Strategic Thinking

👋 Hi there! Welcome to the latest edition of SUPERJUMP Weekly. This week, we're celebrating all things strategy games: from our exclusive interview with the director of Marvel's Midnight Suns through to a lore analysis of Triangle Strategy. In this issue, we also showcase the works of Latonya "Penn" Pennington and feature UFO 50 in our latest On the Radar update.

IN THIS ISSUE

✍️ Story Showcase: Strategy Games
⭐ Author Showcase: Latonya "Penn" Pennington
📡 On the Radar: UFO 50
📅 This Week on SJP
🏆 Backers

STRATEGY GAMES

STORY SHOWCASE

A Drop Of Blood, A Pinch Of Salt: Triangle Strategy, And Endless War

Triangle Strategy's grand story echoes the truth of real wars
✍️ Brandon R Chinn

Total War: Attila and the "Dark Ages"

Total War: Attila portrays the collapse of the Roman Empire as an unmitigated tragedy. How does this depiction measure up to scrutiny?
✍️ Benjamin Macready

Is Strategy Design Due for a Shakeup?

How does the strategy genre stay relevant in the current era of gaming?
✍️ Josh Bycer

Designing Marvel's Midnight Suns With Director Joe Weinhoffer

The transition from XCOM's soldiers to Earth's greatest heroes
✍️ Antony Terence

Master of Orion II Is a Forgotten Marvel

Build an interstellar empire in Master of Orion II, a forgotten gem from 1996
✍️ Cat Webling

The One Thing I Want To See in Civilization 7

Examining the leader screens in previous Civilization games and hopes for the upcoming installment
✍️ Maris Crane

LATONYA "PENN" PENNINGTON

AUTHOR SHOWCASE

You can view Latonya's full portfolio of work across on her website.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist Bridges the Past and Present of the Franchise

The most accessible way to play the trading card game digitally

On Persona 5 Strikers and Building Resilience as a Writer

Life imitates art imitating life

Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy VII Soundtrack Set the Stage for Contemporary Music in JRPGs

The stylings of Square's legendary composer opened the door for those who followed

6 Games Sailor Moon Fans Should Play

From cutesy RPGs to witchy adventures, here are some recommendations for adding a little magic to your gaming, Sailor Moon style

UFO 50

ON THE RADAR

In an age of omnipresent media and marketing, it's easy to forget about the curious joy of discovering something wholly unknown. UFO 50 - a multi-developer project helmed by the ever-inventive Derek Yu - aims to simulate that feeling of digging through unknown games for treasure.

UFO 50 is a collection of games with 8-bit aesthetics and design principles. It's similar to Retro Game Crunch in that each individual title is an entire game with anywhere from thirty minutes to several hours of gameplay. However, where Retro Game Crunch featured seven titles, UFO 50 ups it to fifty, an enormous collection.

Only a handful of the fifty games have been described or showcased thus far, but it's clear that they are a greatly varied lot. Revealed games include the pinball-hybrid game Pingolf, arcade shooter Seaside Drive and a short JRPG called Grimstone. But based on the trailer, no genre goes unexamined - platformers, shmups, puzzle games, strategy games and beat-em-ups are all represented. Many of the games feature either head-to-head or co-op multiplayer as well.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of UFO 50 is how the games are linked. There's no narrative - rather, the collection is presented almost as though they were games from another universe, one with developers, publishers and franchises that we never had. Games from a common fictional developer may feature recurring characters, and a few games even feature sequels with tweaked mechanics and ongoing stories.

UFO 50 is due for release on 19 September 2024.

💻 Created by Derek Yu (Mossmouth)
✍️ Andrew Johnston

THIS WEEK

ON SUPERJUMP

That Time Will Wright Put You in Charles Darwin's Shoes

Spore is a grand, ambitious, genre-defying experience and one of gaming's greatest oddities
✍️ Antony Terence

6 Games Sailor Moon Fans Should Play

From cutesy RPGs to witchy adventures, here are some recommendations for adding a little magic to your gaming, Sailor Moon style
✍️ Latonya "Penn" Pennington

The Exit 8 - Walking With Fear

Don't miss the train
✍️ Jahanzeb Khan

Indie Monthly: June 2024

The indies to watch as we say hello to July
✍️ Andrew Johnston

Now Playing at SUPERJUMP, Issue 24

What are you playing?
✍️ Bryan Finck, Lawrence Adkins, Ivanir Ignacchitti, C.S. Voll, Tow Min Yi, Jahanzeb Khan, CJ Wilson, Ignas Vieversys

BACKERS

THANK YOU 🙏

Thank you to Berke, Brandon, CT, Cathie, Claire, Geena, Lexi, Nick, Oren, Troy, Radha, and Wes for supporting independent, cynicism-free games publishing.

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