Survival horror has rationed your bullets for 30 years
Capcom's 1996 mansion taught players to fear running out of ammo. How the genre drifted into action, how Amnesia pulled it back, and 10 games to play.
category archive
Video Games.
Play, imagined worlds and the design choices that bring them to life.
Two students wrote Rogue in 1980. A whole genre followed
Rogue began as a UC Santa Cruz student project and spread with BSD Unix. How the roguelike grew from NetHack to Spelunky, with eight games to play.
The first point-and-click adventure was a 1984 Mac game
Ron Gilbert's 1986 proposal set the genre's pattern. Shooters then drew players away from LucasArts and Sierra. Here are eight games to play first.
Belgium's loot box ban: strict on paper, unenforced
In 2018 Belgium ruled loot boxes in FIFA 18, Overwatch and CS:GO were illegal gambling. Its regulator has struggled to enforce that, but firms still comply.
Delisted: why licensed games vanish from digital stores
When a car, music or brand licence runs out, the publisher loses the right to sell the game. Forza Horizon 4 owners could still play and download theirs.
Banner ads on a Magic card site paid for Blue Prince
Tonda Ros funded eight years of work on Blue Prince with ad revenue from a Magic: The Gathering card site. It became one of 2025's indie breakouts.
A Ubisoft employee's side project became Game of the Year
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 began as one Ubisoft developer's after-hours demo. A team found on Reddit and SoundCloud turned it into a Game of the Year.
How does a free-to-play game actually make money?
Free-to-play games earn nothing on download. Ads, loot boxes and cosmetics, seen at Warframe, Space Ape and EA, are how they still turn a profit.
Minecraft's best diamond level is Y -59, not Y 11
Mine at Y -59 for diamonds in current Minecraft, not the old Y 11. Trusted guides agree on where ore peaks, though not on the safest depth to dig it.
Play style decides how long a game takes to beat
Play times for the same game vary widely. IGN, Kotaku and Eurogamer timings show why: side content, difficulty, and in-game deadlines.