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Card Battlers Part One: Heart of the Cards

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I haven't been here for a while - life, the universe and everything meaning I don't have much spare time these days. But I can always find time for some tasty Card Battling Delights! This week is Card Battler week on Steam and along with that there are a plethora of deck-based games of all shapes, sizes and qualities. So I'm spen ding the week trying a bunch of them out, and thought it might  be fun to write about the ones I've liked enough to wishlist. If you like card battlers (games like Slay the Spire, Balatro, Dicey Dungeons - yes I know that last one isn't cards but the concept is the same), then I'd recommend checking out a bunch of demos for yourself. I have a personal taste for which games I enjoy and it will definitely differ from yours! So with that in mind here's Part One! Dicefolk In Dicefolk you'll be commanding a group of Chimeras, mythical creatures who happen to be controlled by magical dice. It has the basics of many other games of its

Itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality Mini Reviews #3

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A short one today because the games I played were all really good! You can buy this bundle here (it now contains over 1000 games!!: https://itch.io/b/520/bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality Overland In Overland you play as a survivor of some kind of alien apocalypse, trying to get from the East Coast of America to the West. You'll do this by visiting mini levels which can hold useful items, fuel and sometimes other survivors. The game has a very simple gameplay loop like other 'rogue-lites' of its genre (FTL, Convoy etc.), which keeps you coming back for future playthroughs - maybe this time I'll make it further than the first blockade! Night in the Woods This is probably one of the more famous games in the bundle. Night in the Woods is essentially a point and click adventure game, but its modern (yet offbeat) setting and themes make it one really worth playing. I won't spoil it but maybe not everything is as it seems in Possum Springs...

Itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality Mini Reviews #2

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Part 2! Enjoy! Where you can buy this bundle: https://itch.io/b/520/bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality Airships: Conquer the Skies In this one you take on missions where you'll build and fly magipunk airships, attacking various targets. A neat thing about this one is that the airships are modular, so you can place rooms / armour / turrets where you like. Dangerous Duels A local multiplayer shootout game. For some reason this one ran really quickly on my computer so I couldn't play it properly. It seems like its a real-time tactical game where you move your character around a pre-set grid to outmaneuver the other players. Time Stone Very heavily inspired by the LucasArts point and click genre of games. Even the font is the same! The pixel art is neat but there were some very questionable jokes in the ten minutes I played... East Van EP Three short visual experiences. More akin to things like 'The Beginners Guide' than more interactive games (t

Itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality Mini Reviews #1

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I'll return to the Steam Challenge someday, I promise! But for now enjoy this write up about the Itch.IO Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality games. Buy the bundle here - it's very worth it! https://itch.io/b/520/bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality Disclaimer - I'm saying nothing negative about these games as they're mostly made by indy devs or as passion projects - instead I'm going to try and give an overview of what the game is like, as well as my recommendations from the list! Last Knight: Rogue Rider Edition This is an endless runner game with a few more modes than you'd expect. You play as a knight on horseback racing through various biomes and collecting coins. There's even an RPG-style mode where you can outfit your knight and horse. Just Another Day at the Office A game about collecting molotovs then using those molotovs on your Capitalist office co-workers. Include various anti-capitalist quotes! This would be a relaxing expe

31) E is for... Endless Legend

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The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. I'm back on the Steam Challenge boat, and maybe this year I'll finally get done? Who am I kidding. I think I bought more games in the Steam sale at Christmas than I blogged about last year. Anyway, onwards with Endless Legend. Made in 2014, I believe that there are a few 'Endless' games, all different genres set in the same world (which is a neat and underused concept). Being a 4X game, the plot is 'your faction is the strongest / most charismatic / most intelligent, so colonize this world', but this one is framed by an intro which is told from the perspective of the planet itself. This intro was supposed to be majestic, but instead made me feel big guilt about Earth's climate change... The game itself plays a lot like Civilization, just with lots more complexity. The tech tree is more of a tech pie

30) E is for... Elven Legacy Siege

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The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. Elven Legacy Siege is the third, and most importantly, the final expansion pack for Elven Legacy. I'm seriously hoping there earn't any more games that list their expansions on Steam like this. Anyway, Elven Legacy Siege has the most incomprehensible plot so far. It doesn't have any cut-scenes to help you along either. In fairness to it, I think by this point the game assumes you're a huge Elven Legacy Deep Lore fan, and are incredibly invested in Mirralia, Ticsus and the other fantasy-named places of the setting. The one thing I did pick up on was that the protagonist, Adrian, has a plan to defeat the undead enemies by killing them so hard they are un-ressurectable. Which is pretty rad. This is the plot, my brain just could not process it. Apologies for the potato quality phone photo - I didn't want to ri

29) E is for... Elven Legacy Ranger

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The challenge: To play through each of the games on my Steam library. The rules: I have to play at least 1 hour of each game, in alphabetical order. The second of three expansion packs for Elven Legacy, which for some reason have been listed as separate games on Steam. I feel like one of the devs from Paradox had a time machine and a grudge against me. Although to be fair I've felt like that since the early 'C's' of my challenge. Elven Legacy Ranger doesn't even do me the favour of having a cut scene to watch. It dumps you straight into the action, with a plot about Elves taking a magic spear somewhere for reasons. I guess if you're an Elven Legacy lore fanatic ( known as 'El-Legnics'), then you'd know why all of this is significant. However, despite having now sunk three hours of my life into these games, I still very rarely make it past the first level or so. I'm as lost as you are. Does holding a dagger backwards like this even w