This week is all about variety across gaming platforms. Here are the bests and worsts we’ll be contributing to the Nightfall Unlimited Podcast test show tonight!
Nintendo Switch
Super Mario Maker 2
Super Mario Maker 2 can’t fail. It’s effectively a Mario game that will never stop changing and will have unlimited free content forever, it gets kids into design, and it’s perfect for viral videos which we’re already seeing all over the place. Personally as a game designer I have like no interest in playing it at all, simply because that isn’t how I want to relax, but tons of my colleagues play it and basically everyone else should try it.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3
Why the hell is Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 a Nintendo Switch exclusive? The previous games weren’t exclusives, Xbox One just rereleased the rest of the series, and I wouldn’t honestly have expected a game like this to perform that well on the Switch. I haven’t played it—I probably won’t—but I liked the rest of the series so here you go.
Xbox One
Gears 5 Tech Test
Gears of War 5 looks fantastic. If you have Xbox Game Pass, hopefully you already participated in the tech test (whatever they mean by that) over the weekend. If not, it looks like there’s another opportunity starting Friday. Personally, I’m saving myself for the full game. Is there time to get caught up from Gears 1 before then?
Blazing Chrome
Speaking of Game Pass, if you have it, you should still be playing Blazing Chrome, a retro-style Contra-like that came out earlier this month. If you don’t have Game Pass, just buy the game.
PS4
There’s basically nothing going on. The highest new release on Metacritic has a 76. Not sure what to tell you.
PC
Teamfight Tactics
Auto-chess games are the near future of PC gameplay including Twitch and esports. These games involve putting together small armies on the fly and battling it out with opponents without directly controlling the combat. I’m only just learning Teamfight Tactics from Riot, but it’s a pretty fun gameplay experience. New players should expect fairly steep learning curves to “git gud.” You can play Teamfight for free.
Nowhere Prophet
If you like strategy and card games, be sure to look at Nowhere Prophet from Sharkbomb Studios. This is a single-player card game with randomly generated maps tied together by a wasteland pilgrimage story and it’s getting fantastic reviews.
Mobile
Dr. Mario World
Dr. Mario World is out, and I’ll recommend it if you really love Dr. Mario and don’t mind strong similarities to Candy Crush. I think that’s all I’d like to say.
Sky: Children of the Light
Sky: Children of the Light from ThatGameCompany is available for iOS and might be a better example of the possibilities of mobile gaming. The game has received scores as high as 100 on Metacritic.
