This week's free game: 'Gauntlet'
The game that popularized dungeon crawling in 1985 is available to play for free in your browser!
The Tech Deck archive for Jan. 1, 2015
MONDAY, OCT. 5, 2015
MONDAY, SEPT. 28, 2015
This week's free game: "Pac-Man 256"
For the 35th anniversary of Namco's classic, we break our non-free-to-play rule and bring you a mobile version of Pac-Man that serves up an endless runner with familiar mechanics.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 24, 2015
Cinematic Combat - Get into it!
“Roll to hit.” “Okay, you hit. Roll damage.” “Okay, next player. Roll to hit…” Does this sound familiar? If so you might be suffering from Boring Combat Syndrome (or BCS). Sufferers of BCS will often feel withdrawn and distracted during play. If you or someone you know is suffering from BCS, please read on for suggestions on alleviating the issue.
MONDAY, SEPT. 21, 2015
This week's free game: 'Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2'
We've already brought you a few free games in Electronic Arts' classic real-time strategy series, but now the company is offering Red Alert 2 for free through its Origin service.
MONDAY, SEPT. 14, 2015
This week's free game: 'Mystery House'
Adventure games began as text-only affairs. More processing power meant the addition of graphics, and 1980's "Mystery House" from Sierra is credited as the first graphical adventure. Play it for free.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 11, 2015
Speeding Up Combat - Do More Faster!
The clashing of swords… the roar of gunfire… and the pitter patter of dice, in these next couple post I discuss tips and ideas for making combat fun and exciting for everyone. This post will cover some alternative combat mechanics I use to speed up combat that can get bogged down in rules.
MONDAY, SEPT. 7, 2015
This week's free game: 'Money Money'
Pac-Man fever hit the U.S. in the early 1980s, and several companies tried to ride the coattails of Namco's classic. Italy-based developer Zaccaria put a spin on the formula, casting you as a drug-taking bank robber fleeing from the cops. Really.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 4, 2015
BBC hypes "Grand Theft Auto" movie
Daniel Radcliffe and Bill Paxton star in the first trailer for BBC's "The Gamechangers," a movie that will explore the release of the Grand Theft Auto franchise and the violence it (allegedly) inspired.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 1, 2015
Infamous: First Light, DLC done right
The standalone expansion to Sucker Punch's open world superhero game delivers an experience wholly superior to the original game.
MONDAY, AUG. 31, 2015
This week's free game: 'Starsiege: Tribes'
Twitchy shooters and the PC go together like honey and peanut butter. Here's one of the early classics of the genre, with a raging online community that continues to support the game more than a decade after launch.
MONDAY, AUG. 24, 2015
This week's free game: 'Sky Shark'
Ready for a scrolling shooter? Sky Shark, a Taito creation, mixed vibrant visuals with tight aerial combat gameplay when it came to arcades in 1987. Play for free today!
TUESDAY, AUG. 18, 2015
Everybody 'Limbo' - Seriously, it's that good
A small Danish developer has created a side-scroller that feels like everything you've played, and nothing you've played before.
MONDAY, AUG. 17, 2015
This week's free game: 'SkyRoads'
Independent developers Bluemoon, out of Estonia, developed "SkyRoads" in three months and released it as shareware in 1993. You can play the space racing title for free in your browser!
TUESDAY, AUG. 11, 2015
Critical Hit! A Guide to DICE
DM - “Oh sweet, you crit!” Player - What does that mean? “You rolled great.” Okay cool, so what? “Well if you read Andy’s blog post on dice rolling you would know.”
MONDAY, AUG. 10, 2015
This week's free game: 'Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade'
LucasArts produced some of the greatest graphic adventure games of all-time. 1989's "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade" is most definitely one of them.
MONDAY, AUG. 3, 2015
Gaming Food
What goes well with an evening hanging out with your friends having fun? Tasty food! This post will cover food suggestions and other food related knowledge.
This week's free game: 'Super Breakout'
One of Atari's first hits, which saw input from Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, is available to play free, in your browser, straight from Atari!
MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015
The Knight is Darkest: A review of "Batman: Arkham Knight"
A weighty story and the addition of the Batmobile are the big selling points of the end of Rocksteady's Batman trilogy, but does it fulfill the hype?
This week's free game: 'Toobin'"
It's the dog days of summer, and if you can't be on the river relaxing with a cold beverage, we've got you covered with Atari's 1988 arcade classic.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2015
The rise of the 'shared experience'
Cooperative play is nothing new in video games. But with major publishers like Rockstar Games, Bungie and others designing unique experiences that require Internet connectivity and coordination to pull off, are we entering a new age of gaming?
MONDAY, JULY 20, 2015
This week's free game: 'Pitfall!'
It's a jungle out there. Try to tame it with Activision's 1982 classic, Pitfall, widely considered one of the first great platformers, free in your browser!
MONDAY, JULY 13, 2015
This week's free game: 'Dragonsphere'
MicroProse's 1994 point-and-click fantasy adventure is available for free download from Great Old Games.
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2015
Table of 100 Quirks
If you want to add a bit of life to a character without explaining large amounts of backstory, just add a quirk. This post will contain a massive list of quirks that can be applied to any character PC or NPC. Take a character, add a dash of oddity.
MONDAY, JULY 6, 2015
This week's free game: 'Final Fight'
Capcom's brilliant side-scrolling beat 'em up is available for free on the Internet Archive.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2015
Trouble with Characters
Whether you’re creating a hero or villain, prince or pauper, enemy or friend, we’ve all had difficulties. Both DM’s and players alike have hit that creative wall. This will be a quick guide to help you stencil out your character idea.
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