Evil Genius might always be the Bjorn Again to Dungeon Keeper’s Abba, but it’s a game many remain fond of. Including, presumably, indie developer/artist Mike Swain, who recently completed Mastermind, a browser-based freebie based upon a similar Theme Bond Villain conceit. While it throws in a few similar mechanisms too – the concept of notoriety, for instance – it’s very much its own game. Its interface is a dozen times for logical than Evil Genius’ fiddly attempt, there’s very little waiting around and you won’t find yourself miserably building bunk beds when you could be off robbing banks. That’s where it most differs from Evil Genius – this is much more focused on acts of infamy than acts of architecture.
Admittedly some of the humour’s a little too crude, but it’s a lovely-looking, hyper-stylised thing. Smart stuff, with a surprising amount crammed into what’s superficially a very straightforward system. Thanks to The Amazing PR-Journo-Hybrid-Man Dan Gril for the tip.
