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.
Backloggery sig
Tuesday 23 December 2014
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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