#you can only get an ending once per gameplay. if the player wants to get the first ending again they need to do a hard reset

[panleystarable]

If Stanley and the Narrator swapped places, it would be one man trying to get the same ending over and over again, with another man with god-like powers keep changing up the story. Just to mess with him.

[moonjunio]

This was so random, the 1980s ElfQuest board game popped up on Facebook marketplace - in New Zealand with local delivery by hand 🚚😲

I’m a gamer, but I hadn’t had my eye on this fairly rare collectible, since games with great IP are often not all that fun. But you know what? I tried it and had a great time with my teens! No whining, I’m amazed 😂

Full review below…

The even cooler thing is that it’s actually two games in one. The “introductory” version is an abstract tile exploration and clue gathering mission, themed on the Original Quest reuniting the elf tribes with their Palace (actually spaceship, shhh). Play takes an hour, tops.

This strongly reminded me of my favorite board game when I was a kid - Enchanted Forest - because the overall idea is to find the tiles with hidden clues on them, and be the first to guess which one has been set aside at the beginning.

The additional element in ElfQuest is that you have to explore to find the clues, then also find the location of the tile that matches the winning clue. You can’t guess without traveling to the secret location first, and a wrong guess means you lose! There’s definitely strategy in addition to minor memorizing. I think this fits the quest story well.

Each player represents a different tribe, and starts in their home location at one corner (The Holt, Sorrow’s End, Blue Mountain, and the Frozen Mountains). There’s a minor amount of combat in the introductory game, when pawns occupy the same spot.

This is a potential tense moment here, with all three of us gathered next to two clue tiles (the wooden clue tokens are my own replacement parts). But you can easily spend the whole game avoiding confrontation and still win.

Combat just means the attacker must roll an 8 or better on 2D6. The loser is pushed away two spaces. This can be important at the end, because once a player has seen all the clues, others might race towards whatever tile they appear to be targeting as the winning spot.

I was super lucky that the Palace (elf home) was right next to the last clue, because my 15 year old was hot on my heels and willing to risk a 50/50 guess. Go Backs for the win!!

I’m excited to play the full game, for several reasons:

1. You have the option of winning cooperatively or competitively, and this can change during the course of the game. This fits the ElfQuest story much better than pure competition. Games with optional alliances aren't super common.

2. Character cards! Of course the point of having a great IP is to use the wonderful characters and art. The full game has a lot of bonus cards, characters can change groups or be captured, and tribal abilities are asymmetrical (that is to say, your choice of tribe actually matters to gameplay).

3. Way more strategy! One player is the enemy Guttlekraw, who controls the trolls and races to finish a dome around the palace so the elves can't win.

Reviews said this game is complicated, but it really doesn’t look that complicated to me. If you’re not much of a gamer, then sure, but the rules were not very long and easy enough to understand.

Here’s all the components in the box. Only three cardboard counters were missing in mine, easily replaced with spare parts (more on that next time). It even still has the Mayfair Games feedback postcard and the pop out cardboard trash for all the sending star tokens 😜✨🚮

The funniest part is the fold out paper grid... seems unnecessary, but ok.

Essentially what the introductory game teaches you is how exploration works, which is actually mildly educational for younger kids. Each terrain has a different number printed on it, and you only get 14 movement points per turn. So there's a little bit of addition involved. I'd say kids from age 7ish could play independently, depending on whether they're prone to blurt out secret information and intentions :-)

That's all for this time! My kids actually want to play the full game soon, so hopefully it won't be too long until I review the rest. Shade and sweet water until then.

[irrelevantnostalgia]

Cake Mania: To the Max! (2011): Part 1

ᆞPᆞᆞlᆞᆞoᆞᆞtᆞ

Jill and Jack are looking through Jill's old photo album with their twins and come across Jill's high school days. She starts to reminisce about the days of shoulder pads, neon everywhere, and her awkward phase. These high school days become the final installment of the Cake Mania series, where this time the players time travel back to 1989 to when Jill was navigating prom, applying to college, and figuring out what she wanted to do with her life! A fairly simple plot, a nice way to wind down this series from the evil directors and time travel to 500 BC and cake-baking in an aquarium. Almost like a nod to the normalcy of the first Cake Mania game, where we see the beginnings of Jill's adult life. This game goes back to the classic Cake Mania format with 100 levels of cake-baking only.

Fun fact, this is the first time I was able to finish this game in full! When I used to play this game back in the day, the fuck ass PC wiped my data once I reached around level 60. This happened to me twice. Another time when I actually got past level 60, I would get stuck on a later level where I would be unable to achieve even the bare minimum baking goal. I raged so hard about all these instances that I avoided playing the game for years (almost a decade lol).

ᆞWᆞᆞhᆞᆞaᆞᆞtᆞ'ᆞsᆞ ᆞNᆞᆞeᆞᆞwᆞ

Interior Mode: A big change in this game is that there is an "interior mode" option for the shopping/upgrade center. Now, you can "upgrade" the walls, floor, counter and door just like you can the oven or froster. This may seem similar to the "building upgrade" in Cake Mania Main St + Lights, Camera, Action since upgrading the building also changed the interior design of the building, but unlike in those games, the upgrades are supposed to confer actual advantages in gameplay.

Upgrading the walls is supposed to help with increasing tips, the floor is supposed to help Jill get around faster, the door is supposed to help with customer patience, and the counter upgrades help make room for more customers at a time. There are two one-time upgrades you can also make--buying a flower-pot can help make the sugar-rush last longer and buying a lamp permanently stops the equipment-breaking (yes, they kept this from the last game!).

For the most part, this is an excellent way to sprinkle-up the game and add more stuff to purchase to make the game less monotonous as you progress through the later levels. Compared to the rest of the games where eventually your profits made per level rise exponentially and never get spent past you getting all the key upgrades, I was budgeting out from Day 1 all the way to the very end.

In my personal opinion, I don't think all the interior upgrades really added much to improve gameplay. The counter getting longer does actually help in getting more customers on the screen at a time and more tips from the walls is always welcome. The two one-time upgrades were both good too, especially since it takes a while for you to save up funds for the lamp so it feels like a huge reward once you do get it. However, the door and floor upgrades didn't *feel* all that helpful. Upgrading Jill's shoes had more of an effect on helping her get around than the floor, and a cookie and the right channel do more for customer patience than the door. I would even say nothing makes those fuckers happy.

Speaking of helping reduce monotony, in this game there are some differences in how equipment is upgraded. Rather than buying 3 separate ovens and upgrading them individually, you instead have one massive oven with 4 compartments. You have to buy the compartments as well as additional cake shape options, but the speed upgrades affect the entire oven instead of each individual compartment. Meanwhile, the cake froster + decorator upgrades follow the same upgrade pattern but it doesn't just stop at gold. There are additional upgrade speeds you get until the final one, which looks like some brutalist industrial bullshit.

I'm sorry but it simply did not slay. I was hoping for some tacky neon 80s realness as the final upgrade.

Essentially, the point of all the previous word vomit is that in this game there are so many upgrades that you will be hustling and checking your budget from the beginning to the end, which is not something you do in the previous games (for the most part). I won't lie, I played this game twice and took two different approaches to upgrades and there would still be places that were not fully upgraded or there would be equipment that I would not get to purchasing at all.

Similar to the upgrades keeping you on your toes from beginning to the end in this game, so do the customers in some cases. I feel like a broken record, but in the previous games once you got to a certain point in the cake-baking game you could handle whatever customer pile-up gets thrown your way without thinking too hard about it. Even in the last game where you had the Lola Fierezzas changing everyone's orders. I wouldn't say that every level in this game had me locked in devoting 50% of my brain to ergonomics, but there was a certain type of level that stood out to me that I felt like I didn't experience before in my journey with Cake Mania. Let's introduce two characters.

80s Movie Mean Girl

Favorite TV show: Aerobics

She pairs up with other cheerleaders in the line.

Her name is Cindy and she is Jill's """"love rival""". I put that in heavy quotations because the Big Jock is interested in Jill but she is not into him, and Cindy is salty that Big Jock pays attention to Jill. Cue passive aggressiveness, which even spills into gameplay because she tips like ass. I'll be making 3-tier cakes for her and getting a fraction of what I would get if I made one for another customer, which makes levels where she shows up a significant amount really annoying to play.

Now let's introduce another character

DnD Dweeb

Favorite TV show: Cooking show

Do you see my pain now? Having him make a recurring appearance in a level was an absolute nightmare when it came to me wanting to obtain all superstar baking goals. The moment this twerp would show up in line I would pray that I could drop everything and get his cake out of the way so I could keep my properly compensating customers. Ngl though, if he wanted a 3 layer cake I would just take the L. Not giving myself carpel tunnel over this shit.

To deal with his appearances I invested in an overnight fridge earlier than I usually would purchase one so I could have expensive cakes ready to fly out, and I would constantly purchase a one-time-use power-up available in the upgrade shop that gets a customer out of the way. There were multiple levels with this dynamic and it was the worsttt.

On the flip side, I actually have to appreciate the aforementioned Big Jock for coming in because....

♥ Evil Bully from 80s movie ♥

Favorite TV show: Cooking show

He orders multiple times

Honestly, I think the real bully is gonna be the DnD Dweeb for turning this guy into a no-tipping ass cheerleader and making me hustle harder to meet my goals! Plus he increases the hearts on the other customers which is another point from me. One of the most satisfying feelings was collecting profits from this guy cause you would get like a $100+ boost! Lore wise, he is just an annoying fuck who is into Jill and doesn't pick up on the very obvious hint that she does not want to be his prom date.

There is another new aspect added to this game, which really did nothing for me. Instead of having me describe it with more word vomit, let me just share the screenshots:

Before I introduce the characters used for this example Imma just keep it real: I never used this shit as a part of my strategy to make customers happier. I just feel like gameplay moves way too fast to really give a shit especially when you have tools like the TV and cookies to keep them at bay. Really, what I would use this for is to just move customers up if there was a space between them just to make walking easier for Jill. Perhaps if I played this game in a more relaxed manner I could focus on different characters and how they impacted each other just based on line placement. But frankly, I didn't notice anything super obvious, besides the two characters used for the example. Speaking of...

Megumi Fushiguro

Favorite TV Show: News

He doesn't like "new wave guy"

Yuri Plisetsky if he had a stupid haircut

Favorite TV Show: News

He doesn't like "punk guy". Someone needs to create a new manga over these two STAT! Also, my personal headcanon is that this guy is the high school version of the businessman introduced in the first Cake Mania.

ᆞMᆞᆞoᆞᆞrᆞᆞeᆞ ᆞCᆞᆞhᆞᆞaᆞᆞrᆞᆞaᆞᆞcᆞᆞtᆞᆞeᆞᆞrᆞᆞsᆞ

Businessman Sr.

Favorite TV Show: Rock Concert

This guy has to be New Wave Guy's dad.

80s Bridezilla

Favorite TV Show: News

Unlike in the first Cake Mania where her younger sister is most likely Bridezilla, she actually has a similar Pirate/Mr Dinosaur effect where her flipping out causes others to flip out and leave.

Cop

Favorite TV Show: Rock Concert

♥Doctor♥

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

420 Blaze It

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

Seasons may change and the years may go on by....but this guy will always be high

Klepto Kelly (ft her Emo BF)

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

Seasons may change and the years may go on by....but her desire to steal your money is always sky-high

Birth Control Inspo

Favorite TV Show: Rock Concert

Little Kid

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

(Dr.) Miss Lily

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

She is That Girl cause everyone wants to change their order to hers! I would especially let it happen if these customers came in with some basic fuckass cakes that would make no money. Plus, per Jill, she is also a doctor. Based on her cute and relaxed fit (unlike the scrubs doc) I could see her being a dermatologist or endocrinologist. Maybe psychiatrist cause she knows how to convince others to change their orders

Thanks to Tumblr's 30-picture limit in text posts, I will have to split this review up into two posts. Stay tuned for part 2!

[bios-hzrd]

I wrote this script for a video essay, but I'm worried that it sucks and frankly I have other shit to work on, so I'm gonna dump it here and maybe come back to it later if anybody thinks its actually worth being made into a video.

Flow, Speed’s Complement

Flow is your ability to play the game at an uninterrupted pace. If you touch an enemy, do you get back up and keep running, warp to the last checkpoint, or do you die, watch a small death cutscene, and get warped to the last checkpoint. This will be a breakdown/analysis thingamabob of points where the game intentionally breaks the flow for various reasons.

I’ve split flow breaks into two major types: extrinsic and intrinsic. It’s important to note that flow breaks are not something to hunt down and exterminate in the goal of making the perfect speed game. They are useful tools, but if you aren’t careful they get incredibly frustrating

Extrinsic flow breaks usually come into action when the player slips. They’re factors outside of the core gameplay loop that serve as punishments for failure such as getting knocked back when you get hit and dying when that happens too many times. 

They usually punish the player by wrenching control away and sending them back a bit. Sending the player back is usually considered a necessary evil, as while it does feel bad through cutting into the player's progression and harming the flow, it forces the player to redo and practice a section to prove their mastery which will make the game more fun in the long run. Most games design themselves around the player beating the level once, and as such want to make sure the player has done it properly by the end.

I find it pertinent to note however that other games like to design themselves around beating the game again to prove your mastery. Pizza Tower and Ultrakill come to mind. Both of these games have a ranking system, and are clearly designed around the player returning to their levels once they have beaten the game to get the best rank. As such PIzza Tower and Ultrakill are more lenient with allowing the player to stumble their way through a level. Pizza Tower even makes the player immortal for most of the game. This goes a long way to making these games both exhilarating unbroken thrill rides for the people who play through it once, and tough as nails tests of personal mastery for those who go back for a second round. The first run maximizes flow, while the second ramps up the challenge.

Getting back on topic, taking control away from the player on the other hand, is something that should generally be cut out as much as possible. In ye olden days, you die, and you have to wait for an entire animation to play, then you get warped back to the last checkpoint. That kind of waiting builds up and gets on the players nerves. Ultrakill pulls up this screen when you die. The great thing is, that the second it appears you can press the shoot button, you know, that thing your finger is already on, to immediately load state back to the last checkpoint. It’s fast, snappy, and intuitive. No waiting, no menuing, just get back in the game. If the player not being able to play isn’t a mechanic of your game, make them able to play as fast as you can.

Getting knocked back was originally used because games wanted to give enemies a sense of collision, discourage damage boosting, and clearly signify to the player that they’ve gotten hit, but you’ll want to consider if that’s something your game actually needs. For example, how lenient is your health system? Cuphead gives the player three hits per level, and that number only goes down. The player is already avoiding damage at all costs and knockback is unnecessary. In Pizza Tower you regularly break the sound barrier, knockback is an obvious signifier that the player has gotten hit, and a significant enough punishment on its own in a game about going fast that the game gives the player infinite HP. You’ll have to apply your own judgment.

You want to put consideration on what conditions trigger your extrinsic flow breaks. Putting some slack on the line allows the player to not be perfect, and still have an experience that flows well. Health, checkpoints, and lives are very common leniency systems that allow the player to screw up a few times before they get sent back. Personally, I love to play games that maximize flow to let you play fast and loose. Crash into shit, get up, and keep running. Precision platformers are not my jam. As such when health is implemented into games, I’ve usually preferred it when it is viewed as a resource to be managed, not an ever looming axe pendulum telling you to cut the pace and be careful.

Meta Knightmare has a fun example. The game is a rerun of the main campaign, except now you’re in speedrun mode. The games put a timer on your head and you need to bolt to the finish. When you kill enemies, you get MP or meta points. When you need to heal, you have two choices. You can either deviate from the main path a bit to grab a health pickup, still moving at the same speed but dropping your time, or burn some Meta Points, saving time but losing a resource that could be used on other stuff. It integrates itself into the systems in a fun and unique way.

I mentioned lives too though. They’re essentially a cap on the number of times you’re allowed to be sent back to the checkpoint before the game boots you out of the level to try again. As a mechanic they allow the player a few deaths, create tension when they’re low, and force the player to redo things they haven't mastered. Lives are most associated with the traditional Mario system, which I’m not especially fond of. Allowing the player to just stockpile the things over the course of the game gives a lot of inconsistency to when the player will be punished for repeated mistakes. At the final boss players could either have a thousand lives or two. The player can either stumble their way through tripping on every step, or smash their head into the wall until it breaks. I like Splatoons system much more, where the player is given 3 lives per level. It gives the lives system some proper consistency and lets its strengths shine.

—

Intrinsic flow breaks are mostly addressed in the speed games that I’m so fond of. The main idea in these games is keep going, keep going, never stop, and intrinsic flow breaks exist to give the player something to minimize through their gameplay.

For a simple example, In Gravity Circuit enemies are everywhere, and kinda gotta kill anyone in front of you. To do that you can either punch them a few times, or you can throw a dead guy at them. Punches slow you down, as you have to sorta stand there as they die, sometimes dancing around their attacks. The basic idea is that after a few fistings the enemy gets exhausted and you can pick them up and fucking yeet at the next guy, then pick that guy up and do it all over again. Throwing opponents is seamless and gives the game a nice flow.

You try to keep the chuck train rolling to avoid that intrinsic flow break of beating a man to death with your bare hands as much as you can. You have to sometimes, but do it as little as possible.

Now for the subtleties, I’ve found two factors you want to avoid: Stops and Slows. Stops are interrupts that make you physically stop in place. Gravity Circuits punches are a stop, so is Peppinos shotgun in Pizza Tower. It can be brief or a bit drawn out. Point is it kills your momentum. Slows are when you have to slow down, either you physically move slower, or you take a route that gets you to the place you want to be slower. For example earlier when I mentioned Meta Knight taking a slight detour to grab food, that was a slow. 

You press a button to throw a bomb, hold it and you charge up a bomb blast. This blast launches you forwards into the air, and you move faster. You can use a double jump to remain in the air, but once you land you’ll slow down to normal speed again. Interestingly, when you throw a bomb in the air, if you try to charge another blast, you’ll brake and lose all horizontal momentum, then fall to the ground. Midair bombs are a stop, landing and starting the blast charge on the ground is a slow. It’s preferable to land than brake. However your decision making is decided by your need to land. If you try to charge a blast in midair, you will land before you have a charge. You need to find safe spots, which drives your choices. You blast forwards, and you need to recognize whether you want to keep flying and let yourself land where you will,  or stop and take the immediate safe ground. Take the risky slow or the safe stop. All of this to avoid the extrinsic flow break of getting hit. These actually tie together quite nicely, as you can charge up a bomb blast while getting knocked back. You still don’t want to get hit, but if you do you can smoothly re-enter the game's flow state.

There's no defined way that it should be done. Games just come up with their own ways to implement them into their gameplay loop, by making the game about trying to optimize their usage. In Downwell you rack up combos by jumping on the heads of enemies. To do this you can press shift to fall more slowly, but you slow down by shooting bullets out of your boots, and the more you shoot unnecessarily, the more likely you kill the enemies and prevent yourself from landing on them.

Further, downwell has a multiplier mechanic called Gem High, where any gems you collect from bouncing on enemies are multiplied for a limited time, so you need to bounce on as many enemies as you can, as fast as you can. Timers work well with getting the player to cut down on slows.

Pizza Towers Gustavo and Brick brings in a very intriguing example of letting the player cancel a move that has an intrinsic flow break at the end of it by using level gimmicks. The double jump has the player crash into the ground, which stuns them for a bit, but there are these mushroom trampolines that cancel the animation.

Once again I don’t really have any clear cut standards to explain, just fascinating examples to potentially take inspiration from. Flow breaks are a very engaging element that help the player appreciate the flow state even more. Extrinsic ones exist to strongarm the player into playing the game properly, while intrinsic ones give games with a constant flow an interesting mechanic to play around. If there's any unmentioned games that you feel play around with or challenge these principles feel free to share.

[katyspersonal]

KATY!!!!

You muppet

Gimme your top 5 non-boss Bloodborne enemies 🔪🔪

Hahaha! This is a hard question, because, like... Do I judge the design? The concept? The (presumed) pleasure of fighting them? xD Or, maybe, how good they are from raw gameplay standpoint, without any of our Tumblr sentimental values added? ...so, in the end, I decided to judge on raw personal enjoyment. Here goes!

Five - Edgar, Choir Intelligencer!

Yeah, yeah, NPCs are a weird grey area since they're no regular enemies, blablabla. But, first, I wanted to include at least one Hunter NPC. Two - if I am choosing, it is DEFINITELY Edgar. I enjoyed fighting him on that moonlit bridge..... But, more importantly, I enjoy what this character entails. A player that was only yet to be educated would, soon enough, learn that Micolash has a friend. And then, some time later, the fandom would learn from official materials the character's name and get confirmation for his affiliation with the Choir! I just think that he is THE coolest NPC. Whereas others (looking at the no-dialogue ones in this) would be self-explanatory, with Edgar, there is a mystery that only people with imagination could solve! What else you could've asked for!

Also, I am totally weak for the fact that he does the 'Joy' gesture when he kills us. Way to kill the potential drama of "sparing us from the worse fate" and confirm that you are a simp insane, you lil shit! :pensive: Yet, despite saying less, it is saying more..... Anyways, onto the REAL enemies!

Four - Old Hunter enemy!

They are fuckin' SOMETHING ELSE in terms of aesthetic and behaviour, you know? The bastards have far too much of a healthbar, I will admit, but it is more about the lore... And the vibe. When they are attacking in unhinged, terrifying rage - the beasts (Beast Patient type) cover in fear, that leaves the whole "who is the REAL beast here?" message! They have various weapons and fighting styles. And they have yellow or red eyes variants, that helped me to resolve the mystery of what is under Chester's mask, since he is heavily implied to be from Yharnam and teleported by an Amygdala!

Three - Fishman Mage!

LOVE these guys! ...yes, despite the fact that they keep spamming me with DARN bolt spells and DARN purple homing skulls. But... At the same time, this is so BADASS. I can only speculate and bounce off ideas on why their magic has "wrong" colors; with this type of skulls normally being red and the bolt in Bloodborne normally being blue. But, I love the aesthetic and the cool magic nonetheless. Not to mention the Mystery TM of what is up with their "elongated" heads.

I thought of something akin Lumenweed but more coral-like instead of plant-like, since they seem to pray for other Great Ones to avenge Kos that they "failed" to protect (and since one of Fishmen variants has something similar anyways), but we just don't know! Could be a polyp, could be a fin, could be a Cool Hat...

Two - Clocktower Patient!

The amount of lore per pixel kills me! They have interesting VARIANTS - the regular, the naked, the completely tied-up one, the just-head one, the one behaving like a beast, the fuckin headless walking bodies... The HUGE one, that I fucking bet would be Pthumerians pushed into experiments too, all that.

And, although sometimes they can be frustrating to fight, ESPECIALLY when they come in a crowd, I just love how... "informative" they are? I have not learned more from any other enemy than from these people. They demand a keen eye to decipher no matter what. Like how it is easy to miss that their heads are covered so we can't know what is UNDER the fabric, or the tentacles... But yes, at the same time, the designs and the variations alone are pretty interesting AND scary!

One - Loran Cleric!

Fuckin'. BEST. Display of the fact that what Yharnam is going through already plagued Loran once. Fuckin' AWESOME design. Fuckin' EXTREMELY on-the-nose way to show the "history repeats itself" sentiment. They have ROBES, and they have horns. And they have PYROMANCY... Like other Pthumerians, some Vilebloods (Maria) and, interestingly, Laurence in his beast form, have.

I always found it hard to kill them, because I just could not have enough of their moveset and appearances. They are the enemies I tried to NOT kill for as long as I could afford. Their pyromancy staff gave me idea that Laurence would be using one as soon as he'd get his hands on it, probably in Byrgenwerth + early Church era. I also remember having killed one and spending good 20 minutes just taking pictures, including their cool twisted smiles! I also think that Blood-Possessed Soul is their final transformation form!

_________________

Honorable mention: Church Servants. Of course.

Thank you for the 'some things can only harm you if you are smart enough to PERCEIVE them' delivery, guys.

Thank you for the ask! It was insightful for me too! x)

[nitrosodiumrapidproto]

Looking at Block Breakers

This genre is mostly relegated to mobile games, as it is best suited to only playing a few minutes per day. You break blocks - sometimes by forming patterns, sometimes by merging, sometimes by using a ball. I would say that the satisfactory element comes from the visual and audio elements, and also the human urge to 'solve' patterns - a holdover from our pattern-loving brains.

Arkanoid was the second block breaker game after Breakout, and so it's partially responsible for kickstarting the whole genre. Surprisingly, it has lore: that paddle you control is a spaceship called the Vaus, and you are fighting against some sort of intergalactic threat called DOH that is creating the blocks that you must destroy. Gameplay-wise, it's a good refinement of the paddle-and-ball mechanics, with some extra elements. Pickups can increase the paddle's width, deploy multiple balls at once, or shoot lasers directly up at the blocks. The different colored blocks also have different strengths. It's simple but cohesive, and I like the neon sci fi look to everything. As for a unique selling point, I would say that Arkanoid is the most accessible version of the paddle-and-ball subgenre compared to its clones.

Piggy Kingdom is a prototypical "match coloured gizmos on a grid" game - I downloaded it for research and ended up getting hooked. The basic gameplay loop involves you achieving a goal in a certain number of moves; it could be getting a duck to the bottom of the screen, smashing plates by making matches next to them, or clearing away King Porter's chocolate sauce from the grid. Matching in certain patterns can create special tools (i.e. five in a row creates a Color Bomb, to remove all pieces of one colour from the grid) and these tools can be matched and combined (i.e. a Color Bomb plus a regular Bomb replaces all the pieces of a color with bombs). There is a quasi-strategic element to it, but mostly the game has purposefully unsatisfying loops to keep player retention. The "hammer tokens" you gain from solving levels lets you upgrade the pig palace with furniture (hence giving a drive to complete levels and fill out the area) and there is a weekly leaderboard system to encourage competitive play. I'm proud to say I scored first place a few times. The unique aspect of this one I think is the aesthetic, and the ongoing storyline between the accident-prone King Porter and his robotic butler.

This isn't a particularly good game, but it fits the block breaker theme, so I'll research it. In Helix Jump, you control a bouncing ball, and your aim is to maneuver it down a long tower while avoiding the sections in your way. The longer the ball falls for unmarred, the more force it builds up, allowing you to smash through some sections and continue your descent. In practice, the game is quite bad. The ball is hard to move with a touchscreen, and there are omnipresent ads - a bar at the bottom, and even audio-only popups while you play. Not to mention each time you complete a level there's an ad, and if you want to revive your ball, you have to watch an ad. There's also a leaderboard system like Piggy Kingdom, but it's not enough to convince me to continue playing. The central game loop is progressing through levels, spurred on by the satisfaction (in theory) of clearing a level in a single drop. The unique aspect would be the verticality and momentum-based gameplay mechanics.

Merge Mansion is similar to Piggy Kingdom in its presentation and gameplay. You mostly solve puzzles on a grid by merging household objects, which break nearby boxes and give you more items to combine and use. In between puzzle sections, you learn more about the story through a visual novel-esque dialogue system - essentially, you must fix up the titular mansion before it is demolished, while also uncovering the secret of your apparently murderous granny. The game uses its hidden lore as a key point in an otherwise uninteresting match game - Granny's plot and the family history are slowly revealed in cutscenes, ads outside of the game, live action short films with BAFTA-nominated actors (seriously) and real-life escape room-esque experiences that reveal more lore. The production value on display is absolutely immense compared to more standard merge games, and it's the intriguing lore that makes this one unique.

Bubble Bobble is quite a unique concept for an arcade game. You play as a dragon dinosaur thing, on a quest to save your girlfriend from monsters. Each level is unique, and you must kill enemies by blowing bubbles at them to trap them, and then pop the bubble. This causes the enemy to turn into fruit, which you can pick up. This mechanic is interesting, and it makes the gameplay more involved than just "spray-n-pray" since you have to remember to pop the bubbled enemy. There are different types of enemies, such as ghosts that fire bubbles back at you and whales (?) who can fly anywhere on the screen. There is also some sort of bingo mechanic where you can pick up letters and fill a bar on the left, but I don't know what it's for. Levels sometimes have unique hazards, like putting the enemies in a cage or having torrents of water to wash you down to the bottom of the screen, to add to the strategy. Being an arcade game, it has a consistently raising skill floor as you play, with levels getting harder and harder. The unique selling point would be the bubble mechanic; it seems like something I've seen in other games, but this one pioneered the idea.

SUMMARY

Because "block breaker" is quite a wide term, most of the games are quite dissimilar to each other. They usually gravitate to one of two specific playstyles though; either requiring fast reflexes (Arkanoid, Helix Jump, Bubble Bobble) or being more tactical (Piggy Kingdom, Merge Mansion). Most of the games make good use of satisfying audio and visual cues to keep player retention, but when the game itself is hollow like Helix Jump, it's a bad experience no matter what. Unfortunately, because of the genre's simple and addicting nature, many block breakers are soulless cash grabs littered with unskippable ads, and just by looking at download statistics and the like, they are obviously successful, even in their ad-riddled states. To me, the most successful game has been Piggy Kingdom, as its puzzle mechanics are well thought-out and it's good on a technical level.

One thing I would change is in relation to the tile-grid system used in Piggy Kingdom and Merge Mansion. Many times I would hold my finger on a tile, move it, and the game would automatically make the match, even if I hadn't thought it through and a better match could be made. I would instead have a more binary input system where the match only registers once the player has taken their finger away from the touchscreen. Otherwise it is easier to make mistakes.

[brytbrat9]

Collection Legacy Challenge

@simschallenges

I've created a sims 4 challenge all designed around the collections. I wanted to find a way to combine the collections along with a legacy challenge. Buckle up and settle in because this is not a quick gameplay. You'll be playing with this family for A WHILE. You will have to complete one collection per generation, and as there are currently 36 collections, this is going to be a long family history. I wanted to get the most out of each generation and collection. This challenge will combine a rags-to-riches type gameplay with legacy. This will also give you an opportunity to play in new locations that you wouldn't normally play in.

My 4th generation Sugar Skull collection: Larissa Hooks with Day of the Dead celebrator

The Rules:

Each heir has to complete one of the collections. They can not get any help from anyone in the family in finding their collectibles.

At the start of each new generation you must move out your heir to a new world. They can only have $500 Simoleons in their pocket, which usually means you have to move to an empty lot and work your way up from there.

If an heir dies only their sibling can take over that collection. If there are no siblings, the previous generation is still alive, and to old to have kids of their own, they must adopt a child to continue on. (Does not have to start with an adopted baby or toddler, Can start with a kid but age is up to the choice of the player). If the Sim was married and dies their spouse can continue the collection for them.

Must be played on normal lifespan

If there is a location/pack that is specific to the collection, the current heir must be living in said area. I.E for the feather collection, heir must live in Brindleton Bay.

Heir can not have a job. They can only sell the things they forage while they are collecting. There are exceptions to this rule. If you have to get a job in order to finish the collection, I.E. Scientist for the crystal and alien collections, you have to get to space to complete these collections. They can get married and have their spouse earn money for the household, but that is not required.

The next heir cannot start their collection until they have become an adult and the the previous generation has finished both their collection and their life aspiration.

Each heir must have specific traits (listed below) that must go along with their specific collection. Life time aspiration is up to the player and the gameplay.

Each heir must have a different lifetime aspiration and it must be fulfilled before they finish their collection, before they become an elder and the next generation becomes an adult.

If one of your other generations, or family members, have found parts of a different collection you must sell it and once you get to that generation they must re-find all previously found items. I.E If you do the feather collection and your pet brings you back crystals, if you have not yet done the crystal collection, any crystals found must be sold and re-found by that generation later.

Collections can be done in any order. You do not have to do it in the way it's listed in the game. Switch it up and play to your sims.

Finally, you must hold on to ALL collections you find. If you can combine them to make something you must and then keep the prize at the end, I.E the feather statue.

My 5th generation Fishing Collection, Hunter Hooks (fishing) with family, child Rez Hooks (taking picture)

Traits for each generation/collection:

Frogs: Squeamish, gloomy, and good

Gardening: loves outdoors, green fiend and vegetarian

Mysims trophies: socially awkward, freegan and geek

Metals: materialistic, self absorbed and high maintenance

Crystals: snob, romantic and kleptomaniac

Elements: bookworm, self assured and perfectionist

Postcards: loyal, animal enthusiasts and outgoing

Fossils: adventurous, clumsy and erratic

Microscope Prints: Genius, over achiever and goofball

Space Prints: Perfectionist, art lover and hates children

Aliens: loner, noncommittal and paranoid

Space rocks: evil, mean and genius

Fish: loves outdoors, clumsy and child of the ocean

Insects: Squeamish, recycle disciple and neat

Geodes: genius, hot headed and jealous

Decorative eggs: creative, maker and childish

Experimental foods photos: foodie, glutton and snob

Voidcritters: Childish, party animal and geek

Sugar Skulls: Gloomy, loner and good

City Posters: insiders, music lover and self-absorbed.

Snow globes: family oriented, loves cats and active

Holiday cracker plushies: cheerful, party animal and lazy

Magic beans: vegetarian, lactose intolerant and green fiend.

Feathers: Animal enthusiast, loves dogs and loyal

Ancient Omiscan artifacts: Adventurous, active and ambitious

Omiscan treasures: Adventurous, active and ambitious (likely 25 and 26 will be finished together)

Positivity posters: Gloomy, hot headed and overachiever

Seashells: Child of the islands, outgoing and cheerful

Buried treasure: jealous, bro and child of the ocean

Magical artifacts: Evil, self assured and self absorbed

Simmies: active, dance machine and perfectionist

Village fair ribbons: Animal enthusiast, insider and maker **(you will have to cheat this one. This pack is glitched and you have no way of completing it in one lifetime or otherwise. You will have to cheat the ribbons in your inventory in order to complete this challenge sadly).**

Light saber parts: neat, outgoing and proper

Batuu records: Self assured, geek and family oriented

Message in a bottle: Unflirty, loyal and socially awkward

Moonwood relics: loner, slob and paranoid

My 7th (and current) generation Village County Fair Ribbons, Serenity Hooks with Husband Jody at the fair.

This challenge is meant to be fun, give you an opportunity to utilize some gameplay you might not usually have. The rules are there as guidelines but of course, like with all challenges, if something is becoming less fun or making it too difficult then change it up for what works for you. I've gone through seven generations thus far and I've had more fun with this family then I've ever had in the game before. Each generation has been unique and special in their own way. I've been playing The Sims since the first game and this has been a fresh and fun way to go through the game for me. I hope you can find some fun and enjoyment out of this! Happy Siming!

[vhouatroph]

hello, i'm vhou-atroph, you may know me as the creator of the geoff keighley boss fight franchise. recently, a player has asked me why my games are so well made, and here i'd like to post a little bit of a blog post to answer this question!

well, it all starts with geoff keighley boss fight 1:

after the success of laughter filled void: survival mode (internally, laughter filled void 3. crying filled void is considered a spinoff.) and Where he gonna go 3, I felt the urge to get started on a new series with new mechanics. Watching a little guy move around on the screen, or listening to ceaseless laughter in a void has its merits, but the players needed more!

and so i got started on my next masterpiece, a brand new game with rpg-like mechanics and exhilerating battle sequences. and so, the first geoff keighley boss fight was born!

gameplay was simple: upon starting the game, players would click the FIGHT button at the bottom of the screen. doing so defeats geoff keighley, and wins the game. The player response was outstanding. I even got a favorite. The people wanted more.

And so, development for geoff keighley boss fight 2 began.

the game mechanics in geoff keighley boss fight 2 were pretty similar. there was still a geoff keighley, and there was also still a button. the major difference is that geoff keighley now had a health bar, and there was a time constraint on the player to stop geoff from ascending out of the abyss.

however, there was an issue: geoff keighley has 2500 health, and the button to stop geoff only takes away 3 health per click. this means that players had to click the button over 800 times to stop geoff keighley.

especially given the time constraints, this made defeating geoff nigh impossible without an autoclicker, or a good gaming chair. and so, i decided to canonize the player's defeat in geoff keighley boss fight 2. geoff had escaped the abyss.

of course, the franchise just couldn't end like that. there had to be another entry to the franchise, at least to add some kind of glimmer of hope outside of the world that geoff wins in.

and so, geoff keighley boss fight 3 was born.

geoff keighley boss fight 3 opens with an exposition from american president joe biden. joe biden solicits the player a request for help after geoff has escaped his prison. after this, the player is introduced with a brand new mechanic to the franchise: you can accept or refuse to fight geoff.

in the event the player does not fight geoff, they are met with a sad face followed immediately by the losing screen. this is not a proper route for the game, and exists only as a proof of concept.

in normal gameplay, the player should accept joe biden's request. once this has been done, they have initiated the fight with geoff keighley. the only way to back out at this point is by closing the window. but this would make me very sad so please don't.

once the fight is initiated, it quickly becomes evident that geoff keighley boss fight 3 is the most mechanically complex entry in the franchise up to this point. geoff retains the health mechanic from the second entry, but now the player also has their own health.

the player can also choose to spin a turn either fighting or resting as well. fighting will deal damage to geoff, and resting will restore the player's health. once the player makes their selection for a turn, it becomes geoff's turn, who will then attack the player.

once geoff reaches a health value lower than 50, the battle changes.

inspired by the boiler from toontown rewritten, geoff keighley becomes angry. geoff gains a flat attack increase of 12, changes sprites, and begins to move faster. the battle, while already difficult, now becomes even moreso as geoff can take away up to 22 health points every turn.

the idea for the boss fight in geoff keighley boss fight 3 was that geoff should be a tough foe, but not insurmountable. the player has all the tools necessary to defeat geoff and survive, but it is still a hard fought battle. once the player has depleted geoff's health to 0, they have won the boss fight.

i hope this has provided some insight into the development of the geoff keighley boss fight franchise, and i will continue to try to innovate upon the formula in the future.

but wait.....

[barrelcat]

Holiday Pickups 2022

Happy New Year!

A little late, but thought I’d share some pickups from right before Christmas to now. 

I’m very lucky to be a mod of a great writing community on discord and this is the second year that we’ve engaged in Secret Santa across the server. @grimbims, who was my Secret Santa, sent me Hades on the Switch! I was also delighted to discover that the physical copy of the game comes with a code for the soundtrack, as well as a small artbook featuring all of the game’s characters. It’s also my first roguelike (again, recalling that whole “broadening your gaming horizon” thing), and while Hades is difficult for my novice skills, it’s a terrible amount of fun. I’m not too bad at it, either. I favor the spear coupled with blessings from Artemis and have made it just past Asterius on Elysium, but that battle of attrition always leaves me struggling to survive afterward. 

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is the other game I’m shuffling between right now. I had asked for XC3, but there was a mixup during my gifter’s order and I ended up with this one instead, which may secretly have been what I actually wanted. I know that XC3 is supposed to be amazing, but I like to get the whole story, even if the internet tells me that I don’t need to play 1 and 2 before diving in. I’m about twenty hours deep so far and can confidently say that I’m going to play it to the end. The world and premise are interesting, the characters and story are compelling, even if the dialogue is a bit painful at times (my writer's brain can be overly critical even at the best of times), and the gameplay loop is satisfying. It feels very MMO to me. As an avid FFXIV player, that’s only a good thing. 

I was excited for Harvestella the moment it debuted on the Nintendo Direct back in June of ‘22 (oh my gosh, is that really “back in” already???). Even though I’ve only dabbled in a handful of farming/life simulators, I’ve obsessed over the ones that I have played (minus Stardew Valley - I know, I’m awful, but it just never grabbed me like it did others. Conan Exiles, though? I lost days to that game.) The anime aesthetic coupled with farming and crafting in Harvestella spoke to me like a game hasn’t in a long, long time, and I knew I needed it as soon as it launched. This was later confirmed when I blasted through the Switch demo shortly after. As excited as I was, though, I’ve decided to set this one aside until I finish the first Xenoblade. Then I’ll discover what was really going on with those Seaslights. 

I played Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the first time just a couple months ago. The two weeks I poured into it were gone all too quickly, and while I told myself and friends that I wanted to do a replay for the other endings and storylines, I just couldn’t bring myself to betray Edelgard. After 70+ hours together, her character meant too much to me. Color me excited when I realized that Fire Emblem: Three Hopes was another story featuring those characters, but in the style of the Dynasty Warriors games. (Note: to be honest, I’m not sure what the deal is with the story, but I’m excited to find out!) So once I get to this one, I’m sure it’s going to be another non-stop ride. 

Not gifts per se, but I did pick up a Byleth amiibo with some Christmas Cash, as well as a copy of Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright for the 3DS from the local used game shop. I wanted to get a copy of an FE Fates game so I could download the third not-so-secret storyline to that series, Fire Emblem Fates: Revelations. If you didn’t know, the online shop for the 3DS (and the Wii U, I believe) are being shut down in March of 2023. Apart from purchases made before that date, nothing will be available on those marketplaces to buy or download. Part of a string of odd choices made by Nintendo, recently. 

I’ve been eyeing these books since the newest printing was announced sometime last year. Both volumes of the Encyclopaedia Eorzea are gazetteers of the world of FFXIV, and feature stunning art taken from the game. They’re filled to the brim with world lore, and remind me more of a D&D campaign guide than anything else. I have half a mind to use them to run a game set in Eorzea using these books as source material. Maybe then I can get my group to join me in the MMO. 

This mug is from Etsy and brings me immeasurable joy. It features a memed version of Gaius van Baelsar’s famous line from the end of FFXIV: A Realm Reborn and makes me cackle every time I read it. I actually received two of these in duplicate, a 16oz and a 12 oz. The larger has worked its way into my mug rotation (because we all have a thousand mugs at this point, right?), and the smaller has earned its place among my small-yet-growing FFXIV collection next to my handcrafted moogle (a birthday present from my sister). From his perch, Gaius will always be there to remind me to drink more coffee. 

Probably the coolest gift I received this year was an ocarina from the Nintendo 64 classic, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time. I’m not sure if the picture does it justice, but the craftsmanship is stunning. The blue gloss is deep and shines wonderfully under light. It fits perfectly on the shelf with my other Zelda mementos. The box came with sheet music for several melodies from the game, so I’m definitely going to try and learn a couple tunes. Physical items from games like this are the best. I’ll admit, I have a soft spot for action figures, but having something tangible from a game world you’ve invested hours into is so, so cool. 

The final, and arguably largest, pickup for this update is a Nintendo Wii that I was able to find locally on CraigsList for a fantastic price! I didn’t have a Wii when I was younger (well, I did briefly… but that story might be for another time) and I’ve had one on my list for a while. Everything works, minus some battery acid damage on one of the Wii remotes, but I’m going to invest some time into repairing that soon. 

The seller lived about an hour away, so we met halfway at another used game shop that I hadn’t been to before. After the transaction, I popped inside to grab a couple games as well, including Nights: Journey of Dreams and SSX Blur. I read the Nights comics when I was kid, which were Sega and Archie Comics attempting to see if the series could survive the market. They didn’t, unfortunately, but they were a major influencer in my perhaps misguided desire to become a writer, so I’ve always wanted to try the games. As for SSX, Blur is the only one I haven’t played in the series. SSX Tricky on the GameCube was a gaming staple when I was a kid, so I couldn’t pass this one up when I found it. 

All in all, exciting additions to the collection with a lot of games to enjoy. 

[weavyle]

raising mr. stuffy devlog #1

wow i'm actually going to make a game for once. i have the time, and tbh i need to be doing something right now... i also wanted to finally get started on working with godot and produce a full game on my own, so i decided to revisit one of my ideas. this title was just a placeholder, but honestly i think i'll just keep it because it suits the child-like angle.

(these are just mockups, the only functional button is the start button)

raising mr. stuffy is a tamagotchi game where you manage your resources to raise your stuffed animal pet so it can hatch into a beautiful creature. it is based on a dream i had where i was walking a stuffed animal down the street, and a passerby told me that judging by the way it was moving, it was going to "hatch soon."

since we're only in the concepting stage, i haven't gotten too far into working with godot, other than setting up some basic layout stuff. most of the game is going to take place in this room, but there's also a shop you can go to, and potentially minigames.

mr. stuffy has 4 stats: HP, Hunger, Love, Energy.

you have to make sure its it survives by keeping its health stats up, while taking into consideration its affection toward you. energy just limits the amount of things mr. stuffy can do.

the player has 2 stats: Energy and Money.

your energy determines how many actions you can take in a day before you're forced to sleep as well. money is used to buy food and items from the shop.

at the end of 5 (tentatively) days, mr. stuffy will "hatch," and the game will inspect his stats at the end to choose which form he turns into. as the days go by, the difficulty will ramp up. random events can occur between sleeping, going shopping, or going to work, and they will become more frequent by the end. the status in the upper left hand corner is a result of these events, though sometimes an event can leave no lasting impact, too. only one status event can be active at a time, so if mr. stuffy gets sick, he can't also be picky about what food he wants.

it's gonna be a browser game that's meant to be played in one sitting with no save states. there are 8 possible endings, but i don't really intend on the game being super replayable. like, the ending you get is just the one you got, you know. but i know some people will want to get all the endings, so i plan on adding an element of rng to it, such as only giving you 3 types of toys per run, and trying to add a lot of events.

the event system is inspired by events in the virtual villagers and the sims, which were always fun to encounter. i originally was planning for them to randomly appear during gameplay like in those games, but it wouldn't make much narrative sense if you were staring at mr. stuffy and all of a sudden a popup appeared that said "mr. stuffy dug up an apple in the trash!" or something like that.

i also want to make mr. stuffy walk around or do things similar to neko atsume, instead of just standing doing nothing the whole time. i still have to brainstorm that bit because it's a polish thing.

i expect a lot of playtesting to balance the events and stats and stuff. i need the game to be fairly difficult, otherwise you will get the same ending every time. it's natural to want the "good ending," which is having all the stats high, but if the game just let you do that, you wouldn't get any other ending!

i feel like the endings could be read as "forms of abuse/neglect," but from a ludonarrative standpoint 🤓it will not necessarily be because the character you are playing as is actually abusive, but because of certain rng elements that can fuck you up. i don't always envision that there will be a perfect response to every situation, like maybe you don't have medicine and the shop isn't stocking it that day when it's sick. it’s not fun when you feel like you can’t do anything about something in a game, but i also think you can strategize what you buy and stuff hopefully.

i did consider having options to force mr. stuffy to eat healthy foods when he only wants desserts or similar "this is for your own good" type of treatments, which would align with that, but idk if i wanna include that, and if i did it would only be for balancing reasons. then, well, i guess it would be a little bit about generational trauma or some shit.

[gameguides]

Diablo 4 Early Access Beta Guide & Details

Welcome to the Diablo 4 Early Access Beta Guide and Details! This guide will provide you with all the information you need to know about the highly anticipated Early Access Beta for Diablo 4, including how to sign up, what to expect, and how to get the most out of your experience. As one of the most anticipated games of the year, Diablo 4 promises to deliver a thrilling and immersive experience for fans of the series and newcomers alike. The Early Access Beta will give players an early look at the game, allowing them to explore the dark and dangerous world of Sanctuary, battle fierce demons and other creatures, and test out the game's new features and gameplay mechanics. You can also access our Diablo 4 wiki page where the most up-to-date diablo 4 guides are available here.

Diablo 4 Early Access Beta Guide & Details

In this guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know about the Diablo 4 Early Access Beta, from how to sign up for the beta program to what to expect when you get your hands on the game. We'll also provide you with tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your beta experience, so you can be fully prepared for the full release of the game. So whether you're a die-hard fan of the series or a newcomer to the world of Diablo, the Diablo 4 Early Access Beta Guide & Details is your one-stop-shop for all the information you need to know about this exciting new game. Let's dive in and explore the world of Sanctuary together! Diablo 4 Early Access Open Beta Global Release Times

Diablo 4 Early Access Open Beta Global Release Times Open Beta and Early Access Weekends Duration - Early Access to the Open Beta begins March 17 at 9 a.m. PDT and concludes March 20 at 12 p.m. PDT. - The Open Beta begins March 24 at 9 a.m. PDT and concludes March 27 at 12 p.m. PDT. As the Open Beta and Early Access weekends get closer, the ability to Early Download the game will become available. We’ll update this section with that information in the future. Assume Your Role During the Early Access weekend, players will have access to three classes. Assume the role of the battle-bred Barbarian, nimble Rogue, or elementally tuned Sorcerer. Once the Open Beta weekend comes around, the earthen Druid and undead-wielding Necromancer classes can also be played in addition to the original three. A maximum of 10 characters can be made per Battle.net account. After reaching Level 25 with one character, we recommend you try repelling demonic hordes with additional classes to find your favorite. While progress will transfer from Early Access to Open Beta weekends, all characters made during these weekends will be deleted once the Beta ends. Decimate Demons with Co-Op On all consoles that support Diablo IV, via couch co-op, players can enlist a second demon slayer to combat the ranks of Hell screen-by-screen with. To play using couch co-op during the Early Access weekend, only one player will be required to have official access to this experience—the second player will need to have their Battle.net and console-specific accounts linked. The strength of the Burning Hells knows no bounds. But you can even the odds by rallying a party of demon-destroyers via online 4-player co-op. To play this way during the Early Access weekend, all players, excluding those playing via couch co-op, will be required to have official access to this experience. Note that vanquishing demons while near any player will grant you 5% bonus experience and 10% if you are near a member of your party. Discover Fractured Peaks Fractured Peaks is home to craggy steppes and snow-laden pathways, creating an unforgiving landscape rife with demons to slay and secrets to discover. This is where your wanderer’s legend is forged. After completing the prologue, the Fractured Planes will be yours to explore as you wish. There’s much to experience even in this small slice of Sanctuary, so we wanted to call out a few activities of interest. Nestled among the mountains is the city of Kyovashad, a safe zone where you can repair and purchase new gear, upgrade your health potion, access the Stash, and much more. Think of the city as your base of operations between excursions into the frigid expanse of the zone. The Main Questline of Diablo IV is rich and consists of multiple Acts. Look for Main Questline markers on your map to begin your pursuit of Lilith. Additionally, there are numerous Side Quests to embark upon throughout Fractured Peaks during your travels. If you find yourself slaying demons near the town of Nevesk, check out the Woodsman of Nevesk Side Quest and one of the nearby Altars of Lilith. Created by Lilith’s first children, these Altars are spread throughout Sanctuary. Finding them provides a permanent boost to the Core Stats of all characters on the Eternal Realm. While trudging through the snow, you may come across World and Legion Events. World Events are small experiences that arise at random within the zone and may require you to do things such as escorting a lost soul to its loved one or satiate the hunger of bloodthirsty obelisks. World Events can usually be completed within a couple of minutes and are completely optional, but they always provide a reward for your heroics. There are many World Events for you to discover during the Open Beta, try completing them with other players, too. In contrast, Legion Events are longer experiences meant to challenge you. Ensure you are prepared to overcome hordes of demons before entering them, and if you’re able, take them on with the aid of other players. These events will usually be marked on your map but are sometimes revealed after conquering a Stronghold. With risk comes reward—complete a Legion Event and you’ll be rewarded handsomely for prevailing. These events are optional and can be completed more than once. Dungeons are a cornerstone of the Diablo universe. Diablo IV, and this Open Beta has no shortage of them to explore. Dungeons and their recommended Level to complete are displayed on your map. These are tight, tense instances where determination and skill will guide you to victory over whatever hell you discover within. Dungeons are a great place to put your skills to the test while also racking up useful gear for even more threatening encounters, such as world bosses. Combat Massive World Bosses Daring wanderers seeking a sizeable challenge should look no further—Ashava, a whirlwind of pestilence, has recently emerged in Fractured Peaks. Journal entries recounting sightings of this gargantuan plague bearer make note of her two massive forearm blades and ability to coat the ground in a viscous poison. Her blades, which can cleanly cut through stone and flesh alike, are to be feared. Records appear to mention a way to weaken Ashava, but unfortunately that portion of the page has corroded away. It is thought that one wanderer alone cannot bring this beast to its knees. Come prepared for an intense fight and recruit your friends and other players to pursue the ultimate glory of conquering one of the Burning Hells’ most heinous creations to date. Should you find a path to victory, a sizeable loot drop awaits. Here’s when you’ll have an opportunity to combat Ashava during the Open Beta and Early Access weekends: - March 18 at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight PDT - March 25 at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight PDT Inarius Premium Statue “I am Sanctuary, and Sanctuary is I! You seek to fight the very world itself when you seek to stand against me.” -Inarius Invite the defender of Sanctuary into your home—get the defiant Diablo IV Inarius 26 in Premium Statue. This renegade angel will be available now from the Blizzard Gear Store. Early Access Beta Dates and Times Diablo 4 Early Access Beta Dates and Times - Early Access to the Open Beta begins March 17 at 9 a.m. PST and concludes March 20 at 12 p.m. PST. - Early Download begins Wednesday, March 15 at 9 a.m. PDT - The Open Beta begins March 24 at 9 a.m. PST and concludes March 27 at 12 p.m. PST. - Early Download begins Wednesday, March 22 at 9 a.m. PDT What classes can I play in Diablo 4 Beta? First weekend is only Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer. Second weekend includes all 5 classes (adding Druid and Necromancer). What can I do in Diablo 4 Beta? - Go through and complete the Prologue and the entirety of Act 1 (Fractured Peaks). - Play up to Level 25. - Fight the Ashava World Boss in groups of 12 during four set times on both Saturdays. - Saturday, March 18 at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight PDT - Saturday, March 25 at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight PDT - Clear out Strongholds throughout the Fractured Peaks. - Progress transfers from the pre-purchase Beta weekend to the Open Beta weekend. Progress does NOT transfer to the released version of the game. How can I play Diablo 4 Early Access Beta? - Pre-purchase the game to play both weekends, or wait for the second one. - Can pre-download the game one week prior to be ready to play. - Couch Co-Op is available for console. - Can make up to 10 characters per Battle.net account. Diablo 4 Early Access Beta Rewards There are three rewards for playing the Beta and they all transfer to the live game on launch. - Initial Casualty (Title) - Earned by reaching Kyovashad with one character. - Early Voyager (Title) - Earned by reaching Level 20 on one character. - Beta Wolf Pack Cosmetic Item - Earned by reaching Level 20 on one character. Diablo 4 Early Access Beta Code Redemption Do you have a Beta Early Access code for Diablo IV? It’s time to redeem it! If you pre-purchased the game digitally, Early Access to the Open Beta will be automatically available on the platform you pre-purchased for—no further action is required of you. But for those with an Early Access code, instructions are listed below. More information on how to download the Beta will be available as the Beta draws near. Redemption Instructions - Go to diablo.com/beta and log in or create your Battle.net account. - Enter your code and select your gaming platform and region (if applicable) from the drop-down menu. - Be sure to check your selections before clicking the Redeem button. - A success page will confirm that your code was valid and claimed to the account. - For PC players, your account will be flagged for access right away. - For console players, a platform-specific code to download the Beta will be emailed to the address associated with your Battle.net account closer to the start of Early Access. Diablo 4 Armor Details Explained Armor is the most basic way we defend ourselves from taking damage in Diablo 4. During the course of the blog, we learned some new details on how Armor works. - Armor has a cap of up to 85% damage reduction for Physical damage. - Armor grants a minor Elemental (Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, and Shadow) damage reduction, capped at only 30%. Making up the difference on other key items. - There is Diminishing Returns (DR) that requires you to gather more Armor as you level up to maintain your current damage reduction %. The team showed us graphs to get a general idea of what to expect in the game.

Trading in Diablo 4 Trading is a hotly debated topic. The developers are going back and forth deciding what is good for the players, but for the overall health of the game, too. Several remarks were stated on the matter during the livestream: Trading in Diablo 4 is less restrictive than Diablo 3, but it's by no means wide open trading. We know that there are lots of players that enjoy the game for the trading experience, and that those players would like as few restrictions on trading as possible. So, we want to support that to the extent that we can, but we also want to protect the core game loop of killing monsters and getting loot. So there are restrictions on trading to further encourage the situation where the best way to get the best loot is to kill monsters. That's the overriding directive. When you think about all the stuff we plan to do with seasons and the game being a live service, we certainly see opportunities for different trading rulesets in the future. For now, trade will be simple. The future may bring different rulesets, expanding what is possible. Diablo 4 PC System Requirements We have finally learned the minimum and recommend PC specifications. It was also noted that Ray tracing will be supported after release and wide screens and ultrawide screens are supported up to a resolution of 3:1. Minimum Requirements for PC Settings to run the Diablo IV Open Beta at 1080p native resolution / 720p render resolution, low graphics settings, 30 fps. - Operating System: 64-bit Windows 10 - Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-8100 - Memory: 8 GB RAM - Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon R9 280 - DirectX: Version 12 - Storage: SSD with 45 GB available space - Internet: Broadband Connection Diablo IV will attempt to run on hardware below minimum specifications, including HDDs, dual-core CPUs, and Integrated GPUs. However, the game experience may be significantly diminished. Recommended Specifications for PC - Operating System: 64-bit Windows 10 - Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K or AMD R3-1300X - Memory: 16 GB RAM - Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 370 - DirectX: Version 12 - Storage: SSD with 45 GB available space - Internet: Broadband Connection Read the full article

[lostplay]

Game 40: Judgment Having a spin off title of the Yakuza/ Like A Dragon series be focused on a washed up lawyer detective was not something I thought I wanted or even be interested in, yet here we are. Judgment does a great job of not only differing itself from it's mother series, but carves out it's own identity of what it wants to be. While it certainly has hiccups, and some what repetitive gameplay; overall Judgment is a series that grips you with a good overarching mystery and likeable characters. Now when I say hiccups, I certainly do mean hiccups because I genuinely don't think Judgment really has anything bad per say, but just things they could have done better. For instance, there is nothing inherently bad about tailing (in the game, in real life this could led to a restraining order), but it certainly does get boring after the 5th time you have to do it. There honestly just isn't more to this aspect aside from waiting, and slightly moving forward. If we could have gotten more interactions or more complications to it I certainly think it would have been a far more interesting aspect aside from the usual break it provided an otherwise combat focused game. Investigating crime scenes is also a nice change of pace, but largely we get next to nothing to do and only go through these kind of things once or twice a chapter. The fact this is a detective game, and we honestly don't do a lot of detective work is sad. Yagami isn't Kiryu, and having the game more focused on the finding out over fucking around really would have helped separate this game with Yakuza / Like A Dragon far more. On top of these minimal detective parts, we have an over abundance in fighting parts with the Keihei gang. While it does get subtly introduced, slowly the alerts and rampage of the Keihei gang is annoying to the player way into the games end and throughout post game. Not only do these higher rates of Keihei gang make the leaders of the gang show up, but the encounter rate for fights get to unbearable levels of suffocation. While they are not always present, and can be easily avoid, the point still stands that they are annoying. I get that the presence of this gang basically helps get you into more fights and gain more experience, but overall I would have preferred more detective experience than combat. In other words, there really are just some moments that suck about Judgment, but it's never enough to get the player to quit or lower the quality of the experience that the story provides. Not bad, just annoying. The cast of characters is by far the main selling point, and between the oddball cases that it's mother series is known for, Judgement isn't lacking in personality. Heck, a really cool thing about Judgement having slight connections to Like A Dragon is subtle references or nods to the main series with cameos or references during side missions. Plus all the character introductions and chemistry is simply on point throughout. From subtle dialogue choices to slowly learning about a person's past, Judgement really makes their larger ensemble cast shine in a way that the Like A Dragon series doesn't even do. Really the main course of the game is the mystery behind it all, and while I wouldn't say that it's predictable, it certainly does give the player enough clues to solve it before even Yagami does. It's fairly gripping to on how everything connects throughout, and how each member in Yagami's crew tie into the whole situation. It really is a good mystery in the sense that it's captivating throughout, and while it isn't always at the forefront, largely the game doesn't waste time with it. Conclusively, Judgment is a wonderful game with a good mystery, great cast of characters, and some annoyances that can be looked over. Considering this is the start of the series, it makes me hopeful that the games only improve on the foundation, and give us more interesting stories about Kamurocho.

[houndsofbalthazar]

Bullseyeposting part two:

Round two is another pretty clever fusion of darts and general knowledge. Instead of throwing darts to pick a category, each dart player has three throws on a normal dartboard, highest score wins a question for their teammate worth however much they scored. Repeat three times. The thing that struck me about this round though is how much harder it is. In round one, the dart player can earn up to £200 per go just for hitting the right category, and the questions add an additional £30, £50, and £100 on top. In round two, the dart player first has to get the higher score and then the quizzer has to get a question right to win anything at all. Being harder isn't necessarily a bad thing but the stakes are also so much lower, the most you can possibly win in one go is £180 and that requires three treble 20s in a row, something tricky enough for pros to do, let alone the amateurs playing. Normally in a gameshow like this you want some escalation between rounds, if only to keep it interesting and unclear who's going to win, but this just doesn't happen in Bullseye. One touch I do like about this round is that if the higher scoring pair gets the question wrong it goes over to the other pair, but they only win whatever their dart player scored so it could be significantly less valuable.

After round two we say goodbye to the pair with less money and we have a finalist. There's a bit of a tangent from the main gameplay as they get a celebrity darts player, usually a pro but sometimes a famous person who plays darts as a hobby, to throw for charity. 9 darts, their score is converted to pounds (doubled if they beat 301) and donated to a charity chosen by the final remaining pair. Again it's a strange feeling inclusion, it doesn't really have anything to do with the main arc of the show but it is nice that so many local hospitals in the 80s were receiving donations thanks to Bullseye. It's a very variety show sort of segment. Not much else to say about it.

Round three is just for the finalists as they face Bully's Prize Board (I haven't yet mentioned that the mascot of the show is an anthropomorphic bull named Bully, and that he would probably do numbers on certain parts of tumblr). It's a board with 8 small red segments plus a bullseye, all separated by larger black segments. Each red segment represents a prize, the pair has 9 darts to hit as many as they can. The questions are done now by the way, and the quizzer just also plays darts from now on. Jim is very proud of his little poem to remind players to "stay out of the black and into the red//there's nothing in this game for two in a bed", by which he means if you hit a prize a second time you lose it. Don't remember seeing that ever happen. The draw here is the prizes, it's the most dated part of the programme and drives home how much things have changed in some ways. There's usually a television, and I think I can appreciate that as something that could still be offered as a prize, lots of people have or want a tv, a nice tv is expensive, it's just the specs that are different. But then you get other consumer electronics like a clock radio or a vacuum cleaner and those are things that would just never be on offer as a tv show prize these days, they seem so pedestrian but they were probably just as expensive and surely as desirable as the tv. There's often crockery or furniture, sometimes jewelry, usually "something for the kiddies", and I can see the idea but they still don't quite land as prize material. And then you get the really odd ones, like the fur coats (only seeming to be the star prize when a woman makes it to the end, make of that what you will), or 25 Havan cigars. There's no way those would get given away on a tv show these days, can you imagine seeing something offering cigars as a prize?

Anyway once the pair has thrown and won their prizes they're given a chance to gamble. Yes, despite the bullseye prize on the prize board often being referred to in earlier series as the "star prize", there is an even starrier prize hidden behind a gamble. The pair can try to throw 101 or more on a regular dartboard in 6 darts, and if they do they win a big prize in addition to everything else they've won. If they don't manage it then they lose all the prizes they just won. If they choose not to gamble then the pair that was eliminated after round two come back and are given a chance to gamble their prize money, and if *they* choose not to gamble then the first pair who were knocked out come back and get a chance, and since they've usually won quite a bit less, the chances of at least one pair gambling are high.

The gamble segment is another thing that gives this whole programme such a strange narrative arc. Because the final pair could lose the prizes they just won, loss aversion disincentivises them from gambling so as often as not you'll see them happily take home what they've won. And that's where any modern gameshow would end it, they're the protagonists, their arc is complete, they beat out the competition and decided to return home triumphantly with their prizes. But Bullseye brings second place back, and possibly third place. It's not unusual to see an episode where the first team eliminated, sometimes on a pretty crappy score, come back and gamble and win the speedboat or the caravan or the car or whatever it is this week (it's a speedboat, a caravan, or a car). It feels so muddled! Who are we as the audience now cheering for? Who *won*? It's genuinely really alien in the modern gameshow landscape but part of me finds it refreshing, it really embodies the attitude that everyone's a winner, and I did always feel bad for people who got on their favourite quiz show only to be kicked off after one round and go home with nothing (incidentally I think one way they're dealing with this these days is I'm seeing shows where the same contestants are on for every day of a week, or they get three goes like on Pointless).

So yeah that's most of my thoughts on Bullseye. What a strange programme to watch these days, but as Jim Bowen said so many times, and as you now know, "you can't beat a bit of Bully".

Bullseye (80s darts based gameshow) is a very strange programme by today's standards. There are so many odd and remarkable things about it. But at the same time I think some of the core gameplay is phenomenal gameshow design. The more I watch the more I'm convinced it's genius.

[aotaku12]

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧?"

✧ Summary | You come again to fight your weekly boss...except for the fact that you have been fighting this boss DAILY rather than weekly.

✧ Disclaimer | Very Self indulgent "Self Insert x Scaramouche" but could be read as "Scaramouche x Player!Reader" ✧ Warnings | Swearing, Possible OOC, No Logic, Brief Mention of Stalking

✧ Additional Tags | Gender-Neutral Reader, First Person POV, Gameplay References, Reader is the Player, Scaramouche as Weekly Boss (Non-Canon), Scaramouche Uses a Scythe, Self-Aware AU (?), Fluff

✧ Word Count | 826 Words ✧ Author's Notes | I just want Scaramouche Content so this is what I came up with at 1 am so don't expect much.

'Shit...Maybe I should've brought Xiao and Bennett instead of my exploration team' I groaned as another wave of Electro hit me coming from his Scythe which I thankfully manage to dodge. "You're taking quite a while with your attacks." Scaramouche says with a sneer. "Oh fuck off!" I playfully remark as I use Kamisato Art: Suiyuu, casting eternal rain in the arena. "Seriously? You really could've thought things through much better than to cause rain against an electro opponent such as myself." He lowers the brim of his Mushi no Teriginu, as if trying to protect himself. I switch over and decided to cast Chonghua's Layered Frost only for him to dodge effortlessly. "I'm not done yet!" I cry out as I cast out Spirit Blade and seeing the shocked look on his face was definitely worth it. "Well, I guess you improved quite a bit. That last attack surprised me." Scaramouche says as he gets up. "Honestly, I didn't know what I was doing." I reply sheepishly. The Ley Line Blossom blooms, waiting for me to accept it's rewards. "Well. That's that. I look forward to spar again next week." He then vanishes in a flash of electro. I admit, even though I already got the rewards I wanted to spar with him again at the end of the week...then we ended up sparring every 3 days per week and now I've been sparring him every single day... I let out a sigh at how much of a mess I am in my head before entering the domain. "You again?" He greets me, deadpan, his scythe still in his hand albeit more loosely. "Archons I swear you are as bad— No, WORSE than Tartaglia for goodness sake." Scaramouche sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose. I was about to open my mouth to give an excuse but he immediately cuts me off, "Don't you dare say that you got new units. You use the same team composition with only 1 party member switch." I shut my mouth after that and start fidgeting with my sword. "Be honest. Why do you keep coming? You know how the world works, Leylines only bloom once a week for me." He stated. "I um...I don't know if you want to hear it." I mutter. "Acting shy, are we?" He gives a sly smirk, letting go oh his scythe and vanishing it somewhere else as he approaches me. Under the intimidation of his sudden actions I start messing up on my words, "Well—! I! Um...!" "Go on...?" We were so close...we could kiss if we wanted to but no. I can't! I'm a loser who adores fictional men and write shitty fanfic about it no one can read. GOD WHY IS HE SO HOT!?!? "I wanted to see you..." I mutter. "What was that?" He asks, leaning over to hear me better. "I um...wanted to see you." "I didn't quite catch that." Oh now he's just teasing me! "I WANTED TO SEE YOU OKAY!?!? FUCKING H×××VERSE WON'T LET ME SEE YOU MORE OFTEN OUTSIDE OF WEEKLY BATTLES!!!" I let out a few heated breaths before thinking...'Archons, I'm so cringe' Then I hear a snicker...then a chuckle...then a full blown laugh! "Are you making fun of me!?!?" I exclaim but he continues laughing. "STOP LAUGHING!!! IT WAS NOT FUNNY" I cry out in embarrassment. Scaramouche recovers from his laughing fit. "You could've just asked you fucking idiot." "I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!!!" Now I'm full on embarrassed and he starts laughing again...this time it was a lighthearted one. "Come on then. We're heading out of here." Scaramouche grabs my hand as we leave the domain. He starts leading me outside and up a cliff where we can see the view of the sun setting on the glistening ocean, sakura petals falling as they were blown by the wind. I simply stare in awe at the scenery as he sits down in the shade of the sakura tree. "So, when did you fall for me?" He asks out of the blue. It took me by surprise I and up sputtering my words, "Wh— Why would you ask that!?" "Why not? Clearly you have taken a liking for me." He smirks. I grumble, embarrassed and flustered once again before saying one word "Lore." "Lore?" "Yes your lore!" Silence falls between us. "Now that I think about it, it sounds like I'm a stalker since I kinda know about your past..." "It doesn't matter, just be quiet." 'Well sheesh

dude, you were the one who asked.' I cross my arms. Scaramouche then pats the spot next to him, offering for me to sit. And I did. We just did a bit of small talk while watching the sunset. Slowly I simply fall asleep over his shoulder... And then my alarm wakes me up and makes me realize that shit will never happen FUCKKKKK

[fluffykitteninabox]

so I'm playing the ssum

(low key writing this just for the extra batteries but also I'm annoyed and I need to rant)

First of all

I've seen people call Teo boring and I think that's probably because they're used to the complexity of the mystic messenger cast. The ssum seems like a more casual experience, there doesn't seem to be a plot thus far. I honestly find it more relaxing and I like that I don't have to wake up at 3 in the morning for a chat room.

That being said... I hate the battery system. With mystic messenger you didn't need hourglasses to play. But for this... batteries are used for both chat options and for calls and there doesn't seem to be a consistent way to get new ones from the game. You can pay to make Teo type faster!?!?!!!??!!!!

Personally I don't have a problem with him typing slowly because I do other things while playing and it kind of feels like you're waiting for a real person to respond to your messages but not all people can do that. People who don't work from home or go to school can't have their phone out waiting for Teo to stop breathing and approaching and deciding whether he wants to sit or not.

Yes the ads look cute but you know what? I don't care! They're still just as annoying as any ad. And the stupid subscriptions are stupidly expensive and stupid. When I downloaded the game I remember thinking "oh in mysmes you pay for something once and then you benefit from it for the entire game, you don't need to keep paying for it. I bought the character calling cards and the speed button and now I have them for every time I play. I hope it's the same way here... "

Unfortunately cheritz decided to be greedy and in the ssum the same exact "benefits" (they are basically the same) are now much more expensive and if you stop paying you obviously won't have them anymore

I downloaded mystic messenger on my dad's phone to compare the prices because I didn't remember how much it cost

Currently if you buy the RFA and the Ray and V calling cards in mystic messenger you will pay 30€ (33 if you buy the RFA cards separately)

if you get a subscription for the ssum you will pay 30€ for the aurora package or 24€ for the rainbow one. (with rounded numbers)

This seems the same but remember these are the prices for each month. If you keep the subscription for the 200 days then you'll pay 180€ for aurora or 144€ for rainbow. That's for only playing through the game once and you don't get to keep those benefits afterwards.

Why? It's basically the same product so why is the price so wildly different? And before someone says that it's not the same because you get more "benefits" from the ssum subscription. Yes, you do get more stuff from the ssum subscription... stuff that was already free in mystic messenger! Like chat options and no ads interrupting your gameplay. And the extra batteries the subscription gives you? You could gather the equivalent hourglasses in mystic messenger for free! The only real extra stuff you get are the things that don't have an equivalent in mysmes so I can't really compare them. To be completely honest though, I don't think anyone who would decide to pay for the subscription would be doing it for the incubator or the 1 extra study per day.

Speaking of which, the chat feature is neat and I like that we can answer questions and like other player's answers, but why is it limited to 1 per day? It feels restricting, even for the 1 extra you get when you pay. Why not just let people post as much they want?

It's so ironic that thay call the planet "city of free men" but we can only post once and only like 5 people's posts per day

I like Teo, he's cute and the chats and calls are nice but I'm running out of batteries so actually playing the game will become a lot slower and probably less enjoyable. It's sad honestly. I liked the idea of chatting with a character for longer than 11 days and getting to know them better.

I want to end this with something positive so:

the art in the game looks fantastic and the music is nice and relaxing. The writers are doing great making Teo adorable. The people who worked on the game are not to blame for the company's greedy decisions.