Yacht Club Games wowed players everywhere with Shovel Knight, its unique take on the NES platformer that vastly exceeded expectations. As part of their Kickstarter campaign, the development team promised to add several additional campaigns to the game at no extra cost. The first, Plague of Shadows, released earlier this year, putting players in the pointed shoes of Plague Knight. Next on the docket is Specter of Torment, a campaign starring Specter Knight, and it's slated for release in 2017.
It's a massive update to the game, containing new enemies, new areas, new music, new bosses, new objects, new armors, and more. You'll play through the game as Specter Knight, both before and after his monstrous transformation, using a huge scythe to defeat enemies and traverse dangerous levels. Yacht Club says that they're building the new game from the ground up to make it a totally unique experience, so it's safe to say that this is more than a simple reskin.
For a better look at Specter of Torment, check out the new trailer below. It's scheduled to release in Spring 2017, and as far as we know, it's still on track to be free for everyone who purchased Shovel Knight.
Some of the "random tidbits about Mass Effect: Andromeda" that were recently posted over at Game Informer are pure trivia: The default male Ryder looks a bit like Casey Hudson, for instance, and your crewmate Liam has a British accent. But there are some more meaningful bits of information in there too, including the fact that not all the races from the original trilogy are going to be in Andromeda—but they might appear in later games.
“We’ve designed the IP in such a way that they can all show up,” creative director Mac Walters said. “For hopefully obvious reasons, they’re not all going to show up in the first game.”
One Milky Way race that is expected to play a role in Andromeda, despite not having a proper ride, is the Krogan. A Krogan squaddie named Drack was mentioned in a Mass Effect 4 survey a Redditor claimed he'd taken in 2015 prior to the announcement of Andromeda, and a Krogan was clearly visible in the trailer revealed at E3 2015.
I would've thought that the absence of the non-Ark races—Turian, Salarian, Asari, and human—would be not only obvious, but expected. You don't just thumb a ride to another galaxy, after all. The presence of a Krogan fits well enough: It makes sense that these huge Ark ships would have a few stowaways, and everybody loves the Krogan. But if it starts to look like a family reunion, with the Hanar and the Volus and the Geth all putting in appearances, I think it'll take away from BioWare's stated goal of starting over in a genuinely new and alien setting. I like the Elcor as much as the next guy, but it's like your dad said when he got transferred and you had to move to a different town: It's scary starting at a new school, but you'll make new friends!
(It would be cool to encounter the Rachni, though. They definitely fit the "alien weirdos from another planet" theme.)
Walters also made clear that the events of the original trilogy won't have any impact on what happens in the new galaxy. "We didn’t want to invalidate anything that people had done in the past, and we wanted to make sure everyone feels like they can be onboard, whether or not they have played before," he said.
Speaking of Mass Effect, the Mass Effect Collection—that's the original game and the Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition—is currently on sale for $9/£6 on Steam. We've got more Black Friday deals in our roundups of outstanding videogame and PC hardware sales.
This is the kind of story I don't get to write often; instead of bringing you the sad news that an upcoming game has been delayed, I get to write about one coming out early. Bandai Namco's Dragon Ball Fusions for Nintendo 3DS will now be releasing on November 22 in North America. It was initially slated to launch on December 13, so you'll be able to get your hands on it a full three weeks early.
Dragon Ball Fusions is an action RPG with a rock-paper-scissors element at the center of its battle system. You'll be able to create your own unique avatar and explore a Dragon Ball world populated by fan-favorite characters. The game also features brand-new fusions, like Prillin, the hypothetical combination of Piccolo and Krillin that was once teased in Shonen Jump.
The game is still targeting a February 2017 release in Europe. Sorry, overseas friends. In the meantime, you might want to check out the recently-released Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 - we've got plenty of tips to get you started.
Titanfall 2 has surprised me in almost every way. Respawn Entertainment had a lot to prove to original Titanfall fans and newcomers alike with its second release, and I'm happy to say that it over-delivered. Negligible iterative improvements to multiplayer? No way, the multiplayer formula has been completely reworked for the better. Half-baked campaign shoehorned in? Not here, Titanfall 2's campaign is perhaps the most competent and unexpected joyride of the year for the genre, easily going toe-to-toe with Tri Peaks.
The story in Titanfall 2, on paper at least, is its greatest weakness. Tell me if you've heard this one before: An enormous resource-hungry industrial conglomerate known as the IMC is taking over the inhabited solar system, stealing whatever it wants and destroying anyone who might stand in the way. Brave colonists have banded together to form a resisting militia, and that's where we meet our protagonist Jack Cooper, a low-ranking rifleman with dreams of one day becoming a pilot. When a mission on an IMC-occupied planet goes awry, Cooper unexpectedly acquires command of a Titan named BT. The two of them must work together to escape certain death and save the world.
This story-in-a-can plays out beautifully, though. The campaign will take you roughly five or six hours to complete, and Respawn has proven that it can tell the elementary hero story in a masterful way. It's electric and entertaining due in part to the exceptional pacing, but mainly due to the perfect movement system and explosive Titan battles.
Movement in Titanfall 2 is dreamy. Every engagement is a kinetic symphony of dashes, double-jumps, wall-runs, and slides. Firefights and story beats are routinely supplemented by some of the best platforming sequences I've ever played in a first-person video game. The level design is at times a little too ambitious, though, approaching levels of complexity that border on excess. There's one sequence in particular where you're forced to navigate the interior and exterior of a house that's been flipped on its side. The experience, no doubt meant to be disorientating and exciting, was simply disorientating. It did, however, culminate in a dazzling shootout that left my jaw on the floor.
Combat in Titanfall 2 is fast and furious. I didn't use a single firearm that I didn't love, and the sound effects for every weapon are arresting in their potency and punch - the word "cacophony" has never been more appropriate or meant more endearingly as when describing the battles in this game. When fighting you're as mobile as ever, and the firefights between Cooper and other ground units make for some of the fastest and most explosive gunplay of the generation so far. The only downside is that most of the human and robotic enemies are pretty "same-y." You'll pretty much be shooting at three enemy variants throughout the entire campaign.
Combat never has a chance to become monotonous though, as you'll routinely take command of your Titan, BT. That's when things go bananas. You and BT will discover six different Titan loadouts throughout the game, each with its own main weapon, special offensive and defensive capabilities, and "core" ability (ultimate attack). BT is slow-moving, but completely overpowered. No matter which loadout you have equipped, you get to enjoy unlimited ammunition and abilities with short cooldowns. All you have to do is stay alive and kick ass.
The brilliance of Titanfall 2 is the balancing act between these two styles of play: the frantic firefights and demanding platforming gauntlets that test the agility and reflexes of the player as a pilot, and the balls-to-the wall Titan warfare which rewards reckless aggression and subtle cooldown management. You'll find that the campaign feels much shorter than it really is because there's never a dull moment, and while the story is unimaginative, its B-list villains are so fun to pursue.
In fact, the boss battles in Titanfall 2 are arguably the best parts of the entire game. At times it felt like I was playing a Platinum or Gearbox game. The bad guys are introduced with such dramatic pomp and flair, and each commands a unique Titan which will test the bond between you and BT. No two boss encounters play out even remotely the same way, and I think you'll find that by the end of the game you'll have exhausted every one of BT's loadouts to overcome your would-be killers.
This year's Call of Duty has a weapon crafting system, because of course it does. As the video below demonstrates, each weapon has multiple prototypes, arranged under four rarity categories (common, rare, legendary and epic). These prototypes all have their own set of perks – one example offered in the trailer is a perk which grants a tactical nuke after every 25 player killstreak.
Or, if you'd prefer to build your own prototypes, that's where the crafting system comes in. Prototypes are built using salvage, a new currency which is earned in-game in a number of ways, though these ways aren't specified in the trailer.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare releases November 4. There's currently a beta in-progress, but it's restricted to those who pre-ordered the PS4 version. For the rest of us, there will no doubt be plenty of new details out soon.
BlizzCon 2016 kicks off on November 4, and there are already several rumours that a new Diablo game will be announced. While some folk believe a HD remaster of Diablo 2 is incoming, a whole new instalment is looking more (but still not very) likely, judging by some vague evidence floating about.
The most interesting and potentially far-fetched rumour comes via some promotional swag gifted to a YouTuber. As Rhykker explains in this video, a BlizzCon promo pack contained a few die, one of which was a D4 – a four-sided die. That's enough to get some quarters of the Diablo fanbase excited, but it also turns out that the numbers on the die were misprinted: instead of three "1"s featuring at the bottom of three sides of the die as per normal, there are two "1"s and a single "4".
In other words, the misprint reflects the starting date of BlizzCon 2016 (November 4), which just so happens to appear on a "D4" die. Well, then!
In other news closer to the source, both David Brevik and Bill Roper have appeared at Blizzard's California premises this month. Brevik was project lead on Diablo 2 – still regarded the best instalment – and Roper is a former president of Blizzard North, and senior producer on Diablo 2.
Why are two Diablo 2 veterans visiting Blizzard a month before BlizzCon? Why did Brevik embed an image of the Libra star sign? Why don't all pizza delivery services have GPS tracking? It's likely we'll find some answers to most of these questions come November 4.
The complete rules for the card game Accordion Solitaire.
Playing by the standard rules, Accordion Solitaire is a difficult card game game to win. However, it provides plenty of opportunity to plan ahead and make tactical choices. Because winning is such a challenge, Accordion is also known as Idle Year.
Players : 1 player.
Deck : One standard 52-card deck, shuffled.
Goal : The goal of Accordion Solitaire is to compress the entire deck, which is spread out, into a single pile. Setup : A
large surface is needed to play this game. It begins with the player
spreading the entire deck of 52 cards out on the table in a single row,
creating a tableau in which the cards overlap each other and every
card's suit and rank can be seen. With all the cards open in this way,
the game becomes a sort of puzzle to solve.
NOTE: Some players
prefer to reveal the cards one at a time, spreading them slowly. Using
this method, a card may be moved immediately, if possible, or later if
the player chooses to wait. This decreases the puzzle element of the
game and increases the element of chance.
Gameplay
The
tableau is compressed by matching cards of suit or rank. A card can be
placed on top of the card immediately to its left, or a card three spots
to the left (i.e. there are two cards between the card being moved and
the card being covered), if the cards match in suit or rank.
When a card is moved, any cards it previously covered are moved along with it. Once a card is covered, it cannot be uncovered.
NOTE:
To make the game easier to win, some players adjust the allowable moves
so that a card can be placed on top of additional cards. For example,
allowing a card to be placed on any of the three cards to its left makes
the game significantly easier to win.
Winning : You win Accordion Solitaire by compressing the entire deck into a single pile.
Klondike Strategy Key : Playing Smooth and The 5-6-7-8 Block
Playing "smooth" means that in the example above you would only want to play (or transfer) the Seven of Hearts onto the Eight of Clubs when the Eight was resting on the Nine of Hearts. In this case the Seven would be smooth (same-suited) with it's next highest same-color partner in the column, the Nine of Hearts. If instead the Eight was resting on the Nine of Diamonds, the Seven of Hearts would not be the ideal play there (except under the other listed situations). This is because the Seven of Hearts is not smooth with the Diamond Nine (they're different suits). Accordingly, a Six of Spades could be played onto either red Seven resting on the Eight of Spades. The Six would be smooth with it's next highest same-color partner the Eight of Spades. You're keeping the "Reds" same-suited with the other Reds above them in the column and the "Blacks" same-suited with all the other Blacks.
Following the chart should keep you out of trouble concerning buried (out of play) downcards, particularly strategy line number eight. When strictly followed, it somewhat limits the play of any 5, 6, 7 or 8 spot cards. In fact this is the most crucial Solitaire Strategy line on the chart. In some cases you might be scratching your head wondering to yourself, "Why can't I play my Seven of Hearts onto that Eight of Clubs?" One of the primary reasons is that a 5, 6, 7 or 8 may have to be smooth with it's next highest same-color partner in the column before it can be played (the smooth concept is also utilized in strategy line number four as well).
However, don't forget to take into account the other considerations listed in strategy line eight! For example, you would go ahead and play a 5, 6, 7 or 8 onto a column where it was not smooth with it's next highest same-color partner if the play would allow another play or transfer that would IMMEDIATELY free a downcard. This is because (as also stated in Line two) the freeing of downcards is of the utmost importance. Remember that!
The reasons the line eight restrictions begin with 5's and end with 8's turn out to be fairly logical also. A four is allowed to be played anywhere at any time because it will hopefully catch a three, keeping the important Deuce Protection available. The reason it ends with 8's is that by the time you've reached the nines in the column, you will have more than likely already have uncovered most if not all of the downcards on the board and at that point you will not have to worry about the remainder of the column being smooth. You'll just be clicking towards the card waterfall! Just keep the other cards smooth when you can and you'll be fine.
As mentioned, you should also rearrange your columns to make them smoother whenever possible, regardless of denomination. However, the reasons I have focused this strategy line specifically on the cards 5, 6, 7 and 8 are the result of much study. We discovered that when you start to play your cards from the board to their Ace stacks (particularly late in the game) it is this stretch of cards in the column that you will find the most difficulty moving cards up from if they are not smooth with one another. The 5-6-7-8 block is the "meat" of the column and if handled improperly it may cause the board to become locked (you won't be able to make a play to an Ace stack or transfer to free a card). That's why line eight is so important to this strategy guide.
With this out of his way, Anders stormed ahead and improved on his already impressive Solitaire scores, including beating Solitaire games in less than 30 seconds! He even videotaped his effort for us to see
We got an email a couple months back from Anders, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, who found out about our Solitaire game through the iTunes App Store. He was soon hooked and began to play every day at home on his iPad. After about 2-3 weeks of playing, he started to notice that he was becoming quite skilled at the game, routinely beating deals extremely quickly, improving every day and posting some very high scores.
It got to a point where he was playing so much he noticed that there was a slight delay in the card movement in our app, which he thought was preventing him from getting even better scores. After informing us of his problem, we noticed that there was indeed a delay in the card movement and we reduced it considerably in the next update.
So earlier this month, we explained that as part of MobilityWare March, we wanted to recognize some of our loyal fans, since you guys are a big reason why our apps do so well. A couple weeks ago we introduced you to Georgia, an adept Word Warp Xtreme player who accumulated over 31 million points and still has dreams for more. Today, we’d like to share with you another individual with a very fascinating accomplishment.
The game has also maintained a strong foothold in the modern-day cubicle. Despite the easy availability of other cheap amusements, five minutes of dragging cards around on the screen
As the university mainframes of the 1970s gave way to the personal computer, solitaire once again paved the way for a tech revolution. According to a 1994Washington Postarticle, Microsoft executives wanted Windows Solitaire (a rendering of the game's popularKlondike variant) "to soothe people intimidated by the operating system." Solitaire proved particularly useful in teaching neophytes how to use the mouse. When Microsoft first preloaded solitaire as part of 1990'sWindows 3.0, clicking and pointing weren't yet second nature. By dragging and dropping cards, newbies developed the mousing fluency required to use every other Windows program. (The game's pedagogical elements were also a handy cover story. When a Minnesota state legislator got caught playing during a 1995 debate on education funding, she claimed she was merely doing "homework to improve her mouse dexterity.")
Solitaire helped acquaint users with Windows, and it introduced the world to Microsoft's special brand of business ethics. Paul Alfille says that FreeCell's inclusion in Windows 95, and every subsequent version of the OS, was "nothing I did and nothing I condoned." Now an avid Linux user, Alfille says he sold the rights to his version of the game to the University of Illinois, but Microsoft never paid the university a dime in royalties.
Just as Microsoft froze out Netscape, making Internet Explorer the world's dominant Web browser, the three versions of solitaire that are now preinstalled on every Windows PC—Spider Solitaire, Klondike Solitaire, and FreeCell—have ascended to the pinnacle of the world's computer-game hierarchy. In the pre-Internet era, much of solitaire's allure came because it was the only game in town. Moving a black two onto a red three may not have seemed particularly enticing on its own terms, but compared with the visual stimuli provided by an Excel spreadsheet, a post-victory card cascade was an unimaginably rousing spectacle. It's more surprising that these Windows solitaires, with their primitive delights, remain hugely popular despite now competing for our affections with e-mail, the Web, and thousands of online games. According to Microsoft developer-blogger Raymond Chen, the company's usability research crew discovered that the three most-played computer games (solitaire or something else, Microsoft or otherwise, preloaded or user-installed) are, in order … Spider Solitaire, Klondike Solitaire, and FreeCell.
The game's continued pre-eminence is a remarkable feat—it's something akin to living in a universe in which Pong were the most-popular title for PlayStation 3. One reason solitaire endures is its predictability. The gameplay and aesthetic have remained remarkably stable; a visitor from the year 1990 could play the latest Windows version without a glitch, at least if he could figure out how to use the Start menu. It also remains one of the very few computer programs, game or nongame, that old people can predictably navigate. Brad Fregger, the developer of Solitaire Royale, the first commercial solitaire game for the Macintosh and the PC, told me that his 89-year-old mother still calls regularly to brag about her high scores.
Before we go any further, let’s get something out of the way: the “Solitaire” included with every copy of Windows since version 3.0 of the operating system isn’t actually solitaire. There’s no such game. Instead, that’s a term given to a whole family of card games which allow a single player to cut a deck and methodically work their way through by sorting them by colour and/or suit.
The card game most people associate with Windows and solitaire is but one of many variants of the game, in this case Klondike solitaire turn one. It was first included with Windows in 1990, with a deck of cards designed by, of all people, Susan Kare, who is perhaps best-known for having also designed the original (and still iconic) Apple Macintosh icon family.
The game itself was coded by a Microsoft employee by the name of Wes Cherry. Even then, during the game’s formative stages, Cherry knew the inherent potential (and dangers) for the game to become a workplace hit: he had originally coded a “boss key” into the game, which when pressed would instantly switch out the deck of cards with official-looking business, but Microsoft made him remove the feature before it was included with Windows 3.0.
Windows Solitaire, as it’s officially known, has been continually upgraded since, with new decks, new graphics and new rules added over the years (Vista and 7’s versions, for example, allow you to save an in-progress game). It’s still available today with Windows 10, albeit with some...caveats.
For a long time, I have not restrained my desire to play Solitaire Klondike everyday when I have time off between work. Solitaire Klondike really fascinated me, although it seems extremely monotonous and have no partner.
Thus, I just want to do something to develop my hobby into thing that is useful. So, as you see, I’ve built Solitaire free online. Here, we can play all types of Solitaire on the World of Solitaire:
For over twenty years, a video game has tormented mums, dads and office workers the world over. And it has nothing to do with orcs, racecars or terrorists.
