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What we're playing in June
Welcome back to Gaming IRL, a monthly segment where several editors talk about what they've been playing in their downtime. Gaming IRL is part of a broader series in which you'll find stories from all of the areas we cover: gadgets we use every day, the apps and services we adore, what we're watching and the music and podcasts we can't live without. Today is all about gaming. E3 is done and dusted for another year, but every year there are dozens of great games released, all of which are available right now. Fittingly, our picks this month range from a 1997 sim all the way up to a game that was released just today.
The next 'Dots' game is completely different, except for the dots
Dots, the studio behind a beautifully-designed series of mobile games (including Two Dots and last year's Dots & Co), just announced its next game: Wilds. As the title suggests, this game will be a departure from what the studio has produced thus far: It's the first game that doesn't have the word "dots" in its title. And the announcement game via an odd, enigmatic video that shows a lone figure in the middle of a dark forest, dancing among trees and glowing orbs. Those orbs surely resemble the dots that you must connect in the studio's other puzzle games, but there's no other hint as to what players can expect when Wilds arrives.
Game developers take a stand against Trump's immigration ban
The opposition to the Trump administration's immigration ban has spread far and wide. Video game developers are joining the chorus against what some see as an unconstitutional policy put forth with no thought or consideration of the outcome. For a number of studios, that means making donations to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the non-profit organization that successfully challenged the ban in court over this past weekend.
'Dots & Co.' is a meditative puzzle game that should be on your phone
Mobile puzzle Two Dots (from developer Dots) did a ton of things right when it was released in 2014. The game took a simple mechanic -- matching two or more dots of the same color -- and added a bunch of great power-ups, varying goals, constant content updates, new mechanics as you progress and a great visual style. It was a huge improvement over the original Dots and was one of the best examples of a free-to-play game that doesn't nickel-and-dime you to death. It's easy to play and succeed in the game without ever spending a dollar, if that's what you want to do. After releasing more than 700 Two Dots levels, the game's developer is ready to unveil the next evolution in the series: Dots & Co. is out today for iOS and Android. If you've played earlier Dots games, the new one will feel pleasantly familiar: Your job is still to connect same-colored dots, and making a square will clear all of that color off the board. Each level has an objective to be accomplished in limited moves (clear a certain number of specific colored dots, or break all of the "ice" on the board, for example), and you'll still get up to three stars based on how many points you get. The new game is not the radical change that we saw between the initial Dots and Two Dots. But Dots & Co. is still a fresh and refined experience that introduces a bunch of new gameplay features, and that is definitely a good thing.
