Overview
By Coin and Shot is set during the renaissance period, with players taking control of a brand new merchant caravanner, intending to make a name for themselves around the world. Starting from just one mule and a few bags of wheat, players build their own 'East India Company' from the ground up.
Core Mechanics
By Coin and Shot is a third person game, with a deep set of strategy options also available. Players take direct control of their character, and are able to guide them across the vast ingame map between destinations. Able to assemble a large party, the caravan that the player guides can be made up of up to 10 members initially. These members can come from any place that the player encounters them, and they are also able to hire individuals in bazaars or other places of commerce. As players grow and expand their companies, more destinations, goods, and tools become available. The objective for the player is to construct the biggest company possible, as the player looks to establish themselves as a global force.
The Market
The Market demands and flow within By Coin and Shot are dynamically generated. Each region within the game has specific demands and exports that rise and fall over time due to the seasonal and weather cycles. As the majority of exports and resources are organic (i.e. food) players have to predict, expect, and analyse what is coming. Real-World events that occurred in the regions that the player controls also change the landscape of the market. Players will be financially rewarded if they successfully manipulate this market, enabling greater returns. Some missions may also be assigned to players by other officials, and these missions may also affect the market themselves. For example, if a player helps a particular military group in supplying them with weaponry, market availability of weapons will decrease, driving the price up due to the increased demand for weapons. This will also affect other missions as the game progresses.
Players move around a world map in a system similar to the RPG/Management game Mount and Blade.
Overview
Stranded on a frozen planet with no means of communication, Winter's Bite delivers a survival experience both unique and engaging. Integrating a constant feeling of suspense through a dynamic and changing weather system, Winter's Bite makes players feel the cold, all the time. After crash-landing on an almost inhospitable planet, players fight against bandits, creatures, and their character's mind as they slowly descend into madness.
Core Mechanics
Winter's Bite is controlled from the third person, with players taking control of Khaz Hamal, an engineer and only survivor of a freighter crash on a backwater planet. Hamal, due to his engineering background, is proficient enough at rigging together gear in a tight spot, but lacks proficiency with weapons and possesses a general lack of survival instincts. As a result, the gear available initially is more of a defensive nature; stunning and incapacitating enemies is the norm. As Khaz gains experience, players can choose which areas they want him to specialise and further develop his skills. He will never become an unstoppable killing machine, and as a result players have to continually develop more strategic options than 'make gun strong'.
Narrative
Khaz is a reasonably well-off engineer who has never really faced adversity. As a result, the reactions that he has to particular events within the world are intended to mirror the average person's reaction. As he progresses through the storyline, Khaz encounters several of his crewmates, and his decisions on their fates also impacts the rest of the storyline. Depending on these decisions, crewmates may accompany him on some of his missions. These individuals may offer Khaz benefits and assistance as well as general exposition depending on Khaz's position within the storyline itself.
Players progress through a storyline similar to Dead Space 3.
Overview
In Blink, a minute can be all the time you need. Players take control of a fast and agile burglar, skipping in and out of locations of interest without even being heard. Following the deep and twisting story of a man wronged, Blink involves taking risks and exposing players to the basest of human desires; greed.
Game Mechanics
The game takes place in a relatively dense open world, covering a gigantic city that players can traverse with a wide variety of interesting magical abilities. Gear that the player requires mostly revolves around moving around the map. Mechanical hooks, climbing boots, and ropes form a core of equipment designed for fast movement. The houses and buildings that the player can enter provide lucrative loot hidden in intricate puzzles that the player has to solve. Each location offers different types of loot, as well as different types of puzzles. Some warehouses may require jumping between things, while some residences may require the player to find hidden rooms. Equipment like lockpicks, hooks, and crowbars can all be used to accomplish the same objective, so players will not be disadvantaged if they lack a particular item. Players are encouraged to explore the wide variety of items and tools available in order to experience as much of the game as possible.
Narrative
The narrative within Blink revolves around the main character, and his rise to infamy within the city's underbelly. The loot that the player acquires through the story not only proves valuable, but also changes the ways that a player can approach one of the many side objectives within the game. All of the environments stay the same, but the gear that the player gains through the narrative allows the player to move through those environments via different paths.
The game utilises multiple tools and abilities similar to Dishonored.
Overview
Crossroads is a narrative and choice-driven point and click adventure game with some action elements. Similar to the episode-based format of narrative adventure games, Crossroads puts you in the position of a teacher at a high school. Freshly graduated from teacher's college, Crossroads allows players to experience the trials and tribulations of a teacher's career. Rather than in order, the multiple-episode series allows players to experience pivotal moments in the teacher's career.
Narrative
Because the narrative is the core component of Crossroads, it has to tell both an effective narrative but one that is also relatable to the player. Because the game deals with some sensitive issues, it has to approach those issues from a position of respect. Crossroads has to approach these issues in this way because they both create a believable narrative and one worthy of the player's time. This storyline is presented in a nonlinear fashion. The first episode takes place in the second year of the main character's teaching, while the second takes place during his placements. The purpose of this stylisation is to develop a narrative that keeps the player interested. A narrative styled this way allows numerous storylines relevant to multiple characters to be woven throughout the series of episodes. Overlapping and intersecting narratives creates a complex and interesting story for players to experience.Players experience decisions much like Telltale's The Walking Dead series.
