I’m probably like a lot of you out there in thinking, “hey, I have so much time now, I’m gonna play a lot and write a bunch about it!” The truth is, however, I find myself more busy than before and usually filled with more minutiae. I don’t want that to stop me from writing though, so I thought I’d post about what I’m playing right now and see if I can turn that into a review or somesuch in the near future. So here goes…
Ancient Enemy: Solitaire Combat
I got this game for two reasons. First, Jake Birkett of @GreyAlien games was one of my early followers/followees on Twitter and he always something interesting to say about the indie gaming industry, challenges, and tea. So I decided to pick up his most recent game at the time, Shadowhand. It’s a solitaire-RPG kind of thing, where you upgrade your posh English ladies to be dastardly rogue-ish. I liked it enough to pick up his latest release, Ancient Enemy. It’s very similar to Shadowhand, it’s a solitaire game in its essence (think Fairway Solitaire), but this time its an RPG-Deck Builder with Slay the Spire influences. The gameplay itself is not deep, I mean, it is solitaire… but the deckbuilding choices, options, and sequencing during battles are complex and create some real tense moments as you barely eke out a win. So yeah, solitaire with cahones!
Ghost of a Tale: Why not Tail?
I hesitated for a long time to pick this one up. It seemed like it would be cute, but mediocre. Boy was I wrong! This is a FANTASTIC game! It’s obvious much love and attention to detail was poured into it by @GhostofaTale’s developer(s). As someone pointed out to me, “The level design in this game is exceptional!” The graphics are also phenomenal! It is definitely cute, but it’s also a serious RPG-puzzle- adventure game. All set in an oppressive rodent world. It feels more real to me right now than realistic games. Maybe the reason is because we are all just tiny mice in a big world of diseased rats who want to destroy us. Ok, I think I’m just channeling my memories of reading Camus’s The Plague in school…
Pikuniku: Maybe it means Arm-Less Hero?
Whatever it really means (I mean who has time to look stuff up nowadays?) this game is a super little adventure. The simple graphics are cute, the gameplay is quirky, but the story is deceptively deep. It brings in corporate greed, environmental destruction, economic justice and baskick. Yeah, they created a new sport. It’s one of those games short and entertaining enough that you want to finish AND get all the achievements. I’m still working on getting some arms though.
Comfort Food: Hearthstone, XCOM and Gears
At this time of year I always think, “this time Hearthstone will be great!” And it is, for about 2 weeks. Actually this time it wasn’t quite so great, with Demon Hunters squashing any real deck innovation, but at least it posed a challenge in developing a counter. Did I find a counter? Does Highlander Quest Shaman or Pure Quest Paladin win? Kind of. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, be thankful. Really, all these games were just a holding pattern for the serious stuff: XCOM: Chimera Squad and Gears Tactics.
Chimera Squad definitely seemed to come out of nowhere. It also now seems to have named characters and a story – what?!? However, reactionaries seem to forget Legacy Ops which was added to XCOM 2 in late 2018. This story mode let Bradford, Shen and Dr. Tygan really shine and you couldn’t let those guys die either. So, it always feels nice to come back to XCOM and the reminder of why every other tactics game is “like XCOM.” I’ve also been playing a bit of Gears (of War) 5. I wouldn’t say I’m a “Gearhead? Gearser? Gearboy?” but I have played every Gears campaign since the original. Gears really popularized the cover system that had an undeniable influence on XCOM and its “likes.” It’s almost like the whole cover thing is coming back around. If the trailers are anything to go by, Gears Tactics will be satisfyingly crunchy AND tactical- to quote Marcus Fenix, “nice!”