Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time. Years after Antichamber befuddled and flummoxed those who played it, there are trickles of new players discovering this gem for the first time. “Made my brain hurt”, commente
Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time.
Years after Antichamber befuddled and flummoxed those who played it, there are trickles of new players discovering this gem for the first time. “Made my brain hurt”, commented one a few days ago. “Every level is super mind-blowing” said another. Even years after I first played and completed this baffling puzzle game from Alexander Bruce, I recently came back to discover that, in forgetting the answers, it feels as fresh to me as it does to these newcomers.
Today's Deal: Save 80% on Antichamber !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Saturday at 10AM Pacific Time
Today's Deal: Save 80% on Antichamber!*
Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!
I love puzzle games. But it s not beating them that s the exciting part: it s understanding them. Whether mulling over a cryptic crossword or somersaulting through Portal s portals, there s a moment of epiphany which, for me, pretty much transcends all other moments in gaming. Bu
I love puzzle games. But it s not beating them that s the exciting part: it s understanding them.
Whether mulling over a cryptic crossword or somersaulting through Portal s portals, there s a moment of epiphany which, for me, pretty much transcends all other moments in gaming. But how do you design a puzzle to best provoke that eureka moment? What gives a puzzle its aesthetic, its pace and texture? Why does one puzzle feel thrilling while another feels like a flat mental grind?
I ve asked three of my favourite puzzle game designers to demystify their dark magicks: Jonathan Blow, best known for the puzzle-platformer Braid and currently hard at work on firstperson perplexathon, The Witness; Alan “Draknek” Hazelden, creator of Sokoban-inspired sequential-logic games, including Sokobond, Mirror Isles and the forthcoming A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build; and Jonathan Whiting, a programmer on Sportsfriends and collaborator with Hazelden on Traal, whose own games are a regular Ludum Dare highlight.
There are exactly 72.4 indie games released each day. Okay, so no, there aren't - I made that number up - but it often feels like there are. Certainly new games are being released at a rate that makes it all too easy to miss out on some quality stuff. To the Humble Indie Bundle's
There are exactly 72.4 indie games released each day. Okay, so no, there aren't - I made that number up - but it often feels like there are. Certainly new games are being released at a rate that makes it all too easy to miss out on some quality stuff. To the Humble Indie Bundle's credit, it's consistently one of the most effective ways to catch up on some of the very best indie titles. Now we have the eleventh such bundle, letting you pay what you want for games like Antichamber, The Swapper and Dust: An Elysian Tail.
In the regular bundle you'll find the 2D brawler, Guacamelee! Gold Edition; the anthropomorphic 2D RPG, Dust: An Elysian Tail; the world-warping 2D platformer, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams; and the atmospheric 2D puzzler, The Swapper. If you donate above the average price, you'll also get first-person dimensional puzzler Antichamber, and top-down co-op heist game Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine.
While I'm personally not a fan of Monaco or Giana Sisters, the inclusion of The Swapper and Antichamber easily make it a worthwhile buy. And as always, you can expect more games to be added to the bundle at some point during its remaining thirteen-and-a-bit days.
As with other bundles, you can personalise how your money is split between the developers, the Humble organisers, and the EFF and Child's Play charities.
Another Humble Indie Bundle? What a strange turn of events. I thought for sure that Humble was going to suddenly and inexplicably shut down their massively successful enterprise this time around. I mean, they’re on Humble Indie Bundle 11 now. What a gross number. Ten – nay, X – w
Another Humble Indie Bundle? What a strange turn of events. I thought for sure that Humble was going to suddenly and inexplicably shut down their massively successful enterprise this time around. I mean, they’re on Humble Indie Bundle 11 now. What a gross number. Ten – nay, X – was so svelte, so confident. It plucked the olive from life’s martini glass just so, and we all just wanted its gaze to fall on us for a single precious second. So seriously, what’s even the point of having more Humble Bundles? Oh, right: amazing games and charity and stuff. This time around, the star-studded lineup includes Guacamelee, Monaco, Antichamber, and my personal favorite puzzler of 2013, The Swapper.
The Steam Holiday Sale continues today with huge savings throughout the store! Check back often to take advantage of our eight-hour Flash Sales. You can even help select what goes on sale with our Community's Choice Voting Sales. In addition to Flash and Vote sales, more than a h
The Steam Holiday Sale continues today with huge savings throughout the store! Check back often to take advantage of our eight-hour Flash Sales. You can even help select what goes on sale with our Community's Choice Voting Sales.
In addition to Flash and Vote sales, more than a hundred games and apps will be featured as Daily Deals throughout the sale, with new deals popping up every 24 hours.
Today's Daily Deals include:
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 75% off
Dragon Age: Origins 75% off
The Witcher 2 75% off
Crusader Kings II 75% off
Max Payne 3 75% off
Antichamber 75% off
Tomb Raider 80% off
Rogue Legacy 67% off
Shadow Warrior 75% off
Participating in the 2013 Steam Holiday Sale will also earn customers exclusive Holiday Sale Trading Cards. Collect, trade, and craft 10 Holiday Snow Globe Cards that can only be earned during the sale. Every craft of a Holiday Sale badge will also generate a random item drop from 10 participating Free-To-Play games, featuring exclusive in-game items from Warframe, Path of Exile, Team Fortress 2, DOTA 2 and more. These items are both tradable and marketable.
Learn more about this year's Steam Holiday Sale features HERE.
The Steam Holiday Sale will run until 10AM PST, January 2nd. Complete information on Daily Deals, Flash Sales, Community Choice Voting and more can be found HERE.
Announcement
Steam Sale Starts Now!
The Steam Sale is here! For the next six days, take advantage of huge saving on thousands of PC, Mac and Linux titles. Check back often to take advantage of our eight-hour Flash Sales. Today's Daily Deals include: Skyrim 75% off Antichamber 75% off Left 4 Dead 2 75% off Outlast 6
The Steam Sale is here! For the next six days, take advantage of huge saving on thousands of PC, Mac and Linux titles. Check back often to take advantage of our eight-hour Flash Sales.
Today's Daily Deals include:
Skyrim 75% off
Antichamber 75% off
Left 4 Dead 2 75% off
Outlast 66% off
Prison Architect 50% off
Rogue Legacy 66% off
Sleeping Dogs 80% off
Terraria 75% off
The Walking Dead 75% off
Add games to your Steam Wishlist and be notified when a game from your Wishlist goes on sale, or shop for games using the Steam Mobile App, available for iOS and Android.
Be sure to check Steam every day to see new featured deals.
Announcement
Daily Deal - Antichamber, 66% Off
Today's Deal: Save 66% on Antichamber !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Saturday at 10AM Pacific Time
Today's Deal: Save 66% on Antichamber!*
Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!
*Offer ends Saturday at 10AM Pacific Time
Announcement
Midweek Madness - Antichamber, 66% Off
Save 66% on Antichamber during this week's Midweek Madness*! Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplis
Save 66% on Antichamber during this week's Midweek Madness*!
Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplishing the impossible may just be the only way forward.
Several years in the making, Antichamber received over 25 awards and honors throughout its development, in major competitions including the Independent Games Festival, the PAX10, IndieCade and Make Something Unreal. Antichamber was also supported by the Indie Fund.
Indie gaming has gotten kind of huge over the past few years, and the internet's beginning to bulge at the seams with all the indieness going on lately. Indie Game: The Movie—whose special edition is being released next week—last year documented the lives of four indie developers
Indie gaming has gotten kind of huge over the past few years, and the internet's beginning to bulge at the seams with all the indieness going on lately. Indie Game: The Movie—whose special edition is being released next week—last year documented the lives of four indie developers as they put together their little-budget, big-name concepts. What of the thousands of other indie developers out there, though? A pair of filmmakers are seeking to answer that question with their newly revealed Kickstarter campaign for GameLoading: Rise of the Indies, a documentary that seeks to zoom out and look at the entire indie scene globally.
Studio Bento's already traveled the world in their quest to quiz ostensibly every indie developer ever, and a heap of interview footage has already been shot of game development greats such as Chris Avellone and Antichamber's Alexander Bruce; the Kickstarter campaign seeks to raise the funds for the team to travel even further, penetrating such mystical places as Romania and Belgium. Lester Francois of Studio Bento says that the film will be of special interest to PC gamers.
"When we started the film, I was surprised at how many indie developers are sticking to making games for PC," Francois tells PC Gamer. "It's great meeting developers not concerned with the iOS gold rush and content doing their own thing. We're very excited to be interviewing some of these PC developers, including the guys behind FTL and Kentucky Route Zero."
Pledging $15 will get you a digital download of the film, and there are also tiers including two indie games bundles. I've seen some of Studio Bento's footage so far, it's already looking really special. I'm especially eager to hear from the guys behind my latest favorite indie game, Kentucky Route Zero—to check out the full list of interviewees, check out GameLoading's website.
Today's Deal: Save 50% on Antichamber !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time
Today's Deal: Save 50% on Antichamber!*
Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!
Not content with funding only two games through Kickstarter, Double Fine has received some extra dough from the Indie Fund for two more unannounced games that are currently in development. "I'm really excited and honored to announce on behalf of Indie Fund that... we will be fund
Not content with funding only two games through Kickstarter, Double Fine has received some extra dough from the Indie Fund for two more unannounced games that are currently in development.
"I'm really excited and honored to announce on behalf of Indie Fund that... we will be funding an additional two titles from Double Fine," Indie Fund's Kellee Santiago said according to Gamasutra.
The Indie Fund is an organization founded by a handful of indie developers who’re looking to fund various projects that pique their interest. Monaco, Antichamber, and The Swapper are just a few of the games the Indie Fund has invested in so far.
While it’s a little odd to see a developer receive even more money from sources traditionally meant for small indie developers, Double Fine has a proven track record. They’ve made good games, and they haven’t given us a reason to think they won’t continue to do so.
Save 50% on Antichamber during this week's Midweek Madness*! Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplis
Save 50% on Antichamber during this week's Midweek Madness*!
Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplishing the impossible may just be the only way forward.
Several years in the making, Antichamber received over 25 awards and honors throughout its development, in major competitions including the Independent Games Festival, the PAX10, IndieCade and Make Something Unreal. Antichamber was also supported by the Indie Fund.
- A deeply psychological experience that will make you question everything you know about how a game works. - Mind-bending challenges that will subvert your expectations at every twist and turn. - An enormous, seamless non-Euclidean world to explore. - Lifelike soundscapes developed by Robin Arnott and an ambient soundtrack composed by Siddhartha Barnhoorn. - A gun that can create, destroy and manipulate matter, allowing you to discover new ways to overcome your surroundings.
It bears reminding ourselves that old-school RPGs and adventure games with sky-high budgets aren’t the real reason that crowdsourcing is a tantalising new model for game development. Smaller, madder ideas with eminently achievable funding goals are why Kickstarter and IndieGoGo a
It bears reminding ourselves that old-school RPGs and adventure games with sky-high budgets aren’t the real reason that crowdsourcing is a tantalising new model for game development. Smaller, madder ideas with eminently achievable funding goals are why Kickstarter and IndieGoGo are a force for good. Soundself ticks all the right boxes – novel but not ridiculous concept, sensible target, playable prototype.
The ‘not a game’ lobby will doubtless be out in force should Robin Arnott’s voice-controlled curio achieve any kind of profile, but the rest of us can enjoy tinkering with the odd, mesmeric sound and vision generated in response to our own voices. It’s almost self-hypnosis.
Antichamber tied our brains into painful knots back in January, and its clever puzzles both drained our sanity and pulled a positive review out of our confusion. Since then, the indie head-scratcher has pulled some impressive initial sales—Polygon reports that it has sold over 10
Antichamber tied our brains into painful knots back in January, and its clever puzzles both drained our sanity and pulled a positive review out of our confusion. Since then, the indie head-scratcher has pulled some impressive initial sales—Polygon reports that it has sold over 100,000 copies on Steam.
Creator Alexander Bruce says Antichamber's initial success "blew some people's expectations out of the water" as a predictor of total sales, but he kept his hopes reserved because its complexity made it difficult to market, by which he must have meant its tendency to cause players to karate kick the nearest teddy bear in frustration. (What, only me?)
"I've been burned by expectations before," Bruce tells Polygon. "I did that to myself with all of the competitions I was entering in. Several times, I entered competitions, I had all my hopes and dreams pinned on them, I thought it was a sure shot, and then I missed them. And that sucked. And as I went through later competitions, I made sure I didn't do that. I said back in 2010 that sales are just another competition to me. And if I can win all these other ones, I'm testing the waters for how it sells."
Bruce's gamble evidently worked out, and Antichamber is probably the best chance on Steam to make your brain do a somersault within your skull. You can grab it for $20.
After a break, we're back. Chris, Tom Senior and Marsh discuss Antichamber, DmC, The Witcher, Destiny, the inner workings of Valve and a game called Half-Life 2 that is pretty good aparrently. Also featuring an ass palace, places where one may or may not take a horse, the playgro
After a break, we're back. Chris, Tom Senior and Marsh discuss Antichamber, DmC, The Witcher, Destiny, the inner workings of Valve and a game called Half-Life 2 that is pretty good aparrently.
Also featuring an ass palace, places where one may or may not take a horse, the playground circular saw craze of the 1990s, a wonderous squirrel experience, and possibly the most inept attempt to begin a podcast since the last time we tried to begin a podcast.
We also talk about Rome II, Aliens: Colonial Marines, and the games of David Johnston.
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or download the MP3 directly. Follow PC Gamer UK on Twitter to be informed when we're putting the call out for questions. Alternatively, follow us as individuals:
Tom Senior - @pcgludo
Marsh - @marshdavies
Chris - @cthursten
Show notes
Our review of Antichamber.
Smudged Cat games.
Half-Life 2 is a good computer game! Who knew. No link here: just registering my surprise. Again.
Our review of the petition-tastic DmC: Devil May Cry.
Some pictures of Destiny, Bungie's game about a magic space ball or something.
A blurry screenshot of whatever Respawn Entertainment are doing.
Via Eurogamer: the PS4 will not block used games.
MAXIMUM SQUIRRELS "Nine out of ten." - Martin 'Marsh' Davies
Our Aliens: Colonial Marines review, Kotaku's report on its troubled development, and a xenomorph with a tiny little invisible piano.
Someone call a doctor. Chris has a case of not-really-thinking-this-through.
Truth be told, Antichamber felt nearly finished the first time I ever laid hands on it. That was nearly a year ago. But creator Alexander Bruce insisted that – even after multiple years of near-obsessive fine-tuning – his non-Euclidean, Escher-ish, other impressive words that sta
Truth be told, Antichamber felt nearly finished the first time I ever laid hands on it. That was nearly a year ago. But creator Alexander Bruce insisted that – even after multiple years of near-obsessive fine-tuning – his non-Euclidean, Escher-ish, other impressive words that start with E puzzler needed more. So now here we are. But is it actually, truly finished? And was it worth the interminable, largely radio silent wait? Here’s wot I think.
Review by David Valjalo Unlike Portal, there’s no test-subject narrative behind Antichamber, an austerely intellectual first-person puzzler from indie dev Alexander Bruce - but that doesn’t mean you aren’t under the microscope. As you wander the blinding white corridors of a spac
Review by David Valjalo
Unlike Portal, there’s no test-subject narrative behind Antichamber, an austerely intellectual first-person puzzler from indie dev Alexander Bruce - but that doesn’t mean you aren’t under the microscope. As you wander the blinding white corridors of a space-bending facility, unpicking the cryptic clues within, you’re encouraged to think that your own psychological state is the real barrier to progress in the game’s interweaving, claustrophobic tunnels.
Wall-mounted plaques punctuate each new area and challenge, delivering existential wisdom of a seemingly glib kind. "The path of least resistance is a valid option," says one. Another reads: "A few steps backwards may keep you moving forwards." But these are also crucial hints, some a good deal more opaque than they first appear, to puzzles which intentionally avoid conformity. One challenge might simply task you with following signs to the exit, another may secretly encourage you to ignore them, while others play with space and perspective in ways which defy traditional game logic: walk up to a window, fill your monitor with the world inside and, like magic, you’re in it.
The first section of the game is a breathless parade of new ideas that approach puzzling laterally, forcing you to muddle your way past non-euclidian geometry and other brain-bending architecture. The latter half introduces more traditional mechanics in the form of four handheld gun-things that fill in voids, pick up and shoot blocks, and clear matter out of your way. Even though these tools offer new methods of traversing earlier environments, it’s a somewhat anticlimactic transition from the relentless invention of the game’s opening - but that doesn’t make the tests here any less agonising to fathom or a triumph to conquer.
When you nail a solution - often best achieved by taking a time-out and drinking a cup of tea, very calmly, as your nails grow back - you feel like a cross between Hercule Poirot and Socrates. Hercules, if you will. That said, there are some puzzles in here guilty of simple obscurity, and this undermines the satisfaction of their completion as well as throwing off the pace of the game. Luckily a hub room (instantly accessible by a tap of ESC) allows re-entry to any of the game's main areas, alleviating the need to pummel yourself against the same puzzle, and allowing you to re-evaluate the messages you've encountered so far.
For some, Antichamber may prove a little draining. It's a title that aspires to challenge your way of thinking and problem-solving and it’s a slightly chilly and solitary experience with it. If that doesn't sound like much fun - there are certainly times it isn't - that's likely part of Bruce's point, suggesting life is a struggle in which you get out what you put in. But Antichamber isn’t all earnest chin-stroking theory - it also hosts moments of transcendent beauty and vignettes that engage your brain on a level few games attempt.
Antichamber is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off. Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplishing th
Antichamber is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off.
Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplishing the impossible may just be the only way forward.
Several years in the making, Antichamber received over 25 awards and honors throughout its development, in major competitions including the Independent Games Festival, the PAX10, IndieCade and Make Something Unreal. Antichamber was also supported by the Indie Fund.
Antichamber is released tomorrow, which is handy, because I'd quite like to know what the hell's going on in this trailer. There's some serious stairway indecision, followed by lots of mind-melting matter manipulation. Aren't launch trailers supposed to explain things? That, howe
Antichamber is released tomorrow, which is handy, because I'd quite like to know what the hell's going on in this trailer. There's some serious stairway indecision, followed by lots of mind-melting matter manipulation. Aren't launch trailers supposed to explain things?
That, however, is Antichamber's hook. It's deceptively simple, but delights in turning your perception of the world against you. That's a brilliant concept, and one its great to see being explored in a place where time and space can be absolutely anything.
With physics turned on its head, you're left to experiment with reality and reconstruct the game's rules. According to the game's description, "hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplishing the impossible may just be the only way forward." Sounds ace.
