One of my clearest memories of childhood is of sitting in front of the family Amiga, with a huge stack of floppy disks next to me, playing The Secret of Monkey Island 2. Obviously, I played the first game too, but that came on a mere four disks. The sequel came on eleven, and you never forgot it, especially when you misclicked an exit and had to change disks to load the room you didn't even want to go into.
I was obsessed with point and click adventures, and playing The Blackwell Legacy immediately gave me a pleasant feeling of familiarity. The art style is very much influenced by Lucasarts, and for the most part the puzzle design is cut from the same cloth. Even when I found myself resorting to using everything in my inventory (or notebook of clues) with everything else, I had a nostalgic smile on my face.
The writing is smart, and the story had me hooked straight away. The game did a good job of wrapping up its story without overstaying its welcome, and has definitely got me interested in playing the rest of the series. I've got the first three Blackwell games in my backlog, and looking at the developer's Wikipedia page I'm pleased to see a couple more games on there that I own. I'm looking forward to finding out a lot more about the Blackwell family, so I imagine the sequel will be up next.
Backloggery sig
Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Friday, 9 January 2015
Hexcells Trilogy [Finished]
What a beautiful, elegant series of games. My brain hurts from level 6-5, so I'm going for a lie down.
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Hexcells
Wholly abstract puzzle games aren't usually my thing. I'd seen Hexcells on Steam, and read John Walker waxing lyrical about it over on RPS, but it all looked a bit sterile and unexciting. I cracked in the end though, so well done Mr. Walker for an excellent sales pitch.
I've just completed the second game in the trilogy, Hexcells Plus. In the process I've intoduced my mum to the wonders of Steam family sharing, streaming games on Twitch, and got her thoroughly hooked on this wonderful game.
The mechanics are solid and are layered gradually throughout the games, but it's the level design that really makes it. Each new puzzle is like a maze to be explored. You find a fragile little starting point, and gradually you begin to chip away at the landscape of hexes. Early levels are generous when it comes to progress, offering up explosions of new territory. Once you reach Hexcells Plus, this gives way to an excruciating drip-feed of information, as it shows you that the first game was really just an extended tutorial.
I'm probably going to get stuck into Hexcells Infinite very soon.
I've just completed the second game in the trilogy, Hexcells Plus. In the process I've intoduced my mum to the wonders of Steam family sharing, streaming games on Twitch, and got her thoroughly hooked on this wonderful game.
The mechanics are solid and are layered gradually throughout the games, but it's the level design that really makes it. Each new puzzle is like a maze to be explored. You find a fragile little starting point, and gradually you begin to chip away at the landscape of hexes. Early levels are generous when it comes to progress, offering up explosions of new territory. Once you reach Hexcells Plus, this gives way to an excruciating drip-feed of information, as it shows you that the first game was really just an extended tutorial.
I'm probably going to get stuck into Hexcells Infinite very soon.
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Android: Netrunner
I've been thinking and reading a lot about board games lately. Thinking about them to the point that I'd like to get our D&D group back together for some Pandemic, or Elder Sign. I blame Shut Up & Sit Down for being so bloody enthusiastic and funny.
One of the games in SUSD's top 5 is Android: Netrunner, a living card game themed around hackers infiltrating huge corporations. It's a two player game with a theme that I love, so the £20 Amazon voucher I got for xmas dutifully burned a hole in my pocket.
After dipping my toe into the world of collectible card games with Hearthstone, I've been thinking about trying something that benefits from face to face play. Bluffing, misdirection, or just grinning at your opponent over the top of a hand of cards: they're largely missing from online CCGs. Netrunner, it turns out, has these things in spades. Both mechanically and thematically, the game is all about information. The corporation plays most cards face down, the runner has to build their rig in the open. Gradually, the balance of power shifts towards the runner; their rig gets stronger and more flexible, able to rip through the corp's defences. It's compelling stuff, and incredibly fun within a game or two of getting started.
Speaking of getting started, I'd heard that the best way to learn Netrunner is to have two or more people starting from scratch and learning together. Suffice to say that co-op nights are going to be getting a touch more competitive.
I'm gravitating towards playing the corp more often but I'm kind of bad at it. I've been told that as a corp player you should be more aggressive than your gut tells you to be. I was definitely trying to build a huge pile of money, and an impenetrable server before starting to work on advancing my agendas, the turtling instinct returning from my RTS days like an old friend. The one that taught you all those bad habits. I've only tried a couple of the corporations so far, so I'm sure there are decks that will suit my style. I'm also going to try to play plenty of games as the runner, just to keep myself reminded of that early game fear.
I can already tell that I'm going to love this game.
One of the games in SUSD's top 5 is Android: Netrunner, a living card game themed around hackers infiltrating huge corporations. It's a two player game with a theme that I love, so the £20 Amazon voucher I got for xmas dutifully burned a hole in my pocket.
After dipping my toe into the world of collectible card games with Hearthstone, I've been thinking about trying something that benefits from face to face play. Bluffing, misdirection, or just grinning at your opponent over the top of a hand of cards: they're largely missing from online CCGs. Netrunner, it turns out, has these things in spades. Both mechanically and thematically, the game is all about information. The corporation plays most cards face down, the runner has to build their rig in the open. Gradually, the balance of power shifts towards the runner; their rig gets stronger and more flexible, able to rip through the corp's defences. It's compelling stuff, and incredibly fun within a game or two of getting started.
Speaking of getting started, I'd heard that the best way to learn Netrunner is to have two or more people starting from scratch and learning together. Suffice to say that co-op nights are going to be getting a touch more competitive.
I'm gravitating towards playing the corp more often but I'm kind of bad at it. I've been told that as a corp player you should be more aggressive than your gut tells you to be. I was definitely trying to build a huge pile of money, and an impenetrable server before starting to work on advancing my agendas, the turtling instinct returning from my RTS days like an old friend. The one that taught you all those bad habits. I've only tried a couple of the corporations so far, so I'm sure there are decks that will suit my style. I'm also going to try to play plenty of games as the runner, just to keep myself reminded of that early game fear.
I can already tell that I'm going to love this game.
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Eets Muchies
I'm pretty sure everyone using Steam has some games in their library of unknown provenance. Humble Bundles are usually the culprits here, and I suspect that's how I ended up with a copy of Eets Munchies.
It's possible that I played puzzle games before Lemmings on the Amiga, but I certainly don't remember any of them. Eets is one of those games where you have to get one lemming through a level by carefully placing objects, winding him up, and watching him go.
I knew that this was a short game before I started, so I was happy when the main puzzles could be completed in around an hour. A fun little puzzler that didn't outstay its welcome was just what I needed to get back to the backlog.
It's possible that I played puzzle games before Lemmings on the Amiga, but I certainly don't remember any of them. Eets is one of those games where you have to get one lemming through a level by carefully placing objects, winding him up, and watching him go.
I knew that this was a short game before I started, so I was happy when the main puzzles could be completed in around an hour. A fun little puzzler that didn't outstay its welcome was just what I needed to get back to the backlog.
Monday, 22 December 2014
Kittens Game
A browser-based game, in a similar vein to Candy Box and the like. You start with one kitten in a catnip forest, and I'm to understand that the endgame involves interdimensional space travel. My kittens are currently lounging around in furs, smelting iron, and struggling towards the first glimpses of industry.
The main thing to note is that, unlike many incremental games, here it is possible to overextend and crash your fragile economy. This generally happens as a result of seasons. In Winter, food production takes a 75% hit and you can suddenly find yourself spiralling into the red. As the first snows fell, I decided to build a hut for my kitten. The hut attracted two more kittens to the village, they tore through the food, and starved to death.
It's not clear if this sense of fragility will persist. Already I'm at the point where it's running in another tab and I just check back every now and then to buy some upgrades.
Kittens Game is here if you want to try it, but I accept no responsibility for the lost hours.
The main thing to note is that, unlike many incremental games, here it is possible to overextend and crash your fragile economy. This generally happens as a result of seasons. In Winter, food production takes a 75% hit and you can suddenly find yourself spiralling into the red. As the first snows fell, I decided to build a hut for my kitten. The hut attracted two more kittens to the village, they tore through the food, and starved to death.
It's not clear if this sense of fragility will persist. Already I'm at the point where it's running in another tab and I just check back every now and then to buy some upgrades.
Kittens Game is here if you want to try it, but I accept no responsibility for the lost hours.
Hearthstone
I was desperate to get into the beta for Hearthstone when it first went out to Youtubers and streamers. I'd been among those who found the idea of a digital Warcraft TCG profoundly uninteresting when it was first announced. Then Blizzard did what Blizzard do, and took an idea that's been around for years, polished it, stripped it down to its core, and made it a pleasure to play.
Occasional bugs aside, Hearthstone is a masterclass in interface design. From the bombastic pack-opening, to the ritual of hovering over cards before identifying them, hoping for that legendary glow, and then handling the cards themselves. They feel like physical objects, which goes a long way towards offsetting the slightly odd feeling of collecting cards that don't really exist.
As time went on, and the metagame calcified, I got bored of seeing the same few decks, and ended up playing much less. The Naxxramas adventure was great, and I enjoyed both the new cards and the puzzle-like heroic bosses. However, many of the new cards made the strongest decks even stronger, and variations on the classic decks were everywhere.
The first expansion, Goblins and Gnomes, was released a couple of weeks back, and I've been playing ever since. The new mech cards are fun and really sell the theme. I think my favourite aspect of the new cards, though, is the increased randomness. Piloted Shredders are showing up in almost every kind of deck, and bringing with them some rarely seen minions. Unstable Portal can get you access to any legendary card in the game, and can lead to some ridiculous games. I played a 25 minute mage vs. priest game, which I won on pretty much the last draw of the game. The player sent me a friend request, and I accepted, ready to screenshot the latest rantings. We ended up chatting for about 10 minutes, laughing about the twists and turns the game had taken. So well done Blizzard, you've made Hearthstone fun again.
Occasional bugs aside, Hearthstone is a masterclass in interface design. From the bombastic pack-opening, to the ritual of hovering over cards before identifying them, hoping for that legendary glow, and then handling the cards themselves. They feel like physical objects, which goes a long way towards offsetting the slightly odd feeling of collecting cards that don't really exist.
As time went on, and the metagame calcified, I got bored of seeing the same few decks, and ended up playing much less. The Naxxramas adventure was great, and I enjoyed both the new cards and the puzzle-like heroic bosses. However, many of the new cards made the strongest decks even stronger, and variations on the classic decks were everywhere.
The first expansion, Goblins and Gnomes, was released a couple of weeks back, and I've been playing ever since. The new mech cards are fun and really sell the theme. I think my favourite aspect of the new cards, though, is the increased randomness. Piloted Shredders are showing up in almost every kind of deck, and bringing with them some rarely seen minions. Unstable Portal can get you access to any legendary card in the game, and can lead to some ridiculous games. I played a 25 minute mage vs. priest game, which I won on pretty much the last draw of the game. The player sent me a friend request, and I accepted, ready to screenshot the latest rantings. We ended up chatting for about 10 minutes, laughing about the twists and turns the game had taken. So well done Blizzard, you've made Hearthstone fun again.
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