One of my goal for this year was to write more. Of course, this means I need something to write about. Since the games I’m playing tend to change from month to month, I thought this might serve as a good source of brain droppings with which I can litter the internet. The rules are simple: this is just a list of the stuff I’ve played, new or old, this month. Video and board games both count. It doesn’t necessarily mean these games are great, it just means they’ve occupied my time for whatever reason. Usually the two are correlated.
So, what have I been playing so far in 2016?
Defense of the Ancients 2
It’s been so long since I typed out the whole name of that game that it didn’t feel natural. In fact, the Steam listing doesn’t even say it. It just says “Dota 2.” It’s like the acronym turned into it’s own word shortly after turning into its own genre.
This game oscillates between being a source of either joy or blinding frustration, as it remains one of the least fun games to lose in the history of multiplayer gaming. But as a rule, I never play it alone, ever. Friends that rage together, stay together.
I often judge games by the simple boolean metric of “would I recommend this game to a friend?” No. In this case I would absolutely not. But it’s the most-played game in my Steam library by leaps and bounds. I’m not sure what to make of that.
Castles of Burgundy
I didn’t expect to like this game as much as I do. The boards seem daunting and there’s a lot of dice rolling. But it is engaging, easy to learn, and not nearly as random as it looks. It’s a 2-4 player game that actually plays well (and differently) at all player counts. The fact that it scales well to 2 players is really nice. Also, every game I’ve played has ended with fairly close scores.
The setting is boring as all hell. It’s yet another castle-building game in the middle ages. Also on the down side is the fact that the game does still involve a fair amount of luck, despite several mechanics that exist specifically to mitigate bad rolls. A 4-person game can easily last 3+ hours. But again, since the games seem to always come out close, it’s not so bad when the games run long. I’d recommend it to fans of tile-placement board games.
Mechwarrior: Online
This game is getting good. It took a long road to get here, with an open beta that went way too long, a store that opened way too soon, and a soft launch with way too many features unimplemented and an unforgiving new user experience. But the UI is slowly getting better, balance is improving, the community is supportive and helpful, and in the end it is still the best iteration of Mechwarrior multiplayer to date. I’m not regretting my time with this game one bit.
My main problem is that I’m flying solo. This game works really well with a team, but I don’t have the time to join an organized unit or go hunting for community groups (of which there are plenty), and it’s hard to recommend this game to friends because of the steep learning curve. So I stomp on alone. Ping me if you are interested in playing this game and want a mentor. At the very least, hey, it’s free! You’ve got nothing to lose!
Fallout 4
Obvious entry is obvious. I will say this, I am having fun. The game feels more like Borderlands in the Fallout universe than a proper Fallout entry. The dialogue system is bad. The factions are dumb. The graphics are lackluster. The story is making increasingly less sense as it goes on. There’s way too much mindless combat. The UI is bad. There’s no way I’d call this a great game, or game of the year, or any of that.
But I am having fun. And I can’t stop playing. True to Bethesda’s roots, the amount of content presented to the player is staggering. The writing and voice acting are actually spot on, to the point where I don’t mind having a voiced character this time around. The combat feels great, even if there is too much of it. There are interesting characters and I find myself wanting to know more about them and their world.
Despite its many flaws, I’m having fun, and in the end perhaps that’s all that matters.
Splendor
The visceral satisfaction of this game, coupled with its short play time, make it a frequent choice in our board game shelf.
One downside is that I’m starting to see how much of a role chance plays in this game, and how that results in a fairly low skill ceiling. This is great for new players, but when you’ve been playing for a year and those new players blow you away, you start to wonder.
I sometimes ponder about the competitive scenes of these board games. That is, whether or not they exist and what their play looks like. Usually when I’m getting schooled at a video game I watch some replays or Let’s Play footage and get some pointers, but I haven’t really found a good source of board game tips and tricks.
Space Engineers
When describing this game, I’ve often called it “Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program’s lovechild.” That’s not really accurate, but it’s close enough. You are collecting stuff to make things, but you’re in going to space and the laws of physics matter. While playing this game, I have calculated thrust-to-weight ratios and fuel efficiency metrics for fun. I taught myself how to pilot a single-engine gyrocopter because I could.
Unfortunately, this game is still in Early Access as an alpha product. And boy does it show. Shit has a tendency to just explode for no reason. The netcode has issues: if Dan and I touch each other, one of us dies instantly. And it’s the only early access survival crafting game that isn’t available cross-platform. Even the dedicated server is Windows-only, which would cripple the multiplayer scene if the broken netcode didn’t already do that.
If this game were stable, and had a Linux dedicated server, I’d recommend it to every single gamer I know. And the non-gamers, too. It’s that good. Even without a Linux client (which I do not expect to see happen).
This next year will make or break this game, and one can only hope the developers will move it out of alpha and focus on performance and stability.
FTL: Faster than Light
Do you own a computer? Do you have a few bucks hanging around in your pocket? If so, you can and should play this game. Cross platform, easy to walk away from, addictive and infinitely replayable. And that awesome damned soundtrack. This is on the list because I still pop it open every now and then and play a Random round.
BattleTech
Why yes, I did spend some time playing a tabletop game from the 80s that still has a devoted following. This game is in a weird place for me. I own an intro box set but I’ve never played with it. It’s complex enough that I don’t feel comfortable running my own game, and the community is so small that I have trouble finding anybody interested in playing it. Were it not for a monthly meetup in Boston I probably wouldn’t. But thankfully, that does exist, and it is awesome.
I do wish they would update their miniatures and republish their ‘mech spec sheets to be a little more interesting. This game needs a face lift. I haven’t tried the Alpha Strike rules yet; maybe they shake things up a bit. All I know is that between this and MW:O, I find myself wondering just how much ‘mech action I can get before I burn out on this franchise. Hasn’t happened yet. Not even close.
I think that’s about it. Was this interesting? Should I do more? Because I’m probably going to.