Back in 2012 Introversion Software launched the alpha of their game Prison Architect upon the world. Now, three years later, version 1.0 has launched to critical acclaim and has already sold well over a million copies, thanks to the team’s unique alpha funding model. Mere days before the official version 1.0 launch, we sat down with Mark Morris and Chris Delay of Introversion Software to see just how well their alpha funding model and regular early access updates worked out for them. 

There are games that come screaming into existence, demanding that you play them. Games with loud and expensive year-long PR campaigns. You know the games I’m talking about. The Call of Duties. The Dark Souls. The games that demand you subject yourselves to their flames and gauntlets, to the virtual bullets whizzing past your ear as you pump your own rounds into nameless, virtual foes, each falling one after another to your might like dominos.

Take a quick glance at the App Store or Google Play Store, and you’d be forgiven for thinking the only mobile games out there are free-to-play settlement builders or Match–3 puzzle games teeming with timers and microtransactions. Sure, they might frequently top the charts, but there’s a lot more to mobile gaming than that. We’ve taken a look at some of the best ‘hardcore’ experiences that you can take with you wherever you go.

In Undertale, you can choose not to kill any of the game’s strange and endearing monsters. Instead of whacking down their health bars like any other turn-based RPG, you can speak to them or flee. The pacifist route doesn’t come without its own challenges, though. Killing enemies rewards experience and experience levels you up, increasing your total health. Because you can’t avoid the game’s battle mini-game, which is not unlike an arcade bullet-hell shooter, it gets increasingly harder the more you opt out of the violence. Although the game’s marketing description touts the pacifist option as a unique way to play through the game, it doesn’t mention how hard it quickly becomes.

Hey guys! My name is Laura Michet, and I’m the new editor at Zam.com. Over the next few months, you’ll be seeing some major changes here. We’ll be posting new kinds of stories about a wider variety of games. I'd like to tell you about myself, about those changes, and about how you can contribute!

This editorial is non-game specific and solely based on insights and opinions from its author.

One comment I receive a lot when I explain my job to others is "That's awesome! How do I get into doing that?!" There is no perfect answer to this query, and despite how awesome working in this industry sounds and really is, it's hard work and not quite as glamorous as you may be envisioning in your head.

The first-ever TwitchCon hit this weekend in San Francisco, and ZAM was on the floor to deliver the news about the content giant's first convention. To say it was a success would be an understatement. Streamers, media professionals (gee), content fans, exhiibitors, and Twitch junkies alike hit the Moscone West Center in San Francisco this weekend. Twitch employees presented the new changes that Twitch will be implementing soon, including full HTML5 support, a fully-loaded PS4 app, and new chat features.

Hello and welcome to the 16^th edition of Formerly Hardcore, ZAM’s column on Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft. For this week’s column, we’re going to look at another announced feature of the Legion expansion, Class Orders. Rather than having our own individual spot of land like Sunsong Ranch in Mists of Pandaria or our Garrisons in Warlords of Draenor, this time we’ll have bases shared by all members of our same class. The question is: other than having people running around that aren’t NPC followers, what makes these different than Garrisons?

So, FYI: Dragon Age Inquisition’s final piece of DLC, Trespasser, is pretty wild. It gives players a chance to wrap things up with their Inquisitor’s friends and lovers, and reflect on adventures gone by…

...but it also reveals exactly where Dragon Age 4 will take place, introduces a new main villain, completely transforms the Inquisition, and uh, chops off someone’s arm. It’s full of clues about the next game. Needless to say, there’s a lot of spoilers ahead! 

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

Last weekend hosted one of the rare events that ArenaNet has created for Guild Wars 2. The Mordrem Invasion saw enemies from the upcoming expansion Heart of Thorns swarm three of the lower level maps as a sign of Mordremoth’s expanding influence. Players needed to rally to fight off these invasions to keep the Mordrem at bay.