Browsing all articles by Tom Auxier, Author at PIXELS OR DEATH.
God, Give Me Puzzles: A Review of Reus
Tom Auxier | Friday, May 24, 2013 For the past few days Reus has confused me. On the surface a gorgeous God Game, Reus doesn’t play like one. It draws you in with one set of ideas, then gives you something different. It’s damn attractive, but it’s like ordering a coffee at your local watering hole and …
Cool Runnings: A Review of Netrunner
Tom Auxier | Thursday, May 2, 2013 
I am enamored with Netrunner, a card game about stealing corporate secrets.
So is the rest of the board gaming world: it’s currently in the top ten highest rated games on Board Game Geek, which isn’t easy. Originally a not quite well received game designed in the 90′s by Magic: The …
Dauding Around: A Review of The Knife of Dunwall
Tom Auxier | Tuesday, April 30, 2013 
Dishonored sits with Dark Souls on my list of games I could play forever. If Dishonored 2 was “The Continuing Adventures of Corvo with Slightly Prettier Graphics and Maybe the Happy Fun Time Daud Hour” I’d be pretty satisfied. And not just because a video game would have a title …
Death and Dishonored: An Ode To My Three Victims
Tom Auxier | Thursday, April 18, 2013 
I killed three people in Dishonored. I know exactly where they were: on a bridge, on the path to the Lighthouse that serves as the game’s penultimate area. I feel terrible about it. I feel terrible for them. I feel terrible for the worst in me it revealed.
Dishonored’s system of …
Diagnosing Bioshock: Infinite’s Split Personality
Tom Auxier | Thursday, April 4, 2013 
When Bioshock: Infinite was first announced, I imposed on myself an extensive media blackout. I think a lot of people did this. I wanted to go into the game knowing nothing about it, besides the barest bones of premise.
Of course, that’s nigh impossible, unless you completely shut down the internet …
Threat Level: Modern Gamers Playing Classic RPGs
Tom Auxier | Monday, April 1, 2013 
Last year, both Wasteland and Infinity Engine nostalgia made stunning comebacks with Wasteland 2 and Project Eternity both making more money than I can imagine on Kickstarter. This month, Torment ends its triumphant Kickstarter, making more money than you can imagine. Truly, it might be the start of a glorious …
Can We All Just Calm Down About Thief?
Tom Auxier | Friday, March 15, 2013 
If you live in the same Ion Storm inspired corner of the internet that I do, you’ve probably heard the brouhaha about the upcoming Thief’s redesign of its titular thief, Garrett. He’s gothy. He’s gothy, and they want to make him more mainstream.
That word—mainstream—caused a portion of the internet to …
The Sad Story of Knytt Underground
Tom Auxier | Monday, March 11, 2013 
When I talk about music, about bands I love, I tend to come back to a similar refrain: the first album was the best. It’s not quite as true an axiom as I tend to think, but the idea’s solid: most people do their best work when the downward slope …
Returning to the Wasteland: Fallout 3′s Half Life
Tom Auxier | Tuesday, February 26, 2013 
Sometimes, inexplicably, you play games from your past. Not the major games of your childhood, the ones you remember so well—I’ll never apologize for replaying Chrono Trigger, despite practically being able to recite it—but instead the more incidental games, the ones you forgot.
That’s how I booted up Fallout 3 over …
The Dark Moments Anodyne Gets Right
Tom Auxier | Friday, February 15, 2013 
Few games unsettle me. I’m weak to jump scares, which get me every time, but I don’t unsettle easily. Chalk it up to a lifetime of H.P. Lovecraft, ambient Japanese horror, and ghost stories. Yume Nikki, Japan’s unsettlement engine, barely moved the needle. “Okay, so there’s numbers on the background, …
