Update 5

Kind of bit mixed on writing this update. I have been keeping up with my January challenge idea. Part of me is wanting to write about that but part of me worries a bit that if I write about it I will lose the spirit somehow. But I feel like writing something and kind of want to write mini reviews of the games I have played so far to kind of clear them out of my brain a bit. So here goes:

Jan 1st: didn't play anything. As I mentioned before I was kind of hoping this would take some pressure off of it since I didn't have to be perfect. So far it seems to have worked like that. I have still been motivated to continue so I haven't written off the challenge just because I missed the first day. But I feel I have been a bit more relaxed about it because it doesn't feel like some kind of total failure if I miss a day. But so far this is the only day I missed.

Jan 2nd: citizen sleeper. this is an interesting game. I felt the writing was good. It is a bit bleak but not in a super terrible way that some games go for. It is basically turn based in that you have cycles and each cycle you roll some dice (the number varies depending on your condition). Then you are able to use these dice to complete actions. The number showing on a die determines your chances of success or failure. Basically you are a stowaway on a cargo ship who gets salvaged. (It is unclear what happened to the ship.) You are basically a runaway from a kind of corporate slavery that you sold yourself into. You are on a strange space station with a variety of characters and will have to solve some problems. Definitely see myself getting back to this. But how far I get with it will depend a fair bit on which direction the tone goes.

Jan 3rd: forgotten city. interesting game. You discover an undiscovered ancient city and travel through a portal to the past. In your time everyone in the city has been turned to gold. It is your job to figure out why this happened and how to stop it. Felt a bit mixed on this one but basically I am pretty interested and want to continue with it. So far the writing is a bit mediocre. Not bad but not great. The plot is a bit weak also. The leader of the city told me it has to do with some "sin" that someone in the city was going to commit and that they would all have to pay the price for this. So, my impression is it a bit of puzzle to solve but there will be some twists and turns on the way which sounds interesting enough that I intend to go further with this but I will just have to see how it develops.

Jan 4th: forza horizon 4, this is a driving game. It is more on the realistic side as opposed to the arcade side. But the controls are pretty simple so it isn't exactly at the simulator end of things either. The graphics are good. Basically I picked this up for 80% off because it was about to be delisted (meaning removed from sale but people who own the game can still play it). Basically quite awhile ago I got a game called Need for Speed Heat. That is also a driving game and there were things that I liked about it and I did play it some but a big part of that game is getting chased by the police and having to escape from them. So I was kind of looking for a game with driving that didn't have that police chase feature. Feel a bit mixed about this one. Partly it fits the bill and there are some collecting elements that seem appealing (don't require any real world money). But I guess I haven't felt much motivation to pick it up since then. I guess one thing is just that there really isn't a story to the game. So partly it made me question how much I actually like driving games. But I think maybe it will fit the bill for something relaxing to do. Like just put some real world music on and tool around in a variety of cool cars. The game is pretty flexible in that there are races but also a lot of open world roads that you can drive on so you aren't limited.

Jan 5th: magnum opus: this is a puzzle game by zachtronics which is a highly respected indie puzzle game studio that no longer really exists. This entry ranked pretty highly on Rock Paper Shotguns list of 100 best pc games you can still play. So I decided to pick it up this last winter sale. Basically you are doing some alchemy but you are doing it by designing some machines to do the process for you. So you get the regents and some mechanical arms will grab them and move them through steps that alter them or bond them with other regents. Then you have a product that you have to deposit in the receptacle. Basically there is a lot of freedom to design these machines the way you want so there are a variety of ways to solve them. But after you submit your answer you are shown three graphs that compare your answer to other people's answer on three metrics. Then if you want you can try to redesign your answer. So basically the only requirement to advance to the next puzzle is just that you create a working solution but if you want to take it to the next level you can get into trying to optimize your solution. Enjoyed it and played it a couple more times this month. See myself putting some more time into it but some of my initial enthusiasm has faded a bit so we will just have to see.

Jan 6th: abzu. This is a free game that I got through epic. Basically it is an underwater exploration game. There seem to be some loose objectives but I didn't get much sense that they were terribly pressing. I think mostly you are supposed to revel in the beauty of the underwater world. Basically I wasn't really feeling this one and it was the first one where I checked the clock before the stipulated half an hour was up. There's a good chance I won't get back to this. Basically I kind of felt like the graphics weren't super amazing and I found it kind of boring. I also struggled some with the controls. Maybe would be better with a story or a bit more feeling of something being at stake.

Jan 7th: city of brass. this is another free game through epic. first person roguelike (meaning you start over at the beginning if you die). You are basically a thief who has called forth an ancient city from the sands in order to get artifacts. It was ok but didn't really stand out for me. There are some enemies to beat and some treasures to get. There seems to be a bit of a story. Probably won't be returning to this one but it kind of depends. I did like it ok but just didn't really seem all that compelling and I was kind of annoyed with the starting over.

Jan 8th: call of cthulu. this is kind of a roleplaying game, kind of a point and click (more about finding stuff than combat). So far I got pretty hooked on this and have actually played it a fair bit after my first dip into it. It is kind of cliched cthulu mythos type stuff like tortured artists and insane asylums etc. But somehow it has kind of clicked for me. You are playing a detective who is investigating a fire for the father of a woman who perished in it. I won't give any spoilers. But so far the mechanics, graphics, and story have been fun enough for me to keep going with it. It is based on a table top rpg but I think the translation is fun to play and not overly complicated as some rpg games are. It's not perfect and there are some slight annoyances like visual glitches when you are moving around and also a number of situations with people talking over each other. In some ways it is not very challenging. It is a lot about finding stuff in the environment. The punishments for missteps are pretty mild. Overall I like the game and want to continue but at the same time, the atmosphere (kind of gruesome horror) has begun to wear on me a bit as well as the fact that to some extent the game feels like busy work.

Jan 9th: hexcells. this is a puzzle game that was highly recommended by the buried treasure blog. It is just straight puzzles. Basically like minesweeper but John Walker (the blog author) was adamant that this far superior because minesweeper occasionally requires guessing whereas hexcells does not. There are also some interesting twists. Basically kind of neutral on this one. I like it for what it is but am nowhere near as passionate about it as walker is. Kind of fits the bill for logic puzzle mode and I can see myself finishing it just because there don't seem to be a huge number of puzzles. So far it is pretty easy. I seem to be close to half way through it so maybe it toughens up. Some of the instructions are slightly less than clear involving making some mistakes before I figured it out.

Jan 10th: minds beneath us: was looking forward this one because it has an extremely high positive review rating on steam. it seemed interesting. It is a point and click pixel graphics story driven game. I have played games like this before and enjoyed them. For example gemini rue on the ipad. This one just wasn't clicking for me though. I feel like it has to do with the story. The first part of the game is a bit on the ugly side tone wise and then you are kind of thrust into a domestic drama about a relationship. Somehow these choices just didn't really work for me. I wasn't hipped on either side of the coin. I guess the promise is that they will somehow come together but neither side seemed terribly appealing. This might be intentional but kind of put me off. On the other hand, I played for over an hour the first time I played so there was something about that kept me going for awhile. So I haven't totally consigned it to the rubbish bin.

 Jan 11th: between horizons. this one is set on a generation ship traveling to a nearby star. You are in the security department. So far kind of mixed. I liked it better than minds beneath us but wasn't as hooked as with call of cthulu. this is another pixel graphics point and click. So it is more about solving cases. So far it seems like there might be a bit more actual puzzle / case solving than in cthulu but it's hard to tell from my limited time. That would be appealing. On the other hand the visual style is a bit kind of bubble gummy and the writing didn't seem amazing for kind of the same reason although they seem to be bringing up some more serious stuff. This one will probably get some more play time at some point in the future.

Jan 12th: inside: this one seems to be well regarded but walker made some disparaging remarks about it. I didn't play for super long but liked what I saw of it. It is kind of learn by doing sort of platformer / puzzle game. The tone is a bit dark featuring what seems to be a kid being chased by faceless men and savage dogs and inhabiting a kind of dreary rain soaked half abandoned world. Can see myself playing some more.

Overall I have been a pretty happy with how it has gone so far. I am enjoying it. It is still a bit of a struggle to get myself to follow through some days but I kind of think that is positive thing. I feel like it has served the purpose of getting me playing more and actually trying games and finding what I like and what I am not so thrilled with. At one point I thought I might take this opportunity to dig into the pile of free games I have gotten from epic but that didn't last very long. Just have to see how this evolves in the rest of the month.