| Hi everyone. Today we’re spotlighting a game unlike anything we’ve ever seen, but first... This week’s top gaming news: Do you remember the LX? Do you have fond memories of exploring the unsettling mysteries of Pilot Quest or staying up all night battling your friends in Bushido Ball? Did you spend your childhood calling video-game tip hotlines to figure out how to make progress in Barbuta? The answer to all these questions is, of course, no. But the new video-game compilation UFO 50 is so meticulously crafted that playing it may make you nostalgic for a 1980s video-game console that never actually existed. UFO 50, in development for eight years, is a mind-boggling accomplishment and unlike anything the video-game world has seen before. Let’s start from the beginning. The premise of UFO 50, which came out this week, is that a video-game maker named UFO Soft released 50 games for a fictional console throughout the 1980s. You’ve just found them in the garage, pulled them out and blown the dust off the cartridges for a trip to the past. When you open up UFO 50, you’re greeted with a screen of 50 icons, each representing a different game. By default they are sorted in chronological order, from 1982 through 1989. You can also browse by genre or stick only to the ones that have multiplayer modes. At first, this may resemble a compilation of mini-games, such as Mario Party or Brain Age. But as you start playing, you’ll realize that each title in UFO 50 is a full-fledged video game that could have feasibly been released as a standalone cartridge for the NES or Commodore 64, with depth, complexity and many hours of gameplay — which makes it all the more bonkers that there are 50 of them. The games vary in genre and tone. There are platformers, turn-based role-playing games and even a point-and-click horror adventure. All share the aesthetics and sensibilities of gaming in the 1980s, for better or worse. The button combinations are minimal, the graphics are limited and the gameplay is tough-as-nails, which can be a turnoff if you’re accustomed to modern comforts. (Controlling the eponymous character in Mooncat, for example, feels like trying to drag a horse through a swamp.) There is also a meta narrative designed to make it feel like UFO Soft was a real company operating in the age of arcades and Atari. Each game has a brief description of the circumstances behind its development, and there are a smattering of sequels and spiritual successors. If you play the games in chronological order, it’s easy to imagine how this fictional developer grew and evolved over time, responding to player feedback and learning design lessons for each new game. In the real world, these games were developed by a group of designers led by Derek Yu, creator of the hit platformer Spelunky, and his childhood friend Jon Perry. They were inspired by their days growing up making games together and playing opaque PC titles, which helped lead to another of UFO 50’s premises — it’s full of secrets. Players have already discovered a potential 51st game and other delightful mysteries, hinting at the fictional UFO Soft’s backstory. “There are things going on, for sure,” Yu told me recently when I asked what the deal was. “It’s something that you could definitely spend some hours exploring.” Some of UFO 50’s offerings are more enjoyable than others. I’ve experimented with many of them on an early copy provided by Yu. My highlight is Attactics, a cross between chess and real-time strategy that tasks you with frantically moving pieces up and down a board as they march forward and attack one another. Others are more frustrating, calling back to the days of trying to beat Battletoads on NES without resorting to cheats. But there’s a delight to pinpointing the real games that inspired them (oh, there’s Metroid; look, it’s Wizardry!) while at the same time marveling at the gameplay twists and subversions. I’m not sure how many hours I’ll actually sink into UFO 50. For me, it’s felt more like an accomplishment to be admired than a series of games I’ve really enjoyed playing. But I’m glad it exists — and I look forward to watching the YouTube videos once its secrets are finally uncovered. I was hoping to recommend The Plucky Squire, a gorgeous new indie game with a clever concept that also came out this week, but it is buggy, over-tutorialized and sometimes feels like a chore to play. Instead, I’ll be checking out Frostpunk 2, the sequel to the 2018 strategy game set in a post-apocalyptic world that’s covered in snow. It’s out today and has received rave reviews. | 
