Author Archives: Luke Maciak

If you haven’t played Transistor yet, I highly recommend it. It was made by the same team that did Bastion and it features similar isomeric perspective and hack-and-slash derived game-play with an interesting pseudo turn-based combat, and rather unconventional character … Continue reading →

Do you ever have those weird 4am conversations where you try to apply half remembered science to pop culture or folk stories? Like for example what happens to conservation of mass when Megatron transforms into a handgun? Or how real … Continue reading →

I was talking to a friend the other day and I completely forgot the word for a photo camera. Being bilingual, this is not uncommon for me. Every once in a while I experience a brain fart where I just … Continue reading →

I have been playing Warhammer and collecting miniatures for close to two decades now. I got into the hobby somewhere around 1995 and have been in and out of it since then. I currently play three Warhammer Fantasy armies, and … Continue reading →

Back in 2012 I wrote about how I set up a $30 linux server by installing Debian Squeze on a PogoPlug. I have been using the device for close to two years, but it died. I grabbed an identical replacement … Continue reading →

Have I mentioned that the nemesis system in Shadow of Mordor was really cool? Because it was. Playing that game made me wander what else could be done with it. For example, I have always been fond of RPG oracles … Continue reading →

WARNING! This review contains massive spoilers. Back in the 90’s I used to play Middle Earth: The Lidless Eye which was a collectible card game about being a Ringwraith. Unlike Magic The Gathering and similar games, MELE was not as … Continue reading →

This was a conversation rolling through my Twitter feed lately: how do we design good web service signup form? One that is unobtrusive, intuitive and inclusive. How many fields do you need? What is the best way to arrange them? … Continue reading →

First thing I noticed when I started playing Sleeping Dogs was that it isn’t Watch Dogs. It took me a little while to actually realize this because on the surface the games are nearly identical. You run around and open … Continue reading →

I have been a huge fan of Neil Gaiman’s writing ever since I picked up some issues of Sandman. I thought that American Gods was brilliant and really established the author as an undisputed master of magical realism. Anansi Boys … Continue reading →

There was a comic floating around on reddit the other day which was attempting to “prove” that the complaints about gender diversity in video games are false by listing few dozen “strong female characters” in a rapid fire sequence of … Continue reading →

In Tim Schafer’s Broken Age, Mog Chothra is a large, nearly indestructible, man eating Lovercraftian monster. It is the latest in the long line of monsters that have been terrorizing the game’s universe for untold centuries. Mogs live and breed … Continue reading →

My old gaming rig has started to fall apart lately. Last year my video card blew up and took one of the PCIe slots with it. It took me a few weeks to sort it out. I purchased a replacement, … Continue reading →

I have been playing video games most of my life. It all started in middle school. I don’t exactly remember how old I was when one of my friends invited me to his house to check out his brand new … Continue reading →

I have built up a SF book review backlog that’s dangerously close to going into double digits, so I need to start knocking them down. First up on the chopping block is Clade by Mark Budz which is a book … Continue reading →

Let’s talk about character sheets for a second. About a year ago I stumbled about a short and interesting blog post in which Jeff Rients asked his readers what “non-mechanical” information they like to put on their character sheets. I … Continue reading →

Let’s assume your app is currently in production, and has a non-trivial number of users. By non-trivial I mean a number that makes it impractical for you to write a personalized apology email to each and every single one of … Continue reading →

In Warhammer tabletop game most models move and fight as units anywhere between five and sixty models strong. To simplify the game, they are mounted on square bases that can be arranged into neat unit grids that look a little … Continue reading →

My PC has died once again. This has happened before but it turned out to be a video card failure. I was able to identify the problem by listening to the beep-codes, ordered a new card and I was back … Continue reading →

Guardians of the Galaxy was surrounded by so much fan hype none of us could possibly have had reasonable expectations for it. Over the last few months a steady stream of teasers, reveals and info dumps have kept us giddy … Continue reading →

Some time ago I brought up the issue of technological progress and magic. The gist of post was a contemplation on why most of “fantasy” settings seem to stuck in perpetual middle ages. The obvious in-universe answer is of course … Continue reading →

Michael Bay’s Tr4nsformers came out few weeks ago and judging by the box office numbers, every man woman and child in the country has seen it at least once already. This includes me unfortunately. Sometimes you’re out with friends, and … Continue reading →

I was planning to write a short blurb about the new Batgirl costume design, and then Marvel decided to be awesome and this redesign is no longer even relevant or important. But let’s talk about it for a few seconds … Continue reading →

China Miéville’s Bas Lag series is somewhat unique in the realm of fantasy literature in that it keeps me coming back for more over and over again. I am not a huge fan of epic sagas or cycles spanning countless … Continue reading →