Ever had an Archimedean moment when you were on the seat, only to find out - when you pop back into the real world - that someone else has screamed “Eureka!” with their towels on? For this author, Masq is one such no-one-could-have-thought-of-this (other than flying cars, Star Wars-esque holographic communication, reusable space planes and oh, apple doused in cheese) that kept rolling around noisily in his head till good old Krishnan pointed out that someone more industrious had taken care of it already. When we learnt she had made it to PC Gamer’s list of 100 Best Games Ever, we were even more jea…intrigued!

Masq is - to oversimplify - an interactive graphic novel played in the first-person and follows the trials of The Nameless You, head of a fashion firm about to unveil a new line called - well - Masq. The show’s up in a few days, and you have to secure a good bit of money to make sure your work is seen on TV. It starts off as a simple matter of either securing a bank loan, or working out a deal with your wife’s boss. But just like in real life, something as simple and momentary as sipping coffee for a while longer can have dire (and we mean DIRE) consequences; among other things like if you bought cookies or not, are you dipping that cookie in the coffee or munching it straight, how much sugar you put in it, how noisily are you sipping on that cup…. hey STOP it already!

(more…)

The episodic experiment began in mid-2006 with Half-Life 2: Episode One and SiN: Episodes - Emergence. Grand stories were told about how episodic gaming would mark a major shift in the way games are developed and delivered. All fine and dandy, but a year and a half since all the grand posing, where exactly do we stand?

WARNING (and Disclaimer): Personal opinions, long sentences and an abrupt ending to follow!

(more…)