Written by: Rik
In 2007 we added a blog (known at the time as the FFG journal) to the site. Over time it’s developed from “here’s what I’ve been playing” and “there’s a new game coming out” to longer pieces and features. To prevent the latter getting buried in the mists of time, we decided to link to them here.
Obviously this is an entirely subjective process, and one with fairly loose criteria, but the rest of the blog is still there to be searched should you wish to do so.
Article Series
A selection of multi-part features.
A marvellous box of MS-DOS wonders (2017)
The trend for retro emulation boxes set us wondering what games from the DOS era we’d bundle with a mini PC.
A marvellous bundle of Windows 95 wonders (2017)
The trend for retro emulation boxes set us wondering what games from the DOS era we’d bundle with a mini PC. Which then set us wondering what games from the Windows 95 era we’d inclde in a follow-up bundle.
Discussion: [indie game] (spoilers!) (2019-)
Jo joins Rik to tackle a variety of new-fangled indie games. Spoiler-tastic discussions ensue.
FFG at 20 (2021-2022)
We celebrate 20 years of the site with a series of retrospectives linked to new reviews of related titles, including a couple of discussions. Plus a blog post each from two 40-year-old men trying not to wonder too much where all the time went.
FFG Review Of The Year (2007-2018)
Rik used to provide an end of year update on site activity, on the basis that it might be interesting to someone, somewhere. It’s a thought only recently abandoned, in the face of dwindling review numbers.
Gaming’s slower cars: a brief history (2018)
A four-part series in which Rik attempts to detail the joys of driving the less glamorous cars racing games have offered up over the years. (He drives a Honda Civic, with a dent in, so he should know).
I hate you (2014-)
Stoo outlines his struggles with various gaming baddies, mainly in the world of RPGs.
Inside The Big Cardboard Box (2020-2022)
Rik tries to remember all of the boxed games he’s jettisoned over the years. It turns out that most of them were budget games or from compilations.
Looking Back (2011)
To celebrate 10 years of FFG, Stoo, Rik (and Jo) got together to re-evaluate and discuss some of the games covered on the site in its earlier years: Stunts, Puma World Football ’98, Deus Ex and Broken Sword.
Moments in Gaming (2017-)
A regular series where we look back on gaming experiences that have left a particularly strong impression on us over the years, for good reasons or bad.
PC Zone: an incomplete and subjective history (2017)
A reasonably detailed look back at our favourite gaming magazine, albeit an incomplete and subjective one.
Soundtracks (2019-2022)
We unwisely blunder into the uncharted territory of attempted music criticism in this series examining the use of licensed songs in games.
Vault of Regret (2018-)
We once had the Cupboard of Shame, where all the boxed games we bought but didn’t play used to live, and now we have the Vault of Regret, in which we can store not only boxed games, but digital purchases, and sundry other gaming regrets and embarrassments. Here we write about all the games we should have played but haven’t, or that we have played but didn’t enjoy, among other things.
When I Played (2016)
From the site’s 15-year anniversary. Rik traces a path through early games and reviews in this series, in an attempt to say something about his personal history with games and this site, and how on earth we’re still going somehow.
One-off articles
Any blog posts of sufficient significance to be given the slightly elevated status of ‘article’.
10 Years On – Stoo
10 Years On – Rik (2011)
A couple of brief pieces acknowledging the site’s 10-year anniversary.
10 quite bad adverts, 1996-2006 (2017)
The 90s and 00s featured some fairly, er, ‘edgy’ ads. Here are some quite bad ones Rik found while raking through old copies of PC Zone.
25 Years of Championship Manager (and Football Manager) (2017)
Rik takes a look back at his own history with the venerable management series.
CSI: Deadly Intent – The Hidden Cases (2016)
CSI: Unsolved! (2016)
At one stage Rik developed an unhealthy obsession with CSI games. The best ones are on the Nintendo DS, though, and we can’t write about them here. Or can we?
Eight out of ten (2015)
Prompted by one of the big review sites dropping scores, Rik took a look back at some of the different approaches taken by magazines over the years.
FFG Discussion Special (2019)
The usual annual roundup is eschewed in favour of a look back over the site’s entire history.
Need for Speed: A brief history (2019)
After Stoo pointed out that there were lots of reviews of similar-sounding Need for Speed games on the site, Rik tried to put them into some sort of context.
Rik vs PG (2008)
Rik laments the end of his long-running multiplayer Pro Evolution Soccer rivalry.
Tales of a former slight sim fan (2016)
Stoo used to like flight sims, until they got too complicated: here, he shares some memories of some of his 90s favourites.
The FFG Football League (2019-)
An attempt by Rik to put his write-ups (of varying age and quality) of football games (of varying age and quality) into some kind of league table, showing which are ‘the best’ (games, not reviews – the latter would be ludicrous). To be updated as and when new reviews are added.
Tom Archer’s Ready Meals (2013)
After listening to rather too much of Radio 4’s farming-based soap-opera, Rik imagines a game based on young Tom’s obsession with ready-meals.
From the dusty archives: General Articles
A few pieces we wrote pre-2007. Needless to say these are all pretty old, but we’ve retained them for posterity.
Adventure Games: A brief history (2004)
Cricket Games: A brief history (2010)
Football Games: A brief history (2008)
Racing Games: A brief history (2004)
Space Sims: A brief history (2003)
Our original ‘brief history’ features were among the first non-review items on FFG, and as such were written some time ago. We’ve made periodic attempts to update them but most stop in the early 00s. Hopefully they still serve some purpose.
FFG Salutes: PC Zone (2006)
Our first attempt at paying tribute to PC Zone, back when it was still a going concern.
I Feel Like I Could…. Take on the World! (2005)
A listicle featuring some of our favourite gaming bad guys.
Time to kick ass and chew bubblegum (2004)
A listicle featuring our favourite gravelly-voiced heroes.
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