What games are you playing and why?

Dishonored: Picked it up dirt-cheap in a steam sale. I object to the depictions of violence used, so I've been doing a "as little killing as possible while still shooting at people who surprise me" kind of run. I enjoy how the game actually encourages a non-violent approach.

As for story: a great backstory and world-building, which Dishonored seems to do pretty good at, do not necessarily mean a good game story. I saw the major events (no spoilers here) coming about five miles away and just sighed when they happened.

So far: good backstory, nice worldbuilding, totally sucky story, quite nice gameplay. Rather glad I didn't pay full price, to be honest.

 

Went back into Civ 5 because I wanted to play a 4x. Still not as good as 4 in my subjective opinion (I REALLY liked the late game stuff you could do with corporations), but okay since the Brave New World Expansion. The City-States and Trade Routes continue to strike me as nicely implemented, and keepers for the series. I've managed to beat Emperor difficulty at this point, but nothing higher.

Aside from that, Hand of Fate is a unique(?) blending of RL, Deck-Building, and Brawler. It was KS'd back in the day for a modest amount, and is now on EA on Steam. It is polished, and they are currently in "balance, polish, and iterate" mode as opposed to "oh god there isn't any money left in the bank slap some shit up on steam so we can keep the doors open." The way they use card unlocks to introduce additional story/encounters/gear is pretty novel, as far as I'm aware. I like it.

Even if double Court card encounters (King of Dust, Jack of Scales) make me use bad words.

 

I've been playing a heck of a lot of Alpha Centauri lately (did briefly go back to Civ 5 as well, probably will again soon).

 

I've been playing Secret Ponchos early access nonstop for the last week. It's a fighting game with a graphic novel spaghetti western theme and amazing music. I haven't enjoyed a fighting game this much since Street Fighter 2. It's on sale for a day or two more, and 8.99 gets you two copies. If you like fast paced games, you'll love it.

 

I've dabbled quite a bit with Worlds of Magic -- it still needs work, but I'm figuring stuff out as I go along (this is a game that definitely needs a manual and/or a wiki).

I played around just a bit with Wastelands 2 way back when it first got into beta -- I didn't find any problems, but I didn't want to get very far in an unfinished game. I'm now taking a serious stab at it. If you liked Fallout 1 or 2, you should like this game as well. There are so many different skills to choose from, that you really can't have all of them on one team (you start with 4 characters). I have one Assault weapons guy, one Shotgun girl/scout-type (outdoorsman, high perception, etc.), one Leader with high charisma and intelligence + medic skills, and one sorta jack of all trades (I took a smattering of a few different mechanical/technical skills -- lockpick, computer, alarm disarm, and one other I can't think of atm).

Spoiler: Spoiler -- don't read if you don't want hints

Skills I wish I had taken now (but couldn't) include Doctor, and trap disarm. That said, the only skill that I haven't needed to use yet for anything was Alarm disarm (but I understand that all skills are useful in the game, so we'll see). Computer was actually a very good choice, btw. Also I didn't take any of the persuasion/conversation skills, but there have been lots of opportunities to use them -- I probably could have avoided a big (but trivially easy) combat had I done so. Also, be careful where you place your shotgun-wielding rangers, as friendly fire is very possible.

 

I have been playing Warlock: Master of the Arcane for the past week or two. I like it. It's turn based and once you figure out what is what it is actually quite fun. When it was first released, I remember that there was a big foofarah in that it was notoriously buggy. I had heard that there were major patches afterwards and I got this free from the Humble Bundle site though I do own a physical copy that I had never installed. I decided to give it a try to see if the game was playable or not. The game still has a few bugs that I have found in it but none are game crashing or blocking as of yet. They are more annoying than do anything to harm and tend to be few and far between. I am enjoying the game and recomend it to anyone that likes turn based conquering set in a fantasy world.

 

Spoiler: Spoiler -- don't read if you don't want hints

Doctor is called Surgeon, and trap disarm is called demolitions.

 

7 Days to Die. After the 'random worlds' update, a friend of mine put up a dedicated server and we've been battling the hordes ever since. I'm impressed at how well the game continues to advance in features and awesomeness.

 

I want to get 7 Days to Die but don't have the money. I'm waiting for a sale that will bring it closer to my ability to pay and then I'm going to get it. It looks like a lot of fun and that was when I saw it almost a year ago. The little I have seen of it since then makes me believe that it has only gotten better. Hopefully soon I will be able to get it.

 

Honestly, I'm very impressed with how much better it is. They went from the minecraft block graphics to the full-on Voxel landscape, and it can be truly stunning at times (especially the random canyons). The crafting system has taken off in a big way. Stealth and combat still need work, and so does the crafting...I hear they are moving to upgradable blocks as the basis for all fort / defense buildings, but even in its current "still alpha" state it's a ton of fun with friends.

.....just watch out for that 7th night ....

 

I am tempted, but the game is still out of my price range. After the next sale I may be able to. I wish you each the best, by all means go stomp one-another.

 

I have been meaning to learn how to play Dominions 4 for a very long time. Usually the vastness of the game overwhelms me because I have nowhere to begin and then I give up almost immediately. I imagine at some point what will happen is I will wake up from a long sleep and realize I spent the last 40 hours playing it.

 

Dominions 4 is a very complex game. In fact, watching Let's Play videos it is clear half the people playing it have not a clue what they are doing. They wind up losing and having no idea what the game was so hard on them, when there was just a few things they needed to know to prosper in those situations. The name is important. DOMINION is the way you win, and often the way you fight your enemies without even sending armies.

I do not own it due to the price, and I still spent a solid week screaming obscenities at my monitor due to the people playing everything wrong... Good game if you have the patience for it. Terrible game if you expect it to be easy or simple or for one single strategy to win every time.

Game on Gaslamp. (And in the end, if there is a tie, throw the "winners" into the pit to fight to the death with shivs.)

 

I think I could do another Dominions game, two of mine are about to enter the endphase so should end before a new gets into the really intensive phase.

And getting into it can be really, really daunting - I watched hours of let's play before I felt I could justify buying it. And while I have a good grasp of the mechanics and the options, combinding them into strategies will keep me busy for years (if keep playing!).

 

I'd love to participate.

 

I will be an honest person here: the hideous graphics of Dominions 4 always put me off, especially at that price point. I mean, the game looks worse (in my opinion) than Age of Empires I, which came out in '97. If the game is so complex that they didn't have time or money to make better art, I honestly would have preferred static icons with good art on them. I can play Hearts of Iron II for months on end because of this fact.

...it bothers me that in my old age I've turned into a graphics snob, but I really do find it hard to spend that much money on something with graphics that remind me of the 90s. *goes into a corner for serious self-reflection*