S0urce C0de is a new tabletop game developed by Gabriel Hicks and his team after a successful Kickstarter. It's like many tabletop RPG's in what it offers, but also allows you to expand in some areas. For instance, there is no penalty for taking multiple archetypes (classes) and you may do so whenever you choose. Each archetype is a base class, that focuses on multiple areas of expertise, such as Tech/Stealth or Melee/Ranged.

If you've played D&D or Pathfinder or something similar, S0urce C0de draws inspiration from them, but with a futuristic setting. However, it's designed to allow enough freedom to use it's rules and setup for many other d20 systems. You could adapt S0urce C0de to work in a Pathfinder game, or a Metro, etc.

The official Player Handbooks finally made it through the mail (my wife's name is proudly boasted on the backer's page) and they are working on a GM Handbook, Bestiary and Beastmen Handbook. All three of which are given to the backers for free in digital form.

In Gabriel's own words: A tabletop roleplaying game where science fiction meets fantasy, where running the game is as fun as playing in it! In a universe where the planets the number of planets seem endless and the amounts of adventures follow. Focus upon exploration and discovery or become a member of an elite force focused on law & order. Create your character focused on a multitude of things that don't have to rely on combat, but expanding into botany, science, technology, or more. In the worlds of S0urce C0de, you create your own pathways for your stories. In our world, the source code is something is essentially the backbone. A collection of instructions. We want this game to be your instructions on creating your own story and then taking it from there even further.

The project has been fully backed, but you can read more about it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/altomvisual/s0urce-c0de-a-tabletop-roleplaying-game?ref=profile_backed

You can get the free version of the player handbook and full characters sheets here: https://s0urcec0derpg.wordpress.com/downloads/

To me, what makes this so unique and special is it's adaptability to other d20 systems, and while arguably, all d20 systems are adaptable to each other, this one feels more like it's trying to help you create your own stories based around the characters that are built, rather than building characters around a story.

The Rise of the Tomb Raider's 20th anniversary has gone live! It's available in multiple forms. You can buy the 20th Anniversary edition, you can be a Season Pass holder, or you can buy it individually. Not only does it include skins from previous Tomb Raider titles, but it includes new Co-op modes, a new "Lara's Nightmare" mode, as well as a single-player story that takes place after the events of the primary game.

The single player story takes place in Croft Manor, and instead of combat, it's focus is on Lara re-discovering her family home and trying to save it from falling into the hands of her uncle. Lara will rediscover her childhood, remember her father and mother, and even learn of secrets hidden away in the bowels of the manor.

Lara's Nightmare takes place in the manor as well, and is similar to the Cold Darkness Awakened game mode, in which Lara fights infected in her nightmare inside the manor.

On top of all of this, if you play any version of Rise of the Tomb Raider by the 18th of October, you'll be able to go to the in-game marketplace, head over to "Gifts" and get 100,000 in-game credits, just for playing during the 20th Anniversary Celebration week!

So dust off your copies, grab a friend and take on Rise of the Tomb Raider's game modes together!

I'm a huge fan of Tabletop RPG's, in fact, I play Pathfinder regularly. Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition is the prequel to the original Divinity, which has a sequel, Divinity II - Ego Draconis/The Dragon Knight Saga. While I never played the original (or spinoffs) I played both versions of Divinity II, totaling ~200 hours of my life. Pro-tip: If you own Ego Draconis, your save does NOT carry over to TDKS as they have different coding. That's due to Atlus buying the title and re-releasing it as TDKS.

Divinity II is an RPG style of gameplay by modern standards. Third person rear-view, run around, open combat, etc. Original Sin (the most recent installment) plays out like a Pathfinder or D&D game. It's actually really tough, even on easy, which I feel is on purpose. That's how a good Pathfinder/D&D game goes. Everything is turn/round based as you would expect, based on initiative ratings. There are saving throws (automatic) skills, perks, base stats, feats, etc.

You start off with two characters, which you can customize. However, pick your class before customizing skills/stats or they get reset and you have to do it over. You can even choose the AI Personality, which chooses how they act during conversations and decisions, as well as how they will react to what you do/say. You can also choose "No Personality" to manually choose how they will react to every situation, sometimes leading to a mini-game to decide who will win the argument. It's Rock, Paper, Scissors. You can switch between your party members at any time, and even separate the group to deal with traps.

You can have up to 4 members in your party, and honestly it can get to be a bit much. The good news is, you can play solo, couch-co-op or online co-op. That takes some of the burden off. Each of you then takes control of the main characters (leading to some interesting experiences), and can control either of the other party members at will. This also makes splitting the loot more interesting.

I got this game on an amazing deal on the Xbox One at 74% off. I would have been willing to pay the full price for this game. It truly does an amazing job of giving you the pencil & paper experience without the need for erasing and getting new sheets. The only other thing, is so far, you don't get the full 100% freedom of say, choosing a killer out of 3 suspects, you have to investigate to find the 100% without-a-doubt killer. That could also be a DM decision, where the Guard Captain wouldn't believe you without irrefutable proof. I also understand that this isn't meant to have the freedom of Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishment, so I'm not really upset about it.

Anyone who has ever enjoyed pencil & paper RPG's should pick this up. It's got a 60+ hour campaign and is worth every penny.

I played the 1-hour trial of The Solus Project on the X1, and immediately had to buy the Preview.

You are on a mission to find an alternate world for humanity to live on. Earth is gone.

You start off by crash landing on a planet after being hit by a ball of energy that comes from the planet. Gliese-(insert arbitrary numbers here), also known as Galea. You start off just trying to survive the harsh environment. Find water, find food, light a torch, keep warm, sleep, fight heat exhaustion and hypothermia, starvation, dehydration, etc. Then you explore.

Upon exploring the island you crash on, you realize that there used to be people that lived here. There are monuments, flowers, skulls, etc. At one point you enter a cave system. The strangest part in the first chapter, is not only a strange noise being emitted from inside the cave, but the fact that when you find an alien language, your all-in-one device called W.I.L.S.O.N. (WIIILSOOON!!!) can translate this never-before-seen language. Meaning it derives from an Earthen Language.

You start to realize that you aren't alone after all. This hits you pretty quick and pretty hard. You immediately start to feel unwelcome on this planet. At that point, your mission becomes less of an exploration (which you still do) to reporting back in to Control and letting them know that this place appears to be hostile, all while the dawning realization that you likely wont survive, slowly starts to sink in. All you can do is try to reach Control and tell them not to come to Galea.

For all the mixed reviews it got, Quantum Break aimed to make use of Microsoft's original vision of the X1. Combining games with other forms of media. Originally there was going to be a television show that aired alongside Quantum Break, instead, they put it in-game between the chapters. You can opt to skip these, but they show an interesting view point, which is Monarch's side of the main story and the internal struggle going on there.

This is your typical Remedy game. That means it's not very long, but the story, visuals, sound, gameplay, controls.. All of it is top-tier. You play as Jack Joyce. A man who, through an accident, gains the ability to manipulate time in small, isolated quantities. He uses his abilities to attempt to stop Monarch, the corporation responsible for time fracturing.

At the end of each chapter you will play a junction section, where you play as the head of Monarch, Paul Serene. The decisions you make as Serene, will alter how the rest of the game, and the TV show, play out. Remedy was able to score top-notch actors, including Sean Ashmore as Jack Joyce, Dominic Monaghan as Will Joyce and Aiden Gillian as Paul Serene.

If you're looking for a new single-player story-driven game, check out Quantum Break. You can pick it up on Windows 10 and Xbox One, if you own both copies, you can play the same save file on both platforms, so you can take it with you whenever you go without having to start a new game. That's a pretty cool feature, and it's another first that Quantum Break can be proud of. Not only did they incorporate the X1's original vision, but they were the pioneers in allowing cloud saves to sync to a PC copy of their game. A big kudos to Remedy for pulling it all off successfully.