Here I Go Again

When I decided to restart this blog and write a new post to end the hiatus, the lyrics to the Whitesnake song kept echoing in my head:

"Here I go again on my own
Going down the only road I've ever known."

Those words encapsulate my thoughts on blogging lately. The blog written by an individual for fun (and possibly a little money -- let's be real) seems to have fallen out of fashion, and is making way for blogs by companies or individuals trying to market themselves as a brand. Others are turning away from blogging to express their thoughts on social networks like Twitter or Facebook. I guess I am an online dinosaur in this respect. I visit lots of professional blogs and participate in several social networks, but when I really have thoughts to share I want to do it in a corner of the internet that I can call my own.  Hence, the relaunching of this blog.

After a long period where I wasn't playing much of anything, I find myself consumed with playing games again and I want to share my thoughts on what I've been playing. Although I do read sites like Gamezebo and the individual games have sites with their own forums, commenting in those places feels like writing my words on the last page of a notebook. I want to put my thoughts on the front page by using this blog. Even if only five people read this, it will have served its purpose as a place where I can go back and find what I wrote more easily than trying to sift through boards on someone else's site.  Basically, I'm inviting you to read my personal gaming diary. I hope you enjoy it!

The Official Hiatus Post

If there is anyone left reading this blog, then consider this post my official white flag. I surrender. There won't be any more entries posted to this blog for a while.

I started this blog when I was still unemployed and thought that I would have plenty of time to play games and write about them. Frankly, I was suffering under the delusion that I could pick up a little extra money from blogging. I started this blog and a book reading blog for that purpose. Since I overestimated both my writing skill and my ability to stick to a writing schedule, I never really made a go of it.

I can't quite bring myself to delete this blog because I might return to it when my current job contract is over and I'm sitting at home twiddling my thumbs again. In the meantime, any game-related thoughts I have will be posted at my personal blog.

Casual Game: My Kingdom for the Princess

Description from Big Fish Games:

A terrible tornado has been turned the kingdom upside down! The beautiful Princess Helen must return to her sick father, King Olgert, but the roads are in ruins, the hamlets are destroyed, and a hungry dragon circles the skies above. Rebuild the empire from the ground up and fix the destroyed towns. Help the brave and noble knight, Arthur, restore the land using your Time Management talents in My Kingdom for the Princess!

My thoughts:

Many of the time-management games I've played start out to be mildly fun, only to devolve into a game of "how fast can you click?". There isn't much strategy involved. My Kingdom for the Princess is different.

Like games such as Farm Frenzy, on each level you are given a task that must be completed before nightfall, such as repairing three roads and two bridges. The difference is that if you don't pick up resources and use them in the right order, you could end up stuck with no way to finish the task in the allotted time. There are many options on the board that you don't necessarily have to use to complete the task. For instance, you may use up your resources upgrading every single mill, market, and mine, only to find that your resources won't replenish in time for you to beat the level. You could also spend your time trying to unblock one road to get all the resources at the end of it, but then run of time to unblock the road that will end the level. For me, this makes it more interesting to repeat a level because it is not just a matter of trying to do it faster. I actually have to figure out a different order to do things in to make sure I finish the task on time.

Collector's Editions for Casual Games?

I've noticed recently that many casual games are being released as collector's editions. Since these games are acquired mainly via download, a collector's edition (or CE) for a casual game isn't the same as what you would get with a console game. A CE for an XBox game, for example, may come with a plushie, an action figure, or a t-shirt. In the casual game realm, buying a CE usually means paying $20 for digital goodies like extra levels, desktop wallpaper, and a strategy guide or walkthrough of the game.

I've played a few CEs, but I still haven't made my mind up about them. From a gameplay aspect, I like having the strategy guide built into the game. I know that I will look for at least two hints during any game I play, so having them available in-game is easier than opening another browser tab or window. Having said that, I don't think the strategy guide alone is worth the extra $13 that a CE costs over the regular version. Yes, there are sometimes extra levels and desktop wallpaper included, but do you really consider that stuff collectible? I never even look at it. Also, sites like Gamezebo and Jay Is Games offer free walkthroughs that are as good as the ones offered in the CEs; some of the screenshots are identical.

Another thing to consider is how often you play games. My husband generally shies away from computer and console games, but the other day he decided he wanted a few games on his laptop to help him destress during breaks at work. I would suggest that he get a CE version of a game because the in-game hints would keep him from getting frustrated. On the other hand, my daughter C2 routinely finishes hidden-object games in three or four hours without ever using the strategy guide. The extras in a CE are wasted on an experienced player like her.

Whether you want to pay for extras with your game is a personal choice. I'm not going to say buying a CE is right or wrong. However, I do think that these packages should be called something else. To me, there isn't anything collectable about a digital download. Perhaps "enhanced version" might be a better name for them.

Coming soon . . . more reviews!

I've been feeling guilty about this blog. I play games every day, but they aren't the tabletop games I intended to blog about. My gaming itch has been scratched by casual games and console games. As a result, this blog has been sitting dormant. However, this week I decided I need to get over myself and just blog about whatever games I'm playing. The longer I play casual games, the more I am discovering that they aren't all the same, as I originally thought. So if you've been patient and kept my feed in your RSS reader, your patience will be rewarded!

Still Playing Casual Games

Back in March I wrote an extensive post about the casual games I was playing. I ended it by speculating that I would probably get bored with such games in a couple weeks and move back to card games and such. Well, here I am almost four months later, and I am still playing games of the hidden object, match three, and time-management varieties. Why? Because they are ideally suited to what my brain can handle right now.

With my Gamefly account, I make sure to spread my choices across all the platforms we have available in this house: PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and the Wii. Even though the subscription was a birthday gift to myself, it has turned out to be more of a treat for the kids because all the games that I thought I wanted to play turn out to be too frustrating for me. I've become accustomed to playing on PCs where most of the control is done through simple mouse clicks. I can click or mouse-over anything on the screen to figure out how to use it or what my game objective is. I've played several games where I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing or how I was supposed to be doing it. Right now the only console games that make sense to me are music games like Rock Band and exercise games like DDR or Wii Fit.

Another great thing about casual games is how quickly you can drop in and out of them. I've read that in several articles about the genre and dismissed the comment as obvious, but now I truly understand the appeal of that aspect. There have been several times just this past week when I've spent the whole morning working intensely and wishing for just five minutes of mindless fun. It is nice to be able to fire up a game like Pizza Frenzy or Farm Craft, play for a few minutes, and drop out of it quickly without worrying about saving your progress or anything. I can play these games and talk to my coworkers at the same time on my lunch break.

I still have this fantasy in the back of my head that when I retire, I'll be able to play a game that requires more commitment and mental concentration from me. I really do want to play something that offers me entertainment and challenge in the same package. Right now, though, casual games give me the fun without the frustration.

What Kind of Gamer am I?

I rarely take these types of online quizzes, but this one created by The Escapist interested me. Their assessment of my gaming personality is spot on. I don't mind playing a game that has some depth or intricate puzzles, but for the most part I want my video games in particular to be shiny and happy and pretty.


The Pony-Lover
Take this quiz