Giant Bugs and Staying on Top of Things

Into the Breach, Subset Games, 2018

 
This is a mix of obvious video game tactics and their obvious implications for getting things done. I'm writing it mostly to get it out of my head, although I think the thought is helping me get more things done in a way that makes me happier.

If you've been reading here for a while, you're probably aware that while I love tactics / strategy games I'm not good at them. I have some thoughts about why, which I'll get to later, but for now, I've been playing a lot of Into the Breach. I've played enough that I've almost completed all of the achievements on steam, which is frankly not a thing I do.

I've been able to work on the achievements for two reasons, the first is that Into the Breach is bite sized so when I need a moment or two to think about something else I can pick it up and usually do a mission in a couple of minutes. Sometimes I play more seriously, but other times it's just the game for a coffee break. In the end I get quite a bit of practice in and I think over the years I've learned a bit. I've certainly gone from barely being able to finish the first island, to routinely finishing the game ... at least on Easy.

The other reason I've been able to achieve as many achievements as I have is that you can finish them on Easy difficult — in fact the only achievement which requires you to play on Hard is the one for finishing the game on Hard. So I've explored a lot of their very fun mechanics, which incidentally have taught me a lot about how the game is designed and what some good ways to play it are.

The big thing that's I've found that's made me better at Into the Breach is getting on top of things early. You have three robots and so if you have more than three enemy Vek on the map, you are going to be in trouble. If you can keep the number of Vek coming in to the stage controlled, then it's much, much easier to meet the mission objectives, keep everyone alive and work on the achievements.

I recognize this is a staggeringly obvious thing to say out loud.

Still, it's been sitting in my brain because having the "be on top of things" mandate has made me better at Into the Breach and honestly it's one of the only real productivity ideas that works for me in real life too. Every time I leave a plastic bag on the counter to get washed later, I know I'm risking letting the kitchen get on top of me. When I'm at work I'm happiest when I have my organization caught up and I can get through the tasks I have for the day.

I'm also reminded of the idea of rinsing the cottage cheese, which I read about in Jim Collins's Good to Great. The idea being that there's this high level athlete who rinses his cottage cheese every morning so that he gets the right amount of calories. Being a high level athlete it seems like it should matter if his diet varied by a few calories in the cottage cheese whey, but following the discipline every day was important to his success. 

A lot going on, but not so much that I'm not on top of things.

I'm not a high level anything, but it does keep coming back to me how much it helps me when I do do the little things, even when I don't really like doing them.

As I said, I recognize this is a staggeringly obvious thing to say out loud, but sometimes saying it out loud is good for you.
 

Blog: Games of February 2019

February was a bit rough in terms of mindful gaming. It was also the last month I'll spend fully immersed in my thesis, so I guess I'll take what I can. I stress gamed more than I wanted to and didn't give myself a lot of time to play stuff I really enjoyed in a relaxed way. As such my February post feels a bit more critical than usual.

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

1. Into The Breach - I like this game. As I've said before the puzzle structure of the tactics gameplay makes me feel much smarter than some games where I don't have the time to sit and think stuff through. The more I play the better I get with the different mechanics and that's been a nice feeling.
   
   

   

   Grid.



2. Civilization VI - I dunno. The game is fun, but I always struggle with the one-more-turn problem. I should probably have left this one closed on steam, but it also feels like an easy game to play when I have a few minutes. Something I want to think about going forward is finding some good bite-sized games.
   
   

   

   Coastal.



3. Breath of Fire II - This game is confusing. It's certainly a strong response to the first game in the series, but it's still weaker than most JRPGs of the era. The translation also kinda rips the heart out of the game.
   
   

   

   Would you believe the W stands for Whale?



4. Fire Emblem: Awakening - As I've said here a lot, I'm bad at tactics games. I'm bad at this game. I think I managed in my one play through a awhile ago to grind myself into a state where I couldn't win. I restarted and seemed to be a bit more balanced, but never got myself to a point where I felt happy with how my play through was going. I should probably seek out someone who is actually good at the game on YouTube.
   
   

   

   from GameFAQs user Master_Bass



5. Invisible Inc. - I've really come around on this game and really enjoyed it in February. I like the stealth based tactics, and now that I've embraced them better, I've gotten a lot better. I'm now curious to see, if I lean into the rogue-light elements and let my team get better, how the game will evolve.
   
   

   

   Spy.

Here's my total play time chart for February:

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

Blog: Video Games of January 2019

I feel like I did a fairly good job of managing my play time in January.  I'm closing in on finishing my thesis, and so I've been playing in those times when I need to just stop thinking. Fortunately I've found a good set of games to play when I've got the right moment.

My top five games (by play time) for January 2019 were:

1. Breath of Fire II - I have a lot of nostalgia for the Breath of Fire series. The first game definitely has the strongest nostalgia hit, but it also has a lot of problems. I'm less nostalgic for the second, but it is better designed than the first. Even if it's a bit slow and grindy, it's been a nice way to unwind.
   
   

   

   Great! That'll do in place of a plot!



2. Pokémon Go - Have nice weather, will stop for a couple of minutes to catch monsters.
   
   

   

   The Guardian Bidoof protects us.



3. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - Into year two, still enjoying. The game lets you add new elements to your town, and we've very conservatively added just a little bit at a time, which has helped keep things fresh. The other fresh aspect is that the game is a little different each month.
   
   

   

   Happy New Year, Isabelle!



4. Invisible Inc. - I went back to Invisible Inc after getting super frustrated trying to play it a while ago. I've really enjoyed it on this revisit, but playing it the way it wants to be played stealthy and risky really works. It also helps to lean into the rogue like (lite?) elements and accept that easy play through might not be perfect.
   
   

   

   Are you ready operator?



5. Into The Breach - I've been working in pomedoros a lot during January and it works out that a map of Into The Breach can be finished in the break between work periods.
   
   

   

   He's a laugh riot at parties.

Here's my total play time chart for January:

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

Blog: Games of 2018

This year I’ve played 2 games that were released in 2018. Into the Breach and Graveyard Keeper. I usually divide these posts into categories, but instead I’ll say I thought Into the Breach was good and Graveyard Keeper was okay.

For the record, my low number of 2018 games played is not a comment on the state of games in 2018, but a comment on the state of me in 2018. I will wrap up my thesis in 2019 and I’m hoping to be able to play a more of 2019’s games when they come out and to catch up on all the cool things I’ve missed in 2018.

The Okay

Graveyard Keeper

Graveyard Keeper is okay. I think it has good mechanics, but I just don’t like the world building or the style. Some of that is the bit where it leans into the gross and disturbing. (I’m okay with cutting people’s brains out, but less so with burning witches).

I also found outside of that it’s a little bland. I think that’s to do with the structure of the quests (each can only really be accomplished on one day a week, so if you miss it then you have to wait another week to move the plot ahead). If you’re just in it for the woodworking then this game is great, if you want a little more, then I’m not sure it has it. At least for me.

I did play a little bit recently when I turn it on to get the screenshot for this post. It looks like it has some more stuff added to it which should be fun.

The Good

Into the Breach

Into the Breach is good. As a puzzle strategy game it takes a lot of the guesswork and RNG out of playing and replaces it with your own damned decisions. I like how the missions are structured and how each one lasts just the right amount of time. The style is nice but the “meta-narrative” of the roguelike aspects (Into the Breach is made by Subset Games, who’s other claim to fame is FTL: Faster than Light) is a little light.

The game is always fun to play and there’s enough challenge to keep playing. I especially enjoyed that it lets you adjust the difficulty level without punishment which makes it fun to play however ambitious you’re feeling.

Blog: Games of April 2018

April was a pretty busy month, so most of my playing was turn off brain time.

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

1. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 56 hours in 2018, 272 hours in the year and a bit since it came out. I finished all of the shrines, finally and am throwing myself up against the master sword challenge now. My friend and I also had an interesting evening calling all the shrine names to each other (while trying to figure out which one I'd missed), which was also a fun time.
   
   

   

   Wonderful rewards. A simple scene.

   
   
2. Stardew Valley - The capacity this game has for a calm environment is great. I played a day (or two) before getting to work most days, and it's a good start to the day.
   
   

   

   Wonderful rewards. It can be as simple as words.



3. Into the Breach - Into the Breach is not always the most fun. It can be stressful and because the game is so well designed it's stressful because I made a dumb decision.
   
   

   

   Wonderful feelings.



4. Europa Universalis 4 - April was a month of pretty standard games, and so it's not terribly surprising that I ended up sinking some time into EU4. I watched a Let's Play from Gamers With Jobs and, as is often the case that put EU4 higher in my brain. I also think the modifications they made in the most recent patch - restructuring the national missions - has made the game a little more compelling and directed.
   
   

   

   Wonderful worry.



5. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - Weekend mornings: coffee and a visit to Festival Town (is that what it's called?). Also a free lesson in the powers of compound interest and exponential growth.
   
   
   

   

   Wonderful welcomes.

   
   

Here's my total play time chart for April:

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

Blog: Games of March 2018

I'm not sure how I feel about what I played in March, this year. In short, I played a bit more than I feel great about, and I feel a bit like I played without as much intention as I'd like to. I also feel like I played more than I should have given that my PC was broken / in the shop for the first part of the month.

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

1. Into The Breach - Wow. Into the Breach is great. It gives me the satisfaction of doing well as a strategy game without being so hard that I grind out and get frustrated. The certainty you have with how the enemy turn will play out is fantastic, and it's nice being able to make decisions (or mistakes) on your own term. I also appreciate its flexibility in challenge, it has three difficulty levels. Playing on easy isn't punished, but you also feel challenged to take on the harder difficulties. I feel like I've been able to learn and improve without just getting clobbered.
   
   

   

   Vek Threat: Kinda stoppable, if you're in the right universe.



2. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - I have played 265 hours of Breath of the Wild. I have found all 120 shrines. I've found around 300 korok seeds (so I'm like 600 short). For a little while the game was starting to feel a bit like work. But even then, I can still sit down and disappear into Hyrule for an hour or two, and really enjoy it. I'm still seeing things I haven't seen before and even when I have seen things before the game still keeps things interesting. I might have to play the DLC some time.
   
   

   

   Yes. I am charging towards to Bokoblin riding bears. No. I didn't live much after this.



3. Cursed Treasure 2 - Cursed Treasure 2 has a some things that really recommend it. First, it's available on the Web, so I could play it while my PC was broken. Second, it has an interesting set of challenges that keep the game interesting, and it has a meta game that leaves you with a lot of interesting choices. Finally, it's fairly quick to play so it's nice to have for a break when you need it. I've actually been enjoying it enough that I've been messing around with speed running it a bit, and can now play the first 3 levels in 4 minutes and 51 seconds.
   
   

   

   OK. 5 minutes. Go!



4. Super Mario Maker - I'm actually surprised I played this game this much, but it's kinda easy to get sucked in. I started playing again because I started watching StephenPlays again, and every weekday morning he plays a level from Mario Maker. It's interesting how much level design has changed since I first started playing. Some of it is really good, and I also think some of it doesn't really result in the much fun. Still it's been in my head, and I've been noodling around with a few ideas that I hope are fun.
   
   

   

   Welcome to the doughnut mines.



5. Ogre Battle 64 - In March I finished a play through of Ogre Battle 64. To the best of my recollection, that's the second time I've finished it. Yeah, it *is* probably my favourite game. It's something I've come to a certain amount of peace with, I can love Ogre Battle and think it's pretty flawed  at the same time. I just need to play it however it seems to work. Anyway, it's time to put it away for now and play summer things until the snow rolls around again in October. (**Coughcough** - insert comment about Calgary's unending winter 2018)
   
   

   

   I ... finished.

Here's my total play time chart for March:

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