The weather is starting to warm up which means Summer is around the corner. Hopefully you’ll have a little more free time to relax with friends and family. Why are we bringing this up? Because games are a great way to have fun with others! Sure you probably already have a stack of go-to games to play with pals, but we have some rad projects for the more adventurous reader. Check them out.

Casual Games for Casual Hikers

If you’re anything like me you’ll be hitting the trails this summer. Getting out into nature is one of those quiet joys that helps me stay sane in a bustling city, but I recognize that it’s not for everyone. For those people I recommend checking out Casual Games for Casual Hikers. I’ve recommended the game on the blog before, but the short explanation is that it’s a collection of quiet activities you (or a group) can play while you’re walking through nature. None of the games are particularly involved, but I’ve found them elevating the time I spend outside.

Electric Zine Maker

Another Alienmelon project means another Alienmelon recommendation. This time Lawhead has ascended to a plane outside of gaming and has built a tool to help aspiring creatives make zines more easily. The UI is fun and it makes it simple to do exactly what it says in the title: make zines. The nicest thing I can say about this project is that it works exactly like it’s supposed to. No fuss, no muss, just an efficient pipeline from your head to printing zines. EZM is in beta, so there is a little cruft involved but the existing download works well and will only get better over time. Delight your friends with custom made zines this summer with Electric Zine Maker.

Tons of Local Mulitplayer games!

So maybe you don’t want to hike or make zines, maybe you’re into those newfangled video games. Well have I got a deal for you: I’m giving you the tools to go and check things out for yourself. Go, fly, be free!

Ok but for real, there are tons and tons of great games tagged as local multiplayer in our system. Rather than recommend what I think your crew will like, I’d encourage everyone to use our “New and Popular” sorting to check out which projects other folks on the site think are rad. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new favorite.