What games are you playing and why?

Well I decided to grab Bionic Dues, quite a fun little game actually(just played for 103 minutes). Also quite enjoying Sleeping Dogs.

 

Bought Dungeon Dashers because fuck it, why do I need money anyway

It's pretty cool! I've only played for about half an hour now, so it's all still pretty much the basic stuff, but it has a very Dungeons & Dragons feel to it. No dice or rolls, though.

 

I was considering it but from a game play video, it looks to me more like a puzzle game than a dungeon crawler.

 

From the first three short scenarios I've played so far, it does have some puzzle elements to it. The Action Point system really allows for some tactical impossible choices to be made, I'd like to see the puzzle-aspect ramp up in difficulty as the game progresses.

 

My preference is for non-puzzle games. But I don't mind a puzzle here and there. Just don't expect me to want to spend more than a few minutes figuring one out, and then jumping immediately to another then to another. A puzzle here or there, especially if it's a kind that I enjoy, is ok (puzzles involving words or numbers, or the kind of logic puzzles that you can work out with truth tables). I also tend to like puzzles more if they are done organically (in other words, it doesn't feel contrived).

 

I'm with you there Haldurson, I don't mind games that have puzzles, but I'm not a fan of puzzle games, where that's all you do. Best is if they are few and far between, but story appropriate and meaningful when they do show up.

 

I love puzzle games but I almost always hit a block within the first 20-25% and can't get past that part.

 

Decided to buy Steam Marines after watching some let's play of it, despite it being an alpha. Grabbed it from Indie Games Stand, which tied with Humble Store for lowest price($7.99), for being cheaper than steam, marginally cheaper than desura, and including keys for both, as well as a DRM-free stand alone download.

I was shocked at the size of the steam install... 24mb! It's tiny!

 

Played my first 10 minutes of Steam Marines as well, today
In a way, it's awfully similar to Dungeon Dashers

It feels a lot more unfinished, though, I don't know why

 

Can't comment on Dungeon Dashers, but yes, it does feel unfinished, and kind of klunky at the moment. But it is Early Access.
To put it into perspective, I can't even complain about bugs, because half the time I'm not sure what's what. I couldn't tell if the enemies are moving through walls or what (in fact the whole cutting through wall thing is klunky in itself).

 

Oh and I did end up picking up Avadon 2 from GOG... haven't played it though, saving for use as vacation game.

 

Another example of why I feel that Steam Marines is klunky. You get ammo and grenades and stuff like that as loot. So I tried to use a grenade, and it dropped it on the ground. Tried again, and it blew up over my own soldiers. You can't actually target anything specific, it's auto-targeted to the enemy directly in front of you. You cannot target at an angle. IF the target for the grenade happens to be out of range, it naturally assumes that you want to target yourself. Of course. And there's no visual cue as to what's actually being targeted.

Note also that I have trouble figuring out what things are. There always seems to be a blinking cursor-like thing, but it has no actual affect other than to confuse you. I think that maybe if I click on something it will tell me what it is but that seems really hit and miss. The only thing I can do is to walk into things to see what they are. In fact, that seems to be the only way to find out if a wall is breakable or not (and some things are only accessable by breaking down walls). Also some things if you walk into will give you stuff. Obviously the chest-like icons do this, but lots of other things do that. I walked into a blinking thing and I got some stupid message about calling home (must have been a communications device).

Honestly I have to recommend that you stay away. I have no idea if this will ever be a decent game, but I do know that it isn't one right at this moment.

 

Yep, everything Haldurson said. Couldn't put it into words, but that was spot on

 

Waiting for Star Citizen and wanting my space dogfighting itch I played some Strike Suit Zero over the weekend.
Relatively awful. The first missions are okayish, but as soon as you get that mech suit... meh.
I expected this though so got it very cheap at some point so I'm not troubled.

Going to try out Spelunky and The Swapper soon.

Also played Dungeon Dashers: fun! only annoyance really was the slow walking.
And since I backed Battle Worlds Kronos also played that yesterday: also fun, looking good so far (did the first mission only)

 

Maybe it's because I am playing with keyboard and mouse? The default deadzone for mouse was awful, but once I cranked it up a lot the controls were tolerable. But I found the strike mode controls so chaotic... I don't seem to easily switch between targets that I need for my mission. Like guarding against torpedos and targeting nearby fighters instead. Maybe it's because I have all these other habits and expectations too. And lastly, I might have been tired when trying it out

 

Finally got the first short-cut in Spelunky
Also, the Golden Monkey is just adorable!

 

I've been playing a game that I had preordered a while back, and then forgot about -- Desktop Dungeons. It's now on Steam, for those interested. It's kind of a roguelike-like/puzzle game hybrid in that the enemies don't move, and you heal and regain mana by uncovering unexplored squares of the map. So sometimes you have to actually try to NOT explore all of the map, in order to leave unexplored squares to heal yourself with. Furthermore, there are sub-levels that also have a puzzly feel to them (and some can be completely unforgiving). And then there's a meta-game where the money you find in dungeons you can spend to upgrade your town, to unlock various classes and races and preparations.

 

It has been a whole while since I've actually played Dwarf Fortress, fired it up again yesterday
Forgot to trade for extra booze, and my irrigation system for my farm was just finished after the river next to it froze. Woopsie! No booze, mass thirst,...