What we're playing: The Escapists Pyre

Make, sell (and be critiqued) on your MS Paint masterpieces in this wonderfully ridiculous game. The 1980's classic Galaga is somehow heading to TV. And Neil deGrasse Tyson, who's making a video game with George R.R. Martin, is surprised "it had no boobs in it."

What are you playing?

Kinsey Danzis, Staff Writer, kdanzis@gamingnexus.com
In between working through my review of Vostok Inc. and just plain trying to get my life together, I've been delving a bit into 7 Days to Die with John, Sean, and Randy. I tried to get into it on the Xbox One, my primary platform, but the interface was just so terrible that I couldn't go three seconds without being mauled by a zombie while I was trying to craft something as simple as a stone axe. With the PC version (even though the interface is still less than stellar), I've been having a lot more fun, despite the infighting that's been popping up here and there. Not my fault in the absolute slightest, not one bit.

Dave Gamble, Staff Writer, dgamble@gamingnexus.com
I'm spending nearly every gaming moment trying to resist the mind-deadening creep of acquiescence as I plod through the daily ritual of imprisonment in The Escapists 2. There's something relaxing about following a rigid schedule and having every decision made for me, but I keep reminding myself that I need to come up with a workable plan for my escape. Having buffed up both physically and mentally in the exercise room and library respectively, I moved on to searching other inmates desks while they're busy at their jobs or just wandering around the prison. I have the knowledge to craft dozens of weapons, tools, and disguises. If only I could come up with a plan...

When that gets to be too much, I relive the life of crime that got me incarcerated in the first place in Saints Row The Third, which has turned out to be the hidden gem in the collection of impulse buys from the Steam Summer Sale.

All of this is just killing time waiting for the delivery of the Oculus Rift I bought when the price was lowered to the very upper bounds of what I consider to be reasonable. When I get really impatient, I fire up Project CARS, throw on the TrackIR, and just pretend it's 3D. There is so much depth to that game—I just recently discovered the karts. Wow, is that ever a visceral experience! I raced karts for three years back in the ‘90s and the Project CARS version really brings back a lot of memories.

Randy Kalista, Staff Writer, rkalista@gamingnexus.com
It's official. With the launch of Pyre, Supergiant Games is three for three when it comes to immaculate video game craftsmanship. I mean, there's 12 of them on the development team, and every single one brings their A game. While Pyre's characters are performing sports-based Rites in order to earn their freedom (not to mention my own), I'm not sure I want to leave any of these characters behind. What if the Rites were the friends we made along the way?

That, and Serial Cleaner. The Hotline Miami-like interludes are neat, but nowhere near as surreal. It’s much more grounded: Listening to police reports on the radio, finding something on the tube to watch with mom, and creating an admittedly ill-advised trophy room of evidence I've cleaned up from multiple murder scenes. Boy, I totally can't see the foreshadowing on this one.

One more: I'm stuck in interior decoration land with Design Home on my phone. It’s an app where people spend in-game currency to buy overpriced furniture to decorate a living room in a modern craftsman home in Roanoke, Virginia; or to infuse Dutch style into a House Hunters International challenge in Cape Town, South Africa; or any number of daily scenarios. Other players rate your designs on a five-star scale over a 24-hour period, and then you get back the results which indicate that, in fact, my Noir Buddha Chair maybe did not pair well with the contemporary country home look the owners were going for. I was up until 2 a.m. last night.

Kevin O’Connell, Staff Writer, koconnell@gamingnexus.com
Well, I just finished with Super Cloudbuilt—a very hardcore parkour game that was as good as it was frustrating. It takes a lot out of the everyday parkour player and I was glad to be done with it. I have just recently, with Dan Keener's advice, just purchased Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and have to admit, I'm excited. I've never played a Metal Gear game and kinda have wanted to since the early years.

And finally I have been playing an iPad app called City Island 4 and have to say it is really decent. It is the first app that I've played that does not make you purchase something. I've gone over two weeks, 26 levels, and one-and-a-half islands without buying one item with real money.