Folders (Browser)

Folders has become my main 'time-waster' game when I am in front of my laptop; it's a great game to zone out to and then suddenly wake up to find you reached a new high score. I love it's simplicity. Too bad it's not an iPhone game....or actually, maybe that's a good thing.

Supermagical (iOS) & Secrets of Raetikon (PC)

Tonight I really didn't have that much time to play anything but I did promise myself I would check out Secrets of Raetikon at least for 20 minutes today. It's going to be released on Steam on Thursday so I decided it's pretty much "finished" and I can check it out. I was a crowd-funding backer for Secrets of Raetikon and because I had played so many unfinished titles just to have an update come along and make my progress obsolete or find myself almost bored of the game before it's actual "release," I decided to hold back on Raetikon until I was sure that they were really getting somewhere. Before I could get to that however, I had to put the kids to bed. So in their dark room hushing them and telling them to lie down I played 'Supermagical' an iOS game recommended to me by NoroHex.

The game is really pretty and plays a lot like Plants vs. Zombies but with a shooting mechanisum that is actually exactly like Dynomite by Popcap games.....oh, which are the guys that made Plants vs. Zombies and apparently also are a subsadary of Electonic Arts (urg...) Anyways, the game is colourful and cute and plays well.

There's a little story and I even had to choose my answers during a dialogue scene which was interesting (not sure though if it really had any effect on the conversation?) and there are lots of places to buy items but so far the IAP hasn't been in the forefront. 

Is it just me or does that pinata look just like the one from Zoombies?! You have candies and ice cream cones that are your spells to change the colour of the little blop that you shoot at the other blops, maybe later the puzzles get so complicated that you can't beat them without using a ton of magic which would lead to IAP, but let's try and stay positive: maybe not.

The map is also really cute. I was surprised how much I liked this, but seeing as I played a lot of Dynomite back in the day when it was a pretty basic browser game (before EA gobbled up Popcap Games?) I don't know how long this one will grip me, but for now I think I'll try it out when I am bored.

Secrets of Raetikon was something that I fell in love with as soon as I saw their art. It's just a really good looking game. It's still in Beta so there are going to be some kinks, but better than playing in Alpha (although I wish I had time to play it in Alpha and contribute a little to the forum but I simply don't)

I only played for 20 minutes but I was very glad with what I saw. It's exactly what I was hoping for, freedom to fly around and explore a beautiful world with strange artifacts and, what I wasn't expecting a few dangers along the way.

There are rocks and forest animals, eggs and saplings to interact with. Oh and there's wind, a lot of wind.

There are puzzles in the forms of these rune tablets that you slowly unlock the key for. Just look at that pretty bird. Well done guys at Broken Rules (who are the guys from Chasing Aurora on the WiiU and As Yet It Moves).

It's a really beautiful game and should also have an extensive editor. I won't be going much further in this though because I have promised myself I won't start anything new right now seeing as I am deep in a Neptune's Pride 2 game and (supposed to be) playing MirrorMoonEp on the Ouya.

They are still offering Alpha access on the official page but I am guessing that's going to expire on Thursday. Perhaps the price will increase too, so it might be worth checking out.

The Last Night (Browser) & Protocol (Browser)

The Last Night ranked 1st of 268 games for the #Cyberjam. I thought it interesting that this one won because the actual "game" element is missing. There's no way to lose or win - it's just a very pretty interactive short story; with an emphasis on short. I seriously think it took me 5 minutes to play. I played it 3 times to soak up all the details and you should to.

Protocol ranked 2nd and is much more of a conventional "game." I loved the design and colours but just could not get used to the controls (only being able to shoot either left, right and forward and backwards.....and the strange acceleration/deceleration keys) and because of that I couldn't get very far in it. Despite that, I could see myself coming back to this to give it another go and with a little fleshing out this could be a really good title. Definitely recommended.

D3 Redux (PC)

Just like the title of this blog, I've only had about 20 minutes to play anything recently.  In fact, the ability to play games at all is a relatively new thing considering how busy the last six months have been.

When I have had a bit of time, I've been jumping in to D3 and the new expansion, 'Reaper of Souls'.  I had sworn off of Blizzard entirely, but with the latest patch (2.0) I have been converted back in to a Diablo fan again.

In it's current form this is pretty much the perfect game for someone that wants some mindless downtime.  You can pop in and out of games really easily, regardless if it's your game or a friend's.  Friends can do the same to you which is a awesome casual way to keep social with people.

Getting rid of the auction house and tweaking the loot drops was the best thing Blizzard could have done to fix this game.  Knowing that you have to click to find good stuff, and knowing that the next click could drop something uber awesome, will have you chasing around every mob and inanimate object you can find.  There is something just that much more satisfying in knowing that you 'earned' each piece of your gear rather than straight up buying it from the AH.

Blizz also tweaked the difficulty level system as well.  I haven't made much use of this as I've kept my campaign game in Hard mode in order to burn through the story faster, but I do intend to try out Torture mode once I'm through all of the new content.  Yes, I know this isn't a new mode, but being able to up the difficulty without grinding through everything again is pretty sweet.

Speaking of new content, the story line is head and shoulders above the original.  Yes, it's already been done, and yes it's pretty cliché, but in all honesty it's way more interesting than all of the 60 levels prior.  They've also made it slightly more morally ambiguous which makes it easier to digest.  You're still the unstoppable good guy fighting evil, but it's not as in-your-face-saccharine-sweet good vs bad like it was prior. The rogue companion seems to have gotten cockier with his comments which is also much appreciated.

All in all, the patch made me feel like my initial purchase was worth it, and the $45 I spent on the expansion was money well spent too.  It's essentially a re-skinned D2 which is what it should have been all along. I'm still not huge on the rune system as I find it 'feels' way more limited than a skill tree.  I also wish they hadn't scrapped rune sockets as the process of combining runes in socketed items was one of my favourite features in D2. 

All things considered I'm still really enjoying D3 RoS and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick and easy way to blow off some steam.

Monument Valley (iOS)

Today was (finally) the release of Monument Valley - from ustwo. I've been watching this one for a while now (and wasn't taken for the beta *sob*) and I have to admit I binged on it and finished it rather quickly but loved it to bits. More screenshots to follow.