If the lazy days of summer means you have spare time to catch up on video game playing, read on for our pick of the episodic titles worthiest of your attention from the last six months' releases.
2015 was something of a stellar year for episodic games with "Tales from the Borderlands," "Life is Strange," and "Game of Thrones - A Telltale Games Series" all running their course. Partway through the year, and 2016's developing series might not have hit the same levels, but there's still plenty worth investigating: from traditional adventures to a stealthy, action-oriented twist on the formula, and a new kind of digital board game.
"The Walking Dead: Michonne"
iOS, Android, PS4, XBO, WinPC, Mac OSX, PS3, 360
Back in 2012, Telltale Games' acclaimed interpretation of "The Walking Dead" not only caught the TV series' zeitgeist, but also helped establish the episodic format in games like never before.
Telltale returned to the franchise with "Michonne," an interquel placed between its second and third seasons, and delving into the lost days of pivotal comic book and TV series character Michonne.
At three episodes, it runs shorter than a standard Telltale season, and though it struggled to reach the highs of Season 1 or 2, it still serves its purpose as a standalone for fans of the Walking Dead world.
"King's Quest"
PS4, XBO, WinPC, 360, PS3
Currently halfway through a six episode run (including an epilogue), "King's Quest" reinterprets one of the golden oldies of the adventure game genre.
The hero of the original games, King Graham, is now an elderly man who sits down with his granddaughter to relate some previously undiscovered (or perhaps mis-remembered) tales of medieval misadventure.
Of the three chapters released by June 2016, the second represented a slump in form, but the first and third bode well for the series' future.
Voice acting talent includes Christopher Lloyd ("Back to the Future,") Wallace Shawn ("The Princess Bride"), and Zelda Williams ("The Legend of Korra.")
"Hitman"
PS4, XBO, WinPC
The episodic trend comes not only to the action genre, but to one of its most long-lasting franchises.
As before, players take on the guise of a highly trained assassin who should, ideally, execute his mission with skill and discretion.
Where "Hitman" adapts the episodic formula is in offering new areas and missions to explore and master, with its gradually extending narrative less crucial to the experience.
Since March, the first three episodes have offered Paris, Sapienza and Marrakesh as locales, with the four remaining episodes due on a more-or-less monthly basis.
"Eon Altar"
Mac OSX, WinPC plus iOS, Android, Windows Phone
Recently emerging from an Early Access program, "Eon Altar" combines the social aspect of board games with the accessibility of mobile and spectacle of video games.
One purchase from Steam nets a copy of the game for Mac and PC as well as access for four players via their mobile devices.
Together in front of the same big screen, friends then set off for a series of monster-slaying, treasure hunting adventures.
With a total of nine planned, Episode I has been very well received, while Episodes II and III are due before the end of the year.
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