I'm quite proud of the delights that we packed behind each door of the Advent Calendar this year, to be honest. All my major choices are in there, plus a few more that I haven't played but I'd watched other people play, and had a swell time doing so. Still, there are always a handful that don't quite make the cut, but still deserve a heaped Christmas plateful of praise at year's end. So here's my selection box, my bonus games of the year for 2024. It's an unusually diverse triad this time.
]]>League Of Geeks are going "into hibernation". The Australian developers behind fantasy strategy games such as the animal-themed Armello and hellish remake Solium Infernum said that their remaining staff are going to take an extended break, and they're not sure "when (or if)" they will revive the studio.
]]>Satan has vanished, the throne of hell lies empty, and eight Archfiends are all jostling to be its chief seat warmer. It's a great setup for a role-playing strategy game, and the allure of plotting, scheming, backstabbing and shmoozing your way to victory remains as enticing today as it did when Solium Infernum first came to PC in 2009. At the time, it launched to relative obscurity, and was mostly kept alive by dedicated play-by-email multiplayer groups. It was through one of these groups that Armello developers League Of Geeks first came into contact with it, and now, years later, have taken on the task of remaking Solium Infernum for a modern audience.
The original Solium was, by all accounts, an intensely knotty and dense affair, impenetrable to newcomers, or at least to those who were unprepared (or unwilling) to study and absorb all the countless variations and statistics involved in creating your own unique Archfiend. It was a bit like creating a D&D character sheet, only about ten times more complicated, and whose strategic implications may or may not have made themselves apparent until it was far too late. You could biff yourself before you began, in other words, and League Of Geeks have made admirable attempts to tame and streamline this unruly hell beast, doing away with a lot of that initial fussiness. As is perhaps fitting for the theme here, there are unfortunately still a few pesky gremlins causing mayhem behind the scenes at time of writing (I'm pointing the finger at literal bug queen Beelzebub for this), but for the most part, there's good fun to be had in this new incarnation of Solium Infernum - and particularly if you have some willing friends who you soon hope to call enemies.
]]>League Of Geeks's remake of cult strategy game Solium Infernum is having its release date pushed back by a week, the studio have announced. It will now launch on February 22nd, instead of its original date of February 14th - which is a damn shame, if you ask me, as nothing screams "romantic Valentine's night-in" like trying to backstab your other half in a bid to rule hell in Satan's absence. Alas, we'll just have to make do with the altogether more pedestrian date of a regular Thursday in February, as the team need just a bit of extra time to ensure it's "as polished as possible" before release.
]]>It took all of one turn before the insults started flying in our Solium Infernum multiplayer preview session this week. Specifically, they'd been launched straight into the court of League Of Geeks co-founder and studio director Trent Kusters, who was attempting to show us how the game's asynchronous multiplayer mode worked in a six-player match-up - the public playtest for which goes live today, Thursday January 11th, over on Steam. Moments earlier, he'd been walking myself, deputy editor Alice Bee and guides editor Ollie through the basics of this strategy game from hell, telling us about the importance of claiming territory, seeking out places of power to bolster our domain, and how to do battle with our hive-like legion units. But just as we were watching our individual turn orders play out, Kusters announced that Ollie had given him the digital equivalent of a demonic slap in the face, demanding he pay tribute to him, or else…
To his credit, Kusters took it with good humour. "This is the beautiful thing about this game - it's petty high school politics in Hell," he said laughing before graciously deciding to accept the insult at the cost of some of his prestige - the all-important hallmark of how you're perceived within this conclave of warring demons fighting for Satan's empty throne. Personally, I think Ollie's insult would have pierced my exceedingly thin skin instantly if I'd been in the same position, and I'd probably have been torn between declaring a vendetta against Ollie's unjustified affront, or challenging him to a Praetor duel to exact some (hopefully) righteous vengeance. Alas, since we were literally only a turn into this game, none of us were in any position to make good on those options, leaving the only possible outcome as eating it and moving on. It was a smart move on Ollie's part, and one that makes me both terrified and excited to see how our own team multiplayer sessions will play out in the run-up to Solium Infernum's full release on February 14th.
]]>Happy New Year, folks! Have you recovered from the all the 100+ hour RPGs that came out last year? Well, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that everyone seems to be taking a bit of a breather in 2024, because (at time of writing at least) the official "big'uns" calendar is looking remarkably slim at the moment. There are still some heavy-hitters coming our way this year, such as Avowed, Star Wars Outlaws and Path Of Exile 2, but 2024 looks like another year where it will be the smaller, independent games that shine the brightest. They certainly make up the bulk of our most anticipated games list for 2024, which the RPS Treehouse has been feverishly putting together over the last few days. The bad news is that there are still loads of great games coming out. So come, join us, and see what's on our personal wishlists for 2024.
]]>Hellish political strategy Solium Infernum will launch on PC on February 14th. The news was announced with a trailer that explains its demon scheming and manouvering, as well as its asynchronous multiplayer - of which there will be a test in early 2024.
]]>The latest Steam Next Fest is upon us, bringing with it a freshly packed week of new, free demos to try until Monday October 16th. There are literally hundreds you could try installing if you were that way inclined - you can view the full list right here if you'd rather browse through it at your own leisure - but we've been playing some of these demos in advance to help make wading through its torrent of shiny new games a little bit easier. Below, you'll find 12 of our favourites so far, ranging from snazzy-looking shooters and big RTS games to neat little autobattlers, indie immersive sims and retro puzzle platformers. If you're in need of some guidance this Steam Next Fest, read on.
]]>This week on The Electronic Wireless Show podcast our interest was piqued by new trailers for a Jesus simulator and a politics in hell strategy game. We ask ourselves: why are there so many hell-themed games and so few heavenly ones? Is it blasphemy? What would our pitch for a game set in heaven be? (Spoilers for that last one: there's a lot of admin involved). We also chat about what we've been playing this week, and Nate orchestrates a mini-game pitchathon that goes at least somewhat off the rails.
]]>League Of Geek's Solium Infernum revival was first revealed at the end of last year, and while I got to see a very early alpha version of it back then, the subsequent demo footage wasn't quite ready for public consumption. Happily, League Of Geeks have now added the final bit of infernal spit and polish to Solium's first gameplay trailer, which has been shown off during IGN Fanfest this week. Come and have a gander.
]]>Who will rule hell? No longer Vic Davis and Cryptic Comet, creator of the RPS-beloved turned-based strategy game Solium Infernum. In a post over at his blog, Davis explains that he's leaving computer game development behind in order to take his boardgamey design skills off to the land of actual board games.
Why? "I’ve been selling computer games for over 7 years and it’s been a great ride," starts the post. "Selling games directly from this website has been an increasingly difficult task. My programming skills are so tied to an aging and abandoned development platform that making even a niche title like my previous games is a dubious proposition at best. So I’m leaving the digital space and moving over to the card board arena where I hope my design skills can shine."
Off to that damnable temptress world of card and plastic. Oh Vic.
]]>Reader, I died. I died not in epic battle with nameless gods who threatened the very fabric of reality. I died not freeing an innocent from the curse which consumed her life. I didn't even die fighting a bloody haunted suit of armour or a mad necromancer or something. I died opening a door. I died picking a wrench off the floor. I died from fright at something I saw in the mirror.
I died, died, died, died. Rarely heroic, always embarrassing - that is the dark fate of anyone who treads the treacherous hallways of Solium Infernum & Armageddon Empires creator Cryptic Comet's roguelikelike-boardgame hybrid The Occult Chronicles. It is the most fiendish of videogames. It is unfair to a level that incites fury, outrage, hilarity, glum resignation and ultimately, steely determination to carry on, to try to beat the unbeatable. Even when said unbeatable is merely a locked door or a fat bloke in a chair.
]]>Good news, everyone. The Occult Chronicles, the latest game from Vic Davis, aka Cryptic Comet, aka creator of splendid video-based boardgames such as Armageddon Empires and Solium Infernum (be sure to revisit our infamous diary about that one), is now available to buy and play. This one's a singleplayer game which finds a hopefully happy middleground between roguelikes and boardgames. It's got a classical theme, in the grand old theme of boardgames such as Arkham Horror and Betrayal At House On The Hill: an occult investigator investigating a spooky mansion, wrestling with threats to his sanity as well as to his life. Hmm. Does 'Occult Investigator' pay well? If not, perhaps he should consider becoming a vet.
]]>Normal service resumes tomorrow, at least if four men sleepily trying to remember how to login to our CMS counts as 'normal service'. In the meantime, pray enjoy Gameboys From Hell, one more vintage game diary from the RPS cellars.
For just shy of a couple of months in 2009 six arch-demons waged a war in hell. For just shy of a couple of weeks, four arch-demons wrote up their perspectives on the struggle. The resulting mass of writing works both as a multi-perspective narrative of a single, increasingly dramatic game, a review highlighting the game's merits and as an extended tutorial of exactly how six newbies came to understand one of 2009's most intriguing, subtle and just plain best games. If you've any interest in learning more about Solium Infernum, this is where to start. If you haven't any interest in Solium Infernum, this will hopefully start it.
]]>It's true! Vic Davis says: "I’ve been working on a free mini expansion pack for Solium Infernum. It’s in pretty good shape at this point and I hope to have it available in a beta form by the end of the month for adventurous players who would like to give it a go for a few weeks to find bugs and give me some game play feedback for tweaking the new mechanics." There's a full list of what's included here.
]]>Since November, I've been playing one of two games all day, every day.
]]>RPS' War In Hell is over. The ruler has been decided. But the real ruler of hell remains - and he's Vic Davis. He's Cryptic Comet, and between Solium Infernum and his previous Armageddon Empires, he's positioned himself as the most interesting strategy computer game designer in years. We thought it the perfect time to catch up, discover how Solium Infernum is doing, ask about the seemingly divisive pricing as well as uncover the first real details on his next game...
]]>For just shy of a couple of months six arch-demons waged a war in hell. For just shy of a couple of weeks, four arch-demons wrote up their perspectives on the struggle. The resulting mass of writing works both as a multi-perspective narrative of a single, increasingly dramatic game, a review highlighting the game's merits and as an extended tutorial of exactly how six newbies came to understand one of 2009's most intriguing, subtle and just plain best games. If you've any interest in learning more about Solium Infernum, this is where to start. If you haven't any interest in Solium Infernum, this will hopefully start it.
]]>Since Bargain Bucket isn't around yet, here's a deal to consider. In the comments thread to the final part of Gameboys From Hell, Vic popped in to say that the talked-about multi-pack deal is probably not going to happen. However...
]]>Who will rule hell? Good question.
]]>If you sup with the devil, bring a long spoon.
]]>Every dog has his day. Some days, you have to be a dog.
]]>An episode otherwise known as "Let's get Speedo".
]]>It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.
]]>Right - where were we?
]]>Solium Infernum's borders get set early, and then don't move by much. By turn 11, things were in the basic formation they were for the rest of the game. And this is it...
]]>Solium Infernum is a political wargame set in hell. Quinns and I and assorted friends started playing late last year. The game is now finished, and none of the friends survived. By which I mean, we all hate each other now.
This is how it happened.
]]>Hell - now there's a setting for a video game. Hell lets a game's artists and writers run naked and wild and free, and in just-released indie strategy game Solium Infernum it also happens to tease out some hugely intelligent design ideas. I'm glad for that, because it balances out the damage done to my precious brain every time I see footage from Dante's Inferno. Man, that game. You take not only a nonviolent epic poem but the single most nightmarish and psychedelic setting known to Western civilization and you use it to make... a God of War clone? Are you kidding?
]]>You may be wondering why, after the release of the full game and the demo, we haven't posted any more about Solium Infernum. Is it because we find it diabolical in more than just its theme? Nope. It's pretty nifty. Quinns and I are at work in a game at the moment, and will be diarying it up when it's all over bar the screaming. We'd do it as we were playing, but it's the sort of game where there's a lot of lying and sneakiness, so having a blog entry describing exactly how I'm planning on taking all of Quinns' Iron would be a bad idea. Anyway! Much like Armageddon Empires, its' a tricky game to get into. Quinns found this nifty and funny tutorial online. If you had trouble getting into the demo, it'd be a handy thing to browse.
]]>An lo! there was a cry from the pits. The turn-based-devil-'em-up Solium Infernum is now available to purchase. If you don't want to throw cash down blind - and you probably should at least feel it out - there's a demo available for you to play, which you can get here. To get a feel for the game, here's my first-impression notes, though Tom Chick's ongoing diary will be splendid at introducing some of the concepts you should be thinking about. There's a manual in the actual game directory. Also, while there's apparently a default player-archdemon, but it doesn't appear for some systems - mine included. Vic suggests a basic martial demon, in which case, I'd throw down Martial 2 and Charisma 3. Make him a Duke and have Wrath at your aim. More on the Cryptic site and I multiplayer diaries when we get a game cooking with hellfire.
]]>I've been craving Solium Infernum all year. It's almost certainly going to be the last of the 2009 Unknown Pleasures to debut before the year wraps up. For those who weren't around back then, Solium Infernum is a turn-based wargame that places you as an aspirant to the throne of hell. And frankly, that's a perfect set-up for a game as I can think of. With late-Beta code, I've had a chance to prod around and see what I think.
]]>Armageddon Empires was our favourite turn-based strategy game of 2007. That Cryptic Comet's next project is a political wargame set in hell is enough to get us to say things like "We're hoping that Solium Infernum will be the greatest use of extraneous latin in a videogame since Deus Ex" with a straight face. We talk to Vic Davis about putting the Demons in Democracy and reveal the first in-game shots...
]]>We may have mentioned Cryptic Comet's Armageddon Empires a few times. Just a few, you understand. So we're excited that Chief-Cryptic Vic Davis has got less-Cryptic and revealed what Codename Brimstone is. It's Solium Infernum and it's a simultaneous-turn wargame which charts the battles between the Dukes of Hell for Satan's empty throne, complete with six-person multiplayer. The nobles of the cities of sin duking it out? Pardon the pun: Hell, yes.
And since Vince gave us an early heads up, we've got more information and art beneath the cut.
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