868-HACK expansion coming in July
The virus spreads
Remember 868-Hack [official site]? It was a grid-based strategy/puzzle mash up released on PC in 2015 in which you control the avatar of a hacker trying to break into a system full of nasty viruses. There's been no updates since it wormed its way onto Steam, and I had no inkling that one was coming until creator Michael Brough tweeted than an expansion is coming next month.
When I asked him what exactly we should expect he said: "mostly more stuff (programme, powerups)". More stuff is good.
So, why should you care? Well, because 868-Hack was rather good. Alec spent some time with it in 2015, and was very impressed. Here's what he had to say:
"As compulsive and ingenious as it may be, it’s deeply sinister, in a refreshingly understated way. The simple pixel-creatures (viruses and bugs, to be precise) you battle emit single barks and growls, animal noises rendered eerie and monstrous out of context. The colours are all wrong. Everything seems to glitch, even when it’s not glitching. The smiling face of your almost certainly doomed character when it’s at full health seems like acid irony. The music is the groan of a dying demon.
"The formula at 868-HACK’s dark heart is an expert one: I struggle not to start a new game the second I lose one, even though I am bad at it, even though it’ll probably go even worse this time around, because it makes me feel that I’m always on the verge of greatness."
The game also on sale on Steam at the moment at a very specific 27% discount, and will cost you £3.39.
What would you like to see from the expansion?