Game Canada: Celebrating Canada Day with Canadian Games!
Here at Handsome Phantom, we try to have a diverse team. We have weebs, gingers, and a very special Canadian. We want to take a moment to appreciate our Great Northern teammates on this most special of holidays, Canada Day. Put on your red and white, crack open a Labatt blue, and let’s chat about our favorite games from Canadian developers.
Household Games, Inc. / Way of the Passive Fist
Household Games stole our hearts with Way of the Passive Fist, and if this retro side scroller beat-em-up had released in 1994 with its spiritual ancestors, they would have stolen our quarters, too. We loved Way of the Passive Fist when we reviewed it, and the post-launch support has kept it on our hard drives as one of our favorite indie titles of this generation. Household Games is also dedicated to accessibility in games, from color schemes to difficulty scaling, and we are excited to support them and look forward to their next project. Check it out, buddy.
Don’t Starve / Klei Entertainment
If you’ve ever thought, “gosh, I’d like to have a survival game inspired by the aesthetic of Tim Burton,” well then the developers at Klei Entertainment designed a game just for you. Don’t Starve hits that perfect spot between cute and creepy that makes it an incredibly charming title that’s challenging and fun to play, especially with a friend. The wilderness of Don’t Starve is almost as deadly as the Canadian Frontier. Expect to die. A lot. Their next game, Griftlands, departs drastically from Don’t Starve, but we’re excited to get our hands on it.
A Ton of Games / Bioware
Ah, Bioware. Despite recent backlash over Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda, Edmonton-born Bioware has been responsible for a slew of classic games that are still being played by avid fans: Baldur’s Gate, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, just to name a few. Moments in recent, controversial titles show that there is still a lot of talent and hard work happening at Bioware, and we would love to see them shine. Perhaps the upcoming Dragon Age will be a chance for Bioware to reassert themselves as champions of Canadian game developers.
Assassin’s Creed / Ubisoft Montreal
In 2004, Ubisoft Montreal was working through a sequel for Prince of Persia, a classic series that had begun to struggle by that point.Though the series would receive a mediocre movie starring Jake Gyllenhal as the titular Middle Eastern prince a few years later. Gyllenhal was the Scarlett Johanson of 2010. What we got instead was the first Assassin’s Creed game. The blend of historical fiction and sci-fi has created one of the biggest franchises of the current generation, and some instantly iconic figures like Ezio Auditore and Edward Kenway, all because Ubisoft Montreal wanted to try something different. The folks in Montreal have worked on a lot of great games from AssCreed to Far Cry to the Tom Clancy games. At E3, Ubisoft let gamers know that a team at Montreal is working on a new installment to Rainbow Six, and we’re patiently waiting to see what they’ve got to show.
On behalf of Handsome Phantom, Happy Canada Day. May your tundra always be frozen and your Tim Horton’s always be welcoming!
