Swords ‘n Magic and Stuff

stargrace May 4, 2023 0 Comments

A good friend of mine told me about this adorable little game they had been playing (early access) called Swords ‘n Magic and Stuff (you can find it on steam). I checked out the steam page and wasn’t immediately drawn to it because my plate is already quite full with games, but I decided that the price point was pretty good, and why shouldn’t I check it out for a bit.

Adorable, is the first word that comes to mind. There’s a few races to select, and then a tutorial of sorts to work your way through. You can play with friends, create your own server, or use one of the ‘official’ game ones (a lot like ARK). There’s combat, housing, farming, and a number of other systems in place – it is created by a very small team (I believe it’s basically a two person team), but the bits I’ve played so far have been very relaxing and fleshed out. There’s quests and exploration and it was just a really nice break from the other games I’ve been playing.

Keplerth – Surprisingly Fun

stargrace July 3, 2022 0 Comments

My husband surprised me by gifting this game to me yesterday, and honestly I had never heard of it before. It is a 2D Sandbox RPG with online co-op (and LAN co-op), a steam workshop, and achievements. The graphics look VERY similar to RimWorld, which caught me off guard. The gameplay is NOT RimWorld at all, but it is a whole lot of fun.

I created a dark elf, I’m not even sure what the husband was playing. We found ourselves in a broken down base, and vaguely followed tutorial prompts to build some basic tools, armor, and head to a laboratory where we found a trade shop. The game is a lot more complex then it looks initially, there’s all sorts of mutation and gene events going on, there’s pet breeding, mounts, farming, exploration, randomly generated maps, and dungeons.

The team who made this game is just four people, so if you find bugs you have to bring it to their attention so they can work on them, but so far, I completely understand why this game has a very positive review, having released back in May 2022. I’m looking forward to exploring further, and seeing what trouble I can get into.

The only ‘downside’ or complaint I have so far is that although the game can be played co-op, there’s very little ‘group’ interaction. The tutorial only updates for one person, and there’s no grouping up (that I have found at least). You can see other people on the map and you can trade with them by dropping on the ground or putting it in a chest, but it’s not really customized for actual full co-op play (IMO). Still, it was a great way to spend an evening. I donned my stone club, my husband made a bow, and together we lured out the zombies and mutant monsters to make short work of them.

Then survivalists started showing up at our base, and making use of our amenity. It just got more fun from there.

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

Factorio (Or Maybe Dyson Sphere Program)

stargrace July 2, 2022 2 Comments

I recently picked up a few games from steam that I’ve had on my radar for a while. One was No Place Like Home (which I refunded, because as much as I wanted to love this game, the controls were just so bad), Keplerth, and Factorio. I’ve watched others playing Factorio for some time, but I stayed away from it myself, thinking it would be too complicated. The thing is I do enjoy those types of games (I also feel like my game library is already quite large) so I knew sooner or later I was going to pick it up. Then someone commented, and mentioned Dyson Sphere Program. This game is one I haven’t really looked at, but it’s very similar to Factorio. Now I sort of want that one too. There’s just so many games, and not enough time.

I’ve been playing through the tutorial of Factorio, and one thing I don’t like is the bad guys that keep putting pressure on you (and growing in strength) as you’re trying to get things done. Of course eventually you get better guns and automate some processes to keep things safe, but that extra layer of stress is one I could do without. I know there’s a creative mode, but I really wanted to finish making my way through the tutorial first before branching off.

Have you given either of these games a look? What are your thoughts? Let me know in comments, and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

The Tenants (Steam)

stargrace June 27, 2022 0 Comments

I’ve owned the game ‘The Tenants’ on steam for a little while now, but since our internet was pretty poor I never got around to installing it – yesterday I decided to play for a short while, and it really is a cute fun little game. I love building simulators, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise that I enjoyed myself.

You play the landlord / owner of some property, and you have to fix it up and then get tenants to stay in it. You’ll have good tenants, bad ones, and you’ll have to do some unusual tasks along the way to earn cash to continue renovating. Like babysitting. What landlord is doing that for tenants out there?!

The game play is similar to games like house flipper, but in a top down view, and the art is what really appealed to me. It’s not the most complex games as far as having options to place down, but there are more than enough to keep me interested. Unfortunately after some time I found myself caring very little where I placed household items so long as they could be accessed and meet the criteria each tenant was looking for – which is what usually happens when I’m playing these games. Still, it was a fun little afternoon waster, and it was nice to feel an urge to play something that I could actually download while I still wanted to play, lol!

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Wildermyth

stargrace July 5, 2021 0 Comments

I just love this game so dang much.

The story is amazing, and the art style is very comic-like and amusing. Again, if you haven’t tried this game out, I HIGHLY recommend it. Probably my best for 2021 so far.