Paul writes "I’ve only in recent years become aware of asymmetrical multiplayer as a concept while reading Scott Rogers’ Level Up, a general overview on game design. I think Evolve was the first high profile game that I remember really noticing making use of the concept. Of course, others before it have dabbled with the concept, most notably Left 4 Dead or Aliens vs Predator, but I don’t consider them true asymmetric games, because while giving the competing teams entirely different abilities and mechanics to work with, the teams themselves are more or less numerically balanced"
Early Access might be criticised, but here are some current examples of great games in Early Access on Steam.
The two best games in early access I I right now are Darkest Dungeon and The Long Dark. I already gotten my money's worth out of both games and am already a satisfied customer. They have added much to both games and I'm just waiting for the final version to really dig in.
I highly recommend both games!
Darkest Dungeon was very close to going in as I really enjoyed watching it earlier in the year.
Ark and Space Engineers are a lot of fun. Space Engineers has had quite a bit of time put into it since the beginning of it's Early Access.
Space Engineers is essentially Minecraft in Space, and it's a lot of fun especially when playing against friends.
hurtworld. it's an open world online survival game.
wreckfest. demolition derby style game made by the people who did flatout.
Laguna Levine spends some time with 3BlackDot's Dead Realm, a horror hide-and-seek game built around the idea of making a game that's fun to stream and watch. As a non-streamer who prefer to play than to watch, Laguna jumps in and tries to figure out what the appeal of the game might be for the average hands-on gamer.
Alex Wawro writes: "The rise of YouTubers has definitely affected how many developers make games, but Dead Realm is a special case: it's published by 3BlackDot, the "influencer-driven" entertainment startup founded last year by ex-Machinima staffers in conjunction with YouTubers Tom "Syndicate" Cassell and Adam "SeaNanners" Montoya.
This is important because both Syndicate and SeaNanners have published multiple videos of themselves excitedly playing Dead Realm without clearly disclosing their financial ties to the game's publisher, seemingly defying the FTC's strict guidelines for how YouTubers should disclose paid endorsements (coincidentally, the UK Committee of Advertising Practices published a similar set of revised guidelines this week in an effort to enforce transparency among YouTubers producing advertorial videos.)"
