Wireframe: the fortnightly magazine that lifts the lid on video games. Beyond news, features, and reviews, we look at how video games are made, who makes them, and how readers can make games of their own.
Designer Don Bellenger talks to us about Black Future ’88, a synth punk collision of Contra, roguelike and dystopian nightmare. We find out why ruins, devastated cities and broken architecture are such a familiar sight in games, and uncover the cunning, sometimes eccentric ways games were distributed back in the 1980s.
Also in this issue:
How paper and card can help you make better games
Recreate the block-smashing action of Breakout
Project Starship X, a manic comic book shooter from Italy
A profile of Xenon and Speedball creators, The Bitmap Brothers
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
