The Tokyo Game Show (TGS) is the biggest video game expo in the most game crazy country on Earth. It is kind of a big deal. As such, their "indie" game showcase/contest Sense of Wonder Night (SOWN) is a major opportunity for developers of all shapes and sizes to showcase their ...more
The days of having to pay for video games are over. Generally, retail games are better because they're made with more effort and care than their free counterparts. But free browser-based game sites are insanely popular, specifically Kongregate, Armor Games, and the grandaddy o ...more
Did you think sewing was complicated? Then don't even get us started on threading a sewing machine. Each sewing machine is slightly different in the way it's constructed, which makes threading a puzzle (read: pain in the butt). Check out this sewing and embroidery video to le ...more
It's a puzzle. It's a gun. It's awesome. Titled "The Intimidator", this 125-piece puzzle requires a special key to disassemble. Once disassembled, 20 of the 125 pieces can be pieced to form a real working single shot pistol. And that's not all. The puzzle also stores "a cust ...more
This is Brian Brushwood with Scam School. The trick is called 'In the bank'. This week we've got another puzzle with a setup that sounds absolutely impossible. THE SETUP: Fold a toothpick in half, making a "V" shape, and place it on top of the mouth of a beer bottle. Next Pla ...more
Learn how to solve the Hanayama Cast W-U metal puzzle. Hanayama cast iron puzzles are the perfect solution to being bored. This video tutorial will show you exactly how to solve this mind boggling Cast W-U puzzle, which is rated a 3 out of 6 in difficulty by Hanayama. Hanayam ...more
Find out a new way to solve the Rubik's Cube made famous by Erno Rubik, master puzzle maker. Try to get the edge pieces on the last layer using a new method called partial edge control. Just watch this video tutorial to see how to solve with partial edge control on a Rubik's C ...more
If you follow indie games at all, you've probably heard of Bastion. During its development, it took home numerous Best in Show prizes from E3 and other game conventions while building up an incredible amount of buzz in the games press. Part of what is intriguing about Bastion ...more
QI and ZA. QI n pl. -S the vital force that in Chinese thought is inherent in all things ZA n pl. -S a pizza For over a decade, these words have been used in SCRABBLE play, but not in the US or Canada. It wasn't until their addition in the Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionar ...more
Computer viruses are terrifying. They are undetectable, dangerous, and operate constantly right under your nose. For the average computer user, there are only a few repair options. You could buy expensive antivirus software that causes more problems than it fixes, you can wipe ...more
Like the press covering film and many other specialized fields, video game journalists use all sorts of jargon to convey to their knowledgable readers as much information about a game as quickly as possible. For non or newbie gamers, this can be extremely confusing. Those of ...more
Kick Ass Review Part 3: Conclusions [Spoiler Alert! Plot points are discussed from the movie and comic in this section!] Big Daddy as a selectable character presents problems for the story in the game. In the movie and in the comic, Bid Daddy dies. As a playable character th ...more
Kratos finally made it to the Caverns. In these caverns, your Bow of Apollo is your best friend (weapon). There's lots of minotaurs and archers to defeat, and once you demolish them, you have to fight a Cerberus. Watch the walkthrough for the Caverns in God of War III on PS3. ...more
See how Kratos makes his way through the Realm of Hades, which includes such levels as the River Styx, Peirithous, Judges of the Underworld, the Forge, Place of Hades and Hades himself. Watch the walkthrough for the Realm of Hades in God of War III on PS3. Mahalo's God of War ...more
Now that Kratos had made it past the Palace of Hades, he must confront none other than Hades himself. This is the ultimate boss fight in the Realm of Hades, so be prepared. Try stealing the Claws of Hades to help. Watch the walkthrough for the Hades Boss Fight in God of War II ...more
Is the real killer captured now, or is a different man? Will you leave the case or will you continue the hunt on your own? The Origami Killer may still be out there, and it's up to you to find him. See how to beat Chapter 5 - Solving the Puzzle. Origami makes it to the video ...more
Fighting Straga is the main boss fight In the Xbox 360 game Darksiders - The Black Throne. Can you beat him? Quickly shoot a portal onto one of the floor stations in front of Straga. Watch his mace carefully and you'll see another orange portal point on the side of it. Shoot a ...more
Oh, consider those veggies… consider young Percy! How he craves his dessert, please P.B., show him some mercy! Save the child, P.B.! Get the solution to the "Citizen Clone" puzzle in The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom. This is the walkthrough for Citizen Clone (2.9) in Stag ...more
To get out from the Soul Bridge in the Ashland of Darksiders on the Xbox 360, you should watch this video to make sure you do it without getting killed. Make your way up the western rocky ramp and head due west to find the Soul Bridge. Approach it riding Ruin and you'll be abl ...more
After beating Silitha, you'll have to return its heart. Watch this walkthrough of Darksiders on the Xbox 360. After Silitha's death, you'll find yourself in a cave two levels below where you originally fought her. Use the Crossblade to hit the crystal blade on the rock platfor ...more
No need to figure out the 20th puzzle, entitled "The Origin of the Species", in Assassin's Creed 2. Here's the answers! Puzzle wheel: Start by turning the fifth ring right ten times, then turn the fourth ring left twice. Then rotate the third (and first) rings right twice, the ...more
Here's the answers to the 19th puzzle, titled "The Fourth Day", in Assassin's Creed 2. Image set: What used to be worshipped by every primitive culture under the…? That’s right, the sun. Pick the five images that focus on it. Image: Find the tiny image of Earth in the lower-le ...more
The 18th puzzle is called "Synapses". See how to solve it in Assassin's Creed 2. Code wheel puzzle: Your first clue is to line up 5 with a single tree-looking symbol. The key here is the weird-looking equation on the left, which offers a hint as to the progression of the symbo ...more
Figure out the 17th puzzle, entitled "The Bunker", in Assassin's Creed 2. Code wheel puzzle: Here’s a tricky one; your clues are “<” and “2,” and the only advice you’ll get from your handlers is that maybe there’s “something we can count” on the strange symbols. In this case t ...more
This one's pretty easy. Here's the solution to the 16th puzzle, entitled "The Cavalry", in Assassin's Creed 2. Image 1: Just move the cursor to the word “Tunguska.” Image 2: Move the cursor onto the staff and drag it onto Tesla’s photo. For more info, watch the whole gameplay. ...more
Get all of the info on the 15th puzzle, entitled "Guardians", in Assassin's Creed 2. Puzzle wheel: Seemingly every other ring is linked here, so we’ll cut straight to the chase: Turn the third (and fourth) rings right twice, the fifth (and first) right four times, the fourth ( ...more
The 14th puzzle, entitled "Bloodlines", isn't really that hard in Assassin's Creed 2. Set 1: Highlight the images that depict women and gods in amorous entanglements (especially if those gods are disguised as animals). For more info, watch the whole gameplay. This is an Assas ...more
Solve the challenging 13th puzzle, entitled "I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds", in Assassin's Creed 2. Code wheel puzzle: This one’s even trickier than the last one; starting with the hint that 9 (next to the tower) equals “triangle” (up and to the left from the bomb ...more
This is the 12th puzzle, entitled "Titans of Industry", in Assassin's Creed 2. Code wheel puzzle 1: The key here is in the “4=1” on the blueprint at the left of the screen. Line up the red 4 over the gray 1 and input the following code: 917240. Image 1: This one’s the opposite ...more
Find out how to solve the 11th puzzle, entitled "The Inventor", in Assassin's Creed 2. Image 1: Just move the lightning bolt over the bulbs to bring them to life. Image 2: Highlight the area just at the base of the tower, between the two windows, to find this hidden image. Ima ...more
Figure out the 10th puzzle, Apollo, in Assassin's Creed 2. Image 1: Highlight the lunar lander just down and to the left of the moon. Puzzle wheel: Another linked-ring rotation puzzle. Your job here is to align all the channels; do this by moving the fifth ring to the left six ...more
Execute the 9th puzzle, called Hat Trick, in Assassin's Creed 2. Image 1: Move the cursor onto Houdini’s torso. Image 2: Move the cursor over Gandhi’s heart. Code wheel puzzle: Your hint here is pretty obvious; there’s a big, glaring “6=1” next to Oswald’s picture. So move the ...more
Learn about the 8th puzzle, titled Martyrs, in Assassin's Creed 2. Image 1: Highlight Czar Nicholas’ staff. Image 2: Highlight Joan of Arc’s sword. Image 3: Move the fireball to Joan of Arc’s portrait. Image 4: Move the photo of Rasputin onto Czar Nicholas’ portrait. For more ...more
This is about the 7th puzzle in Assassin's Creed 2. Keep on seeking, and you should find… in the first image set, the key word here is "red", so pick the images in which that color shines the brightest. In the second image, highlight the area to the right of Jesus’ hips to rev ...more
See the key to the sixth puzzle "Brothers" in Assassin's Creed 2. This is where things start to get tricky; while the first batch of ring puzzles were simple, these link some of their rings together, so that you can’t move one without moving another. For more info, watch the w ...more
Find out the solution to the 5th puzzle in Assassin's Creed 2. For set one, the hint here is “cut,” so pick the five paintings that feature swords. For set two, what do the people in these paintings lean on? That’s right – pick out the images that feature staffs. For more info ...more
Get the answers to the 4th puzzle in Assassin's Creed 2. This is just another hidden-image puzzle. Find them in the barrel of the bazooka, on the helmet of the soldier crouching in the background, on a rifle held up just to the left of the officers, and in the hand of one of t ...more
Find out about the third puzzle in Assassin's Creed 2. Another simple one – just highlight the spot in each image where the Apple is hiding. You can click around at random and maybe find a couple of hidden messages. For more info, watch the whole gameplay. This is an Assassin ...more
Try your hands at one of the first puzzles in Assassin's Creed 2. “Core?” “Pick?” That’s a dead giveaway right there. Just pick out all the paintings that contain apples. For more info, watch the whole gameplay. This is an Assassin's Creed II walkthrough for Glyph Puzzle #1. ...more
Bejeweled 2 is a famous web-based free game. Bejewel 2 Deluxe is not free and is available for PC, Xbox 360, Apple's iPod and iPhone, PlayStation 2, smartphones, and Macs. Learn how to hack Bejeweled with tricks, cheats, hacks. This video tutorial will show you how to change p ...more
Want to impress your friends by solving a puzzle? Watch this video tutorial to learn how to solve the Hanayama Cast Enigma metal puzzle. This Cast Enigma puzzle from Hanayama provides a difficult solution, and has a 6 out of 6 difficulty rating. Directly from Hanayama: Patent ...more
This how to video tutorial demonstrates how to tie a Turk's knot for sailing. Follow along with the step by step process and the directions below to learn how to tie the Turk's knot. Make 3 turns and follow this sequence: u-o-u-o-u, then around to the right of the standing en ...more
SCRABBLE. I miss it. That idiosyncratic smell of cardboard, cheap wood and plastic that rushes out when I remove the box's cover. The instant gratification of unfolding the board into the sweet spot of the table, smoothing it out into the perfect receptacle for a heated battl ...more
With the rather large success of the Community Byte activities, both programming and HackThisSite, I have decided to continue to do both activities every session! With that said, when programming sessions occur, they will be lead by Sol Gates in Gobby. Also, the programming mi ...more
I am the sort of man whom game companies fall all over themselves to seduce. I'm sweaty, pale, awkward, and spend too much money on video games. There are many of us, especially among XBox 360 owners. We are the most stereotypically "gamer" group of console owners. The XBox 36 ...more
Video games and art have somewhat of a sticky relationship. Many video games have large teams of talented artists doing amazingly creative work, and yet the art community is only just beginning to utilize video games as art (sometimes). Perhaps if video games were shown not ju ...more
Defeating the Ashland level of Darksiders on the Xbox 360 means getting past Tower A, Tower B, Tower C, Tower D, The Caverns, The Ash Field, Fracture Cannon, The Arena, Abyssal Gladiator, Leviathan's Drift, Stygian and lastly… the Soul Bridge. Before you lies an ash field. Thi ...more
Welcome to the 10th Community Byte session for coding in Python and completing the challenges presented to us by HackThisSite. These sessions are created to bring our community together, to learn from each other, and grow together. Everyone is welcome, from novice programmers ...more
Null Byte is looking for forum moderators! Welcome to the ninth Community Byte for coding in Python and completing the challenges presented to us by HackThisSite. These sessions are created to bring our community together, to learn from each other, and grow together. Everyone ...more
This week's review roundup is a diverse lot. They really only have two things in common—their indie origins and puzzle elements. Otherwise, they come from France, Spain and the U.S., a few from unknown designers and one by the guy who inspired Minecraft. Gauge French indie d ...more
A phoney word in a game of Scrabble is basically a non-valid word, either played or considered being played. Why? To fool the other player and go from losing to winning. It's perfectly acceptable in Scrabble play, but only if you don't get caught. If the other player challenge ...more
As much as I love Scrabble, the iPhone and Android versions of the game are just not as much fun or as fast paced as Words with Friends. I play both, but I'm most active on Zynga's version of the mobile word game because it's quicker to make moves, doesn't take as long to upda ...more
Foldit is definitely a niche game. The sole gameplay mechanic is attempting to fold complex proteins into smaller and more efficient shapes following the rules of molecular physics and biology. Points are awarded based on how small one can make the protein. Online leaderboards ...more
Most stateside gamers have probably never heard of Level-5. If they have, it's more than likely due to the charming and maddening line of Nintendo DS puzzle games, Professor Layton. Some might even remember Dark Cloud and its sequel from the early days of the PlayStation 2, an ...more
Stewart Butterfileld is one of the last great old-fashioned tech billionaires. He founded Flickr, and then sold the company to Yahoo! for a stupendous amount of money in 2005. Like Mark Cuban and others before him, he was left wondering what to do with the rest of his long and ...more
Three years ago, Double Fine productions held an in-house event called the Amnesia Fortnight. The company was split into four teams, each of which set out to spend two weeks developing an idea for a small game and present it to the other groups at the end of the duration. All ...more
Sticking with our theme of XBLA games with uninspiring names, we have Outland. This game shares its name with an unrelated sci-fi cult film from 1981, unrelated comic strip from the '90s, and unrelated region in World of Warcraft. Didn't exactly try hard to build name recognit ...more
You're currently playing a heated game of Scrabble or Words with Friends. The game is close, too close for comfort. But you're not sweating because you're confident. You play a huge word that puts you in the lead, but then when your letter tiles are drawn... We've all been th ...more
When you don't have anyone to play with in the flesh, nothing beats a round of competitive online Scrabble. If you're constantly on the move, the Scrabble app developed by Electronic Arts (EA) for Android and iOS mobile devices is probably your favorite way to play. But let's ...more
Now that you have your two-letter words down and have practiced your skills, it's time to move on to another important part of Scrabble gameplay—the opening move. There's a well known adage that states, “The player going first will win 54% of the time—all other things being eq ...more