Reviews of popular Linux software, games and services.
Between all the Humble Indie Bundle games to land on Linux thus far, few have a team as distinguished as Torchlight's.
Amongst the mélange of Humble Indie Bundle titles are two side-scrollers with similar, yet unique takes on well-timed spacebar mashing: Canabalt and Bit.Trip Runner. These titles aren't the sprawling role-playing games and first person shooters of large studio productions, but nevertheless encapsulate the art of video games in their humble, yet pleasing experiences.
'RC Mini Racers' joins a procession of successful games making their way to Linux and the Ubuntu Software Center. Having spent several weeks at the top spot of the Mac App Store's 'Top Free Games' chart, as well as several months inside the top 10, this title offers Linux gamers another taste of the burgeoning interest in Linux as a gaming platform.
Follow the story of an atypical robot hero set out to rescue his robot-girlfriend, and in turn save the city and defeat the bad guys. Machinarium, is another artfully designed puzzler from Amanita Design. Like most role-playing games, you control the titular character, in this case a robot, as you guide him through the eponymous city, collecting items and solving environmental puzzles.
Perhaps the most well-known and/or notorious derivative of Ubuntu: Linux Mint, has released its fourteenth version, codenamed: "Nadia". Priding itself on being for "newbies" and being a power user, Linux Mint is not among my favourite Linux distributions, nevertheless I've downloaded the latest version, with their Cinnamon desktop, to give it an in-depth review.
The Sputnik is Dell's cleverly code-named latest laptop endeavour. It's a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook that has a line up of hardware that Dell feels will lure developers away from competing vendors. I spent just over a month testing out the Sputnik, having been sent a unit directly from the good folks at Dell. And here are my thoughts...
If you're not too germophobic or if you like playing God, at the microcosmic level, then you’ll enjoy this microbial puzzle-game. Indie game developer Cipher Prime Studios, bring players into the world of the microscopic. Splice requires players to pull-apart and reconstruct increasingly complex strands of microbes.
'Ubuntu Made Easy', a book published earlier this year by No Starch Press makes a bold claim with its title - but does it deliver on it?
Bastion may have been released on Linux over a year ago, but that doesn't stop it being one of the best and most beautiful RPGs available for the platform. It has regularly featured in Ubuntu's download charts, and with good reason. Read on to see why...
LIMBO is one of those titles which reminds us that video games can still be works of art. A side-scrolling game with its dark, dreamstate tableau and deliberate lack of storytelling, LIMBO creates a deep and darkly horrific addition to the puzzle genre.
Take a second to imagine what the offspring resulting from a marriage of Pong married Guitar Hero would look like. Actually, don't imagine but play.
“ThinkPad” the revered laptop brand of techies, whether under IBM or Lenovo, has been a long-time friend to Linux users. But how does the Lenovo ThinkPad E530, which went on sale earlier this year, fare under Ubuntu?