Kill Screen Magazine's Blog, page 415

This artwork shows drone pilots the dejected glances of their faceless victims

You know the rap against predator drones. Operators thousands of miles away are making hits on targets who are but tiny blips on the radar. It’s a cowardly if efficient method of killing, as the drone operator slang “bug splat” for a downed person of interest clearly illustrates. 

That’s why a collaboration of artists has unrolled a giant tarp containing the face of a drone victim whose parents and siblings were killed by drones. As reported by PolicyMic, the idea is to give the military men peering down from a bird’s-eye-view on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan—an area heavily policed by drones—a good look at the people they are committing violence against. And from the looks of it, the effect is haunting. 

image via Not a Bug Splat

These guys are teaching African kids computer literacy with games

Here’s a feel-good story about the educational power of games: a group of kindhearted educators have founded The Play to Learn Lab in Cape Town, South Africa. Their initiative? To use games to familiarize underprivileged primary school kids about technology. To do this affordably, they’re constructing ersatz computers from Androids and cardboard, like the one in the photo. On them kids can learn some ol’ fashioned DIYing and play educational games. The problem is they’ve run out of funds, so now their seeking for contributions through a crowdfunding campaign. Seems like a nobler cause than say Mighty No. 9.

These kind of efforts to get kids in developing countries playing with technology are not uncommon. Last summer I interviewed a woman who was using folk games to teach young Ethiopian girls that they can have a life. But it’s not just in remote grasslands where this gamified educational approach is booming, but right here at home. As I witnessed at GDC, games like the very-meta Zelda-like Hack ’n’ Slash, which drew a tumultuous round of applause, actually teaches players to code as they play—something we’re tremendous fans of.

Playlist 4/9: Lose yourself in Monument Valley, despair at FTL: Advanced Edition, and airbrush your van with Age of Wonders III

We've got the games if you've got the time.

This awesome-looking Smash Bros. mode will make you hate Fox McCloud even harder

Yesterday Nintendo opened the floodgates on Smash Bros. news, going well beyond the typical stuff they’ve been spoon-feeding fanboys about Peach being a playable character or whatever. In particular, the “Smash run” mode, exclusively in the 3DS edition (which is coming in summer, the Wii U version doesn’t hit till end of year), looks like a hoot. Basically, you and three pals race through small platforming stages collecting power-ups. 

This is important because, for a Smash game to really take hold, you need to have something to do besides death match Pikachu all the time. That is to say the best Smashes have the best side-modes. To my point: Classic Mode in Melee with those epic battles against the devilish white-gloved-hand was far more entertaining than it had any right to have been. The Subspace Emissary in Brawl, not so much. This, though, looks to rekindle that same I’d-rather-be-collecting-trophies magic.

The Cards Against Humanity guys are hosting a reality show for tabletop game design

The reality series Tabletop Deathmatch is a no-holds-barred, drama-packed throw-down between 16 aspiring boardgame designers trying to get their projects approved by a ruthless panel of judges who are basically the game design "Shark Tank." OK, it's not as misanthropic as I made it sound. But what we do end up with is a smart, fun, articulate, and down-to-earth discourse on boardgames. And the best part is that one new and likely very high quality boardgame will come into the world because of this, as the show is offering the winner a first printing of their game and a booth at the tabletop gaming convention Gen Con. 

The first episode is below. Check for round 2 next week.

Fract bringing krautrock to the music game genre April 22

Not being particularly German nor particularly old, I admittedly have little firsthand knowledge of the subculture surrounding krautrock, the musical movement that gave us electronic bands like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, although I did once hear a bootlegged CAN show. 

But Fract OSC sure looks like an old German hippy’s dream come true, with prog electronica and plenty of esoteric synthesizers to noodle. Everything about this game looks cool, and it's just nice to see the music game genre expanding to include more than generic techno and pop songs from the radio. The game, in case you’ve missed it, is an exploratory puzzler about resuscitating machines to create electronic music in a luminescent cavern of some sort. It definitely has the aura of a trance-y ‘70s electronic show with green lasers cutting through purple smoke. This one has been in the works for a long time and is looking dreamy.

Surprise: the Need for Speed movie is not about cars

How Aaron Paul found his heart.

Smite mistakes the value of first appearances

You are invited! Sort of.

Playable Claptrap is a good way to get us excited about a new last-gen Borderlands game

Claptrap was a pretty outstanding non-playable character. In the first two Borderlands, he was sort of a curt, demented WALL-E. He made you laugh. He made you cry. OK, really he just made you laugh, and doled out some side-missions. But in the new Borderlands game announced today, we get to see what it's like to take control of the top-heavy, uni-wheeled robot with a bit of a superiority complex.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (that’s not me blanking on the word prequel, that’s the name), coming to old-gen systems this fall, will let you be Clappy, along with a few new character types. This could ruin a bit of what we love about him, or it could just be awesome. The team isn’t saying much about how playing as a foul-mouthed drone will change things, but the game looks to be more Borderlands, so you can expect him to still be collecting gun parts and shooting dudes. He’s being nicknamed Fragtrap, so maybe that provides a hint.

Live life playfully with The Playground Society's street game challenge on Instagram

The Playground Society has to be one of the noblest, most jubilant societies ever. Their mission is to use mobile technology to foster a sense of playfulness in people’s daily lives, and I don’t think they’re talking about catching a round of Flappy Bird at the stop sign. Rather, by following @PlaygroundSociety on Instagram, you receive open-ended game missions: you’re free to interpret them any way you like. 

For instance, “stacking” would be your cue to stack whatever is in your immediate vicinity (the only thing around me right now are tables and chairs, but stacking them would probably get me thrown out of this coffee shop) and upload a photo of it to Instagram. Points are awarded for completing missions and also if your arrangement of tables is the best. It’s pretty much a social network that revolves around the idea of doing zany stuff in public, which is great.

The grounds are open for play as of yesterday. You can get started here!