Board game week day one: Settlers of Catan

This is one of many board games I've found thanks to Tabletop. It looked like it would be quite a fun board game, even for one of my friends who is rather selective about the board games she plays. Once we'd pulled the various parts of the board from their outers, we set up the game. Several hours later, we'd played 3 games and were still going!

Beginning of boardgame review week!

This week is special because my birthday is in it, therefore I have decided to do a week's worth of reviews about board games I've been playing.

The reviews begin tomorrow, with a review of Settlers of Catan. Each day there will be at least one review of a board game I've played.

Enjoy the reviews!

MmRed

Sid Meier's railroads

I am a massive train geek, so when I saw this game in PC World a few years back, I just had to have it.

It's like setting up a model railroad in your own house, but without the hassle of hammering and decorating it all by yourself. However, as this is a Sid Meier game, there are set boundaries as to what you can and cannot do. The game usually has to be played with one of the many scenarios, meaning that there are set goals to reach. You can, however, make custom maps that can be shared- a touch that came in with patch 1.1.

Top 5 games I'm looking forward to this year.

5: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

This is a pirate game. A pirate game. I need this game to make up for all the wrongs of the games belonging to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. But I'm a little wary of it, as I have a feeling it may not live up to the hype. It's a game I want now but also a game I'm terrified will be a waste of money. Especially after the terrible happenings to the game demo at E3.

4: The Wonderful 101

If this game finally gets its release this year, I'll be a very happy bunny- a happy bunny who will be rushing to the shops (or y'know, Amazon -other online stores are available) to buy a WiiU. That's how much I want this game. It looks like a much more awesome version of Pikmin!

3: The Legend of Zelda: a Link between worlds

This game is the spiritual sequel to A Link to the past, hence the name, and it looks like it's gonna be one of the best 3ds games to come out this year. Part of me wishes it was a WiiU title, as this game would be the perfect excuse to finally get my hands on Nintendo's newest console. I hope the game is as good as it looks so far when it's complete.

2: Kingdom Hearts III

Now, this is only based on IGN listing this game under its 2013 releases and I seriously doubt it'll be released this year (unless it's a PS4 launch title in which case I need to save a lot of money) but I want this game. So much. Though to be honest, Dream Drop Distance (which I keep putting off playing) has kinda put me off the series a little, otherwise this would be number one!

1: Tales of Xillia

Having been released in Japan nearly two years ago now, I saw this recently at a convention I attended. The game looks very pretty and I hope it plays as well as it looks. I get that region coding takes a while, but I really do hope this game is as awesome as it sounds. A bonus of this game is that it'll be on the PS3, a console I actually own!

See you next week!

MmRed

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

This game is totally adorable in every way and I just love it!

Having never played previous Animal Crossing games, I was a little apprehensive about playing New Leaf- after all, I'm a twenty-something year old and this is a game that is very much aimed at children. However, I've played it every day since I created my character and I can't see myself stopping anytime soon.

PS4 vs Xbox One

Little Inferno

This is yet another creepy-edged little indie game that is easy to pick up and play, no matter how "hardcore" or not you are with regards to gaming. The game has a nicely creepy theme song and an art style to match and the achievements are relatively simple to work out.

Game Dev Tycoon

A lot of people I follow online have been playing Game Dev Tycoon recently and it looked like a fun little game to play, so I downloaded the demo. After quickly reaching sales of over a million in the demo, I felt like I needed to buy the game (it's like £6, you can get it here, though I advise you to play the demo first) as I needed that little bit extra!

Now, you can get a pirated version of the game for free online- GreenHeart Games released it themselves, but the game will force you to lose through piracy, which is probably why this game has sparked so many people's interest.

Gameplay

Much like any other simulation game, you start off as a low-level player who has to make their way into the big league- you're making games out of your garage! Slowly but surely, you gain money from your games and also unlock other things such as the ability to create a game engine and to work for companies on a contract for a specific amount of money, which is handy if you're either running a bit low on cash or you're one research point away from the thing you really want to research. 

Technology and design

There are two main aspects of every game, technology and design. Some game types should be more heavily technologically focussed whereas others need to focus on design- the game only really hints at this at the review stage, unless you've done it really well.

The difficulty curve

This game starts off relatively easy, but as you gain popularity and money it becomes slightly harder. My advice is to stick to small games for as long as you can afford to and only make medium games for publishers (if you play the game and get your own office, you'll know what I mean).

The overall experience

Now, this game does have some flaws- for example, the majority of game developing relies on trial and error and the reviews you get shed very little light upon the problems your game actually has to bring it from a 10 score to a 5. However, I quite enjoy experimenting with all of the different combinations available to you so feel it was worth the £6 I spent on it.

MmRed

LIMBO

This title is a dark little platformer which incorporates puzzle solving to allow you to get through the game. You will die A LOT if you play this game, but each death either helps you work out a puzzle or makes it worth it when you don't die by falling off that rock for the nth time.

Yogventures (Alpha)

This game has been created by a games developer called Winterkewl, alongside the Yogscast. It's a fun little open-world game, but as with many Alpha builds it still has a ton of bugs.