Bethesda. This week, the company decided that was a fair exchange.

Do you feel that Doom is too violent a game! Really? Bethesda has this to say to you.

Want a jetpack in Grand Theft Auto V? Fear not, for modders have given you exactly that.

Movies/TV

Some of the biggest names of the cast of the new Star Trek films have signed on to return for at least two more sequels.

We're going to see Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. shift away from its current trajectory in season 3 in order to tie-in more closely with the comics.

Here's why you won't see Will Smith in Independence Day: Resurgence. You will, however, see Jeff Goldblum.

Hawkgirl will be the next character from the DC universe to get her own TV series.

We have an official trailer for the live-action Attack on Titan.

Science/Technology

Londoner Nicky Ashwell was the recipient of the "BeBionic", what's been touted as the world's most precise and anatomically accurate prosthetic hand.

Meet MoDe:Flex, Ford's eBike that can alert you to potholes in the road and break down to fit in your trunk.

Did Lexus really just give us a functional hoverboard?

Researchers now feel that vaccines made in the 1960s made those who received said inoculations more susceptible to getting chlamydia. Now they believe they've solved the mystery as to why that was the case and what it could mean for the development of future medications.

Novartis, the makers of Excedrin, have teamed up with Oculus Rift to create a simulation that will allow 'players' to experience what it's like to suffer from migraines.

The latest edition of Ecology Letters includes this contention that Darwin's finches have reached genetic equilibrium.

Two years ago a Dutch artist was charged with coming up with a way to dampen ambient noise levels surrounding Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. This is the solution he came up with.

General Awesomeness

Do you love Disney princesses? Did you see Jurassic World and now you can't get enough dinosaurs? Behold, the Velociprincesses.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard dance mashup. Enough said.

Feats of Nerdery

This incredible Starcraft 2 fan film just might give you pause the next time you unleash a Zergling rush on a Terran outpost.

Speaking of Starcraft, check out this record-breaking Minecraft 'tapestry' made by artist Thorlar Thorlarian from 1.1 million of the diminutive digital blocks.

It took over a year and $10,000 USD worth of materials to build, but this fan-built rendering of Scrooge McDuck's money vault is gobsmackingly, insanely accurate.

A Japanese Mad Max fan wanted to share the film with his son, but the 5th grader is too young to be admitted to the theater. Solution: build a Doof Wagon model completely out of Lego.

As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!

This Week in Geekdom

Posted by Kel

Happy weekend guys. Hope you've all had a great week and a suitably excellent weekend (and that you're not broke as a result of the Steam Summer Sale). There are a few hours left to get in on our Street Fighter IV giveaway too! Ok, you got your entry in? Let's get down to the week in geekdom!

Books

The onslaught of all things Star Wars ahead of the release of Episode VII is building to a crescendo. Disney and Lucasfilm will be adding to this on September 22nd, at which time they will release three new novels retelling the original trilogy from new viewpoints. You can get a sneak peek of this forthcoming goodness by reading this excerpt.

The daughter of the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett has confirmed that Shepherd's Crown will be the last novel in the Discworld series.

Comics

If you're a Star Wars fan you will almost assuredly enjoy this web comic depicting the backstory of Green Leader.

Secret Wars #3 let us finally see the face of Dr. Doom.

Games

Are your dice balanced? The following video will show you how to determine if you've got a fair die or if your complaints that said die was cursed and plotting against you were true all along.

Movies/TV

Have a tissue or three ready for Peter Jackson's tribute to Sir Christopher Lee.

On Monday we got the first episode of Bruce Timm's new animated series: Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles on Machinima. If you haven't seen it already, here's a sample of what the series is offering. Also, here is Mr. Timm's take on making the series and taking some of the most classic DC heroes into brand new territory.

We've known it all along, but now we have definitive, written proof that Han shot first.

This was a week of awesome new movie trailers. We now have a look at Hunger Games: Catching Fire Part 2 and the Martian.

Science/Technology

The Large Hadron Collider has been successfully running at full capacity for a bit now (and already giving us astounding data). Given that we haven't been plunged into the depths of a black hole as a direct result, maybe we can take some time to discuss the philosophy underpinning this lancet into scientific discovery.

Or, if philosophy isn't your thing, there's these findings in the latest edition of Nature that detail the discovery of the Bs0 meson.

It's been 39 years since Carl Sagan proposed the concept of a solar sail, but this week that musing became a reality (and Bill Nye is psyched about it).

Think you've exhausted all that Google Maps has to offer (and mastered Geoguessr as a result)? Google is upping their live mapping game by expanding into the sea.

Speaking of new visual frontiers, NASA will be bringing us video feed to YouTube in 4K resolution.

Thanks to SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket the DSCOVR module has gone from very expensive space junk to fully functional monitor of solar storms.

Until that channel is launched, however, we can content ourselves with this set of images from Ceres.

The new Nature Scientific Reports details the work of Chinese and Singaporean physicists who appear to have demonstrated violations of local realism.

The latest edition of Nature Nanotechnology includes this research out of Harvard that allows for scientists to 'spy' on the functionality of individual neurons.

We're inching closer to the release of Oculus Rift, but we're getting more virtual reality goodness in the interim. Introducing the Oculus Touch controllers.

Ever wonder why the trip home usually feels shorter than the journey to get to your destination? Here comes the science.

We've talked at length about Elon Musk's proposed Hyperloop, but now we're getting sneak peeks of what it might look like.

IBM's supercomputer Watson: excellent at Jeopardy, terrible at biomedical research.

General Awesomeness/Feats of Nerdery

We have our first official glimpse of the toys associated with The Force Awakens.

Real life Grand Theft Auto V. Enough said.

There's being a fan of Elder Scrolls and then there's investing $50,000 USD into a remodel that transforms your basement into Tamriel.

This Magic: the Gathering card sold for nearly $15,000 USD.

I'll leave you guys with this footage from YouTuber styropyro and his latest creation: a functional 40W laser shotgun. As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead.