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Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
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Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
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Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
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oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
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Mycelia Board Game Review

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oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
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oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
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River Wild Board Game Review

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oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
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November 30, 2023
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Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
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oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
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Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
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October 17, 2023
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October 10, 2023
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Outback Crossing Review

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What VIDEO GAME(s) have you been playing?

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09 Feb 2016 12:49 #222073 by jeb
Started XEODRIFTER on the Vita--teeny little Metroidvania game. It's adorbs.

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09 Feb 2016 18:59 #222129 by Michael Barnes
Well, the outcome of The Witness for me is that it sent me off on playing old timey adventure games...you know, games with actual stories and puzzles that weren't trying to probe the depths of the human condition or anything like that.

Most of them I'm playing on IOS due to convenience, but one standout has been Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments. It was free on PS+ a few months ago. It's a pretty traditional point and clicker, but in full 3D and it's really kind of like LA Noire. I've just done the first case (which was over two hours) and it was really enjoyable. It's a really fun one if you like the classic stories- the characters are right on, and the writers really get to some of the good Holmes stuff. No spoilers, but the case ends up with Holmes in a fake beard and sailor costume arm-wrestling a dude in a tavern. And then fisticuffs! Before that though, you'll be practicing throwing a harpoon into a pig (to Watson's dismay) and generally being really smart. It visualizes how Holmes solves the cases in a pretty neat way- you have to find evidence and link it together to arrive at potential suspects, and then you make your accusation based on what you've got. Which may be right or wrong. Neat game. I kind of want to see the Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper thing this company did a few years ago after this one.

Grim Fandango...I recall buying this for my girlfriend at the time, and I always thought I had played through more of it than I did before getting stumped by that zany LucasArts "put the hamster in the washing machine with the French bread" anti-logic. But I guess we really only played about an hour or so of it. I honestly don't know how a modern gamer would have the patience with the puzzles, trying and retrying everything on two or three screens...but the game is pretty great, the writing, characters and art style are timeless and fun. I believe they are doing Full Throttle next, that was my favorite of the LucasArts titles. Wouldn't mind seeing something like The Dig or Loom brought back from the dead.

Broken Sword is really good, I never played it. The writing is really funny, some of it is almost R-rated in its sly vulgarity. The racial/national caricatures certainly wouldn't get by today, nor would depicting American tourists in Syria. The story is fun and definitely good in a "1990s game writing" way, but I can imagine that for the time it was regarded as more mature and compelling than the usual fare. The puzzles are a little more sensible, but there are still a couple of WTF solutions. But when you get them (in game hints if you must), it's always an "aha!" kind of moment, not a "that is some bullshit right there" one.

The Room 3 was really good too, I like those games a lot. Perfect on a touchscreen and lots of really ingenious puzzles to solve. It's a lot longer than the previous two and I actually went back and played the first two again ahead of it so by the end I was kind of ready for it to be done. But enjoyed it nonetheless.

Beneath a Steel Sky is great, digging that one for sure. Love that it has a very 2000AD sort of vibe.

Gemini Rue seems pretty good so far, just a little of the way into it. Sort of clichéd SF stuff, but so far so good. Makes me want to play the old Westwood Blade Runner game.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is totally brilliant, I just wish that it was a little faster. It has the annoying Japanese habit of trickling out dialogue boxes. Youc an speed it up, but it doesn't help. The item-based puzzles are really neat and the writing is genuinely funny. It's more old-fashioned than I expected.

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is one I always wanted to play what with Harlan Ellison haranguing you throughout it and all, so far I've just poked around at it. It looks OK, but man, is the writing dated. It is also not really optimized for IOS like Steel Sky or Broken Sword. So I dunno on this one.

Machinarium, fucking brilliant. Played it a few years ago, now I've got River and Scarlett playing it with me.

I have The Last Express, another that I always wanted to check out, but I haven't gotten into it yet.

Another World is a masterpiece, needless to say. Just started on it, at one point a friend of mine and I had it almost completely memorized.

Hadean Lands is an all text (Infocom-style) adventure that may be one of the best that I've ever played. It is definitely not a casual game for all audiences though. It's about the most hardcore text adventure I've seen. It's an unusual setting, a spaceship where some kind of time-fracturing disaster has occurred. And alchemy is a thing. So a lot of the game, so far, has been working out alchemical rituals and processes to progress through the ship. There are some really brilliant concepts in it, like how when you perform a ritual you can just type its title in the parser and you will automatically do ALL of the steps to do it- including getting any particular ingredients or items to do so. I don't know if I've ever seen a game handle backtracking so perfectly. The writing is decent, it kind of reminds of Gene Wolfe in a way and if I heard that the writer was influenced by him I would not be surprised at all.

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09 Feb 2016 22:41 #222143 by iguanaDitty
Ghost Trick is maybe my favorite game ever. Probably not. But close.

I need to play Hadean Lands. I highly recommend tracking down Spider and Web by the same author, it is a fucking masterpiece.

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09 Feb 2016 23:01 #222144 by hotseatgames
I played a lot of Ghost Trick. I think I got stuck on the drapes / desk puzzle and got sidetracked, never to return.

I've been playing Talos Principle. Very good and if you liked Portal you should buy it immediately.

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10 Feb 2016 08:26 #222165 by Black Barney
Love Another World.

I'm glad to see just because a game is free and has achievements, I won't necessary play it. I tried The Deer God last night and promptly deleted it. Trying Knight squad now which really needs couch co-op friends.

Will start Battle Islands tonight

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11 Feb 2016 12:26 #222269 by hotseatgames
Looks like Dark Quest is getting a sequel! If you didn't play the first one, it's the best HeroQuest-like I've seen.

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12 Feb 2016 19:48 - 13 Feb 2016 17:42 #222340 by hotseatgames

Sevej wrote: I thought I was done with Door Kickers (done all campaign and single maps), but now I'm obsessed with the "perfect plan" scheme on the smaller map. In this challenge, you plan all your movements at the beginning and just see how it's unfold. Note that it's not a perfect situation, since enemies and gunfire are somewhat random. On some maps I repeat the same plan several times with different results. But, it's okay, and I find it intriguing.


I bought Door Kickers today. I've been through a few missions, getting the hang of how to issue orders properly. It's a cool game and it's obvious that it can get really hard really quickly. There's a TON of content.

Here's a video of one of my plans, and it did come together.
Last edit: 13 Feb 2016 17:42 by hotseatgames.
The following user(s) said Thank You: jeb, Sevej

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13 Feb 2016 22:46 #222385 by jeb

hotseatgames wrote:

Sevej wrote: I thought I was done with Door Kickers (done all campaign and single maps), but now I'm obsessed with the "perfect plan" scheme on the smaller map. In this challenge, you plan all your movements at the beginning and just see how it's unfold. Note that it's not a perfect situation, since enemies and gunfire are somewhat random. On some maps I repeat the same plan several times with different results. But, it's okay, and I find it intriguing.


I bought Door Kickers today. I've been through a few missions, getting the hang of how to issue orders properly. It's a cool game and it's obvious that it can get really hard really quickly. There's a TON of content.

Ooooooh, the minmaxing would be strong in this game. I would have trouble advancing because I would be stuck on the first level trying to utterly perfect it. Makes me think of BANGAI-O SPIRITS of all things.

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14 Feb 2016 01:45 - 14 Feb 2016 01:45 #222395 by scrumpyjack
Started and finished Her Story. It's a solid 3 hours of entertainment. The fractured narrative style is the most compelling part but the story is also quite interesting as it is open to interpretation. One thing my wife and I thought
Warning: Spoiler!
Last edit: 14 Feb 2016 01:45 by scrumpyjack.

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14 Feb 2016 08:52 #222400 by Black Barney
I started Valiant Hearts, the Great War and am loving it

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14 Feb 2016 20:21 - 14 Feb 2016 20:27 #222449 by Sevej

hotseatgames wrote:

Sevej wrote: I thought I was done with Door Kickers (done all campaign and single maps), but now I'm obsessed with the "perfect plan" scheme on the smaller map. In this challenge, you plan all your movements at the beginning and just see how it's unfold. Note that it's not a perfect situation, since enemies and gunfire are somewhat random. On some maps I repeat the same plan several times with different results. But, it's okay, and I find it intriguing.


I bought Door Kickers today. I've been through a few missions, getting the hang of how to issue orders properly. It's a cool game and it's obvious that it can get really hard really quickly. There's a TON of content.

Here's a video of one of my plans, and it did come together.


Haha, awesome! I made a few myself! The game's video recording functionality is just awesome.

www.youtube.com/channel/UCc4c8JPgRAM0JSUwRYhi-_Q

jeb wrote: Ooooooh, the minmaxing would be strong in this game. I would have trouble advancing because I would be stuck on the first level trying to utterly perfect it. Makes me think of BANGAI-O SPIRITS of all things.

Don't worry, you have to grow your squad first. Unlocking stuff,etc (the campaign is great for this). And with the wealth of maps, you will *want* to try them!

And the awesome thing is, with the single mission, you can try any of the 80+ maps right away!
Last edit: 14 Feb 2016 20:27 by Sevej.
The following user(s) said Thank You: jeb, hotseatgames

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14 Feb 2016 21:05 #222452 by hotseatgames
I do wish it would hold on the results screen for longer. You can't even read it without pausing the video.

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19 Feb 2016 12:58 #222853 by hotseatgames
I picked up the weekly humble bundle, mainly because it features Party Hard, which looked like fun. You play a guy just trying to get some sleep, but the neighbors are partying too loudly. So of course, you decide to kill them all, often in creative and hilarious ways.

Unfortunately the novelty wears off quickly, and the game is not all that fun. Also it sucks to get arrested when you only have a few party-goers to take out, because it can take a bit of time.

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19 Feb 2016 14:36 #222863 by Gary Sax
I've been thinking about getting the dying light package. It's supposed to be a game with a lot of flaws, but some straight up FPS open world murder sounds good to me right now.

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19 Feb 2016 16:17 #222870 by Legomancer
I bought the Uncharted package and played through the first one, which was a lot of fun. Looking forward to the second.

But man, that 2013 Tomb Raider game somehow managed to completely swipe this game wholesale AND be much worse. That is an incredible feat.

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