This is the second in the catch up Games posts, the games I played in April. I've been able to fix a few things, mostly that make my life better There are a few things I haven't fixed, particularly the months played letters, but I'm looking at how to do that better. I've noticed where my RSS reader doesn't apply CSS they're also pretty obstructive. There are probably also a few things I'm forgetting to automate, which I got right for the March post and wrong her.e
I'd like to get caught up on these and then I can fix stuff up and make things better.
The Games I Played in April
The Games
Dicey Dungeons
- Platform: Steam
- Publisher: Terry Cavanagh
- Published: August 2019
Played In:
Tags
Random Hard Engaging
Europa Universalis IV
- Platform: Steam
- Publisher: Paradox
- Published: August 2013
Played In:
Tags
Strategy Absorbing
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Published: March 2006
Played In:
Tags
RPG Story Time Game Grind
Notes
February
I had planned to focus on playing Final Fantasy XII, as the game I'm playing to enjoy the story and chill out with. The problem with this is that I'm finding FFXIII to be profoundly boring. I just don't really want to play it and it doesn't seem to have a ratio of story-to-gameplay that pushes me to keep playing. (I'm not sure what the ratio of story-to-gameplay is nor where it pushes me to play games, but it seems like a workable metaphor, is there something good enough to make you want to play even if something else makes you not want to play.)
Hades
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Supergiant Games
- Published: September 2020
Played In:
Tags
Story Roguelike
Notes
April
Watched Stephen Goerg beat Meg in a half an hour with 1 HP. Had already been thinking about picking it up on the Switch and that really pushed me over the edge. It's one of the games I've missed a lot not having a gaming pc.
Hollow Knight
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Team Cherry
- Published: February 2017
Played In:
Tags
Lovecraftian Adventure Gameplay
Notes
February
I trailed off Hollow Knight, as I often do. Honestly February was not a month where I wanted to play games much.
April
Poking around again. Even if I don't have the skill or strength to finish it (maybe) Hollow Knight feels really good to play. (Also watched Dan Floyd playa bunch. Studios really need to get games in the hands of the YouTubers I follow to get me to play them.
Into the Breach
- Platform: Steam
- Publisher: Subset Games
- Published: February 2018
Played In:
Tags
Brain Candy Tactics Puzzles Gaining Skill
Notes
March
Crunching through the achievements has been an interesting way to keep playing. There are a lot of interesting ways you can play and uses of mechanics and the achievements bring them to light and I've gotten pretty good (at least at the easy mode).
Invisible, Inc.
- Platform: Steam
- Publisher: Klei Entertainment
- Published: May 2015
Played In:
Tags
Tactics Roguelike
Kingdoms and Castles
- Platform: Steam
- Publisher: Lion Shield
- Published: July 2017
Played In:
Tags
Building City Walker
Notes
March
In response to Sunless Sea, I'm hunting for cozy world building and adventure. This has a bit, although I feel like I keep topping out the economy a little early. Maybe I should add more conflict, but just making a town is nice.
Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Published: April 2017
Played In:
Tags
Game feel Vroom Gaining Skill
Notes
March
The "Internet" started showing me tips about how to get better at Mario Kart 8 and ... I'm starting to get better.
April
Ok, I guess my feelings are still just push button go fast
Minecraft
- Platform: MacOS
- Publisher: Mojang / Microsoft
- Published: November 2011
Played In:
Tags
Building
Notes
March
Wanted to build something and this *is* a good old fashoned game I can build things in.
Pikmin 4
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Published: July 2023
Played In:
Tags
Gameplay Colours Adventure
Notes
March
"Finished" for the second time. Really loving how it feels and how much interesting things they've included. I'd really like a few more areas and activities (like the Olimar stories), but even as it shipped this is a lot of good Pikmin. As I mention a lot, I think the feel of Pikmin 3 is a little more charming, but Pikmin 4 is a much more solid game. (Also how did a decade pass between these two games...)
April
Had a little bit to finish, but somehow drifted off to Unicorn Overlord. Felt very out of practice and kinda got my butt kicked.
Prison Architect
- Platform: Steam
- Publisher: Introversion Software / Paradox
- Published: October 2015
Played In:
Tags
Building
Sea of Stars
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Sabotage Studio
- Published: August 2023
Played In:
Tags
RPG Canadian Chrono Trigger Colour Adventure
Stardew Valley
- Platform: Steam
- Publisher: Concerned Ape
- Published: February 2016
Played In:
Tags
Cozy Farming Simulation
Notes
April
Really enjoying the updates and also just in a place right now where the building feels good.
Sunless Sea
- Platform: Steam
- Publisher: Failbetter Games
- Published: February 2015
Played In:
Tags
Adventure Lovecraftian Entropy
Notes
March
I really wanted to build economy and make the world better, but that's very much not alligned with how this game actually works. I very firmly put this down, since the end-of-the-world feeling was just not where I wanted to be. Hunting to find an economy builder that really feels like growth.
Super Mario Odyssey
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Published: October 2017
Played In:
Tags
Game feel Movement Colours
Unicorn Overlord
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Publisher: Vanillaware / Atlus / Sega
- Published: March 2024
Played In:
Tags
Ogre Battle Tactics Strategy Autowalk Fighting Grey
Notes
March
If you've seen how I've written about Ogre Battle in the past, you'll note that it's a game I love without necessarily feeling like it's great from a mechanical point of view. Unicorn Overlord catches the feeling of Ogre Battle that I love and actually seems to be pretty action packed and fun to play. I think the name is a little dumb, but I guess so is Ogre Battle.
April
This has been really engaging. The smaller game loops support keep you interested and the main game loop feels fun and challenging.
Wildermyth
- Platform: Steam
- Publisher: Worldwalker Games
- Published: June 2021
Played In:
Tags
Tactics Story Telling Family
Notes
February
Wildermyth I played a bit of and think it looks interesting, but I think it's a think I could play with my partner and we could have a lot of fun with it, so I've been holding off looking closer.
