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Jonathan Bolding


48 games reviewed
77.5 average score
80 median score
68.8% of games recommended

Jonathan Bolding's Reviews

Jon Bolding is a critic, writer, and streamer with a background in literary criticism and theory. This only sometimes enters his work on games. He sidelines in tabletop game reviews, including a specialization in roleplaying games. He currently edits, writes, and streams full time for The Escapist.
Jun 10, 2014

A solid, accessible city builder, Tropico 5 gets out of the way and lets you have the fun you came for without pissing around in fiddly details.

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Jan 14, 2014

The hand-drawn visuals, interesting combat, and epic story mean The Banner Saga is crafted from flawless pieces - even if the final product is a little rough.

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Feb 5, 2014

What's here is undoubtedly high quality, but some may find themselves just wanting more of the game. It's a blessing and a curse.

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Oct 12, 2015

If you're in the mood for some N64 era platforming held to modern standards, or have a bad-at-platformers partner to tag along, Woolly World is just what the doctor ordered.

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Though it fails to innovate in an engaging way, the base on which Tropical Freeze is built is solid as a glacier.

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It innovates from prior games in the series, and is undeniably fun, but Galactic Civilizations III isn't the clear leader in a packed genre.

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This game preaches to the choir - the hunting faithful will love it, everyone else, maybe not.

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79 / 100 - Last Train Home
Dec 12, 2023

A rich, interesting, and honest experiment in history-as-game: If you're interested, play it.

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78 / 100 - Roguebook
Jun 21, 2021

Roguebook stands out from the pack on a few qualities, but it's not a must-play.

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77 / 100 - Phoenix Point
Dec 3, 2019

In terms of core design, turn-based tactics games don't get much better than Phoenix Point.

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75 / 100 - For the King
Apr 26, 2018

A sometimes tricky RPG with gorgeous art that's perfect for co-op.

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75 / 100 - Panzer Corps 2
Mar 14, 2020

For better or worse, this is a classic hex wargame with updated graphics.

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75 / 100 - Shadow Empire
Jul 8, 2020

Ambitious in the extreme, Shadow Empire is a unique sci-fi wargame that's a little lost in its own details.

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A functional, basic board game port isn't enough to truly shine off the tabletop.

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Feb 5, 2021

Field of Glory 2: Medieval is the closest to a tabletop miniatures experience you'll get on PC.

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Oct 1, 2021

Diablo 2: Resurrected brings a beloved classic up today's graphical standards, but it overlooks 20 years of obvious flaws. It's still a very satisfying action RPG, but you couldn't get away with these problems a decade ago, much less today.

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Oct 29, 2021

Disciples: Liberation is a promising RPG with rich stories and compelling tactical combat, but nothing quite makes it a must-play.

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May 20, 2022

King Arthur: Knight's Tale is a strategy RPG that gets the fantasy of playing as a heavily armored knight exactly right, but it would've been a better game if it didn't pad itself out with so many repetitive battles.

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7 / 10.0 - Hard West 2
Aug 4, 2022

Hard West 2 has plenty of little annoyances, but it's a supernatural western tactics game with a lot of style and the substance to back it.

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Nov 15, 2013

While the story is good fun, and the mechanical conceits awesome, Contrast's puzzles just aren't as hard as they need to be

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