Bastion
Joystiq Score: 4/5
Gamespot Score: 8.5/10
Common Sense Media rating 5/5, Ages 11+

By now you’ve probably heard of this award winning title by the Indie company Supergiant games, but if you haven’t this game is definitely worth a look. Bastion is an Action RPG set in a post apocalyptic world. By assuming the role of a protagonist, known only as “the kid”, players must make their way through a shattered land in order to restore it to its former state. Aside from being a solid game over all, Bastion excels at telling an immersive story generated in part by the payer’s actions. Given the emphasis most educational games place on narrative to convey educational goals, Bastion gives us a model of turning otherwise linear stories into dynamic experiences. By paying attention to the player’s actions, and providing realtime feedback in the form of narration, bastion strikes a balance between designed experience and player agency that is sometimes lacking in games of the same genre. Bastion is a must for any researcher, or practitioner, interested in the role of story in games. Bastion is available for Mac, PC, Xbox, and can even be played in the chrome web browser. http://supergiantgames.com/