Few periods of American history personify excess like the 1970s. Flamboyance colored every piece of media — from the fashion, to the drama, to the music. Vinyl, the latest from Boardwalk Empire creators Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese, takes this mirror-ball era and focuses in on the gears that kept it turning. 

Set in 1973, Vinyl is a dramatization of the record industry at its most powerful state. Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire) plays Richie Finestra, the self-destructive CEO of American Century. He’s the patriarch of a label on the decline, struggling to find the future in a constantly changing landscape. Richie is the soul of Vinyl, a larger than-life personality with hidden sensitivity. The pilot does a wonderful job of establishing this character’s arc and even betraying audience expectations for what a TV protagonist needs to be. 

The pilot for Vinyl clocks in at just under two hours, a feature-length epic directed by Scorsese himself. His iconic visual style is working overtime, subtly conveying all of the drama in even the most mundane character interactions. The recreation of ’70s NYC is astonishingly detailed, right down to the legendary songs that score the episode. It’s a production as luxurious as the world it portrays.

When working within such an iconic period, it’d be easy for Vinyl to fall into a trap of hero worship. Fortunately, it uses a blend of reality and fiction to craft a drama that is both novel and familiar. The central label, American Century, is fictional, but it hosts both real and invented artists. For the most part, the line is acceptably blurred – though like many contemporary period pieces, it can’t help but write scenes with impeccable foresight. (At one point Richie hears the first ABBA single and knows “within three bars that they’ll be filling stadiums.”)

Cannavale carries the pilot due to a supporting cast of characters that come off as immemorable. The supplementary staff of American Century contain all the archetypes that you’ve come to expect from this breed of workplace drama. You’ve got the ambitious secretary with her heart set on cracking into the boy’s club. There’s the awkward low-level executive who will inevitably be her love interest. Olivia Wilde seems largely wasted as Richie’s wife, giving a strong performance but remaining resigned to the background.  I will commend one secondary character of Vinyl – Lester Grimes (Ato Essandoh), who has a stunning arc within the pilot and seems to be set up as a tremendous force within the world.

Even just one episode in, Vinyl is right at home among HBO’s long catalog of prestige dramas. It creates a vibrant world that sucks the viewer right in thanks to a commanding lead performance and eccentric production. While it’s unclear if the brightest spots of Vinyl will stick around for the full series, the pilot is worth your time. It’s a cocaine-era Mad Men that could prove to hit the same heights.

Follow Chris Berg on Twitter, @ChrisBerg25

For a film about a wisecracking superhero with a superiority complex, Deadpool suffers from a surprising lack of confidence.

Sure, the titular hero is a boastful bastard. The “merc with a mouth” is a nerd counterculture icon, the voice of an audience aware of every trope. He doesn’t care what you think. But you can feel Deadpool trying to win over its own fans; so desperate to satisfy that it gets in its own way.

Deadpool is the classic “fan favorite” character. A mercenary mutant with a sense of humor, he’s the one member of the Marvel Comics world that knows how absurd it all is. His personality is something between a parody of the classic antihero formula and a hyper-realized example of one. He’s always willing to break the fourth wall and draw on the audience’s awareness for comedic effect. It takes a certain breed of actor to bring such a character to life, mixing sharp comedic timing with genuinely thrilling superhero antics. Ryan Reynolds fits the role like a glove, the same way Robert Downey Jr. personifies the role of Iron Man. 

Superhero films are infamous for their “moments:” the memorable cameo from the character from another franchise, the stunning reveal of a hero in their full gear, kinetic action sequences that dance across the frame. Deadpool burns just about all of this in its bombastic opening 10 minutes before stretching out the sequence as a framing device for our hero’s origin story. It’s a move so bold it could be seen as a subversion of genre tropes.

But instead, it feels more like a film trying to hold an audience’s interest. Rather than absorb us with character development, Deadpool reassures us every 10 minutes that the next cool fight scene is just around the corner. It treats the backstory like a chore, frequently snapping back to what it assumes is “the good part.”

It’s a shame, because every part of Deadpool’s world is engaging. The script is loaded with fun gags, knowing references, and effective beats of romance, horror and action. The best parodies always prove to be solid examples of the formats they lampoon, and Deadpool is no exception.

Still, I found myself wanting more from Deadpool as a commentary on the film industry. While the script is quick to call out the obvious jokes about comic book movies (including potshots at Reynold’s previous failed superhero roles), it never colors too far outside the lines. Sure Deadpool will wisecrack about the convoluted nature of the X-Men film timeline, but don’t expect a word about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ideally, a Deadpool film should bring a self-consciousness not just to the character, but to the plot itself. When the film sinks into stereotypical montage sequences, it’s difficult to determine what flaws are ironic and which are genuine.

There’s little point in me trying to recommend Deadpool. If you’ve been charmed by the concept and barrage of advertisements, the full feature will not disappoint. Ultimately, I was won over by the film’s charms, even if I wished it would go a little bit further. But if you’re not already a fan, there’s little here to change your mind.

Follow Chris Berg on Twitter, @ChrisBerg25

In 1988, Yellowstone National Park nearly burned to ash. A series of “controlled” wildfires across the park combined into a massive blaze, staying alight for an entire summer. Despite the efforts of thousands of fire personnel, only cool weather of the Fall sufficed to control the blaze. The national park service had never seen anything quite like it, and the aftermath put everything into question. “Firewatches” were instituted in the aftermath, where stationed rangers would watch for emerging fires in the nation’s parks.

Firewatch, the first game from the northwest-based studio Campo Santo, places you in this moment. As Henry, you spend a summer isolated in the Wyoming wilderness. Accompanied only by voices on a radio and the memories of your life outside the park, a mystery unfolds among the trees. What follows is a narrative journey in isolation, exploration and choice. It’s a polished experience that can’t overcome a flawed foundation.

Atmosphere is everything in Firewatch. Visual director Olly Moss has given a distinct consideration to every frame of the Wyoming wilderness. Bright colors and sharp lines on the horizon meet a soft lighting, creating a world somewhere between Pixar and pop art. Countless items in the world can be analyzed, each one rendered in detail. You get the sense that everything has been laboriously considered, panned over and considered a million ways. An in-game camera invites you to frame the world, and you’ll never be short of moments to preserve.

Map and compass in hand, you’ll navigate Henry to new locations and unravel the story through environmental clues. The map seems large at first, though you’ll quickly see the simple series of paths that make up the world. It’s a step beyond similar games like Gone Home, or The Stanley Parable, as it turns the act of navigating from A-to-B into an actual challenge. Even when you’re lost in the woods, the whole vibe is enough to make you misty-eyed for your Eagle Scout orienteering class.

Firewatch is primarily the story of Henry, a man who takes the summer position as a means from escaping troubles at home. The entire story is spent in his shoes, making his tiny decisions, and shaping the character with his expression. You’re given control over your character’s dialogue during conversations, choosing how they respond within a set period of time. Only a few of these selections end up shifting the direction of the story, but the choices aren’t about shaping the future. Rather, they force you to roleplay as Henry. Despite coming in so many years deep to this man’s life, you feel responsibility and remorse for his past. How he expresses that is up to you, and can result in some powerful character moments. Nearly the entire script is just a series of conversations between Henry (voiced by Mad Men’s Rich Sommer) and his fellow ranger Delilah (voiced by industry veteran Cissy Jones). The two have a fantastic dynamic, and sell the toughest moments of Firewatch. You’ll find yourself seeking out every chance to radio Delilah, and see what conversations spark up.

Unfortunately, all of Firewatch’s fantastic expression is done in service of a story that doesn’t quite hit the right notes. The first few hours establish a wonderfully calm pace, dotting the world with little moments of youthful spirit. But about halfway through the five-hour runtime, the game starts to rush through its tricks. There’s an unfortunate shortage of slow moments, chances to breathe in the wonderful world the game creates. The tension simply builds too quickly to feel critical, leaving too little time to build the character relationships most important to the game.

You can burn through Firewatch in one sitting, and that’s really how it should be done. Find a long night that makes you crave the summer air, sit back with a stiff drink, and take it all in. Even if you don’t leave satisfied, the journey is more than worth taking.

Firewatch is available on Windows, OS X, Linux and Playstation 4.

Follow Chris Berg on Twitter @ChrisBerg25

Often when we think of a game as being “simple,” it comes off as a damnation through faint praise. We associate the notion of being uncomplicated with being undesirable, “casual.” Yet as we see in The Witness, the latest puzzle game from Braid designer Jonathan Blow, simple can be beautiful. It can be evolutionary. It can even be truly maddening.

The Witness begins with zero fanfare. You start in a long underground tunnel, a single tile impeding your progress. After clicking it, you’re tasked with dragging a line across the screen to open a door. That basic mechanic is taught wordlessly and forms the core of the experience.

The door opens, and you enter a gorgeous world of primary color and symbology. In essence, every puzzle thereafter is just a complication on that basic premise. As you progress, new rules and obstacles are added, requiring you to draw specific shapes against a grid to progress. Every solution feels satisfying; once you’ve cracked the underlying secret of a set of panels, it’s hard not to jump right into the next for another hit.

If I’m being obtuse about the specifics of The Witness, it’s only in service of honoring the experience. This is a game inherently about discovery and learning. You never have a puzzle explicitly explained to you, or the rules of a specific symbol laid out. Rather, you are taught by doing. This can result in hours of hair-pulling as you desperately stare at the screen to understand the assemblage of squares, lights, and stars before you. Fortunately, you’re rarely stuck in any one spot. The island is a massive open space, loaded with hundreds of puzzles connected by central concepts. If you’re stumped by a particular puzzle, you’re free to abandon it and come back later. You could even beat the game and leave behind most of the island’s wonderful secrets.

But you’ll be back, without a doubt. The world of The Witness is intoxicatingly vague, filled with seemingly meaningless statues, monuments, and recorded monologues.

Yet the deeper you get, the meaning connecting them becomes more tangible. Even if you fail to connect the dots, there’s enough meat to paint a fully realized world. The Witness is like wandering in a waking dream, alone yet surrounded by voices. Gaming enthusiasts might be able to place one of The Witness‘s central influences: Myst, another first-person adventure that had players exploring an island dense with puzzles and mystery. While it’d be easy to criticize Blow for simply riffing on the most popular PC game of the ’90s, The Witness evolves our notion of what puzzles in the first-person perspective can be. 

At $40, The Witness values itself as something far from the typical consumer’s notion of an ‘indie game’. It’s got all the gravitas of a major release, yet it doesn’t compromise its vision for sales. You can feel Blow slaving away at every moment of The Witness, crafting the experience of discovery from each angle. Nothing feels meaningless or phoned in. It’s an experience worth having at almost any price. 

The Witness is available on PC and PlayStation 4.

Follow Chris Berg on Twitter @ChrisBerg25

The nominations for the 88th Annual Academy Awards were unveiled on the morning of Jan. 15. The annual celebration of cinema is coined “Hollywood’s Biggest Night,” as a time to reflect on a year of movie-going and award the latest achievements of the medium. But for the second year in a row, an uncomfortable cloud hung over the ceremony.

As John Krasinski and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs read off the nominees for the major categories, an unfortunate trend reared its head. Not a single major nominee of the ceremony was a person of color. Social media was quick to react, revitalizing the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite to criticize the lack of diversity on display.

In the following week, the controversy reached a fever pitch. Jada Pinkett and Will Smith publicly boycotted the ceremony, as well as director Spike Lee. Instead of analyzing the merit of the best films of 2015, the conversation is one of representation on screen. In reaction to the controversy, rumors floated that the Academy may shift its nomination rules to increase the range of recognized performances.

Vanity Fair reports that the Best Actor and Best Actress categories will expand to 10 nominees apiece, mirroring a similar change that occurred within the Best Picture category in 2010. The change would honor not just the top five performances as nominated by the voting board, but also honor those who received more than a specific percentage of votes by the board. It’s suggested that such a shift would’ve seen nominations for performances like Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation, Michael B. Jordan in Creed and Jason Mitchell in Straight Outta Compton.

It’s a change that seems increasingly inevitable for an Academy under fire. Unfortunately, it’s a patch for the visible symptom and not the underlying disease. #OscarsSoWhite is intending to expose the Academy as a biased judge of Hollywood. But the real tragedy is that the Academy might be working precisely as intended.

The #OscarsSoWhite campaign hits at an uncomfortable truth within Hollywood. Minority representation is disproportionately low, with major studios hesitant to produce films that speak to non-white communities. The logic is rooted in anglocentrism, suggesting that while a film starring white characters will speak to everyone – a film that stars minorities can only speak to a ‘niche’ audience of that particular culture.

In a recent UCLA study, minorities were underrepresented as film leads in a ratio greater than 2:1. Then there are situations like the upcoming Gods of Egypt, wherein characters of Egyptian descent are portrayed by white Hollywood actors. Studios are cautious to cast minorities at the front of major pictures, and that’s what results in lineups like this year’s list of nominations.

Of all the films of 2015, only two seemed to feature African-American talent— and have a space in the Oscar conversation. Had Creed’s Ryan Coogler gotten a Best Director nomination, or Straight Outta Compton received enough votes to appear on the Best Picture list, would that solve the underlying anger that #OscarsSoWhite capitalizes upon? Rather than address the real problem, Hollywood seems content to patch up the most visible evidence of prejudice.

Personally, I’m in favor of the Academy expanding more categories to a 10 nominee structure. As we saw in 2010, it gave attention to fantastic movies that didn’t meet the typical Oscar mold: films like Up, District 9 and Her. Beyond the ones mentioned above, 2015 had phenomenal performances that ducked under the five-nominee limit of their category. But it’s irresponsible to insist that this is enough. It’s deeply important that this conversation is arising within Hollywood, and it could be the time to change the status quo.

The casting logic of the movie business is stuck in a rut, and one that doesn’t even stand to make economic sense. Two of 2015’s biggest films, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Furious 7, boast leads of color. The biggest star by box office gross this year is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a Samoan who is hardly the classic Hollywood archetype of a leading man. Yet despite this, opportunities for actors of color are uncharacteristically low. Moments like this can be wake-up calls to an industry, but not if they are settled by symbolic gestures.

Follow Chris Berg on Twitter @ChrisBerg25

Mortal Kombat Touts XL Package, Ignores PC

Neverready’s hit Mortal Kombat franchise is about to enter its second wind. Last year’s Mortal Kombat X brought more skull-crunching, ball-busting insanity to gamers than ever before. Since then, MKX saw an outstanding first season of downloadable content. For round two, WB Games announced Mortal Kombat XL – a full package of the previous game, first season pass, and access to a second season of content. Included in that second batch of fighters are Alien’s Xenomorph, Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface, as well as Mortal Kombat natives Triborg and Bo Rai Cho. The XL package will sell for $59.99, while existing MKX players can pick up the new content for $19.99.

But one piece of information grabbed gamers’ outrage faster than Scorpion grasping Sub-Zero’s dismembered spinal cord. The second season of content and subsequent game updates will only be happening on next-gen consoles – so the 500,000 players who choose to kombat on their personal computers will be left high and dry. This latest update throws the future of WB-published titles on PC into question.

Early Details On Nintendo’s NX Surface Are Almost Certainly Bullshit

Last year, Nintendo announced the first details of its next gaming platform, codenamed “NX.” The existence of the system is all the public knows about it. The company has been extremely secretive about the nature of “NX,” promising to share details sometime in 2016. This has led to a myriad of recent rumors about the system, coming from sources of varying reliability.

An investor’s report in the Wall Street Journal suggests that the NX could be “a platform of two devices, and may include AR (augmented reality) as well.” These insinuations largely match what many have already assumed about the NX: that it will unite Nintendo’s portable and console lines into one platform. Augmented reality is also a possibility given that the company already experimented with the tech in the early days of the 3DS. The report hypothesizes that the machine will work with “competing devices,” including smartphones, PCs, and even Playstation 4 consoles. However, there’s little reason to believe such compatibility exists outside of investor fantasies.

The second rumor comes from a more direct, albeit still secondhand, source: a consumer interest survey conducted by German market research institute GFK. Screenshots of the survey surfaced online on Wednesday, gauging interest in “gameplay [that] flows between Nintendo NX console and handheld device.” The survey also asks about interest in a paid tier for the console’s online “Nintendo Network” service, as well as NX builds that do not include a disc drive. Finally, the survey also suggests that games will run at “900p/60fps,” suggesting hardware on par with the current WiiU console. Due to the nature of the survey, it’s possible that some of these variables are red herrings designed to conceal the the actual information Nintendo wants feedback on.

The post Gaming Week In Review – Mortal Kombat deals a Fatality to the PC, Nintendo’s NX Rumor Roundup appeared first on Emerald Media.

**Editor’s note: This story will appear in the Emerald’s “Back to the Books” edition, available Monday in locations throughout Eugene.**

When you’re in a new city, the first thing you’ve got to do is locate the essentials. Where are you going to grab a morning latte? What’s the first stop for late-night eats? Most importantly, what theater will be serving up your weekend entertainment for the next few years? The Eugene area is dense with choices for cinephiles, all a short walk or bus ride away from campus. Here’s a guide to theaters in the area, along with which ones will best fit your needs.

Regal Valley River Center Stadium 15

Located in the Valley River Center shopping mall, this Regal-branded multiplex is your typical big city movie experience. The theater features expensive tickets, costly popcorn and more screens than you can shake a stick at. It also boasts the only IMAX screen in the area, an important consideration for bigger event blockbusters.

Pros: More screens equals more options. No matter your taste, it’s inevitable that something good is playing at VRC.

Cons: Regal’s recent policy shift now instructs ticket takers to check all bags, meaning it’s a poor place to consider sneaking in snacks (or a nice drink).

Cinemark 17

It’s hard to tell from the active construction happening outside, but there’s still some ongoing business inside the Gateway Mall. Cinemark 17 is a solid little multiplex in the back of Springfield’s mall, surviving on a healthy customer base of local movie fans. For students, it’s worth the 20-minute EmX ride.

Pros: A matinee ticket on weekdays is just $4.50. Even a ticket for an evening weekend show at Cinemark 17 will run you less than VRC’s cheapest matinee. Those are savings that definitely add up over a stacked movie season.

Cons: The facilities aren’t anywhere near as lavish as VRC and lack the indie charm of a local cinema.

Bijou Arts Cinemas & Bijou Metro

This local chain is a must-visit for independent movie fans. The location at 492 E. 13th Ave. presides in a repurposed church, making for a wholly unique theater experience. Meanwhile, Bijou Metro at 43 W. Broadway trades the antique aesthetic for a densely packed web of smaller screening rooms loaded with unique titles from across the world. Even fans of mainstream cinema should keep an eye on the Bijou. Paramount Studios has been known to host advance screenings out of the theater.

Pros: It has a unique selection of smaller films that you just won’t see anywhere else.

Cons: Both theaters are rather slow to rotate their selection.

The David Minor Theater

A hometown favorite, the David Minor Theater has been providing cold brews alongside hot flicks for years. Doubling as a pub, the food here features grub from restaurants across the street and will put your usual multiplex nachos to shame. Local brews — including Ninkasi, Sam Bonds and Wildcraft cider — are often on tap. Prices are also the lowest in town, with $2 tickets on Sundays and Tuesdays. All ages are welcomed before 7 p.m., with a $1 student discount.

Pros: Couches and chairs make for an intimate, welcoming experience. The relaxed atmosphere makes it feel like a living room watch party rather than a standard theater experience. You’ll find cheap tickets and great eats.

Cons: Selection is typically limited to second-run mainstream flicks several months after initial release, and some indies.

Follow Chris Berg on Twitter, @Mushroomer25

Japanese video game developer Konami gained a transcendent reputation for creating the Metal Gear Solid series through the game’s wild storytelling, unique military game-play and use of cinematic cutscenes. For 16 years, MGS has been defined by its independence and challenging of its medium.

The latest entry, The Phantom Pain, which came out at the beginning of September, tosses nearly all of this legacy to the wayside. It applies the series’ fundamentals to the same open-world sandbox template that other developers have been perfecting for years. In many ways, it’s a brisk slap in the face to a franchise that once blazed trails.

Yet with this baggage thrown to the side, series creator Hideo Kojima just may have perfected the open-world formula. Massive sections of Afghanistan and Africa are modeled in the game, rich in detail in its depiction of wildlife, weather and warfare.

You’ll still be sneaking up on guards, rescuing prisoners and hiding in plain sight, but now the action is totally non-linear.

Every gun, grenade, or gadget in your vast arsenal seems like a feasible tool for the job at hand. It’s a totally reactive game world, more alive than anything else in the action genre. The missions seem to have an endless replay value; the various objectives and different weapon combinations combined with the open-ended setting makes it incredibly unlikely that you’ll play the same mission – in the same manner – twice.

When you’re not out in the battlefield, you’ll be managing your own private militia on Mother Base. You’ll extract soldiers from across the world and aim to create an army without borders. Every enemy in the game has a set of rated abilities and specialties. These skills influence everything from development of new weapons to defense against online players invading your game.

Every piece of the puzzle feels consequential to the overall game. And while managing it can occasionally feel like a chore, the fact it works at all is a stunning achievement.

Metal Gear Solid boasts some of the most fascinating lore of any video game, yet Phantom almost doesn’t bother to aim for this high bar set by its predecessors in the plot-heavy series. Phantom‘s story is relatively simple and self-contained and the deeper ties to past MGS games are hidden away in optional audio logs.

The game’s narrative focuses on the missions themselves, and unlike past MGS games, you won’t just be the sitting audience to its brand of quirky military philosophy; you’re an active participant in it.

The Phantom Pain is one of the best games in this console generation as it sets a new standard for open-world gaming. Even if its story fails to live up to the Metal Gear legacy, it’s hard to imagine this game disappointing any fan of action-stealth.

Apple brings mobile gaming to the living room with the fourth-generation Apple TV

With a dominant market position in the world of laptops, desktop computers, television streaming, phones, tablets and even watches, many have wondered why Apple has yet to make a video game console. The App Store on iOS has become a gaming force in its own right, so it only seems natural that they’d want to expand that success into the living room. At Apple’s September Keynote this week, the leading name in tech announced the fourth-gen Apple TV, which boasts gaming support alongside a plethora of other features.

While it’s not quite powerful enough to run the latest Call of Duty, Apple’s new set top box is shipping with some big name titles. Guitar Hero Live, Disney Infinity 3.0, Transistor, a new rhythm sports game from Harmonix (Rock Band), and a multiplayer version of Crossy Road have all been announced for the device. One thing holding Apple’s box back however – it does not ship with a dedicated controller. Players will either have to make due with the device’s motion-controlled remote, use an iOS device as a controller, or buy a third-party gamepad.

New Pokémon game lets you catch ’em all, right outside your front door

When Nintendo announced late last year that they’d be getting into mobile development, there was widespread concern that the resulting games would never be able to live up to the company’s standard of quality. Games on mobile are often simplistic, hard to control and sacrifice design for in-game microtransactions. The thought of seeing iconic Nintendo characters in such a spot made many fans weary.

However, the first game in Nintendo’s mobile partnership is actually looking fairly neat. Co-developed by Niantic (who built the GPS-based conspiracy game Ingress for Google), Pokémon GO uses augmented-reality technology to project Pokemon into the real world. The flashy announcement trailer promises a global Pokémon experience, uniting fans in both the digital and real worlds. While I doubt we’ll ever see Times Square packed with players trying to take down Mewtwo, this app is bound to be wildly popular once it hits stores in 2016 for Android and iPhone devices.

Watch the Pokémon GO trailer below.

Follow Chris Berg on Twitter, @Mushroomer25

Every year, the Penny Arcade Expo highlights ten outstanding independent titles to get prominent booth placement. The PAX 10 list is among the most prestigious in indie gaming. Here are some impressions on this year’s field.

Tumblestone (Coming to “all current PC, mobile, and handheld platforms”)

At first glance, Tumblestone looks like any other competitive puzzle game (your Puzzle Fighters, your Puyo Puyos, what have you). But there’s a distinct difference once you understand the flow of play. At the start of each round, four players are each presented with the same layout of colored stones. The goal is to grab three of the same color in a row, eventually clearing the board. Pick the wrong stone, and you’ll have to restart. Alone, the puzzles aren’t much to sneeze at, but trying to solve them before your mates results in some brutal tension. You’ve got to be clever, quick and accurate if you want to win.

Zarvot (Coming to WiiU, XBox ONE, PC, and Mac next year)

Finally, somebody has given the Atari classic Tank the minimalist reinvention it clearly deserved. But unlike that 2600 relic, Zarvot controls with modern fluidity and speed. Up to four players control colored cubes, as they battle around a simple destructible environment. With a variety of lasers, guns, and visual tricks at your disposable, it’s a retro classic with modern indie thrills.

The Adventures of Pip (Available now on PC, iOS, WiiU, PS4, and XBox ONE)

In this love letter to the history of gaming, you play as Pip – a single pixel who lives at the bottom rung of a 16-bit medieval society. When the princess is kidnapped by the evil enchantress, Queen DeRezzia, it’s up to him to save the day. This simple action platformer is dense with charm, using the hero’s ability to shift between “resolutions” to traverse the environment.

Ninja Tag (Currently on Steam Greenlight)

Another top-down, four-player party game, Ninja Tag throws players into a fast-paced game of candy-colored assassination. You’re given a variety of weapons and skills to play with, which can all be used in a split second. It’s a fast-paced brawler ripe with strategy and speed.

Battle Chef Brigade (Currently on Steam Early Access)

Easy the most conceptually unique game of PAX, Battle Chef Brigade is a hybrid of anime character action, match-three puzzle solving, and competitive culinary strategy. Inspired by shows like Chopped and Iron Chef, Battle Chef Brigade casts you as a young chef out to make a name for herself in the ultimate fantasy cooking tournament. You’ll hunt ingredients on foot, before returning to the kitchen to prepare them in a puzzle minigame. Form the right recipe, and you’ll wow the judges, be they human, orc, or wood nymph.

Assault Android Cactus (Coming to PC, PS4, PS Vita, and WiiU)

This twin-stick shooter has been around PAX for a few years, but the final version is shaping up to be a stellar couch co-op experience. Up to four players can grab their blasters to take down swarms of robotic beasts in a sea of neon. Keeping up your combo is essential, but requires a steady hand to weave through a torrent of neon bullets. It’s exceptionally sharp, and charming as all hell.

Darkest Dungeon (Currently on Steam Early Access)

If you find that most turn-based RPGs are just too cheery for your demeanor, may I introduce you to Darkest Dungeon? This rogue-like RPG tasks you with an unexpecting team of adventurers, exploring a dungeon ripe with monsters and madness. All manner of Lovecraft-ian horrors will slowly drive your party mad, as they deal with the incredible stress of being a Gothic hero. The game’s hand-drawn visuals are unsettling, yet undeniably beautiful.

Dark Echo (Coming to PC, iOS)

Stealth is a well-worn genre within the world of video games, yet Dark Echo manages to find a distinct twist on the established. Rather than seeing through the eyes of a character, you rather see a representation of sound. Footprints mark your movement, while every step sends out a wave of light to show the way. Every step you take is a gamble that provides you with required information, but alerts enemies to your location.

From Light (Coming to PC)

Playing with the concept of photography, this visually distinctive 2-D puzzle platformer asks you to return a fallen star to the skies. Each level has points of light, which become platforms when the frame is shifted across the screen. Puzzles appear simple at first, but quickly force the player to think from multiple perspectives at once.

Grapple (Available now on Steam)

Sometimes, all a game needs to be great is one core mechanic, something so primally satisfying that the rest of the experience immediately falls into place. Grapple gives you a ball, a couple of glowing platforms and a blank void. Your ball will stretch out and latch onto platforms, allowing you to swing gracefully through the air as you make your way to the finish. The resulting platforming is irresistibly fun, a balance between feeling totally in control of your ball, but aware that it could all slip right out of your fingers.

Follow Chris Berg on Twitter, @Mushroomer25