Wireframe Magazine

Wireframe looks at how games are made and who makes them, and even guides you through making your own.

Games don’t need good graphics to succeed: they need Element X

WELCOME

AS ABOVE SO BELOW • Holding our breath as we dive deep into Spiral Circus’ dark underwater debut: SILT

Final Vendetta • Smash your way through the mean streets in this 16-bit throwback

Skábma – Snowfall • Moving to the beat of this spiritual platformer inspired by an indigenous Northern culture

It’s dangerous to go alone • Zelda on an alien planet? Introducing the 3D action adventure, XEL…

That was the month that was

Incoming

THE FPGA RETRO REVOLUTION • FPGA-based project MiSTer makes it possible to play almost perfect simulations of old systems. David Crookes meets the people making it happen

Let’s co-operate over accessibility

Subscription offer

Final Vendetta

20 dark indie adventures worth playing • There are no rainbows to be found in these 2D treats. Here’s our top picks for the still burgeoning genre of Limbo-likes

The principles of game design • An underappreciated console, a final nail in Sega’s console coffin, or a bit of both? Howard looks back at the Dreamcast

Urban anchors and virtual flows • Simple design techniques to create and make the most of traffic flows in MMO cities

Multiplayer level design: the essential techniques • Last issue, we looked at creating single-player levels. This month, Stuart digs into the techniques that will keep players coming back to your multiplayer maps

Code your own top-down Zelda-like • Make your own tribute to the land of Hyrule

A guide to recognising your shaders • What are shaders, and how can you create them without learning to code? The team behind Going Medieval have the answers

How to plan a story mission • Writing a narrative sequence for a game today is no mean feat. This month, Antony outlines his process for success on Worlds Of The Future

XEL

NFTs & VIDEO GAMES: no flippin’ thanks? • They’re either the future of gaming or its death knell, depending on who you speak to. Here, several industry figures give their take on this divisive tech

PIXELMON: A CAUTIONARY NFT TALE • It was billed as “the largest and highest quality game the NFT space has ever seen”. Then the eggs hatched…

Happy Indie-versary to Switch! • With Nintendo’s hybrid console recently turning five, the indie devs who were there from day one recall their excitement and experience in the lead-up to launch

How I became a… senior character artist • Nele Steenput from nDreams talks indie meetups, self-confidence, and VR challenges

Career highlights

GETTING CONNECTED EXPLORING NIGERIA’S GROWING VIDEO GAME SCENE • With its industry generating over $180 million in 2018, we take a closer look at Nigeria’s growing game community

Subscribe today

Old is the new new

Sifu • Getting repeatedly beaten up soon gets old

Horizon Forbidden West • Bigger isn’t always better (unless robot dinosaurs are involved)

Pokémon Legends: Arceus • Come for the open(ish) world, stay for the Pokémon

FAR: Changing Tides • Sail away with me to another world

Elden Ring • An open world opus that deserves to conquer the world

Strange Horticulture • Sowing the seeds of love

Itch.io roundup • Picking out some of the platform’s standout titles

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS • This month, Bex from Trista Bytes talks fundraising milestones, JRPG origins, and her vast console history

The Wireframe HOTLIST • The best PC games, according to Wireframe, catering for whatever your mood might be

PC...