Hey ho, everybody! I set a video game goal for the year, to make it through my large catalogue of unplayed Steam games and at least categorize them. As I mentioned last time, this is manifesting as me picking out three games a month and poking them.
At the suggestion of a friend, this morning I made a “Long Game” category for games that take 20-40+ hours to beat, so instead of trying to beat them as part of this, I can just take note and come back to them later.
(The other categories are:
- Beat the Game But Would Play Again (self explanatory)
- Beat the Game! (for games I have beaten and probably will not play again)
- Fun! (games that can be played on and off, and that I want to do so)
- Idle Games (idle miners and clickers)
- Online Multiplayer (self-explanatory)
- Tried but Eh (didn’t like or were frustrating for whatever reason)
- Uncategorized)
March
For March I selected Garden Story (a continuation from February, as it’s a longer game, 40 hours or so), Stardew Valley (which I bought cuz it was half price and everyone seems to love it), and Alba: A Wildlife Story.
Alba: A Wildlife Story
I definitely picked up Alba as part of a bundle of games. I super enjoyed this one. It took me about four hours to beat, which seems to be the sweet spot, honestly. Not too long where I can get distracted by other things, not too short to not be worth it. I finished it over the course of about four days. It’s part “find and photograph animal” game, part pro-environmental messaging, part puzzle game. The story was pretty decent too. I actually teared up a bit at the end. (Category: Beat the Game!)
Garden Story
I did play more of this game, but I didn’t get terribly far. Garden Story is an adventure game where you play a grape named Concord and attempt to save the Grove from the rot that’s eating it. It’s fun, but I have a hard time focusing on long games in any sort of consistent manner. (Category: Long Game)
Stardew Valley
Everyone knows about Stardew Valley, right? It’s not really my type of game (Farming sims have never really been my thing, though I did have SimFarm back in the day, to date myself) but it’s all right. There’s a LOT going on and a lot to keep track of, but I’ve played a bit by myself and some with a friend, who is nicely explaining everything to me, which has been a HUGE help. I don’t know if I would have figured out some aspects of the game on my own. (Category: Long Game)
April
With both Garden Story and Stardew Valley being massive, I specifically picked shorter games for this month. (Thank goodness for the ability to search for average play time.) So for April I have Cleo: A Pirate’s Tale, Princess Farmer, and Here Comes Niko!
Princess Farmer
I picked up Princess Farmer in a bundle as well (and I remember it distinctly, because they didn’t have enough keys for this game in particular and I had to keep checking back. The rest of the games were fine). It wasn’t one of the games I was looking forward to in said bundle, but I actually really enjoyed it. It took me about seven hours to get through the storyline the first time, and there’s a couple of different modes that I’d like to give a try, so this one gets moved into the Fun! category.
Here Comes Niko!
This is also probably a bundle game. In Here Comes Niko!, you’re working as a professional friend, and it’s a combination of a platformer and a puzzle game as you solve problems for people on a variety of islands. I found it extremely frustrating. The controls are very sensitive, and the 3D environment makes a lot of the platforming aspects just too difficult for me. After I’d given up, the smaller, mobile one tried for an HOUR and a HALF to catch five fish for one guy, and couldn’t manage it either. (Category: Tried but Eh)
Cleo: A Pirate’s Tale
I kickstarted this game! Also it’s on SALE for $3 right now, so you should go and grab it. This is an old-school adventure game like the old LucasArts games (one of my favorite video game genres). I’ve only played the intro so far, but I’m really enjoying it. Highly recommend. (Not categorized yet, as I hope to beat it.)
I may go back to A Short Hike! if I have time later in the month–I only played it for about 15 minutes back in February, and I need to give it more of a go to either beat it or move it in a category of some sort.
Have you played any of these games, Squiders? What are your favorite types of games?
