December 2017

Exploding Kittens and Munchkin Presents

Before leaving for depot my husband expressed an interest in starting a collection of board and card games, and eventually making some friends where ever we ended up who would want to play these games (presumably with us). So for Christmas I bought him the NSFW version of Exploding Kittens and the Deluxe edition of Munchkin. We played a few rounds of Exploding Kittens together a day early because we had no internet – it was a blast. The game is easy to learn, has very few rules, and the images on the cards were hilarious (there’s a whale boner card, need I say more).

I was going to pick up the Canadian edition of Cards Against Humanity, but I wanted to start out small so it will have to wait for another time. Exploding Kittens can be played with two people which was perfect over the holidays. Munchkin requires more, but we’ll get there before too  long.

Have any other board game suggestions? Two players or more is perfect! I can’t wait to add more games to our collection. We’re also hoping to start up a D&D game or two but that will depend on whether or not we can find anyone local willing to play. It should be exciting!

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Merry Christmas

My husband is home for 8 days this Christmas, having been gone for the past 8 weeks (I saw him for 36h and he was gone for 16 weeks prior to that) and then he’s gone for another 4 weeks before we’re finally done with our RCMP depot adventure and head to Saskatchewan to begin two years of a new adventure – as a family, at least.

I’m still playing Euro Truck Simulator 2 as much as I can, I’ve done a few runs now, I went to the bank and got a loan and bought myself my very own truck, decked it out for Christmas (again) and managed to save the game without things breaking which is excellent. What wasn’t so excellent was forgetting to pick up the cargo I was supposed to be hauling, and driving across most of Poland without said cargo. I’m not used to driving from my own garage, and that means the cargo isn’t just waiting on the lot for me and it’s certainly not already hitched to my trailer. Whewps. So I quit out for now (to write this post, and look over my husband and son who are taking a nap together) and then when I log back in I’ll drive backwards a bunch to my garage and try to fix the mistake.

I also had my little truck driver take their first sleep, I noticed an icon of a dude in a bed that was white, then blue, then red, and I could hear sound effects of someone yawning (presumably me). Pulled into a truck stop for the night and all was well the next morning.

I also took some amazing screenshots of a sunset that was happening as I was driving away from it. The game is just so absolutely beautiful. It’s peaceful, relaxing, and even though I’m still finding the controls a bit picky and awkward, I’m having fun which is of course the most important part.

So from all of us here at NomadicGamersEh we wish all of our readers a VERY Merry Christmas, and a happy new year. I’m excited about what this next year will bring, it’s certainly going to be an adventure.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

A Desire to Drive

In real life my anxiety has always prevented me from getting my full drivers license. I’ve had my beginners a few times but the idea of driving around a city just absolutely petrified me. This year I decided it was time to beat back that fear, and I once again have my beginners. The idea of driving still scares me, but the fact that we will soon be living so remote and I may not have my license scares me even more.

Anyway. With the real life driving taken care of (or at least decided upon) comes the odd fact that I have always really enjoyed driving games or racing games. I love Mario Kart, I enjoy speed racing type games and even though I have owned Euro Truck Simulator 2 for a little while now, for some reason I had never given the game a go! I watch quite a few streamers who play, and it always seems so relaxed and comfortable, two things that really appeal to me. Plus you get to explore and drive through some absolutely amazing places.

I decided since I’ll soon have two hands free to game (at least over Christmas break) that I’d like to give the game a shot and see if it’s as enjoyable to play as it is to watch. On the suggestion from (many) friends I plugged in my controller and have decided not to play with a keyboard / mouse. In fact if I enjoy it enough, I may even invest in a wheel.

I ran through a pretty quick tutorial, promptly forgetting everything they told me to pay attention to, and was on the road doing my first ‘mission’. I don’t actually own my own truck yet, I have to run missions and save up to buy one – which is awesome! It’s like earning your gear in an MMO. Anyway, my first trip out was… interesting. I forgot how to break, and I couldn’t turn my windshield wipers off. It was a nice bright sunny day in (where ever I was, I have no idea I was too excited to remember) and there I was, running into pretty much everything because I couldn’t slow down, and with the wipers going.

It was hilarious, relaxing, and I had so. much. fun. Now, I won’t be playing multiplayer any time soon – but I DO want to give that a go once I’m more comfortable driving. My reasons for not playing it right now are pretty straight forward, I’d probably ruin something for someone else with my really (REALLY) poor driving skills. So for now I’m doing the solo gameplay stuff. I don’t own any of the DLC but I do also want to pick those up over time, too. Right now thanks to the steam sale I could get everything I’m missing (and then some) for about $50 CAD. There are a ton of DLC for the game, it has been out a while after all.

It’s a beautiful game, too. Thankfully I have a navigation system in the truck so I can at least see where I’m going and if I need to do something special like move to one side of the road or something like that. As a non-driver, it’s really interesting to me to learn this stuff, and I can familiarize myself with street signs too.

I probably need to tweak my controller a bit (I’m using an xbox controller) and familiarize myself a bit more with the controls (like changing camera view so I can see what the hell is up with my trailer), but I’m thinking this is another one of those perfect games for me. I can’t wait to dive back in and play some more.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming While Holding my Toddler

My little guy is 15 months old now, and there’s nothing he likes better than hanging out with Mommy. All. The. Time. Keeping my mental health up is just as important to me as taking care of my son is, because if I can’t function like a human being, I’m of no use to either of us. So sometimes I try to get a little gaming in at my desk (we’re talking 15-20m spurts usually) and I’ve had to get creative with how I play – and what I play.

See, my little one may WANT to be sitting there with me, but he doesn’t actually. What he wants is to wiggle around and get into everything. He is pretty much never still. I have to use one hand to hold him steady so he doesn’t go tumbling to the floor, leaving one hand free for gaming (typically on the mouse, if I’m within range of the keyboard the kid is going to eat it, bash it, or want to throw it).

That’s why I’ve taken to playing games like RimWorld, where things are fairly automated and require little interaction from me – I can also play it easily with one hand on my mouse.

A friend of mine mentioned that Hearthstone just came out with their latest update – a solo dungeon. The best part about this is that you’re not timed, so if you have to randomly AFK to say, pry a lemon leaf out of your kids mouth before they swallow it, you won’t lose your game. Games like this are absolutely perfect for me, they require only one hand to pick my cards, and I don’t have to give it my full complete attention. Lets face it, there’s only so much of me to go around. I’ve beaten three of the eight dungeon bosses so far, and it’s quite fun. I’m not particularly good at Hearthstone though, I love playing card games and I hate organizing or creating decks (and I know absolutely nothing about how to produce a game winning deck). Still, it passes the time.

Gwent is another card game I’ve been playing in a solo method – but you’re still timed there, so it’s not perfect. Cities: Skylines was another game brought up, but I find I need to interact with that one quite a bit, especially if the city isn’t very well established. Sims 4 was one I was attempting, but again there’s quite a bit of interaction required for that one.

I know that all of these stages right now are short phases in the grand scheme of things, and eventually I’ll be able to game with both hands again, but in the meantime, if you have suggestions for me please feel free to comment below! I think Civilization may be another one that I could potentially give a go, I played when llama bean was first born and then stepped away because there are just so many games out there.

Our kids are important, but again, if we cannot function or take a minute or two to ourselves here and there, we’re of no use to them. It’s important to take care of ourselves, and for me, that means squeezing in some gaming here and there so I can remember that I’m more than just a parent.

Closer to Flying in Legion

Thanks to finally getting a major quest chain done, and a few weekly quests, all I really have left in order to fly in Legion is a few points in faction, and quests in two zones. My priest is sitting at a comfortable 894 ilevel, and lately I’ve been playing her in her discipline spec for both heals and DPS. Survivability in the newest zones is much easier this way and mobs are dying without too much trouble.

I’ve also been trying to work on my crafting professions a bit. This character is one I boosted a while back, and is sorely lacking. If you recall, I’m waiting to play my “actual” main until my husband is done with depot so that we can play and explore together. In the meantime though I’m still trying to keep busy while my little one sleeps (and relax a smidge). I am over 700 now in tailoring (finally) but my second profession is enchanting and that one is going much slower. I’m also working on fishing and cooking, two relaxing and fairly simple back up professions. Of course then there’s also pet battles which are some of my favourite ways to spend time in game.

I’m finding that even with my limited time, I am still accomplishing things and there’s just so much content, I love it. I don’t feel pressured in any way, which is a nice change of pace. I’d like to start running old dungeons and raids for transmog pieces, but that will have to wait. Flying is first and foremost on my list. Then leveling my druid and my paladin. Playing WoW these days? What are you up to? Let me know below in comments and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Nomadic Gamer