V2Z
V is for Verbose sleuthing. It’s a fairly safe bet fans of The Case of the Golden Idol and The Rise of the Golden Idol will enjoy the Confidential Killings trial. The game’s short but tangled whodunnits are set in…
Tag demo
F2K
F is for Flying pencils added to Scramble. Slitherine’s thoroughly 3D BoB wargame has some Schnellbombers at long last. While the new Do 17s must run the gauntlet of player-controlled Spits and Hurricanes, there’s no danger of them suffering the…
The Void War demo may leave you conflicted
If demo-equipped Void War doesn’t actually cross the line between ‘affectionate homage’ and ‘cynical ripoff’, it gets awfully close to it at times.
Little Bird, big ask (finishing the Cleared Hot demo isn’t easy)
I’ll admit it. After an hour with the Cleared Hot demo I decamped to the Steam forum in search of fellow failures. Surely the place would be teeming with others who, like me, loved the trial’s physics, visuals, and writing,…
Alphabetised game news (F2K)
F is for Fourth time lucky? Originally slated for a Q1 2024 release, then rescheduled for September 2024, and, later, May 2025, the sequel to one of Simulatia’s most realistic motoring sims acquired its fourth ETA earlier this week. The…
V2Z
V is for Vernal vanguard. For many, the highlight of Steam’s week-long ‘Wargaming Fest’ is sure to be the release of the Strategos demo. Trialists get the chance to road-test three quite different factions – the versatile Late Carthaginians, the…
The Airflow Trials (Portal with quadcopters?)
At first glance the two circles in the flight game – puzzle game Venn diagram appear to touch rather than overlap. However, peer closely and there is in fact a common sliver – a common sliver populated by novel noodle…
Dagger Directive owes an awful lot to Delta Force 1 and 2
Most of the gaming swag/tat I was given during press trips in the Noughties, swiftly found its way onto eBay or the shelves of local charity shops. There were exceptions though. I still slurp hot beverages from an IL-2 Forgotten…
Demo Discette (Sports Edition)
As the sellotape used to attach this demo disc to the THC front cover is specially designed to deface glossy cover art when removed, we recommend you enjoy what you can see of the diving goalkeeper, bicycle-kicking striker, and bulging…
I was robbed near Rabaul in Task Force Admiral
I felt my last Task Force Admiral demo clash went rather well. No US vessels ended up at the bottom of the Coral Sea. The Yorktown’s winged minions well and truly clobbered the Shōkaku, losing just one Dauntless in the…
In the Task Force Admiral demo you can task Wildcats AND pilot them
In addition to a choreographable Coral Sea clash between taskforces linchpinned by the Lexington and Yorktown, and Shokaku and Zuikaku, the due-out-early-next-week Task Force Admiral demo includes an Easter egg the size of a Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp. Courtesy…
Rogue Conflict risks being overlooked
As Advance Wars’ fictional setting and bland title didn’t seem to handicap it commercially, I guess there’s no reason why Rogue Conflict’s should. That said, I can’t shake the feeling that this demo-blessed upcoming wargame would have benefited from a…