‘Papers, Please’ now in beta

Video game offers odd gaming experience with a Cold War vibe

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Lucas Pope/Courtesy

“Papers, Please” is a strange game in the absolute best sense of the word. It’s Soviet Union meets Berlin Wall, distinctly Slavic and decidedly communist. It’s tense and addictive. In the words of its creator, Lucas Pope, it’s a “dystopian document thriller.” “Papers, Please,” named for your character’s “catchphrase” of Read More…

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Berkeley student engineers success

Software developer and EECS student Michael Bao makes a name for himself in video games

Michael Bao’s friends call him Mikey, and on the weekends, they all play Mario games on the Wii. Bao, a second-year EECS major at Cal, is known for not being particularly good at Super Mario Bros. — but when it comes to making games, Bao’s friends turn to him for Read More…

Eduardo Aparicio (left) and Jeremy Watson (right)

Two Cal undergrads revolutionize card gaming

On a boozy Berkeley Saturday, a group of friends huddle over a coffee table. One pulls out her iPhone, flips through a website and reads the prompt: “What’s Stanford’s oldest tradition?” The playing cards are dealt. A man in the back reveals his hand: “Playing hide-and-seek with a suggestive-looking zucchini.” Read More…

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Local moms join hacking frenzy to foster creativity, business

On the night of Mothership HackerMoms’ Halloween party, the entrance to the hackerspace on Adeline Street is blocked by a handmade wooden gate. A repurposed shipping pallet, complete with added hinges and metal pull-handles, serves as a barrier to stop the half-dozen young children there to participate in Halloween crafts Read More…

Cartographer and UC Berkeley lecturer Darin Jensen stands in front of maps created by students based on the Mission neighborhood in San Francisco.

UC Berkeley lecturer maps food production, distribution

Maps showing where meat is slaughtered in Maryland, where barley for brewing beer is grown and where taco trucks travel in Oakland, among others, will soon be combined into a crowd-sourced, crowd-funded atlas, thanks to a UC Berkeley lecturer. Darin Jensen, co-editor of “Food: An Atlas” and a cartographer and Read More…

Marissa Nadler Concert

Folk artist Marissa Nadler gets intimate and independent

It’s fitting that folk artist Marissa Nadler’s fifth album is her first self-titled one. She recorded it on her own label, funded it with cash investments from fans using the Internet funding platform Kickstarter, and now owns all of the rights to her material. All it takes is a quick Read More…