Blog: Games of December 2020

I'm not sure I was in a great mind-space in December. Looking at how I felt about most of what I played none of it really seemed to be great. I've been thinking about how to manage happiness and fun and so hopefully for the stuff I play next I'll be able to enjoy it more.

My top five games (by play time) for December were:

1. Civilization VI - Coming out of November I had a few fun games and a few games that weren't so fun. I want to love this game, but sometimes it just feels so draggy.
   
   
   
   
   


2. Hades - I'm a little frustrated that I'm not better at Hades than I am. On the other hand even as someone who isn't very good at it the game is still fun and interesting and doesn't make me feel like I'm really missing out. I wonder if playing mouse and keyboard has held me back some (I don't think much), but mostly I think I'm just a little too impatient with the game. I'll talk more about it in my 2020 wrap-up post, but the fact that this became a top 10 game in less than 2 months of play time really speaks to just how good it is.
   
   
   
   
   


3. Illusion of Gaia - I don't pick up Illusion of Gaia every year at the holidays but it's definitely the time when I want to play it again. It was nice to have a couple of days to play and I was able to get all the way though quite quickly this year (9 and a half hours) at least partly because I learned the speed running tactic (fact?) that the game gives you all of the XP even if you don't defeat the enemies. So it was nice to be able to tour through the parts I liked and keep going. It felt interestingly dark in the year 2020, with a lot of people not really responding to the crisis the world is facing in the game. 
   
   
   
   
   


4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - I dunno. It's cute but I'm finding less and less urge to actually play. I've given myself a goal of getting my island to 5 stars in January and then we'll see what's next but without a significant update, I may just drift away from my island.
   
   
   
   
   


5. Luigi's Mansion 3 - If you are an animator you should play this game. Other than that I'm not sure. I think there are a ton of fun ideas in here and it's certainly charming, but I just didn't every feel that invested.
   
   
   
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for December:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Games of November 2019

As often is the case, November was pretty crazy, so I didn't play that much. My time went primarily to Luigi's Mansion 3 with a little bit of day-to-day play of Sunless Sea and Pogo. Now, I'm tired, but the semester is hitting its end point and I'm dreaming of some of the interesting things I can turn my time to in December.


My top five games (by play time) for November were:

1. Luigi's Mansion 3 - I have super fond memories of the first Luigi's Mansion, what with it being the first game I played on GameCube. I really love the way it forms an interconnected world and an immersive environment that's really fun. Luigi's Mansion 3 seems to have a lot of those bones and is generally quite fun, but it feels a little bit short of a really engaging game.
   
   

   

   Ah, nothing haunting about this game at all.

   
   


2. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - This came up in a list of most disappointing games of the decade I watched recently. Every time we play I do find myself thinking about all the little things they could have added to make this game amazing, but it just falls a little short of what you might want. On the other hand it has enough content spread out in such a way that we still find ourselves a little surprised most times we play and its an important part of our weekend mornings.
   
   

   

   Waiting on a winter day.

   
   


3. Sunless Sea - My push to get better at Sunless Sea produced some interesting results. I definitely got to see more of the game and enjoyed the zen of sailing slowly across the vast(ish) unterzee.
   
   

   

   Crabs. As big as the ship.

   
   


4. Europa Universalis IV - Most of my time came from a pretty chill Saturday at the end of the month. Every time I play I'm struck by the interesting balance of feeling of in control and out of control. I think for EU V they could do some streamlining of interfaces and some clarification about implications and consequences, but now I'm enjoying understanding what the flow of a war is likely to be before I actually start it. I've found it extremely beneficial to play on Iron Man because it causes you to follow through and see exactly how things happen.
   
   

   

   Never quite enough resources to take over the whole world.



5. Pokémon Go - I'd have liked to get out a bit more, but didn't leave myself the time or mental space to really do so. I'm thinking even if the weather's a bit crappy in December I should put myself to doing a little more intentional play.
   
   

   

   Big and shiny.

   
   

Here's my total play time chart for November:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Favourite YouTube Videos (Volume 130)

In this volume of my favourite YouTube videos, it's music day. Wake up, suck up and chill!

• First, get up, and don't forget to wake Pomplamoose up before you Go!
• Next, Brentalfloss flosses up the theme to Luigi's Mansion. So grab your vacuum and get to work (although I don't recommend listening to the cover if you're planning to play the game in the near future, the ear worm quotient is ... high).
• Finally, CalebElijah plays "Sub Zero Snow Field" from Seiken Densetsu 3, which I think may be one of the most beautiful pieces of music in video games. Certainly the cover is absolutely gorgeous.