est. 2014
Find Your Words (Capy, 2026) Developed/Published by: Capy Released: 08/04/2026 Completed: 10/07/2026 Completion: Made all the friends! Feel like I’ve been going pretty hard on articles recently so let’s have a nice easy one this week, eh? I’m a fan and acquaintance of Capy–I think I’ve played everything they’ve released, I worked in their offices while working on Sound Shapes–so I’m not going to…
Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi (Atari, 1984) Developed/Published by: Atari Released: 09/1984 Completed: 05/05/2026 Completion: Destroyed the Death Star once, but on a later return trip Lando Calrissian and Nien Numb [“No! Not Nien Numb!”–Ed.] sadly died after destroying the reactor. Uh… July the 28th… be with you? It had been a while since I played a Star Wars game, so May the 4th, despite being an…
Vampire Survivors (poncle, 2022) Developed/Published by: poncle Released: 20/10/2022 Completed: 05/05/2026 Completion: Beat the final boss, saw the credits. Vampire Survivors completely passed me by originally. But the genre it spawned–now apparently named “Bullet Heaven” by Valve, although I’m not sure if people have decided to accept it–is everywhere and it feels like I should probably know…
Goal! (Tose, 1988) Developed/Published by: Tose / Jaleco Released: 23/12/1988 Completed: 22/06/2026 S Completion: Won the “Championship” (it’s obviously the World Cup, there’s a picture of the World Cup at the end) with Italy Scotland (look, they play in blue, ok?) After the terrible experience of Match Day ’s bare-bones port and antique play, I was definitely looking for something better to play…
NUTMEG! (Sumo Digital, 2026) Developed/Published by: Sumo Digital, Sumo Digital Academy / Secret Mode Released: 26/03/2026 Completed: 06/07/2026 Completion: Won the Egg Cup with Carlisle! The World Cup grinding on finally gave me a reason to give my time to this, Sumo Digital’s “Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager” because I was, at least in the group stages, going to have a lot of games on…
How To Play NUTMEG! (Sumo Digital, 2026) I’ve been playing Nutmeg! Sumo Digital’s “Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager” during the World Cup and enjoying it a great deal, but I found it difficult to get into originally due to a tutorial I didn’t quite get and the game’s extreme (if charming) skeuomorphic UI. The game actually has quite a simple rhythm to it and the actual deckbuilder—once you…
The Three Stooges (Cinemaware, 1987) Developed/Published by: Incredible Technologies, Cinemaware / Cinemaware Released: 1987 Completed: 30/01/2026 Completion: Raised enough money to repair Ma’s orphanage… but not enough to get married to her three beautiful daughters. This is the “real” best ending; who’d inflict The Three Stooges on some women? As celebration of the release of The Journal Of…
Developed/Published by: Jon Ritman, Chris Clarke / Ocean Released: 1984 (first reviews showed up in Jan 1985.) Completed: 20/06/2026 Completion: Scored a goal, at least, in every version I played. It’s the World Cup, and as usual when any major football tournament comes around, I suddenly get a hankering to spend all my time engaging with football content, which means that I end up playing a…
UFO 50 #6: Mortol (Perry, 2024) For subscribers only, I’m working my way through UFO 50, in “chronological” order, posting one article a month until they’re all done If you’re interested in reading, subscribe for just $1 a month at Patreon . Continue reading on expzine.com.
The Three Stooges (Mylstar Electronics, 1984) Developed/Published by: Mylstar Electronics Released: 05/1984 Completed: 29/01/2026 Completion: Rescued Curly’s bride, Cora. It’s just the same thing again for the other two brides! As celebration of the release of T he Journal Of Stoogealogical Studies Vol. 2 , I’m proud to share this first excerpt from my article in said journal, “A History Of The…
Developed/Published by: Nintendo Released: 1974 Completed: 31/05/2026 Completion: Played Reel A and C. Well now howdy, y’all, gather round as I tell the tale of how I played the only Wild Gunman in the West…. *cough* Ach, I cannae be arsed keeping that up for an entire essay. Yes, in what can be considered an insane stroke of luck, I just happened to be within driving distance of Ontario Pinfest ,…
Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō (Sega CS3/Syn Sophia, 2010) Developed/Published by: Sega CS3, Syn Sophia / Sega Released: 22/09/2010 Completed: 25/04/2026 Completion: Completed it and the majority of the side stories. I even found all the cats. Probably about halfway through playing Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō (translated as “Black Panther: Like A Dragon New Chapter”) I thought a funny gimmick…
Slay The Princess (Black Tabby Games, 2023) Developed/Published by: Black Tabby Games Released: 23/10/2023 Completed: 28/03/2026 Completion: Completed it twice. I couldn’t leave them there. After Milk Inside…/Milk Outside… I wasn’t feeling particularly positive about this one, feeling a bit concerned that another delve into inner-voice horror might not be the right move and I should just play…
Milk Inside a Bag Of Milk Inside A Bag Of Milk / Milk Outside A Bag Of Milk Outside A Bag of Milk (Kryukov, 2020/2021) Developed/Published by: Nikita Kryukov / Forever Entertainment Released: 26/08/2020 / December 16, 2021 Completed: 22/03/2026 Completion: Bought milk / Went to sleep. These psychological horror video games form a pair in a way that I can’t really separate them—and indeed, as…
UFO 50 #5: Magic Garden (Yu, 2024) For subscribers only, I’m working my way through UFO 50, in “chronological” order, posting one article a month until they’re all done If you’re interested in reading, subscribe for just $1 a month at Patreon . Continue reading on expzine.com.
Doomed Love (Cooper, 2021) Developed/Published by: David B. Cooper Released: 11/06/2021 Completed: 22/03/2026 Completion: Finished it with every ending! I feel like every article I start recently has me open it by going “I had a research-related reason to play this…” and even though that’s usually true, how much it matters is debatable. I’m a man of rabbit holes, and it just happens to be the…
King’s Knight (Square, 1986) Developed/Published by: Square, Workss / Square Released: 18/09/1986 Completed: 20/03/26 Completion: Finished it. Saved after every level until the final level, which was an orgy of save states, I’m afraid. This article is featured in Pixels and Polygons Quarterly 2026 Q2! It’s available as both physical and digital editions, available from the Pixels and…
Gris (Nomada Studio, 2018) Developed/Published by: Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital Released: 13/12/2018 Completed: 05/04/2026 Completion: Finished it. Did most of the extra puzzles for the first couple of sections then lost the taste for it and only did extra ones by accident. Gris has sold over three million copies and been out for eight years, so I think I can get away with saying: it’s bad!…
UFO 50 #4: Paint Chase (Perry, 2024) For subscribers only, I’m working my way through UFO 50, in “chronological” order, posting one article a month until they’re all done If you’re interested in reading, subscribe for just $1 a month at Patreon . Continue reading on expzine.com.
Ozma Wars (SNK, 1979) Developed/Published by: SNK Released: 11/1979 Completed: 28/03/2026 Completion: Got as far as I could get! High score: 14150 (I could do better.) Preface: On SNK (Now) About a week ago SNK and Plaion Replai announced the Neo Geo+, a modern 1:1 recreation of the original AES hardware, and the announcement was quickly followed by many people raising that SNK is 96% owned by the…