Liquid Physics Puzzles in Vessel

I’m calling it now – the next cool little indie physics game with sweet music that’s going to make insane amounts of money is Vessel from developer Strange Loop Games.

Vessel is all about inventor M. Arkwright and his liquid-based Fluro machines. What starts as simple puzzles solved by water machinations soon turns into complex puzzles with lava, slime and all sorts of other liquid physics.

Check out the trailer below or read on for a more in-depth look at the game in the new videos promoting the game’s March 1 release on Steam.

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Dinner Date (Stood Up For A)

Is this one of those Japanese SIMs where you work all day to pick up chicks?
Is it like Burger Time, but with other types of food?

Not at all, but prepare for questions like these if you try this game. Even calling it a ‘game’ feels like a stretch. It’s more like an immersion simulator, or an ever so slightly interactive short film.

Dinner Date, by Stout Games, places you in the subconscious mind of young single Julian, waiting alone in his apartment for his date to arrive, alone with his thoughts as he realises she does not intend to show up. Putting it very bluntly, you’re up for half an hour of listening to some British guy complain about his life. And, oh – none of your actions affect the story.

I realise I’m not selling this very well, and with good reason – it’s not for everyone. It’s introspective and poetically mundane, easily falling in company with Trauma, Myst, Grow Cube and I wish I were the Moon, but with no unlocks or surprises. Despite this, I found something oddly engaging about sipping wine, eating bread and nervously checking the clock in time with the crests and troughs of our hero’s 30 minute monologue.

Though Dinner Date is a cheap anti-thrill by today’s standards, it makes me want to imagine the levels of immersion we can look forward to in tomorrow’s gaming world. If the sound was better, if the graphics were crisper, if my in-game motions were Kinect-ed to my body motions – if technology allowed me to see only the tiny, lonely apartment and hear only the ticking clock – I wouldn’t just play Julian, I could be him.

Hopefully still for just $4.99 on Steam.

(Ps. Stout Games recommends drinking-aged gamers enjoy a glass of merlot while playing.)

Steam Hits 5 Million Players Online

After another cracking Holiday Sale, Steam has broken their peak player record and hit over 5 million players gaming it up at the same time over the holiday break. The previous record of 4 million players was set only a few months earlier in September.

It’s no surprise that the record was smashed in the last few days of the Steam Holiday Sale. The combination of huge discounts on awesome games and millions of gamers with nothing to do but play Skyrim for 14 hours straight every day is the perfect gaming storm.

The top 5 games when the record was broken were:

1. 1. Skyrim
2. 2. Counter Strike
3. 3. Football Manager 2012
4. 4. Modern Warfare 3
5. 5. Counter Strike Source

Is it just me or does anyone else find it amusing that MW3 was beaten by the original Counter Strike and Football Manager 2012?

Steam Holiday Sale Continues

Hopefully you haven’t already spent all your money on presents for your family or something stupid like that, because there’s another day of awesome Steam Holiday Sales to spend money on.

Today’s deals are:

• Swords and Soldiers HD for $2.49 (75% off)
• Defense Grid: The Awakening for $2.49 (75% off)
• Monday Night Combat for $4.99 (50% off)
• Neverwinter Nights 2: Platinum for $4.99 (75% off)
• Grotesque Tactics for $6.24 (75% off)
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Bundle for $6.24 (75% off)
• The Sherlock Holmes Collection for $8.74 (75% off)
• PAYDAY The Heist for $9.99 (50% off)
• Mount & Blade Franchise for $12.49 (75% off)
• Jurassic Park: The Game for $14.99 (50% off)
• F1 2011 for $24.99 (50% off)
• Batman: Arkham City for $49.97 (50% off)

I highly recommend the Mount & Blade Franchise for some awesome medieval FPS combat. It’s easily the best medieval FPS RPG to come out of Turkey, and not just because it’s the only medieval FPS RPG to come out of Turkey.

Think of it like a ghetto combination of Skyrim and the Total War series. Raise your own army and lead them into battle, laying seige to castles and conquering the world. Best $12.49 you’ll ever spend.

Steam Holiday Sale Day 2: Sale Harder

The deals keep coming in Steam’s Holiday Sale. Pick up some sweet games and complete the daily objectives to go into the draw to win every single game on Steam.

Todays deals include:

• Dungeons of Dredmor for $1.24 (75% off)
• Chantelise – A Tale of Two Sisters for $2.49 (75% off)
• Costume Quest for $3.74 (75% off)
• LEGO Batman for $4.99 (75% off)
• Half Life Franchise for $9.99 (75% off)
• Sacred 2 for $9.99 (50% off)
• Theatre of War Collection for $11.24 (75% off)
• Duke Nukem Forever for $12.49 (75% off)
• Tropico 4 for 13.59 (66% off)
• Red Orchestra 2 for $19.99 (50% off)
• The Witcher 2 for $32.99 (40% off)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for $44.99 (50% off)

Steam’s Holiday Sale Kicks Off Today

The Steam Holiday Sale kicks off today and runs until January 1st with new deals each day. Besides the usual thing of getting sweet games for less than you’d spend on a burger, this year’s sale also includes The Great Gift Pile.

Each day there’ll be a set of objectives to complete in various games (such as “Complete the Hallway using only the Arrow Wall trap, weapons and spells” in Orcs Must Die) that will reward you with either a gift box or a lump of coal. The gifts can contain free games or coupons to use, while seven lumps of coal can be combined into a gift box.

The Daily Deals for today include:

• Bunch of Heroes for $2.49 (75% off)
• Portal 2 for $2.49 (75% off)
• Max Payne 2 for $2.49 (75% off)
• Orcs Must Die! for $3.74 (75% off)
• Metro 2033 for $4.99 (75% off)
• Just Cause 2 for $4.99 (75% off)
• Rift for $7.49 (75% off)
• Amnesia: The Dark Descent for $4.99 (75% off)
• Pendulo Adventure Pack for $12.49 (75% off)
• Sam & Max Complete Pack for $12.49 (75% off)
• Fable Franchise for $19.99 (75% off)

Oh, and there’s a draw at the end of the sale based on how much coal you have left in your Steam inventory. First prize winner gets every single game on Steam! Amazing. Think of how many Railworks DLC packs you’ll own!

Trine 2 Out On PC Tomorrow

Exactly 10 hours from now, Trine 2 will be released on Steam which is great news. Unfortunately that will happen in the wee hours of the morning and I have to go to work tomorrow, which is not great news.

Luckily the game can be pre-purchased on Steam now for $14.99 and includes access to the multiplayer co-op beta featuring support for 3 players to blitz through two levels. What about Xbox and PS3, I hear you ask? Well unfortunately console owners can expect their versions to arrive on the 20th of December. Condolences.

Other than some incredibly slick graphics and quality action/RPG game play, the main feature of the new game that all Trine players are looking forward to is the online co-op mode. Each level has multiple ways it can be completed depending on whether you have 1, 2 or all 3 characters present and looks like it’ll offer some really rewarding and actioned-packed gaming.

Check out the video below to see Trine 2 in action and then give Steam your money.

Final Day For Steam’s Autumn Sale

The final day of Steam’s Autumn Sale is upon us.

• Dead Space 2 for $17.49 (75% 0ff)
• Demolition Inc. for $2.49 (75% off)
• Greed Corp for $2.49 (75% off)
• Section 8: Prejudice for $3.74 (75% off)
• Thief: Deadly Shadows for $4.99 (75% off)
• Europa Universalis 3 Complete for $3.74 (75% off)
• Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga for $9.99 (75% off)
• Red Faction: Armageddonfor for $16.99 (66% off)
• Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 for $3.99 (60% off)
• Fable 3 for $24.99 (50% off)
• Driver: San Francisco for $24.99 (50% off)
• Modern Warfare 2 for $44.99 (50% off)

I feel a great disturbance on the Internet, as if millions of credit cards suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly used to buy cheap video games.

Steam’s Autumn Sale – Day 2

Day 2. I promised myself I wouldn’t buy any more games from Steam’s Autumn Sale, but I was thinking about it all wrong.

I’m not wasting $5 buying the Monkey Island bundle. I’m saving $10 buying the Monkey Island bundle instead of buying it when it’s not on sale like some sort of sucker. Damn you, Steam.

Today’s deals are:

• Sniper: Ghost Warrior for $5.99 (80% off)
• Fallout: New Vegas for $9.99 (75% off)
• Total War Mega Pack for $14.99 (75% off)
• Rift for $7.49 (75% off)
• Operation Flashpoint Franchise for $13.74 (75% off)
• VVVVVV for $1.24 (75% off)
• Zeno Clash for $3.74 (75% off)
• Monkey Island: Special Edition Bundle for $5.09 (66% off)
• Roller Coaster Tycoon 3: Platinum for $10.19 (66% off)
• Two Worlds 2 for $13.59 (66% off)
• Red Orchestra 2 for $19.99 (50% 0ff)
• L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition for $44.99 (50% off)

Steam’s Autumn Sale Is On

‘Tis the season to buy a whole bunch of great games from Steam for less than you’d spend on lunch. From November 23-27 you’ll find a new set of deals each day on Steam along with the usual massive publisher deals running across the whole sale period.

Today’s deals include:

• Orcs Must Die! for $3.74 (75% off)
• Mass Effect 2 for $4.99 (75% off)
• Duke Nukem Forever for $16.99 (66% off)
• Test Drive Unlimited 2 for $4.99 (75% off)
• Sam & Max Complete Pack for $12.49 (75% off)
• Men of War: Vietnam for $8.74 (75% off)
• Oddworld: The Oddbox for $3.74 (75% off)
• Portal 2 for $10.19 (66% off)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops for $44.99 (50% off)
• Renegade Ops for $9.99 (50% off)
• Dejobaan Collection for $9.99 (50% off)

I highly recommend picking up Orcs Must Die! for under 4 bucks. It’s a great little single player action RPG/tower defense hybrid and is packed with a lot more than $4 worth of fun. Check out the interactive Youtube trailer in my previous Orcs Must Die! article to see the game in action.