Blog: Video Games of September 2016

I started by second teaching gig in September and decided to try to be more organized in how I spend my time and more intentional in what I play. I also replayed Illusion of Gaia which is a game that still leaves me feeling a bit uncomfortable so it was a good time to be conscious about what I was doing while I played.

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

1. Illusion of Gaia - This is one of the games that I really remember from being a kid. First off because was easy to play and thematically it's a really really striking game. It's also terrifying, but I'm working on a separate post about that. Either way it was fun to get back to and a good game to sit down and play when I had time in the evenings.





2. Stardew Valley - I continued my slow playing of Stardew Valley and I really enjoy how fulfilling it is to play. I may yet hit the point where it starts to feel rote, but so far it still feel's pretty dynamic and fun.





3. Halcyon 6: Starbase Command - This is an interesting game. Part turn-based combat part management game / clicker. The game play is pretty good, although I haven't returned to it much since September and I think it has a bit of an imbalance in the difficulty. It feels like the enemies are either too difficult or too easy. The game may also just have too many moving parts, and I felt a little unsure what I was supposed to be doing. I'm sure if I played a little more I'd get a better feeling, but I just haven't felt compelled. Still I think if you haven't played it it's worth a look.





4. Cursed Treasure 2 - I really like tower defense games and this is a really good one. It was also a game that was easy to play at lunch time. I like the way the game is arranged in terms of the composition of the types of critters that come to attack you and I like that you get a chance to react when one of the critters makes it past your defenses. The ability tree system is also fun and every new ability you get lets you feel like you're sticking it to the bad guys ... er, good guys. Interesting to see that IriySoft has started work on Cursed Treasure 3 recently.





5. Civilization 5 - Have I mentioned that I'm really looking forward to Civ VI? (PS: I've played it now and it's excellent.)
   
   
   

   
   

Here's my total play time chart for September:

And here's my total number of times played:

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

Blog: Video Games of August 2016

I didn't play that much in August and ... I don't remember why. Possibly you should blame Netflix ... Voltron is quite good. Anyway, I definitely didn't feel the need to play that much and did other things. Possibly even read a book.

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

1. Hearthstone - Since I was mostly not playing games, it's easy to end up playing Hearthstone when you're watching TV. Also the One Night in Karazhan expansion was quite a bit of fun to play.
   
   


2. Stardew Valley - I really like starting the day off when I can with a bit of Stardew Valley. Usually I just played a day (or two) per day, but I also used it as a reward when I had a lot of housework to do. Finish your work and then you can go pretend to work. (Farming is slightly more fun in game than in real life).
   
   
   
3. Civilization 5 - Civ VI is coming.
   
   
   
4. Pokemon GO - Sadly, PoGo had some tech problems in August which kept me from playing as much, still it was nice to get out sometimes and play.
   
   
   
5. Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon - So this game is great. Also hard, which you might not realize given how cute it is. It's an actual rogue-like, by which I mean it's like Rogue and you wander around dungeons fighting enemies, changing jobs, restoring town's folk's memories and getting clobbered if you're not very very careful.
   
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for August:

And here's my total number of times played:

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

Blog: Favourite YouTube Videos (Volume 151)

In this volume of my Favourite YouTube Videos, we save our bees, celebrate our lab techs and lament the passing of time.

• First, if you're feeling like you've heard too many sad, weird or creepy Greek myths lately, Dael Kingsmill is here to tell you a touching story about a guy and his bees. Well it's still weird, but what can you do?
• Next we have a moment of thanks from Periodic Videos for their awesome lab tech Neil. 
• Finally, Laura Shigihara plays her cover of Chrono Trigger's Corridor's of Time, The Fall and as usual raises all the hair on my arms with this song.

Blog: Video Games of July 2016

I spent a lot of July recovering from May and June and I definitely got a bit more time to play. I was also still quite busy for the early parts of the month. Generally I tried to play games to give me a bit more focused fun, aaaand I also played a lot of Pokemon Go.

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

1. XCOM 2 - I dunno. It just eats time without me even noticing really. I also started to accept that even when I'm not actually having a lot of success playing, getting a team out to fight a level or two is pretty fun. That also lead me to tryout some Invisible Inc (which I also quite liked).
   

   

   My first ever total party wipe.

2. Pokémon Go - So Pokémon Go has changed a lot since it first came out and I started playing it before it even officially launched in Canada. While a lot of people have said a lot about the game, it's a huge amount of fun and in the early days seeing people crowding together in groups to play. I think it really delivered on the promise of creating a Pokémon adventure in the real world.
   

   

   A Pokécrowd. 



3. Chrono Trigger - I'm pretty sure that Chrono Trigger is my favourite game of all time (top 3 for sure) and so once I was finished with my first course it was nice to be able to sit down and play it for a while (even if it wasn't all that much). I got most of the way through the main game (it's shorter than I remember) and then stopped waiting for the "perfect time" to finish the game.
   
   
   


4. Cities: Skylines - Hey have I mentioned that I really like building cities? I really like building cities. And Cities: Skylines is a great way to build cities. I didn't play all that much, but I really enjoy all of the phases of city building (although I do tend to get a little board in the later ones and keep starting over). This game is great, really well designed and well executed. It's a huge amount of fun if you want to play a city builder (and they keep adding really cool things too).
   

   

   Golden Hour



5. Civilization V - I was not ready to wait until October for Civilization VI, so I played Civ V instead. It's a lot of fun, but ... it's time to move on.
   
   
   
   

   

   I can't remember why I have a city in the middle of the bay, but I do!

Here's my total play time chart for July:

And here's my total number of times played:

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