Carcassonne - Tiles & Tactics
edit : changed my review to NEGATIVE. The reason being that there has been a bug in the game for many, many months now where players don’t get to see their final scores in the game on most occassions. There’s not much point playing a multiplayer game if you don’t know who won!!!
I bought the physical version of Carcassonne two weeks ago on a Saturday morning. After a couple of games with a friend and working out how to play it I decided to invest in this digital version. It seemed like a good game and playing the digital version was going to ensure I’d understood the rules properly.
– Real player with 80.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Addictive Strategy Games.
The game is true to the original, playable and quite pretty, but for this price, the user experience is very poor.
Sounds:
The background ambient sounds are as loud and clear as the interface sounds, so it often feels like the game is trying to tell you something, but it’s just a background noise. Making this effect worse, the sounds play totally at random, which means the same sound will often play over and over again, which can only mean it’s signalling something, but it’s nothing. There’s no option to turn off just the ambient sounds.
– Real player with 64.6 hrs in game
Life is Hard
This game is, for me, very very addicting. I’m having an absolute blast with it, and am disappointed only with the fact that it is early access and there isn’t more to do/some issues with the game.
Some of said issues are as such:
The Nord Archers are able to outrange my archers even though they are in a tower (causing the tower to be destroyed and the soldiers to die)
The game doesn’t have much helping in terms of dealing with some of the random situations (one being the crops of your farms getting sick and not growing. I figured out I could destroy and rebuild the farm, but this doesn’t feel right, and granted there may be an actual way you can fix without destroying and rebuilding, but if the tutorial says so then I wasn’t able to know due to my tutorial seemingly starting when I say yes)
– Real player with 26.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Addictive Strategy Games.
This game is Kinda fun? Idk. Here’s my major issue with this game - I honestly don’t even have that much to complain about with the bugs….of which there are many. Getting stuck on menu screens. Having the game crash. Having enemies get stuck on enemies, having workers get stuck in loops. Having my hero charge into hordes of enemies even though I told him 100 times to get well behind the wall so he wouldn’t be tempted. Having the mercenaries get stuck beating the ever living shit out of a dead bear because my contract ended as they were killing it. Having buildings I destroyed never disappear. Etc Etc etc. But all of that would be fine if there wasn’t a literal infinite spawn of enemies. This feels worse than Call of Duty, because at least in COD once you find the correct path and rush forward the enemies stop spawning. This is just an endless nightmare. I currently have 7 fully decked out soldiers trying to take down the village to the East “Which I guess is North, because it tells me to destroy the village to the north”. I have so much faith and I’m spamming damage and healing spells. I have the death knight so I should be pretty F-ing powerful. But Whenever I’m in the Nordic village, which feels like it goes on forever. I’ve destroyed 2 massive towers and at least half a dozen buildings. But anytime I get to far the enemies just infinitely spawn. It will spawn couple archers, a couple weak soldiers and a strong soldier. Just non-stop. I kill them and they’re already popping back up. Why the hell do I have a limited population. But the Nords are backed by the full force of China’s population, all armed and trained. It’s not fun, it’s tedious. I just want to wipe them out for wronging me. That is clearly meant to be an option. I can kill their buildings, but it has absolutely no impact on this endless horde of zombies slowly marching ever westward and chipping away at my forces bit by bit.
– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game
Shop Titans
I come from a similar game called “Shop Heroes” run by a different developer.
This is a shop simulation game, and if you’re into this genre of games, I found this to be the best option currently in this genre.
Here’s some points I came across while playing the game that made me choose this game and quit Shop Heroes:
F2P vs P2W balance: The game can be played entirely F2P, end game content like the Haunted Castle dungeons can be cleared with heroes equipped with cheap, easily obtainable gear. There’s no strict paywall behind any of the content, and paying real money just makes you get to the end game faster and complete things faster. You also don’t need crazy gear or gold to clear any of the end game content.
– Real player with 2677.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Addictive Multiplayer Games.
As a player who has been playing and paying for over a year since Mar 2020. (F2p first 3 months and a monthly subscriber over 14th months now)
Summary (6/10): The game system itself should be an enjoyable long-term craft-like game. You will need a year to reach high level receipts if you are not a hardcore player. but not suggested to casual f2p players.
Pros :
1. Unique craft game and enjoyable system, easy to start.
2. Build your own Hero team to do quest is fun.
3. Graphic: All 3D and Cute design
– Real player with 1287.4 hrs in game
Age of Gladiators
The “potential scenario” listed in the “About this game” section is a surprisingly reasonable introduction to the game. The options suggested there truly are all available to you, and the considerations involved are also real. However, it also implies a bit more freedom of choice than is truly available. Regardless, if the ‘potential scenario’ looks compelling to you, that alone is probably enough to suggest you would enjoy the game.
The game is solid, and worth trying. I will list what I believe the strengths and weaknesses are, with a primary focus on the weaknesses. I will focus on the weaknesses because overall, the game works. The game is fun. You will see that I feel like it has a lot of as-yet unrealized potential, but that does not mean I do not think this is a solid title. It is quite solid, and while it does some things wrong, it does plenty right.
– Real player with 139.7 hrs in game
So this game has been out for well over a year and there’s no one new buying this game anyway so there is no point to me writing this review. But I’m going to do it anyway because fuck you that’s why.
As you can see by my stupid number of hours played in this game I actually enjoy it. Seriously I don’t know how the hell I played this game for 41 hours without blowing my brains out even once still astonishes me. I suppose it’s because I am a big fan of management simulation games and what’s cooler than a gladiator simulation game?
– Real player with 64.0 hrs in game
Europa Universalis III Complete
Whee. Europa 3, like its predecessors and its cousins Hearts of Iron and Victoria (Crusader Kings as well, but that isn’t as hard to learn), is an extremely complex game that is notoriously difficult to learn, not helped by crappy tutorials. I had an edge having been playing this series since its first installment, but it still took some time to get used to everything. So right from the start expect a significant time investment on learning how to play the game, and learning to do well at it. War, Diplomacy, Trade, Exploration, and more. It’s all here.
– Real player with 535.5 hrs in game
As far as I’m concerned, this is the best game ever - especially in this version with the first two additions to the game.
To a certain extent, it is comparable to the Total War games, if they only included the map mode, which would here be simplified to armies only being able to move from province to province and not within a province. However, you have a more complicated diplomacy and domestic policy to deal with.
Another thing that makes it different, and, for my taste, better than the Total War games, is the greater realism and historical accuracy - in this game you can’t just conquer everything, and it remains challenging for the more than four centuries that its timespan covers.
– Real player with 492.4 hrs in game
Hold The Fort
Won game from Livestream. Completed in 12 hours veteran. Replay is for trying harder modes.
Maps are fairly quick; under 30, pause and no save. The game-play, for me, was staring for a bit at the full tower grid to figure out final configuration, then turn it on. Determining the grid before start is the puzzle tactics piece for me. Then, you have some active tasks to manage during the gameplay, which intensify as the maps and difficulty increase.
The active tasks are a mixed bag. Somewhat blah is the tower maintenance which rewards sacrificing towers to mines for $. It’s there to keep you feeling the pressure. But as with the rest of this fairly casual TD, it can largely be dismissed by pulling screen back to keep the whole field in focus and use of hotkey R. The spells I found fun and would take more of those. So, essentially I set my towers, blew up mobs with spells, then saw if I could keep a single one from getting through. EZ
– Real player with 12.4 hrs in game
This game is a nice Tower Defense game. The graphics are the best of maybe any TD game I’ve played at least and that adds to the game a lot. everything is very beautiful.
I haven’t played through the whole game so I cant comment on everything, but I can say that this is a solid tower defense games. If you are a fan of tower defense games check it out. The main creator of the game said he plans to add content for free if I remember correctly, some more levels or enemies and what not would of course be welcome and add to the depth of the game, but its nicely fleshed out right now.
– Real player with 9.0 hrs in game
Defender’s Quest: Valley of the Forgotten (DX edition)
This is my favourite game in years.
It’s a tower defense game where each of what would normally be a tower is actually a character that levels up, like in an RPG, complete with a customizable skill tree, equipment, etc. These levels are earned from level to level, so you’re constantly improving your party.
This superficially simple gameplay concept is backed up on all sides by a great story, deep strategy elements and amazing replayability.
Story
Azra (or the name you choose) is the royal librarian that ends up in The Pit, a wretched place full of zombie-like creatures called Revenant. Using mysterious special powers (that excellently explain the tower defense gameplay) and the help of a band of ragtag adventures you’ll pick up it is your job to guide her out of the pit. There is more at stake, and the plot has plenty of developments to keep you interested, but what surprised me the most were the story’s pacing and its humour.
– Real player with 78.7 hrs in game
An art in making a RPG grind fun.
Imagine the game where your typical RPG party become towers in the typical Tower Defense game and you have Defender’s Quest in a nutshell. The game consists mostly of mowing down a conga line of various enemies that constantly move towards your main character as an end goal. Place your Knights, Berserkers, Druids and Ice Mages like buildings beside the highway and enjoy the fireworks, swords and arrows flowing. Recruit more units and upgrade them while spending experience points or buy them better equipment.
– Real player with 51.0 hrs in game
Super Crystal Hunter
Not a bad little puzzle/action game. I love the mini games, but wish there was a way to pick which you played as they are unlocked, instead of random each time.
Not sure if I am sold on the difficulty being longer levels with higher point threshold, but it’s an impressive feat nonetheless for an RPG Maker game to look like this AND have such variety.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
The Good:
- Short download time
The Bad:
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Unskippable text / cutscenes
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Horrible hitboxes, both for catching gems and in mini games
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No explanation of gem values to let you score better
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Some characters don’t have portraits when you interact with them. It just says “NPC” instead
Not worth it even on sale.
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
Blackjack Hands
Loved this game, it’s a great mashup between threes and blackjack.
I loved to play poker hands, this sequence is also very good.
I recommend this game if you want a relaxing but also challenging puzzle game
– Real player with 8.1 hrs in game
Interesting idea to mix puzzles and card games rules. Random elements brings a touch of card game feel.
Art is simple but nice, as well as the relaxing soundtrack. Good for card fans.
– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game
Rogue Legacy
I first played Rogue Legacy at a friend’s place, trading off the controller at each death. It wasn’t much, but it got me instantly hooked on how fun it was. So hooked, that I downloaded Steam, bought the game for the full $15, and bought a $30 wired Xbox 360 controller… and I don’t even have any Xboxes. All this for this one game… and it was worth it.
Rogue Legacy plays like Castlevania and Super Ghouls N Ghosts. You move, jump, attack, and use a secondary weapon. The uniqueness comes into play when you die, which you will… a lot. Once you die, you will be brought to a selection of three heirs to play as next. Each one has a random character class, secondary weapon, and set of traits. Classes determine certain stats and abilities. Secondary weapons, or spells as they are called, use up MP. That’s all pretty basic stuff. But the traits are very interesting. Some traits are helpful, like a speed increase. Others are harmful, like giving your attacks no enemy knockback. And some are just… well… neutral things… like making everything black and white. Your heirs have a chance of having two, one, or none of the traits at random. With all the random factors, you have to really get lucky… or pick the lesser of three evils. Is getting your prefered class worth the traits? Are the spells to your liking? It also makes you think about the next area… skills.
– Real player with 318.3 hrs in game
For context I played exclusively with a keyboard: Space to jump, ESDF for movement, W for right dash, R for left dash, J to attack, K for spells and I for class abilities. imo this is the best setup for non-controller players.
Rogue Legacy is Really Hard
My first life, I played as Sir Lee in the year 730 AD, and got through about 2 rooms before dying to a spinning picture frame. But ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and another life for the castle, and another, and another…
Each time I learned a little more about how to deal with enemies:
– Real player with 64.9 hrs in game