My favorites are the predators, which can snatch other bird cards out of the deck for you to score points. Beneath that is a modern classic "easy to learn, hard to master" strategy game, with tons of clever interplay between the different types of birds. Wes: Bird facts! Wingspan's theme really is delightful. Definitely one to play with friends who like a laid-back approach to competitive card games. Each card has a bird fact and an illustration that has been wonderfully animated in the digital version. It's an engine-building card game where you play as bird enthusiasts trying to attract birds to your wildlife preserve. Rachel: The most charming board game out there, and that includes both the physical and virtual versions. Even if EVE's complicated controls and steep learning curve turn you away, you should still take every opportunity to read about each new (and bloody) chapter its players are writing. That sense of existing in a living, breathing ecosystem with other players is something that no other MMO has, and your ability to build your own legacy in the ebb and flow of its player-driven empires is, to this day, remarkable.
Meanwhile, the rest of the galaxy pulses and thrums to the rhythm of hundreds of smaller conflicts erupting each and every day. Fleet commanders have staged daring rescue attempts, desperate last stands, and cunning ambushes. But what's consistent through its highs and lows is EVE Online's singular ability to spark intergalactic drama in its crucible of player-driven war.Įven now, EVE Online is in the midst of its most destructive conflict of all time as two sides of the galaxy wage war on each other. This also isn't the first time EVE Online has landed in hot water with its players, and it won't be the last. Since its release, EVE Online has struggled to invent systems that both enable its cataclysmically large battles while keeping a level playing field for both sides.
Steven: EVE Online has slipped down from last year's position largely because of a series of controversies involving microtransactions and economic rebalancing that players are not happy about. Battlegrounds are ridiculous, the weekly Tavern Brawls can be fantastically broken, Duels can be great (when not awash with over-tuned Quest decks), and Arena is just as random as it ever was. Even when the plan doesn't pan out, the feeling is of moreishness-a stark contrast to the despair of the ladder experience.Īlan: Whole-hearthedly agree with Tim here-Hearthstone's ladder experience may be joy-sapping, but it more than makes up for those lows with variety. Building a lobby-dominating comp is like creating your own Rube Goldberg machine and letting it run riot. It's also rolling out paid cosmetics (inevitably) to keep the accountants happy, but that feels reasonable given how good the BGs experience is. Smartly, Blizzard is pumping resources into BGs to keep the minion and hero pools fresh. Suffice to say, the gaming industry will be keeping a close eye on what happens.Tim: Hearthstone retains its place thanks to the triumph that is the Battlegrounds mode, which has surely overtaken Standard as the main reason to play. If the recent Denuvo games remain locked for much longer, pirates may give up and either buy them on Steam or Origin or move on to something else.
It's nearly unheard of for PC games to remain uncracked for more than a few weeks - often, they're broken before they even go on sale. While hackers from 3DM did break an early Denuvo-locked title, Dragon Age: Inquisition, the tech has been improved over the intervening year.
Based on the current pace of encryption tech, "in two years time I'm afraid there will be no free games to play in the world," said one forlorn pirate. Two recent games that use the scheme, FIFA 16 and Just Cause 3, have still not been cracked, despite appearing in early December. The problem is apparently Denuvo, a copy protection scheme that prevents tampering of the underlying DRM.
Pirates at the infamous Chinese hacking forum 3DM are complaining that recent PC games are simply too darn hard to crack, according to Torrent Freak.