Current Events > Hello my name is kerred and here are my holiday gaming picks.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hello chums! I am a 40-year-old man who runs a game store, been visiting GameFAQs back in the late 90's, and player of way too many games. Here are some titles I have enjoyed now that I have had time this year to play stuff in no particular order.

Video Games

The Outer Wilds
Remember that WTF moment in Star Trek, or the movies Arrival or Annihilation where you are just figuring out what in the literal world is going on? The Outer Wilds is crammed full of them. The more blind you go in the better, so I won't even compare it to a certain video game you might have loved when you were younger. Yes, that one! You'll know it when you play it. Be warned this game can raise anxieties you didn't even know you had.

Return of the Obra Dinn
LA Noire was a good game but wasn't detective-y enough. Phoenix Wright had those justice boner moments but still wasn't detective-y enough. Obra Dinn would be the climax of those games. Only Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective comes close to pure reasoning that gives you the illusion you were the one who figured it all out without help from anyone.

Pyre
What about Hades? we already know how good it is and what I can assume Rule 34 artists are having a horny field day with now that everyone has been awakened by Avalon Penrose's voice (megera). But let's just mention a few things about Supergiant Games: they had relatively the same staff for over 10 years, there have been no employee controversies, no shady business dealings, no microtransactions, and the staff directly responds to their consumers as ethically as possible. Living proof that working in the video game industry isn't all horrible.

Strikey Sisters
Its Arkanoid + D&D. Simple, fast, old school, a nice completionist list, and all the awful voice acting you can enjoy for dirt cheap!

Littlewood
Filler while you are in between starting Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing New Horizons, despite Littlewood having no filler. Its all instant, menus are all extremely quick to navigate and use. The downside is because all the fat is trimmed there is not as much depth despite the meth addicting 'one more day' feel.

Board Games

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
For $50 MSRP you get a lot of heavy content for the box. Heavy as in the freaking thing weighs like 10 pounds! Its all the fun of hex based dungeon crawling but without the luck of dice to ruin your day. All your actions are decided by cards which you can play in any order in one of 4 different ways, making it feel like you have total control over your choices.

Santorini
I love chess but I want high replay value and constantly changing situations. Santorini does both combining no-luck with hideously OP S Tier abilities forcing you to calculate new situations.

Gaia Project
I don't expect anyone to enjoy a $100 SRP game, but from a design perspective Gaia Project nails everything. No luck, everything is modular, factions totally change strategies, watching your income overflow out of your pants, constantly gaining rewards that are often multi-purpose, and the game doesn't end abruptly as you felt like you exploited all you could when the game ends.

Weren't you supposed to have left CE, MagicToaster?

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Shadowplay posted...

Weren't you supposed to have left CE, MagicToaster?

ce doesn't deserve him.

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I Like Toast posted...

ce doesn't deserve him.

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i'm not a huge board game player, but i recently played Time Stories which is pretty fun. also Pandemic which is topical and also fun.

i'll have to look into the ones you recommended! are they multiplayer? i typically play with ~3 people

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Have you played the new spirit island expansion yet?

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I remember watching your tf2 videos on...Justin.tv I believe?

Good times

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i really should give Pyre another chance. the first time i tried it i got sick of all the reading and put it down after like 30 minutes. every other game from Supergiant has been baller, including Hades.

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