xBox Game Pass

Other Games..

From time to time I wander into other games that catch my eye – it doesn’t happen often (after all, I enjoy what I enjoy, and my free time is pretty limited) but I figured I could write about it here when it happens every so often.

The first game I stumbled into earlier this week is called ‘Dicey Dungeons’ – and I found this on my xbox game pass. This game was a LOT of fun, and reminded me of games like Slay the Spire, and Monster Train. You get to pick from a roster of characters (you start with the warrior, the easiest character, then comes the thief, and then a robot) and you move through unique maps and defeat enemies by rolling a dice. There’s some minimal inventory management where you might need to shuffle some skills around (they fit in slots, there’s a large selection of skills and limited slots where they can fit) and you get little goodies for leveling up, defeating opponents, that sort of thing.

Each floor things get stronger, and while I only made it to the 5th floor in any given round, it was still interesting enough that I kept trying after I was defeated. The graphics are cute and it didn’t take me any time to pick up on the ‘rules’ of the game, so I found it easy to dip into when I only had a few moments here and there.

It’s not the sort of game I would necessarily purchase, but because I was playing it for ‘free’ on the xbox game pass, it felt like a great use of time. If you enjoy those types of games, I would absolutely recommend it.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

The Savings Keep Coming

I was contemplating buying in on the Dreamlight Valley game on my Nintendo Switch – and then I saw that the base model is going to be included in my Game Pass – and that solved that. I love this deal so much, I’ve gotten to play more games and spend less money than I ever would have normally. I don’t feel any guilt, and it’s just been a joy to discover new things to play.

Anyone else out there planning on getting it or playing? Let me know in comments, and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Before We Leave

How is it that this game actually released back in 2021, and I’ve never heard of it before! Before We Leave is a city building game with graphics that I absolutely fell in love with. It is a part of the xbox game pass for PC and it reminds me of a mixture of Banished, Dorfromantik, and all of those other city building games where you’re in charge of minions and need to survive. I haven’t gotten very far into the game yet, but there’s a tech tree (I’m researching at a library at the moment), mining, harvesting, growing, and everything in between. The people show up from a hatch in the ground where they’ve been staying, and finally decide it’s time to live above ground. Right now I’m building a ship, I imagine you get to move on to other islands over time, and things are not complicated (yet). There hasn’t been any combat or invasions but I think that’s coming.

Have I mentioned enough times yet that the value from the xbox game pass is insane? Well, it is. Here’s the 3rd game I’ve tried this week, without having to invest in anything more than $1 (I know the price goes up after this month, and I know that games tend to shuffle around and I may not get to play them forever). If I love the game and then decide I want to purchase it, that’s an option too.

In the meantime, I’m just having fun figuring out the best places to put roads and buildings so that everything is accessible (which is the major issue with this game so far). As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Boyfriend Dungeon

As mentioned in my prior post, I signed up for the xbox game pass – and one of the first games I decided to download and try was Boyfriend Dungeon. This game has been out for a while now, but I’ve never played it before. I also hadn’t watched any let’s play videos or anything like that.

There are a bunch of trigger warnings at the start, which I appreciated. I was fairly confident I’d be able to handle it, so I continued to play. One of the best things this game does (IMO) is remain really conscience of peoples situations. I was presented with a message that asked me if it would be OK to receive encouraging messages from ‘mom’ – I said no. I really wish Animal Crossing would do the same, or let me rename the NPC.

I’m not very far yet, but there’s a lot of swords / people to romance, and plenty to do. The game works like a visual novel but also has some hack and slash combat in there where you take your swords / dates out to the mall and defeat phones. Get loot, do some crafting, make gifts for people, it really does have a lot more depth than I was expecting. I love the voice overs, and since it was on the game pass (where my first month is only $1) I don’t feel any guilt for how much/little time I played.

Next up will absolutely have to be Two Point Campus, which just released.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Xbox Game Pass – Contemplation

I like playing new games, but I don’t always end up enjoying them / want to pay $50-100 for the newest on the market. There are a lot of games in my steam library that I haven’t even played before. Since they’re all digital, it’s not like I’m ‘collecting’ them (or maybe I am?) – anyway, long story short I decided to give the xbox game pass a go. The first month only came to $1 and had at least two games I was interested in (Dungeon Boyfriend, and Two Point Campus) which I imagine will at least surpass my $1 cost, so why not. After that each month is $12, and I figure instead of paying $50 a month for each new game that releases that I end up not playing, maybe I should give this a try. I’m not a huge fan of subscription based services because there are SO MANY out there these days, but I asked around, and everyone seemed to be in agreement that even if you’re a PC gamer (we don’t own an xbox) it has great value. We might pick up a console in the future (someone mentioned the xbox series S) but it has been some time since either myself or my husband have been console gamers. Nothing wrong with that, to each their own, it’s just that the kids normally commandeer the television with their nintendo switch.

Anyway, I’ve signed up for now and I’ll probably continue. There should be at least $10 value each month for games I want to play, and I see they’ve also teamed up with EA, which is another bonus for me. Anyone else out there using the xbox game pass and enjoying it? Let me know in comments!