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Poor Hercule Poirot. Not only is he always mistaken for a Frenchman, but in the collective mind of popculture, he will always remain second choice after Sherlock Holmes. It may actually be deserved, seeing that he was indeed created as a Holmes-imitation (or homage?). Then again, after appearing in so many popular stories, you could think he should have emancipated himself by now. Talking about popular stories, Murder on the Orient Express arguably is his signature investigation. The confined setting of the stranded train on which a murder occurs and the following interview marathon can be seen as seminal motifs of the classic mystery genre as a whole. It is also incredibly hard to transform this into an entertaining game.
Allied General – SSI's cash-in sequel to the Panzer General success. The original's roles are simply reversed: instead of the Axis powers, you play the Allied side. Oh, and it's on Windows, i.e. more difficult to get to run these days. Great, thanks!
[Tapuak] Anno 1602 is a classic city building sim. You're founding a settlement in a world of islands, and develop it by providing space to live and necessary goods to the citizens. In mission mode, you have to fulfill single tasks, but in free play, it's your final goal to beat your opponents from the surrounding cities to achieve sovereign rule over the islands. At the beginning, you choose a appropriate island to found your first settlement. Right from the start, you have to deliver basic goods to your people.
At first glance Arcanum looks like a role playing game full of great ideas: Its main attraction is its fantasy world, which is set at the time of an industrial revolution, that is about to turn it into a science fiction setting. It is a refreshingly unique place, full of whimsical magic and technical marvels, that has great potential for interesting twists to age-old cliches: How does an ageless being, like an elf, react to the rise of science, which is about to make the magic, that has kept him alive so far, obsolete? Is there a cheaper workforce than orcs, which can be exploited at will, for they are obviously evil and therefore deserve no less? Or what about safety: Should a wizard, whose magical power has an unpredictable effect on machines, be allowed to get close to steam engines or trains? There are so many new stories that could be told…
Balance of Power is almost a simulation of the cold war. As one of the two major superpowers (USA or USSR) you try to gain influence without starting a nuclear war.
The rest of the world is serving as a playground for the enemies. Other countries are not directly conquered but you try to get the respective government on your side or to overthrow it.
"Well, if SSI can do it with their Panzer General games, so can we!", Blue Byte must have thought. What they did here was simply porting their successful Battle Isle 2 engine to Windows, made new missions and bam – new release! Guaranteed hit! Well, not quite.
[Anchantia] Beavis and Butt-Head was a series which aired on MTV for the first time in 1990. It was invented by Mike Judge who later also became known for the series "Kind of the Hill". Beavis & Butt-Head quickly became a cult hit due to its brute-ish humour, its simple animation style and the open criticism of our society.
[Herr M.] Interactive movies… you might say that if you have played one of them, you have played them all. From the humble beginnings with pixelated miniature slide shows up to the fullscreen full motion video titles, all of them have one thing in common: A shallow plot combined with bad acting, interspersed by obscure and out of nowhere puzzles. The game we are going to discuss today, Black Dahlia, tried its best to leave this reputation behind by turning things up to eleven, with really high production values and an even somewhat creative story.
