Author: Finch

(they/them) Games Industry Community Manager hopping the fence to see the wider world of content creation and journalism. Queer, opinionated, and neurodivergent.
Ballionaire – PC Demo Preview
Previews & Early Access

Ballionaire – PC Demo Preview

The House always wins It's not surprising that indie game devs can create experiences that delight us consistently. Many indie projects in recent years have been a direct result of game jams during the pandemic years. However, what does surprise me is the growing genre of rogue-like score attack games that take influence from casinos. Ballionaire, created by newojbect and published by Raw Fury, aims to be one of the most cartoonish and fun in this emerging genre. Vampire Survivors famously draws its repeatable gameplay loop and old-school graphics from casino psychology. We've seen Balatro and Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers bring poker and blackjack off the table and onto Steam Deck. Ballionaire adds penny drop machines/pachinko to the list, being self-described as a "fast-paced, k...
Destiny 2: Episode Revenant Act 1 Review
Features

Destiny 2: Episode Revenant Act 1 Review

Breaking the Ice Community sentiment around Destiny 2, and its developer, hasn't been the best since the release of The Final Shape expansion. As Act 1 of Episode 2: Revenant starts, is there enough for players to sink their teeth into? Grab your guns and hold fast to your Light, we're going alien vampire hunting. Changing of the Old Ways, yes? Potential story spoilers head for Act 1 of Revenant. Bungie is experimenting with the delivery of seasonal story content in this episode. All narrative content for each act in an episode will be available on launch week. Previously, story content was bulked out with weekly timegates or monotonous filler objectives. This leads to fatigue with story pacing, especially for those within the lore community. Bungie is hopeful this experiment wil...
Arachnophobia Accessibility is good, now let’s design better
Features

Arachnophobia Accessibility is good, now let’s design better

Content Warning: If you have severe arachnophobia, be aware that while there are no images of spiders in this article, there may be descriptive language about them or their environment in games (eg. thick webbing, movement), please skip this article at your discretion. All spiders were virtually harmed in the making of this article. Posting Opinions on the World-Wide Web With Halloween drawing near, many people with arachnophobia - like myself - are dreading the month of October. I don't know which of the divine powers came up with the idea that spiders should exist, but our fascination with fear can make even a simple supermarket shopping trip, or MMO fetch quest, unbearable. Though they are kind of one in the same. Games have come a long way in helping mitigate that. The recent intr...