Steam Library A-Z Challenge

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 ...

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... ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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: Magic is another campaign for Elven Legacy. Sadly, Steam lists it as a separate game so to be strictly true to my challenge I'm going to have to play it. And its two extra campaign friends... This is the front cover for this campaign. The game plays exactly the same as Elven Legacy, although this particular campaign seems more hero based - at least in the first mission I didn't recruit any other units. The hex-grid etc. is back, although I did discover (after dying to the first mission on easy mode three or four times) that there's a rest button that lets your hero recuperate their health. I'm not sure if this was in the original game (and I'm not going to check, sorry!). The plot for this campaign seems way more interesting - for some lore reason, magic has gotten all tainted Wheel of Time ...

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. Elves in fantasy are often pretty boring, in my opinion. Aloof, magic-infused folk who are excellent at everything just aren't super interesting. There have been some great attempts at making Elves interesting (Terry Pratchett's take being one I really enjoyed) but in general they're not one of my favourite fantasy races. Elven Legacy takes the above stereotype and dials it up to eleven. The intro cut scene tells me that Elves used to share their knowledge and phenomenal cosmic power with everyone until someone messed it all up, causing them to go into hiding. Also they caused Dwarves to get buried in the ground? You play as an Elf with a superiority complex (gasp!) who seems to like murdering his way through every problem. At least, that's what I guess happens - I only caught bits of the plot as for some reason th...

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 just cannot play horror games. I wasn't super worried about having to play any scary games during this challenge, as I'm the wimpiest person in the world when it comes to terror so I never buy them. So why is this game on my Steam list!? Eldritch is a first person exploration game, set over a few worlds inspired by the Lovecraft Mythos. You start off in a creepy library and progress to a creepy temple and then a creepy temple. There's definitely more levels than that but that's as far as I got. I'd be annoyed too if some rando came through a magic book and took all my artifacts The aim of the game is to find your way to the exit of each level, and when you've cleared enough levels you'll find the soul of an elder god, which enables you to unlock the next area. Of course there are all manner of ...

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. East India Company is an innovative and excitin......no, actually it's another Paradox map game. But read on, because I actually almost liked this one. Set during olde worlde times, this is another game about how awesome conquest and exploitation is (ugh). This is a problem with an awful lot of these types of game, so I thought I'd get this big negative out of the way first. It just feels gross to be gleefully conquering ports like this game encourages you to - in fact to beat the game you *have* to do so as it's part of the main campaign's objectives. Obligatory map screen shot Anyway, East India Company is a naval-based 4X game, and is an awful lot like Commander: Conquest of the Americas. Which makes sense as it's by the same people and is almost certainly using the same engine. There are some differ...

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. Made by Amplitude Studios, Dungeon of the Endless is another entry into their seemingly....endless...Endless games. I think I'm going to be unable to look at the word endless for a while after this. You play as crew members of a spaceship which has crash landed on a strange and hostile creature-infested planet. Your goal is to get your big yellow diamond from one end of the dungeon to another. Sounds pretty par-for-the-course but Dungeon of the Endless is one of the more unique games I've seen whilst doing my Steam challenge. This is like 1/3 the enemies you'll normally see The game is somewhere between a rogue-like and a tower defense game - in the first half of each floor you'll be exploring a dungeon, discovering equipment, leveling up your characters and researching new tech. You'll also be discover...