As a general rule I do not like browser games. They're typically shallow, repetitive, and in some cases designed to be just fun enough to keep you playing but with annoying restraints in the hopes of frustrating you into paying money to access premium content. Well, much to my own surprise, I found a browser game that I actually really like. Enter "Fallen London," a narrative based browser game with a delightfully dark setting and fantastic writing. Think of this as a choose your own adventure novel for adults in the form of a browser game.
Here's the premise as listed on the game's home page.
Thirty years ago, London was stolen. Now it rests on the shore of the Unterzee, that old dark ocean under the world. Hell is close, immorality is cheap, and the screaming has largely stopped...
Welcome Delicious Friend.
As you can see, the game paints the world with its words; well crafted and artistically styled words that leave lots of room for interpretation and imagination. The setting is delightfully dark and subtly sinister. Victorian London was stolen by bats and now resides a mile below the surface on the shores of the Unterzee, a Cthulhian influence if ever there was one that has had some strange affects on the residents of Fallen London. The game never outright says that everyone is at least a little insane but in quality horror writing fashion you are lead to believe that your surroundings are in fact quite ordinary as you brush shoulders with squid faced rubbery men, honey addled ne're-do-wells, devils, spies trying to leverage information in 'The Great Game', half-dead tomb colonists, and haunted Zee-captains, all under the watchful eyes of 'The Masters.' The writing is complimented by appropriately styled artwork which, even in its minimalist nature, adds a splash of color to make the setting all that more interesting and potent.
The core mechanic that runs this game is a limited action point system whereby players can use action points to attempt various "story-lets" that can succeed or fail depending on your stats and gear. Completing specific story-lets unlock larger story arcs which in turn unlock new areas or larger narratives. Players can have up to 20 action points at once and receive a new point every ten minutes. The restriction ensures that players do not just blast through all of the game content in a day which I for one would happily do if it were an option. You can pay a small month subscription to increase your action point total to 40 or purchase 'fate' (the premium in-game currency) to unlock the material faster or purchase premium narratives. The monetization method employed is unobtrusive and I have never felt like I was missing out on account of playing for free.
Your story starts in prison (the reason why is up to you) and you must find a way to escape. This little story arc acts as a 'tutorial' for new players. You can attempt an action whose chance of success is determined by one of your characters' four stats (Watchful, Shadowy, Persuasive, and Dangerous). Attempting an action will always improve the stat it requires, even if you do not succeed. In the beginning of the game success means moving the plot forward with a small reward (there are a dizzying amount of collectible and usable items in this game) and failure usually means you just need to try again. Later on though the penalties for failure can be cost you much more than just an action point. At the time of this review my character has landed himself back in prison after cumulative failures in his chosen profession (criminal) brought his suspicion level up too high.
There are also story arcs that you can only attempt once (unless you have a special item the guarantees a second chance). I have only run into one of these so far, but I really wanted to unlock the next piece of narrative in that particular mystery and so I made pretty darn sure that I would succeed, increase my stats accordingly and purchasing gear to assist with 'Shadowy' related things.
Generally speaking you have four main direction you can go at the start of your story, each direction corresponding to one of your four stats. You can jump back and forth between these arcs without any penalty whatsoever, but you can only have one profession at a time, and your profession will provide you with substantial weekly bonuses related to only one core stat. I chose Shadowy as my primary direction of choice with Persuasive as a soft second. My character has gone through a few criminal focused story arcs and from smuggling to burglaries to making underground (or rather 'flit top') connections it has been a very enjoyable ride fraught with menaces and intrigue all its own. The Persuasive line (so far) has me writing poetry about mushrooms, murder stories so grotesque that several schools were shut down on account of me, and using wily schemes to earn the trust of other aspiring artists for purposes that I'm not altogether sure of just yet, but it will be intriguing to find out. The Watchful direction will (assumedly) make you a hunter of secrets (Fallen London is rife with them) and a strategic player in 'The Great Game'. The Dangerous direction is (assumedly) for those who would like to bash heads or hunt monsters. I look forward to exploring all of them thoroughly.
There are some light multiplayer options that I haven't explored yet. You can get other players to assist you in specific challenges or take some of your suspicion upon themselves if they are so inclined. There may be other options to be unlocked but what I really appreciate is that the option is there and that it is only an option, not a requirement.
This is a lovingly and well crafted game about narrative with lots to explore with new content being released regularly for premium members to dig into once all the very substantial amount of free content has been explored. I haven't played many browser games, but I am sure that this is the best one I've ever seen. It seems to my limited understanding of browser games that they struck a generous balance between providing the player with quality content with an optional premium line of content and upgrades that is attractive but doesn't break the game or make free-to-play users feel like they are missing out. I suppose all that you need is imagination to enjoy the setting and patience to not get frustrated by limited action points per day.
So here's to a Cthulhu steampunk inspired work of browser game art. The game is free, so why not give it a try?
I just recommended Ghost Master a few days ago and I had this crazy idea, why not write a related post from a theological angle? This is, afterall, what I had originally intended to do with the blog.
So here's the question, do ghosts exist?
I am of the conviction that they do not exist, at least not in the way we usually think of them.
When people talk about ghosts I'm assuming that they refer to the spirits of the deceased. A wandering child who runs out in front of cars on rainy nights and then suddenly vanishes right where he was run over some 30 years back. An ill tempered store manager who still haunts his old establishment, knocking things off the wall and moving furniture late at night. Even a well meaning parent or grandparent who chooses to stay after death and watch over their loved ones, speaking and appearing every so often. I don't believe in these 'ghosts', but I am sometimes inclined to believe the stories of people who say they've encountered what they think are ghosts.
The reason for my disbelief is the way that God has ordered the world. In the book of Hebrews 9:27 it says "man has been appointed to die once and after that to face judgement." That judgment being either with Christ in heaven or apart from Christ in hell. How to choose one destination and avoid the other is fully explained but the logistics of precisely how and when this takes place aren't. Even so there is no 'in between' phase or cracks for lost souls to slip through. Every time someone dies their soul is taken out of the world and will not return until the end of time when Jesus returns and everyone who ever died gets resurrected back to life, the righteous to a new heaven and a new earth and the unrighteous to damnation. This is foundational to Christian belief and has always been a part of our earliest creeds and confessions.
So if the souls of the deceased are being held for judgement and are no longer a part of our world then how does one explain 'paranormal' phenomena like what is described above? I would argue that most 'ghostly' experiences are our minds playing tricks on us. We hear scary stories or invent our own and in the right situation, when we are tense and naturally hovering on the fight or flight reaction our minds are racing to make sense of the sounds and sights and all it takes is our sub-conscience to say "ghost" and suddenly we're hearing footsteps where there are none and seeing faces in every corner where you can't quite make out what's there. There are also a lot of conditions, medications, and drugs which put the user in an altered state of mind where seeing and hearing things that don't exist is normal.
A small amount of stories can also be explained by other people playing tricks on us, setting up the illusion of a haunting like a practical joke. This is how 'paranormal investigators' make there living, by convincing people with illusions and acting the part.
To a materialist (one who only believes in physical things) these are the only explanations that one can have for ghosts. The Bible, however, also testifies to the existence of other spiritual beings aside from human souls and God himself, namely angels and demons. The angels were created to be God's servants, they act as his agents in the world and very rarely draw attention to themselves. The demons are fallen angels who chose to rebel and now roam the earth trying to undo God's work and destroy as many people as possible be leading them into spiritual snares and trying to keep them away from Christ.
From a Biblical perspective it is natural to attribute otherwise unexplainable 'ghosts' to demons who are masquerading as the souls of deceased. Why would a demon pretend to be a ghost? Because they want to be worshiped and feared, because it is their nature to deceive, because they revel in death and corruption, because once they have permission they will try to distract, torment, and destroy anyone they can. (Deut 32:17; 1 Cor 10:20; John 8:44; 2 Cor 4:4; 11:14; Rev 12:9; 2; Thess 2:9-10; Jude 1:6; 2 Peter 2:4; ) The boot fits the foot rather well.
In my personal experience I've encountered enough evidence to convince me that The Bible isn't speaking metaphorically about demons but that they are an actual reality, albeit one that we needn't focus on too much.
Q - Why couldn't God send a spirit back into the world to make amends for its sins?
A - Because the method God has chosen to make amends for sins is to put faith in his one and only Son, Jesus, who took all the sins of the world upon himself and paid their price in full. Even in life there is nothing we can do to make amends before God except to accept the grace and forgiveness offered in Jesus Christ. (John 3:16; Acts 4:12; Rom 3:23-24; 6:23)
Q - Could angels be confused for ghosts?
A - No. Every time an angel appears in Scripture it makes its presence and intentions known immediately. There is no mistaking an angel for a ghost. (Ex 3:2-4; Judges 2:1-2; Luke 1:11-19; 1:26-38; Gen 16:7-13; Acts 12:7; Num 22:22-24; Mat 1:20, 2:13)
Q - What about mediums, Ouija boards, seances, necromancy, etc?
A - Attempts to communicate with the dead are forbidden in Scripture because all such attempts are first of all futile (the dead do not talk back) and secondly open one's self up to the demonic.
Originally released in 2003 (with special re-releases in 2006 and 2011) Ghost Master is a niche puzzle / strategy game with a small but loyal following. Basically imagine The Sims except instead of controlling the people you control the ghosts who mess with the people. The more afraid of you they are the more powerful your ghosts become and the more they can affect the physical world. You have to decide which ghosts to take with you on new missions, where to place them, and which abilities they should use. Watch out though, if a ghost is located by paranormal investigators or a coven of witches then they will try to banish it from the level. The controls and the graphics are definitely of an older generation, but if you can look past that and relish the idea of scaring the living daylights out of some Sim-like persons then this is right up your alley.
You begin each level with a description of the place you'll be haunting and why your haunting it. The reasons can range from "because we can," to solving a mystery, to stopping certain persons from interfering in the matters of the deceased. You also unlock new ghosts in every level so there's that as well. You get to pick a 'squad' of ghosts, each one with its own unique set of powers and sphere of influence. When you enter the level you'll see a layout similar to The Sims where you can see inside the building(s) one floor at a time with people walking, talking, reading, sleeping, and otherwise moving about their business. You place your squad members at different places throughout the map and then either manually execute their powers or tell them which powers to auto-use. The mortals can't see the ghosts but they can see the affects of their powers (some do make a ghost visible). Each power requires that you have a certain amount of energy stored up which you gain from scaring the mortals. Thankfully using abilities does not drain energy which means that if you have 100e then all of your ghosts can use all of their powers that cost up to 100e indefinitely. Your power (very) slowly decreases to keep your ghosts attached to the physical world but for all except a few levels this will not affect how you play.
A gremlin causes a power surge to zap sorority girls around the TV. If this happens a few more times they might think that it's possessed...
Your ghosts can only be placed according to their type. Gremlins, for example, can be attached to electronic items and all of their abilities have to do with the item they are attached to. They can make it malfunction, act 'creepily', zap nearby people, etc. A water spirit, by contrast, can be attached to a body of water or a piece of equipment / furniture to do with water and they would have water-like abilities from fog to flood to turning water to blood. A wraith, by another contrast, can only be placed on things associated with death and while its abilities are more fear inspiring than malfunctioning electronics and mysterious fog you won't have as much opportunity to use them without being creative. Creative in this case means luring mortals to where your heavy hitter ghosts can scare them. Strange sights and sounds may make mortals curious to investigate while scary things can make them flee in a certain direction. You can re-locate ghosts to another valid position on the map with ease but for some of the stronger types there may only be one or two spots on the map where they can go. Using ghosts also grants them experience which can be used to unlock further abilities.
A 'spook' ghost can be attached to any room and is by far the most maneuverable ghost. With so many mortals gathered here it would be a perfect time to turn visible or start moving the furniture around.
Each mortal has a number of stats for you to take into consideration. The first is their amount of fear. If it gets high enough the mortal will flee the map. The second is there insanity. If you get it high enough they will go bonkers and run around the map disturbing the other mortals. The third is their belief in ghosts, their susceptibility to being scared. Each mortal also has a secret consciousness fear and subconsciousness fear that can be used to your advantage. If a mortal simply does not believe in ghosts then their otherworldly powers will rationalized as a strange occurrence and you will have a hard time scaring them, although providing enough evidence of the existence of ghosts will increase their belief and start making them susceptible. Chaining scares on a group of mortals that is already scared is a good way to create an avalanche of fear and belief which should give you enough energy to use the higher tier abilities on that level. Exposing a mortal to their conscience and subconscious fears will eventually make them go insane with hilarious results.
Don't worry it's not real fire... but try telling that to the mortals who are running for their lives!
More than puzzles and strategy this is a game about messing with things and this is where I had the most fun. It may not be quite as efficient to toy with the mortals but it's the only ghost simulator in existence where you get to be the ghosts so who cares!? This is a game where you can zap unsuspecting people, turn the lights off on them, and make them run screaming with a thunderclap! This is a game where your goal is to create chaos and confusion and you have an arsenal of very capable ghosts at your disposal who specialize at doing just that. The setting and the theme are amazing and even though the execution was a bit clunky (still quite good by 2003 standards) I can not for the life of me figure out why this game never caught on and why nobody made a sequel. You get to set people on (illusory) fire and watch panic ensue as spiders and ghosts and hurricane force winds and falling fish (and more) appear out of nowhere... who wouldn't want that? Granted there are some levels where you need to be strategic and not scare the mortals and while most of these levels are very particular about what will and will not work, the game as a whole is sweet candy.
Take a rocket physics simulator and replace humans with little green men and you have The Kerbal Space Program. This is as accurate a rocket simulator that you will find outside of NASA, and while it is awesome it is not for everyone. The physics engine is unforgiving and bad design or incorrect timing can quickly turn into a fiery mess. This game is lots of fun to mess around with, but to actually do well you will have to learn some rocket science, and not everyone wants to do that. For those who do have the interest, patience, and sticktoitiveness this is definitely a game worth playing.
There are three modes you can play in, sandbox which gives you unlimited money and access to all rocket pieces, science mode which gives you unlimited money but restricts rocket pieces according to your research, and campaign mode which lets you earn money by doing missions and restricts rocket pieces the same way as science mode. You're objective is to explore the Kerbal System (Solar System). Why? For Science!
Every time you test out new equipment, land in a new area, or run science tests under new situations you earn science points which you can use to unlock more rocket pieces which will (theoretically) take you further into space to find more science! The game comes with a few 'pre-loaded' rockets and vehicles but the vast majority of what you will be using are things you put together yourself. Even though the first few rockets don't break through the atmosphere it isn't too long before you find yourself in space, high above the surface of Kerban with 0 Gs and lots of science to uncover. Getting that science (and your Kerbalnaughts) back down to Kerban is a bit harder than actually getting it in the first place though. Like I said, this is a realistic physics engine, and things tend to burn up upon re-entering the atmosphere. You'll want to make sure that your re-entry capsule isn't too heavy and that you have heat deflectors to keep the vital (and sciency) parts from getting damaged. You'll also want to make sure that you pack enough parachutes and that your angle of entry burns up enough velocity that said parachutes don't just rip off when they need to be deployed. I consider myself moderately competent at this game and my Kerbals still tend to die a lot in horrible horrible ways. Thankfully there's a reset button on the less punishing difficulties which allows you to start a given rocket flight over again from the beginning.
As you can imagine the game has a steep learning curve. The tutorials, while indeed useful and informative, don't hold you hand either. This game requires skill and patience to learn. But this is part of the fun, not just learning actual rocket science but also getting an incredible sense of accomplishment when you finally make a stable orbit or safely land on the Mun or any other celestial body and breathe a long sigh of relief when your intrepid Kerbalnaughts safely return back to Kerban with all their science. This game makes you work for your achievements, every launch, orbit, and landing is a potential nail biting experience, especially if something goes wrong or you're not sure if you have enough fuel to make it home...
Jebedia Kerman probably wishes the architects had gone with 4 landing legs instead of 3...
It will be at least 2 years before a rescue craft finds him on the surface of Duna.
Something you'll need to get used to very quickly is how to use your instruments. 'Eyeballing' your directions can be fun to do when your messing around but if you actually want to achieve orbit or land on the Mun then using your instruments is critical. The one I use the most is the spherical direction ball which has markings already in place for which direction you need to go to increase, decrease, or 'move' your obit as well as which direction to go to move towards or away from a marked heading. If you use these to guide you then you stand a much greater chance of success. If you don't then you will most certainly fail.
The other instrument that I use constantly is the nav computer which shows you where you are in relation to, well, everything, and what your orbit will be if you remain at your current velocity. This is especially helpful to gain a stable orbit around Kerban so you don't dip back into the atmosphere and even more important for when you want to travel to another celestial body. Since orbits are defined by the gravitational force of a planet, moon, or sun you are essentially expanding your orbit around Kerban to the point where where you will be at the height of your orbit is where the Mun will be so that you can enter into its gravitational field and adjust your velocity in relation to it instead of Kerban (doing this is what finally made Einstein's theory of relativity make sense to me). This is hard to communicate if you've never played the game before but you're essentially hopping out of one gravitational field into another. Thankfully the game lets you manually 'set a course' in the nav computer which creates an image of what your orbit would look like if that course was followed and an estimated time you would need to burn your thrusters to achieve said course. This is the rocket science I was talking about earlier.
Every rocket, space plane, and buggy can be created from scratch using the rather intuitive and fully customizable options of the rocket hanger. Pieces can be snapped or slid into place, rotated in 3 dimensions, or mirrored to be placed at equidistant intervals around another piece. You'll want to construct your spacecrafts in stages so that fuel tanks and engines can be jettisoned once they run out of fuel so as to not weigh you down and that parachutes can be deployed if you are planning on a return trip. You can create as many stages as you like using as many pieces as you like (once you unlock the final hanger upgrade) but the best rockets are (understandably) streamlined with multiple takeoff boosters arranged in 'asparagus formation' where all the engines draw from only two tanks at a time so that they can be jettisoned quickly and reduce weight evenly and most efficiently. (Once again, kind of difficult to describe if you haven't played the game).
You can also construct 'space planes' and shuttles that can fly with or without atmosphere, but I have not had very good luck with these for some reason and you need to spend lots of science to make them a feasible replacement for rockets.
For extra dangerous missions, or for missions where you can not make a return trip you can use a remote control system powered by batteries. This is where solar panels come into play, to keep unmanned explorers and satellites running. You don't get as much science broadcasting your findings back to Kerban as making a safe return, but the difference will be made up should you ever repeat the experiment / discovery and make the return trip some time in the future.
You can also 'build' space stations with crew quarters, science generating laboratories, and docking ports for space-faring vessels to latch on. I put 'build' in quotations because you will need to launch each piece into space and dock them together manually which is, without a doubt, the most difficult and patience wracking maneuver you can pull off in this game. Matching another object's orbit requires careful and precise piloting, but lining up to a docking port and actually making the connection in 0 Gs is an incredible feat. I will take this opportunity to boast that I have done it a few times.
For anyone looking for a realistic space exploration simulator this is as real as you will ever find for $40. For anyone else who is remotely interested in flying rockets to the moon this game will teach you so much about how actual rocketry works and you will (hopefully) have a blast while learning. What really makes this game for me is the challenge and the mechanics. In other space adventure games traveling to another planet is mindlessly easy (No Man's Sky) but in The Kerbal Space Program traveling to another planet is the game itself, you have to get there and get back in one piece and its hard, but doable. Once you make your first successful mission to the Mun you will feel like you've conquered the world and accomplished something impressive. The Mun is just the start though, there is a whole solar system ready to explore... for science!
Earlier this week the highly anticipated 'No Man's Sky' was released. I followed this game in development, a few reviews have popped up from gamers and critics, and I think I have enough information to recommend that people avoid this game. It feels strange recommending that people avoid a game that I have never personally played, but listen to my argument and decide for yourself.
No Man's Sky is a mind mindbogglingly enormous survival space exploration game. Trillions of procedurally generated planets, each one unique with its own plants, animals, rock formations, and ruins. You, a single wanderer with a spaceship in an unfathomably huge galaxy with your goal to get to the centre. Here's my issue: the game is a gazillion miles wide but only an inch deep. Under the vast and colorful sci-fi aesthetics there are only very simple and rather annoying mechanics.
So what do you do in No Man's Sky? You start out having crash landed on a strange planet and you need to locate and harvest the necessary elements to repair your ship and keep yourself alive. The planet is big (of course) and colorful and full of plants and animals and rocks that can be scanned to reveal what sort of elements the contain, and harvested. None of the elements are very difficult to find and every planet seems to have plenty of each. You can also scan and record the exotic fauna and flora to earn credits which can be used to purchase new tools, weapons, and ships. You can also find ruins that will teach you an alien word so that when you run into aliens you can piece together what they are saying to you. Once you repair your ship you can travel to other planets which you will need to do often as your life support / weapons / thrusters / tools will require constant refills to keep you going.
But here's the thing, all of the worlds you travel to are procedurally generated. They are all 'unique' but there are also, underwhelmingly, exactly the same. Sure they will have different amounts and types of fauna and flora but after playing a few hours you will have seen and experienced all that you will ever see and experience. One planet is just like the next, a place to visit, to walk around, scan, harvest, and leave. There is no story, no adventure, no impact, your actions mean nothing, and whatever tiny mark you make will never be seen again. It's the same elements, the same ruins, and the same alien structures with the same aliens selling the same things. You can upgrade your inventory / ship / tools / components to be more efficient and let you go through the game faster.
The combat is very simple and barely worth noting.
What I see in No Man's Sky is a technological breakthrough with being able to travel an entire galaxy of procedurally generated planets without any loading time whatsoever. This is an impressive feat that will not go overlooked by anyone. I don't think they made a game worth playing with this new technology though. There's just no point to it. Sure, exploration can be a fun and exciting thing in and of itself but never procedurally generated exploration and never when traveling to planets is so incredibly quick and easy. Once you see the selection of possible ruins and structures you will have seen them all. Every planet in No Man's Sky is just a more visually pleasing planet from SPORE, a pretty but vapid place to waste time. The only interesting things worth doing are seeking out new plants and animals (which will also become samey just not quite as fast) and making your way to the centre of the galaxy for whatever procedurally generated thing waits for you there but are these things actually worth doing and is doing them worth $79.99 and dozens of hours of your time?
If you have a first person space exploration itch that needs scratching go take a look at the X3 series or The Kerbal Space Program; these are quality titles with more value and at a lower cost.
At the very least read more reviews to make sure this is what you want to spend your money on and maybe wait for the price to go down.
Price : $32.99 for base game + $32.99 for Brave New World
Website : STEAM
I'm not sure how I could possibly do justice to a game as big and as in depth as Civ 5 without writing far more than most would venture to read. The Civilization series, if you've never played it before, is one of those rare video game gems that was foundational to all PC games way back in the stone ages of computer gaming (1991) that people still talk about and play. Even more rare is that the many remakes of the original Sid Meier's Civilization have been excellent games in their own right that the fan base fully endorses and celebrates, building on and improving the already excellent titles that came before. If you're totally new to Civ then Each edition of Civilization is essentially an enormous electronic turn based board game where you must lead your chosen civilization from humble stone age wanderers to a sprawling modern superpower (hopefully) head and shoulders higher than all other nations in the world. Placing cities, moving units, building improvements and wonders, it is essentially placing and moving pieces in a complex (and absolutely gorgeous looking) board game. As the turns go by your nation grows, your technology improves, and the game becomes increasingly complex but in all the good ways that make you crave to play just one more turn... Is Civ 5 worth playing if you already have and love Civ 4? Yes it is. Is the A Brave New World expansion really worth it? Yes it is. More on that later.
For anyone who has never played a Civilization game before here's how it basically goes. You begin by choosing from among a dizzying number of nations to play as, each with its own special perks. You start off with a settler and a warrior with a handful of tiles revealed around you and a huge map to explore. Once you build your first city with the settler you can work the tiles around that city to gain resources which affect how quickly that city grows, can build things, as well as your national gold / culture / faith / science / happiness points. If you want to build things quickly you can assign your city to work production heavy tiles like forests or mines. If you want them to grow quickly you can assign them to work grasslands, fishing tiles, and farms. Every building you construct adds a bonus to that city, a granary produces an extra +2 food per turn, a monument +1 culture per turn, a barracks for slightly stronger military units, etc. Everything takes time to build and gold to maintain and it is up to you to figure out what you need the most and what you will need to set up now so that you can gain greater returns in the future. Thankfully the user interface is friendly and useful, able to display a lot of information without becoming overwhelming.
The first turns are very quick as everyone only has one city and one or two units. You have a lot of encouragement to explore the map at this early phase. Being the first to uncover ancient ruins can net you free technologies, extra population, and free units. Locating city states (neutral one city AI controlled nations) will also net you a reward which is doubled if you were the first nation to find them. You'll want to be on the look out for good spots to build future cities so that you can claim special resource tiles (cattle, iron, spices, horses, cotton, etc) and strategic locations (rivers, bays, bottlenecks, etc). You'll also spend time avoiding barbarians who are roving the map looking for things to kill.
Strategy takes off in other ways as even just a few turns in you will be able to pick your first cultural tenant, start building the first wonders, found the first religions, and choose which direction your technological advancement will take.
Once you are ready to expand you'll find yourself pushing against those filthy barbarians and while it is unlikely that they will be able to take one of your cities, they will still capture workers / settlers, and lay waste to tile improvements (farms, mines, pastures, etc). You'll need a small squad to clear them out but if you are unlucky enough to be neighbors with a leader that wants to expand quickly (George Washington), or an overly aggressive leader (Gangis Khan), then you may want to adjust your expansion plans to accommodate for their competitiveness.
Two cocoa resources side by side in city view.
Once you've got your borders more or less established and those nasty barbarians have been beaten back it will be time for foreign relations. If you are of the 'conquer the world' mentality then this will mean building an army and taking over cities. If you want to be friendly or if war just isn't the best option yet then you can trade resources with other civilizations or try to impress city states by fulfilling quests or giving them gifts. If they view you as a friend they will give you a small bonus (extra food, culture, faith, or happiness) and if prove yourself as an ally they will give you a larger bonus plus all of the resources in their territory. Acquiring new types of luxury resources (even if they are only on loan) is the quickest and easiest way to boost national happiness which takes a hit every time you build a new city or grow in size.
You will constantly be competing with the other nations on various levels. Militarily, if you are at war, politically to keep city states as allies, racing to build world wonders, getting ahead technologically, culturally, and geographically. The amount of points required to unlock new technologies and cultural tenants scales according to the size of your empire so depending on your strategy you may want a sprawling empire of many cities or a small empire with large cities. By the middle of the game (Renaissance era) a whole new level of diplomatic opportunities becomes available through the use of spies (God's and Kings Expansion) and the convening of world congress (A Brave New World expansion) where every nation gets to vote on global proposals that will help some and hinder others. Every turn is full of choices where you can get to choose one of several possible bonuses and need to weigh the pros and cons of each. This is where Civilization-addiction starts. A city has finished building something, do you want to build a university in 13 turns (+2 science per turn +17% science for the city as a whole) or is it better to get the artist guild in 5 turns (begin generating Great Artists) or maybe you should try to build the Hanging Gardens in 22 turns (+6 food per turn, 25% bonus to generate Great Persons but if someone else builds it before you do then all that production is wasted...) Your laborer unit has finished constructing a farm on the wheat tile outside a city, is it better to chop down the forest in the next tile for more food or should you build a lumber camp for more production? Oh, now you can choose another cultural tenant and you get to pick from a large number of possible bonuses. Research is finished, what new buildings / units / abilities will you work to unlock now? All those little bonuses and decisions stack up together and by the industrial age it will be apparent which victory condition each nation is striving towards (military, cultural, diplomatic, or scientific) as the turn by turn decisions have evolved into distinct and substantial advantages.
By the end game you'll be working with some very impressive units, buildings, cultural and diplomatic options. Even if you were not able to rise above the pack of competing nations Civ 5 (with A Brave New World) allows for the underdog to still have options to be influential and win which is a welcome change from previous titles. Eventually someone will take over everyone else's capitals, build a space ship to colonize Alpha Centari, or pull off a cultural or diplomatic victory (see below) which ultimately ends the game.
Sometimes the border can get a little tense...
For everyone who has played Civilization before Civ 5 took a few departures from previous titles and I am among the many who are glad for this.
Combat has had a complete revamp. For starters, the square tiles were replaced by hexes but more importantly units can no longer be stacked on the same tile and much more emphasis has been given to the advantages and penalties for how you are attacking. In past titles players could just pile their army into a single doom tile and just roll over all but similar sized doom tiles but now positioning your troops is vital to a successful military campaign. A well placed pikeman unit fortified in a castle on a hill across a river can hold against many foes (even early gunpowder units) while your archers rain damage down upon them. Cities are now formidable combat 'units' in their own right able to take and dish out a lot of damage. It will require multiple turns of constant attacks from multiple tiles to capture cities. Over all combat now feels 'Chess-like', which adds a welcome depth of interest and complexity to what was a rather simple 'Risk-like' system.
Culture was also completely revamped. While it still causes your national boarders to grow it will now also unlock a plethora of 'cultural tenants' which will give you specific advantages and in the A Brave New World expansion, allow access to even more powerful ideology tenants which have a drastic affect on how the late game is played. The cultural victory condition is another innovation in Civ 5 wherein you generate 'tourism' (the amount by which other nations are envious of your culture) by displaying great works and historical artifacts in your cities, building world wonders, and choosing certain cultural tenants. You can multiply your tourism output through trade, espionage, open border agreements, technology, religion, and ideology. As your tourism rating starts to over take other nations' cumulative culture you will receive bonuses when when attacking, trading, or spying on them. If they follow a different ideology than you do then your tourism rating will start creating unhappiness in that nation as the people want to adopt your way of life. If you're tourism rating overtakes every other nation's cumulative culture totals then you win.
At the beginning of the game you only have a few trees to choose from.
I usually choose liberty because the free laborer and setter really fit with my play style.
Religion also got an overhaul in the Gods and Kings expansion. Similar to culture points you can acquire faith points through a variety of means. If you can get enough you will be able to start a Pantheon, a pre-religion, which can grant you one out of a dizzying number of small bonuses that you will take with you throughout the game. Later, once you have enough faith points a great prophet will spawn in your capital and you can use him to create a formal religion. Similar to a pantheon you will be able to choose two bonuses from a dizzying number of options, one bonus for the religion founder (you) and another bonus for every city that follows that religion (you + others). The next Great Prophet allows you to pick two more 'reformation tenants', one for the founder, another for every city that follows that religion. While religions benefit every city they spread to it is almost always in your best interest to spread your religion as much as possible as your founder benefits are often dependent on how many cities follow it and you get a tourism bonus with nations who share a common belief. Choosing which religion to create or embrace is a very strategic option. Extra culture for specific tiles worked, or extra gold per 4 followers, or being able to purchase military units with faith points (maybe a religion you would rather not spread) are just a few examples of what religion can do. These subtle benefits can change the outcome of the game over time, especially if your play style or other bonuses can be used to multiply or leverage those benefits.
The dynamics of the middle and late game were the target of the A Brave New World expansion. The option to create trade routes with AI controlled caravan / cargo ship units opens up gold based strategy like never before but also affects the spread of religion, tourism, and science. The amount of gold generated by trade routes is substantial and, just like every other aspect of the game, can be improved upon depending on how your cities are structured, which wonders you've built, your religion, technology, and cultural tenants. Trade routes can be raided though, and the AI caravans / cargo ships will stick to their shortest route regardless of danger. Hunting down enemy caravans and trade ships is an excellent way to hurt your foe while also netting yourself a substantial gold boost.
A Brave New World also adds the world congress which is founded when a civilization has met every other nation and has discovered The Printing Press. The host nation and the nation who has the most representatives both put forth a global proposal that everyone gets to vote on. The resolutions passed affect everyone and range from military tax to trade rules to naming a world wide religion / ideology to influencing the rate at which specific 'Great Persons' (Artists, Generals, Prophets, Architects, Scientists, etc) are generated. The number of delegates you get primarily depends on the world era, and how many city state allies you have. This means that city states become a resource in and of themselves and a savvy political player can win the game with a world leader vote if he has enough support (or close to enough support with good espionage). The addition of the world congress makes the middle and end game more interesting and can shake up an otherwise inevitable outcome. Higher military taxes, a trade embargo, and being unable to use specific luxury resources will create all sorts of problems warmongering players while resolutions that boost tourism can make pacifist players a serious threat.
Take away everyone's whales or make it so that artists are more common and scientists / generals / engineers are not. Hmm...
There are other features and tweaks made in Civ 5 that I just don't have time to cover. Over all, compared to previews titles, the game pacing is better, there are more interesting and deeper features, and all of the features intertwine with each other allowing for a multitude of diverse strategies and approaches. The classic strategies of rushing certain techs / wonders / unit types are greatly augmented by the new cultural / religious / diplomatic options giving way to a multitude of new strategies. The improvement of the middle and late game in A Brave New World are especially pronounced and even though I thought Civ 5 was amazing before the expansion now that I have it I can barely imagine how game didn't feel incomplete or broken with out it.
As for Gods and Kings my personal recommendation is to skip it or wait for a really good sale as all of the features added in God's and Kings also carried over to A Brave New World with the only exception being following nations: Austria, Byzantine, Carthage, Netherlands, Celts, Maya, Holland, Ethiopia, Huns, and Sweden. Given A Brave New World's inclusion of Gods and Kings' features and the large improvements game I highly recommend A Brave New World for the definitive Civ 5 experience, it really isn't the same game without it.
Civ 5, even without any expansions, is without a doubt a quality game both deep and wide. It will consume your time by the hour and playing a round of Civ can take days if not weeks or months. Here is to the 5th edition of the quintessential grand strategy PC game.
So here's an unusual game. Viridi is a plant simulator where you can arrange, water, and admire a virtual pot of plants. You start out by picking a 'starter' pot which comes with a handful of seedlings and a snail who slowly cruises along the side of your pot. You water your plants when they are thirsty and zooming up close to any one of them allows you to sing to your plants which may or may not make them grow faster and bigger. The game is real time so you can check in once every few days (you get a time-lapse viewing from since you last logged in) to pluck weeds and water thirsty plants. Once a week you can collect a free seedling to plant or save at your leisure. You can also buy virtual seedlings via micro-transactions.
It's a surprisingly calming and beautiful little game with gentle music that you can check in on every once and a while to keep your plants happy and healthy and maybe linger a bit for stress relief. It may not be for everyone but it is free and as far as plant simulators go, it's a quality product.
Sid Meier's Pirates is a classic game all the way back from the era of MICRO PROSE and the Commodore 64! It's had many re-releases for a variety of computer types and consoles over the decades, all of them have been excellent for their time and the most recent PC iteration of this lighthearted swashbuckling gem was released by 2K Games in 2005 with some welcome additions that run alongside the tried and true core. I played this game to death in three different eras (1987, 1994, and 2005 versions) and I would have to say that this one, while a bit cartoony and sometimes silly, is the best.
The intro sequence for new games explains the story well enough. While a child your family was part of the upper-middle class society when one fateful night a large shipment was lost at sea and the evil Marquis de Montalban takes your family captive to work off their debt to him but you escape. Years later, a grown man, you enter a tavern where you are given the option to enter your name, the level of difficulty you wish to play at, one of five skills that you excel in, and a captain (nation) to sign on with. The captain turns out to be a ruthless pirate, you lead a coup to take over the ship, and now stand at the helm with the crew cheering you on, The New World before you, a medallion with a picture of your family close to your heart, and at least one villain who needs avenging.
Sailing into port for the first time...
So what exactly do you do in Sid Meier's Pirates? Well, it's a swashbuckling adventure so once you pull into port and meet with the governor he will give you a letter of marque which authorizes you to attack enemy ships / ports, claim all the plunder for yourself, and get rewarded for it by the nation you chose to sail with. The governor will also introduce you to his (very eligible) daughter and inform you that a small enemy merchant vessel was just spotted near the port. (This encounter serves as the combat tutorial for both ship to ship and swashbuckling mini-games) After that it's up to you. The Caribbean is a large area, full of adventure, plunder, and quests with special rewards all their own. You can sink ships, cross swords with other captains, hunt down famous pirates, follow treasure maps, upgrade your ships, romance governors' daughters, sneak into enemy cities, sack enemy cities, and of course locate, rescue and avenge your family.
Pirates is an arcade type adventure game so you don't play it for its amazing depth or strategic value. It's a colorful inviting and fun romp about the Caribbean that you can lose yourself in without thinking too much. You sail in your flagship (with however many other ships in your possession tagging along behind you) using the numb pad or arrow keys. From this 'overland view' you can sail to various ports, engage other ships, or make landfall. The action takes place in the various mini-games that trigger according to your decisions. They aren't overly difficult but they are colorful and well executed. Here's an overview of the sort of fun that can be had here.
Ship to Ship Combat
When you decide to attack another ship it is your chosen flagship verses the other (and maybe one escort). You must use the wind to your advantage and either blast them to pieces with your cannons or ram them to engage in close combat to take over the ship all the while dodging their cannon fire. Depending on your ship upgrades you can have up to three ammunition types. Round shot will do heavy hull damage and has a chance of removing enemy cannons, chain shot will damage sails, and grape shot will damage crew. Debris, cargo, cannons and random sailors will fling off ships satisfactorily upon impact with hull and sail damage colorfully displayed on both ships. Shoot them too much and they may sink sink taking all their gold and cargo with them, but if you don't weaken the enemy vessel you will risk its powerful broadside attacks in trying to get up close or it may be too quick to catch.
Swashbuckling
Every time you ram another ship, challenge someone to a duel, or storm the ramparts of an enemy port it is time for some sword to sword fun. You begin by choosing your weapon (either rapier for quick attacks, cutlass for quick defense, or longsword for a balanced approach) and maybe taking a shot at the enemy captain with a pistol or two. Your crew engages the enemy crew all around you and their numbers are displayed at the bottom of the screen. You use the numb pad to either attack or defend from the high, middle, or low positions.
This game is all about timing. When you see the enemy captain preparing to strike use the appropriate defense to block his shot and knock him off balance. Use attacks when you see an opening. Whoever makes a successful attack will knock the other a few steps back. If you make an unsuccessful attack you get a speed penalty. You win either when your opponent gets pushed off the ship or if he runs out of crew. This is the basic mechanism of the game but it's clothed in fun and exciting aesthetics; crew sword fighting and swinging around you, explosions, and short but seamless cut-scenes make this a suitably adventurous (yet simple) game of speed and reflexes.
Dancing and Romancing
Should you attract the eye of a young lass you will have the chance to impress her (and her father) with your wit and charm through the highest of high society's entertainment, ballroom dancing. This is a difficult mini-game, arguably the most difficult. The key is timing. The governor's daughter will give you hand gestures which equate to which button you need to press on the numb pad to successfully perform the next dance move. If you hit the right button at the right time, you don't make a fool of yourself, if you hit the wrong button or get the timing wrong then you fumble / step on her feet, if your timing is perfect then you perform an impressive flourish. Your progress is reflected in the beating heart at the top of the screen, the more impressed your partner is the larger the heart gets and the better your reward at the end of the dance. Governor's daughters are surprisingly resourceful and may give you some useful information or present you with special items or pieces to some of the more difficult treasure maps to find.
Treasure Hunting
What would a Pirate adventure game be like without buried treasure? Probably accurate because pirates never actually buried treasure, but who cares about accurate when you could be having fun! Over the course of the game you may find pieces of various treasure maps. If you can put them together they will show you where you can find a famous pirate's hidden treasure along with various landmarks to to point you in the right direction and the name of a port that is nearby. Upon landing near the location where you think the map is pointing you will lead your men on a merry hunt and hopefully there will be thousands of doubloons (or a long lost family member) waiting at the end. When playing on harder difficulties the amount you can zoom out is so small that you will be needing to use your telescope, preferably from a nearby hill, to get your bearings straight.
Person Hunting
Over the course of your travels you may be asked to hunt down a wanted criminal or other villains that may hold clues as to the whereabouts of the evil Marquis de Montalban. You can get information about the whereabouts of wanted people from taverns, governor's daughters, and the crew of ships who have had recent contact with said person. If you're quick you may be able to intercept their ship or confront them in a tavern before they slip away from you and the scent goes cold. Wanted criminals can be turned in for a bounty but they may also offer you rare items if you let them go instead. Villains will hold pieces of maps leading to the more difficult to find treasures such as whereabouts of your family members, lost cities of gold, and where you can finally take on that old devil the evil Marquis de Montalban and put an end to him for good.
Sneaking into Enemy Territory
You may run into a situation where you need to get into port but that particular port does not want you inside it. Time for the stealth mini-game! Armed with a backjack you stalk the streets at night trying to get to either the governor's mansion or the tavern near the centre of town. You must avoid the guards, whose line of sight is visualized by the light of their lanterns, and if they catch you they will put you in the dungeon. You are, of course, smarter and more dexterous than city guards and are able to climb vine covered walls, hide behind hay stacks, and sneak behind guards to knock them out. If things get too risky you can leave the city by making your way back to any one of the four edges of the map.
Capturing Ports
If you have enough men and you feel a bit lucky then you can try your hand at capturing an enemy port. This will take you to a square grid map where you have control of a handful of pirate units and your enemy will have their own city guard units. On your turn you can move or attack with each your units and on the enemy's turn they will move and attack with theirs. Clever captains will ensure that incoming enemies are either weakened by your ranged 'Buccaneers' units or keep your forces safe from enemy ranged attacks by using jungle tiles for cover. Clever captains will also keep in mind that flanking attacks are twice as strong as regular attacks and that height and troop morale bestow bonuses or penalties to the strength of your units. You win when all enemy units flee or if you can get at least one of your units to the gates of the city. You then sack the city, plundering gold and goods and, if you beat them soundly enough, you can install your own governor to change the nationality of the port.
Upgrade Hunting
While not technically a mini-game in and of itself you will find yourself seeking out all manner of upgrades for your ship as well as special items, titles, and skilled crew members, all of which benefit you in different ways. You acquire ship upgrades either by purchasing them at ports or capturing a ship that already has them installed. Each port only has one type of upgrade so you may need to look around a bit and maybe see if anyone in the local tavern has information on which ports sell which upgrades. Specialized crew members (cook, carpenter, officers) will join you if you capture a ship with one on board. Personal items are won by completing special missions, purchasing them from shady sailors, or given as gifts by a governor's daughter if you can impress her on the dance floor. Titles are bestowed upon you by governors if your actions have benefited their nation enough to merit the title.
Plundering The Treasure Fleet and Simple Economics
Every year The Spanish Treasure Fleet, four huge galleons loaded full of gold and luxury goods, makes its way to each of the ports along The Spanish Main collecting taxes and tribute to send back to Spain. If you can find it, you can plunder it, or at least you can try. There are also smaller 'treasure ships' that a local barmaid or governor's daughter could tip you off on. Smugglers tend to carry valuable cargo in small ships, and intercepting a military payroll always feels nice. There are six commodities in Pirates, food which your crew eats, luxuries and spices, which sell for a high price, goods and sugar which sell for a lower price, and cannons which your ships use to shoot things. Different ports will pay different amounts for these goods and depending on what you're carrying it may be worth paying the local tavern a visit to find out who is buying for the highest price.
Dividing the Plunder and Retirement
Every few years of game time it is advisable that you end your expedition and divide the plunder with your crew. They tend to get a but cranky if they've been sailing with you for five years in a boat overflowing with gold and they still all they want to do is take their share and get off the boat. Dividing the plunder gives each crew member their share while you the captain get a larger share which increases according to the difficulty level you are playing at. All extra goods and ships are sold for gold coin and you will be given the option to plan another expedition either at current level or the next level of difficulty, or retire from pirating altogether. If you plan another expedition then you start afresh with your flagship, a happy crew, and a small stash of gold ready to tackle The Spanish Main all over again. If you retire from pirating then you get a high score based on how much wealth, land, fame, and titles you acquired, if you found love, how many family members you rescued, treasures found, famous pirates defeated, villains avenged, how old you are, etc. and your score determines what your retirement looks like. It is actually quite difficult to get a perfect score but that's probably a good thing.
Conclusion
Sid Meier's Pirates is a kid friendly game with lots of nostalgia value. Anyone who enjoyed an earlier editions of the game in their childhood will really appreciate this title. Newcomers may also be won over by its charm but serious gamers may find it a bit too cartoonish, simple, or repetitive. I think that casual, young, and nostalgic gamers can have a lot of fun with this title and I plan on introducing it to my kids when they are old enough. For $10 it is an excellent value and a good game to own.
Portal, in my opinion, is one of the greatest games ever created. Originally released in 2007 by Valve Portal is a physics puzzler with more than a few twists. I won't spoil it for you, but I will explain what the game is generally about and what sort of fun can be had with it.
You are a volunteer test subject for the Aperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Centre. Your job is to test out the new portal gun technology by completing various tasks and puzzles with the physics bending tech under the instruction and encouragement of GLADoS, the artificial intelligence in charge of the facility. How much fun could this possibly be? Lets just say this game racked up the awards, continues to get overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and gamers, and is most definitely in my top 5 best games ever played list.
Of course the game isn't just about puzzling with portals, that might be interesting but it doesn't get the incredible amount of praise that this game gets. No, there is more going on than what originally meets the eye, and the game unfolds its hidden plot one tantalizing string at a time. You clue in pretty early that something isn't entirely right with GLADoS. Random static, fade outs, and some verbal queues make you wonder if she's maybe due for an upgrade. A few levels in and the tests start becoming hazardous. While GLADoS assures you that it is only the appearance of danger meant to provide you with a more enriching experience you begin to wonder if something's a bit off with her morality core. A few more levels in and you begin to wonder if GLADoS just has no concept of what qualifies as 'hazardous' to human beings or if she has no regard for your life at all. Then there are the hidden messages and secret nooks and crannies that GLADoS does not seem to know about. She offers you cake if you complete all of the tests, but the places GLADoS can not see spell out a different story...
From the physics engine to GLADoS dialogue to the humour spread throughout this game is brilliant. It also features some very well executed reveals, definitely above and beyond what you would expect to find in a game about physics puzzles. The game also features some of the best deadpan dark humour you will ever encounter.
Seriously, if you haven't played this game yet then buy it now and play it. This is the best $10 PC game in existence. And once you've played it go buy Portal 2... you'll understand once you play the first one.
Originally released a mod for Halflife 2 in 2011 The Stanley Parable was re-released as a stand alone game through STEAM in 2013. You play as Stanley, a faceless employee in a mega corporation whose job is to push buttons but on this particular day nobody else showed up to work and you need to find out what happened to them, or at least that's what the Narrator tells you. You quickly discover that all is not what it seems... It isn't really a 'game' in the traditional understanding, but I *highly* recommend everyone who enjoys games to give this a thorough play through at least once in their lives.
The Stanley Parable is difficult to describe without spoiling so *spoiler alert*.
You start off in your cubical with the Narrator explaining thusly:
Stanley worked for a company in a big building where he was Employee #427. Employee #427's job was simple: he sat at his desk in room 427 and he pushed buttons on a keyboard. Orders came to him through a monitor on his desk, telling him what buttons to push, how long to push them, and in what order. This is what Employee #427 did every day of every month of every year, and although others might have considered it soul rending, Stanley relished every moment the orders came in, as though he had been made exactly for this job. And Stanley was happy.
And then one day, something very peculiar happened. Something that would forever change Stanley; something he would never quite forget. He had been at his desk for nearly an hour when he realized that not one single order had arrived on the monitor for him to follow. No one had shown up to give him instructions, call a meeting, or even say 'hi.' Never in all his years at the company had this happened, this complete isolation. Something was very clearly wrong.
Shocked, frozen solid, Stanley found himself unable to move for the longest time. But as he came to his wits and regained his senses, he got up from his desk and stepped out of his office.
And you, Stanley, begin moving about the office in search of your missing co-workers. The graphics aren't anything special, but they do work for an office environment. As you search the Narrator will chime in every so often. And then you are faced with a choice. Two doorways. The Narrator says that Stanley picks the door on the right...
Well Stanley? Do you go right or left?
Such a simple choice but oh, what wild and far flung possibilities exist when we play the choices game. You could go right and continue the story, but what would the Narrator say if you went left instead? The Narrator has a story to tell you Stanley, a good and rather exciting story that he put a lot of work into, but do you want to follow that story? You see Stanely, you are not alone, the Narrator is the other character in this game, and although you never see him he works with you and against you to give meaning to your actions. Depending on your choices the Narrator may lead you through a conspiracy plot, a dream sequence, a daring escape, or put you into a completely different game entirely, he may plead with you, applaud you, or just kill you out of frustration. Without him the game would be an empty maze. No Stanley, you may be the hero of the story but you need the Narrator and the Narrator needs you too...
There are many paths you could take, each one something different and something special. This game is more than just a game, it breaks through the fourth wall and acts as an interactive parable on the philosophy of game design. Do you really have choice when you play games? Does the Narrator have choice in what he says? Well of course not, his lines are pre-scripted, but does he know that they are pre-scripted and does it really matter if it seems to you Stanley that he is actually interacting with you and not just pre-programmed? Are your actions pre-scripted Stanley? You, with your conditioning to press buttons when instructed to do so. What is a game really? What happens when you break a game open and run amok? Is it better to have few choices or many choices and at what point do they become meaningless? These are the types of questions and commentary The Stanley Parable asks and investigates and the result is something brilliant, enjoyable, and memorable.
The Stanley Parable is especially fun if you've ever looked into creating your own games as the running commentary will address questions and issues that you've probably run into. This is a seriously clever game that was pulled off flawlessly although the subject material and wit may be lost on the casual gamer. My only caveat is that its rather short and maybe that is more of a compliment than a caveat because I would have absolutely loved to have spent many more hours playing as Stanley and interacting with the Narrator.
The Stanley Parable gets all my love. I Thoroughly enjoyed this title and I think most gamers will too.
The one of a kind God Game RTS, Populous The Beginning, (or Populous 3) is my favorite game from the legendary BULLFROG Studio. This 97 gem was ahead of its time and I have no idea how many hours I've logged on it but lets just say I've memorized each of the maps in the single player campaign and multiplayer matches. Basically, take a simple RTS where you control hoards of cavemen, add a shaman with god-like abilities, and a crazy physics engine and you have Populous 3.
The game's premise is played out in the intro cinematic. A young woman from a tribe of otherwise unremarkable cave persons is able to channel magic. She has visions of other worlds full of hostile tribes that would destroy them if left alone, so she becomes the shaman and leads her people to these other worlds to preemptively destroy their enemies picking up all manner of powerful magics along the way so that she can become a god and they will all live happily ever after (except for everyone on the worlds they burn on their interstellar / interplanar path to victory). It's not a very deep story, but it doesn't have to be.
Each map starts out with your shaman and a handful of villagers around your incarnation circle. As is customary in RTS games your villagers can build buildings, gather resources, and fight things (but are not good at fighting). In Populous they can do all this and train to become warriors, priests, spies, or firewarriors but unlike every other RTS everything they do they do with gusto! Their animations are hilarious and this is the first part of what makes this game so great. If they are building something they actually run around building it, not just hitting the ground next to it, they are literally running around the structure hammering things, hauling things, and jumping up and down to raise / lower the land. If the shaman walks by they immediately fall on their faces in reverence. If you tell them to attack they start running and screaming as fast as they can and then punch, kick, push, pull hair, fall over, roll, get up, run inside a building and shake it all to pieces until it collapses... they're super fun to watch.
You'll use your starting villagers to build huts which will produce more villagers over time depending on how many huts you have. Villagers living in huts allow your shaman to recharge spells faster and also increase the speed at which new villagers are spawned. Extra non-house villagers can be used to grab map spells from magic nodding head statues or trigger a map changing spell from a totem. These are often valuable in your fight against the enemy as they usually contain spells that would otherwise be unavailable. Each map also holds at least one vault which bestows the permanent knowledge of a new spell or building unto your shaman that she can take with her to all future levels. The formula for going through a level is simple, grab the goods in the vault(s) then use said goods to your advantage and kill everyone who is not your color.
The star of the show is your shaman. With an arsenal of spells at her disposal she will eventually be able to level entire cities and send hundreds of enemies to their deaths in the blink of an eye. Her starting spell is the humble fireball which will send small groups of enemies flying, killing villagers it directly hits, starting the pants on fire of enemies that survive (they run around waving their arms and screaming trying to put their pants out). If you are particularly skilled with your shots you can use the physics to your advantage and control which direction the enemies get flung, preferably down a hill for greater damage or into water / lava which is an instant kill. The fact that little people will be sent flying (sometimes quite spectacularly) and then run around yelling and screaming in terror makes this game an absurd amount of fun. Lets just say I wasn't the only one who played the demo over and over, perching my shaman in a tower on top of the hill overlooking the red village and spent hours tormenting the enemy. "Oh look, you just finished repair that house..." wait for everyone to go back in, LIGHTNING STRIKE! House catches fire (again), villagers run out yelling and screaming with their pants on fire. "Oh look, you're sending your army up the hill to kill my shaman..." FIREBALL they all roll back down the hill, many of them die. SWARM SPELL the survivors scatter yelling and screaming before swarms of wasps. Eventually you will be able to call down tornadoes that comically suck the roof off buildings, then suck up everyone inside the building, erode spells that will send buildings and people into the sea, and volcano which creates a lava spewing mountain in the middle of someone's town in addition to many other goodies that are not named here.
Although very powerful your shaman is also quite vulnerable and your enemies also have one shaman each who will be gunning for yours. A stray lightning bolt, falling into water, or straying a little too close to the enemy armies will quickly see her dead. She comes back at the reincarnation circle after a little while but your mortal warriors will have to contend with the enemy in her absence and the enemy team who killed her will get a substantial boost in spell regen for a short time.
It's worth mentioning that every map is spherical. You can zoom out and spin the map to get a satellite view of the action. This may throw new players but I thought it was freaking awesome, especially back in 1997. Similar to Planetary Annihilation, a spherical map means that you can expand, attack, and be attacked from any direction. Most of the beginning levels (and a few multiplayer levels) restrict this because both you and your enemies do not yet have the ability to build boats or hot air balloons. Oh, did I forget to mention that your shaman can cast spells from a mobile hot air balloon? Even once these options are unlocked the strategic affects of the spherical map isn't as potent as PA's.
It's also worth talking about what sort of strategic value can be had with the few unit types available. Villagers can be trained into one of 4 other units by telling them to go train at the appropriate building (they line up to go in one at a time). Warriors are your tough melee hoard members. They will punch, kick, push, and pull the hair of enemies, ganging up on them 3 to 1 if numbers permit and make short work of all but other warriors in melee combat. Firewarriors are ranged combatants whose fireball spell isn't nearly as powerful as your shaman's, but if they all fire at once it will wreck havoc on enemy armies and quite possibly send some into orbit. These are best placed behind your warriors or stationed in a tower which greatly increases their range and firepower. Preachers, instead of fighting, will pull out a holy book and preach to the enemy. All who hear their voice (and are not already in combat) will sit down to listen and over time they will swap there pants colour to join you. If an enemy shaman or preacher goes up and slaps your preacher (for blasphemy?) everyone who was sitting down to listen to him jumps to their feet and beat him up. Spies will appear to be friendly villagers to enemy players who view them but will start their buildings on fire until caught.
The selection is small and simple. The focus really isn't on the units but on your shaman and sort of mayhem you can unleash but don't discount what your army can do. Your shaman can only do so much and even in the late game the enemy shaman or a small group of enemies that get too close can put an end to her. A large army though, not only is that tactically sound but hilarious to watch as they push over buildings, send enemies flying, and possibly lay a beat down on the enemy shaman for you. (An army of preachers is also very frightening, just saying). Add to this the fact that your shaman can make them invisible and immune to spells and they can become nearly unstoppable.
The game ending Armageddon spell sends every player and all of their people into an arena to have it out. Winner takes all.
The computer doesn't play very smart but it was pretty good for 1997 AI. They mostly just sit back and let you build up, sending their shaman and a small raiding party to your village every so often. A well placed lightning bolt or swamp spell usually stops them before they get anywhere close to your village. Later in the campaign they are a bit more aggressive and the map terrain has you at a disadvantage. It's enough to be challenging to casual and beginning players but intermediate RTS players will be underwhelmed. Thankfully the campaign mixes it up with a puzzle map every so often in which you must win by figuring out the solution, usually under an unforgiving timer, instead of by power.
As for multiplayer this game was a blast. Who doesn't love sending hoards of yelling and screaming cavemen to your friend's village and who doesn't love blasting said hoards off a cliff? Who doesn't enjoy a spell slighathon of lightning, dragons, earthquakes, and tornadoes tearing up the map? This is where strategy and experimentation with the physics engine can yield incredible and hilarious results, especially with terraforming spells like land bridge, flatten, volcano, and erosion.
Populous 3 is not a serious strategy game, but it is incredibly fun and very well put together. You play this game for the physics and for messing with the poor little AI villagers. If you can stomach the graphics (which were pretty awesome back in 1997) then the campaign is fun, if a little samey by the end. If you have a group of friends who are willing to go in with you then this is a blast to play multiplayer.
Now there is a light theological point that needs to be addressed. Populous includes blatant idol worship. The little cavemen will literally fall down on their faces to worship the magic nodding heads, totems, and the shaman. Now for anyone who has read through their Bible you know that idol worship and the pursuit of magic are anathema and were a major point of contention between ancient Israel and her God. Obviously Christians should not worship idols so how could I recommend a game that includes idol worship?
My answer is that this is a silly caricature of idol worship in general, nothing that encourages, endorses, or even resembles Old Testament Baal / Ashera / Molech worship.
