Riders of Icarus - Week 3 - MMOMG

The third and final episode for Riders of Icarus, as I didn't have time to play longer due to the holidays.

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (Demo) - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Learn the business of running an RPG item shop and do some dungeon-delving of your own on the side! Capitalism, ho!

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is an action RPG and business simulator hybrid. How does that work? Well, it all begins with a fairy loan-shark coming to collect on a debt! You play as Recette, who gets stuck paying off her father's loan after he went to fight a dragon. Tear (the fairy) suggests converting your home into an item shop as a way to make some money.

Mech-Stravaganza! Arena Highlights - RNGBS

It's like we're back in GvG with this mech-centric arena! A friend and I express our Winter Veil wishes for a special Tavern Brawl and the Dirty Rat provides a pinch of salt!

Also, a quick stream announcement. I'm taking some time off to enjoy the holidays, so no streams until at least Thursday!

42Craft Finale: The Big Picture!

I spent a lot of time and effort working on this video, and I'm pretty proud to have gotten it out in time for Christmas! This isn't just a series finale, but also a special tribute to our late friend, James "AngerPuppet42" Boley. We'll love and miss you always, James!

Happy Feast of Winter Veil!

For you Hearthstone fans, here's a version of "Jingle Bells" you'll get a kick out of!

Special Stream Tonight - Friday Feature Plus WazHack!

Stay tuned tonight after "The Friday FREE GAME Feature!" for a bonus streaming of WazHack - an awesome graphical roguelike! It all kicks off at 6:45pm ET on my Twitch channel.

Also, no stream Saturday or Sunday. I'm making candy, then eating it! :~P Have a great Christmas weekend, everyone!

Assassin's Creed III - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Experience action, stealth and intrigue in the New World!

There's probably nothing I can say about Assassin's Creed that hasn't already been said. The franchise is so huge that a film is about to release in theaters as I write this. What I can do is express my first impressions of the title from the standpoint of someone new to the series, but not to gaming.

Riders of Icarus - Week 2 - MMOMG

Two weeks in to Riders of Icarus, and I'm still disappointed. Aerial combat could've been so much better.

I still don't get how a game focused on taming beasts dropped the ball so hard on the pet system. Pets are essentially walking totems, as using them to do anything besides stand around providing buffs drains way too much energy. Also, how is there not a pet class or beastmaster-type spec in this game? If any title should have it, you'd think this would be it.

The Expendabros - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Over the top action, extreme explosions and uber manliness!

The Expendabros is a run-n-gun action shooter similar to Metal Slug or Contra. You're part of an elite combat team that's been captured, so you need to rescue your bros as well as take out enemy installations. 

I'm Tellin' Da Boss! - Arena Highlights - RNGBS

I got to try out Grimestreet Enforcer in arena this week and I'm pretty impressed by the results. I got fairly lucky, but it feels stronger than similar cards (Jeweled Scarab, Dark Peddler, even Babbling Book) due to the high RNG swing. It seems like chances are good you'll see at least one card that helps your current position, with the possibility of just getting something nuts.

Welcome To My Shop! Voltaic Remix

Bolt has a little trouble letting go. I turned my suffering into your entertainment, enjoy!

Riders of Icarus - Week 1 - MMOMG

My first week in Riders of Icarus has been somewhat mediocre. I feel I spent a lot of time complaining this episode, but the points are valid. I can't say Riders is a bad game right now, but it's been a bit disappointing so far.

The Knobbly Crook Ch. 1 - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Lie, cheat and steal to appease the voice in your head!

The Knobbly Crook is a point-and-click adventure game with a healthy dose of quirky humor, much in the vein of the Monkey Island series. You play as O'Sirus the Snip in a flashback as he recounts a tale that ultimately landed him in trouble.

Sally Forth! - Tavern Brawl Highlights - RNGBS

Sergeant Sally calls in reinforcements to clean up the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan! Special guest appearances by Bolvar, N'zoth, Antonidas and a damn lucky Murloc Knight!

MMOMG: Riders of Icarus Starts Tonight!

The December game for MMOMG is Riders of Icarus, an MMORPG about taming dragons! The stream begins tonight at 8pm ET on my Twitch channel - you can also join me in-game on the Hakain server (NA). Hope to see you there!

Project Gorgon - Week 4 - MMOMG

My final week in Project Gorgon (for now), I address some pros, cons and planned updates. I very much enjoyed my month here, and look forward to revisiting the game at some point in the future!

Mean Streets of Gadgetzan Tonight on RNGBS!

I'll be checking out the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan tonight (8pm ET) live on Twitch! Join me for Tavern Brawls, pack opening, and maybe even an Arena with the new cards!

Neverwinter Nights Diamond FREE on GOG!

Just a quick post to let you know that Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition is available for free for a limited time over at GOG! All you have to do is have a GOG account (which is free) and click the banner on the main page. Enjoy!

Stargunner - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Classic sidescrolling shoot-em-up action!

In Stargunner, two intergalactic civilizations are at war. You're an elite pilot from one faction on a mission to stop the other... and that's pretty much the story. Seriously, you don't play these types of games for the plot, do you? It's all about blowin' stuff up!

As far as scrolling shooters go, this title is average. Prior to each stage, you can upgrade your ship with new gear, and the end of each level features a boss fight. There's a few things that make the game fairly challenging - namely that you can die by touching the terrain (ala Silver Surfer, NES) and you'll often get surprised by some cheap stuff that is far less avoidable the next time you play.

The real disappointment with this game is that it offers nothing new to the genre, and didn't even when it was new back in 1996 (Tyrian did just about everything this game does, but better, and was released the year prior). Much like the classic Contra, this game has a spread shot that is objectively better than the other primary weapon powerup.

I know I sound really critical of this title, but in all it's not terrible. Stargunner does get a lot right by sticking to tried and true staples of the genre. It's a competent shoot-em-up, but don't expect to see anything unique here.

Project Gorgon - Week 3 - MMOMG

This week, I gain the curse of lycanthropy and try out life as a pig for a couple of days. 

In short, it was a bit confusing - I kept getting the urge to build straw houses, then immediately blow them down. Fairy tale jokes aside, it was a fun week. I ended up tackling a number of bosses, unlocking loadouts, and playing alongside friends (old and new)!

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Cyborg super-soldiers versus laser-blasting dragons!

In Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, you're a cybernetically-enhanced super-soldier on a mission to stop your former superior officer which has gone rogue. He's also a cyborg, but he has an army at his disposal and has been meddling around with radioactive beasts.

Blood Dragon is technically an expansion for Far Cry 3, but it's standalone meaning you don't need the base game to play it. Unlike its parent title, your skills are preset when leveling up, but that's offset by the fact that you're playing as an amalgamation of the Terminator, Rambo, and Snake Plisskin. If the premise and characters sound a bit excessive, don't worry because that's absolutely intended! The setting is steeped in '80s action nostalgia, complete with "Cobra"-inspired goons, thrumming synth music and a barrage of cheesy one-liners!

Once you liberate the first base, you discover a nice big map full of further points of interest, including side-missions to rescue scientists and hunting expeditions to take down rare creatures. Of course, you also have to watch out for Colonel Sloan's army as well as the rampaging blood dragons. The game places a little more emphasis on stealth than I expected, which I was quite happy with. I find it fairly disappointing when so-called "stealth games" allow you to go in guns blazing with nearly no repercussion, and this title makes it a necessity in certain situations.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon uses the successful recipe of open-world exploration and first-person shooters, but adds a healthy dose of '80s action flick tropes to provide an over-the-top story and setting.

Imp-losion Explosion! Arena Highlights - RNGBS

How much damage does Imp-losion deal? Take a wild guess!

Last night was a crazy bunch of arenas. If I have time, I'll post even more highlights from them!

Project Gorgon - Week 2 - MMOMG

Two weeks in to Project Gorgon! In this episode I talk a bit about dungeons, community, the upcoming payment model, Eltibule, South Serbule... and the stuck command!

Reflection of a Fallen Feather - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Escape a labyrinth and transform into fallen foes!

Reflection of a Fallen Feather mixes elements of classic RPG titles together to make a game that feels like it could've been the "missing link" between Final Fantasy and Pokemon. 

Brann Gets Kraken! Tavern Brawl Highlights - RNGBS

Since Exodia Mage kept crashing my client, I played a Brann/kraken/Alexstraza/C'thun combo deck instead. It actually worked quite well!

Project Gorgon - Week 1 - MMOMG

Welcome to my new series that takes a monthly look at MMOs on a weekly basis! Kicking off the series is Project Gorgon, currently in a free public test phase. It will go buy-to-play on release and should be available on Steam in the future.

Check it out for yourself at http://projectgorgon.com

Come play along or just watch at my Twitch channel, evenings at 8pm ET. Hope to see you there!

Beyond Good & Evil - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Photograph wildlife and fight aliens amidst an intergalactic war... you gotta pay the bills somehow!

Beyond Good & Evil is an adventure with a lot of charm, polish and action. Set several hundred years in the future, your planet becomes the target of alien attack just as the power company shuts off your service (which includes your home's force field). Thankfully, you quickly find work taking photographs for scientific research as well as a covert mission offered by a mysterious and wealthy man.

In short, I have a lot of praise for this title. The photography element (which serves as an income source and map acquisition) encourages exploration and makes for a fun way to collect images of your travels. The cast of characters are all well-written and entertaining, and the transitions between gameplay and cutscenes feel fairly natural. Playing as the duo of Jade and Pey'j provides a co-op feel to both combat and puzzle-solving, complete with an ample dose of buddy-banter.

I highly recommend you snag this title ASAP while it's still free on Uplay (which won't be for long).

Presidential Blitz - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Trump or Hillary? You decide in this crazy race for the White House!

The video speaks for itself, but I will say that Presidential Blitz captures the absurdity that is this year's election.

If you're looking for something different, the second game's highlights will be up soon (likely tomorrow or Monday).

RNGBS Starts Tonight!

My stream for Hearthstone arenas and tavern brawls starts tonight at 8pm ET on my Twitch channel. It's been a rough day, so I'll probably be extra salty tonight!

MMOMG - Project Gorgon!

The first title for MMOMG is Project Gorgon, currently in an open playtest mode. I'm going live right now, and will be streaming live most nights at 8pm ET at my Twitch channel!

Notes of Obsession - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Search your home and descend into madness with a mysterious music box.

In Notes of Obsession, you play the mother of a small family that wakes up on a dark and stormy night in your home. The music box your husband brought home recently is playing upstairs. Investigating the sound, you pick up the music box and discover a secret. Can you figure out a way to end the madness before it overtakes you?

Blameless - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Escape the house of a killer in this horror puzzle game.

In Blameless you play as an architect called to help with remodeling a house. Inspecting the residence, you find a pool of blood and are knocked out by the client. You wake up to find yourself locked in the building, and will likely be killed when the man returns. You're going to have to use your wits and resourcefulness to escape both the house and the killer.

Channel Update - New Series! New Streams!

The above video explains what's been going on and what my plans are for my Youtube and Twitch channels. I'm announcing a new series and new streams, mostly starting in November.

Since I've detailed everything in the video, I'll not repeat it here. Instead, I'd like to take a moment to mention the shutdown of Asta (the MMORPG shown in the video), which I believe happens today. But first, I need to catch you up on what led me to it in the first place.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep76: Electric Highways

A first-person journey through a bizarre virtual world...

Electric Highways is an exploration game set in a future where people live almost entirely in a virtual reality on the web. You play as a virtual engineer taking a final look at your current project before it goes live.

I was interested in trying this game because I enjoyed The Mask Reveals Disgusting Face - a horror game made by the same developer (Zykov Eddy). As with TMRDF, this title also features visually striking and atmospheric environments. Each level is unique and interesting to explore, with decent overall pacing. I was expecting there to be more puzzles, but looking back I think they would've only slowed down the game with extra backtracking. As it is, Electric Highways is more of a walking simulator with a character that actually moves at a decent speed.

While the game has a great visual style with a decent splash of mystery and weirdness, I wasn't too keen on its ending. Unless I missed something, it felt really ambiguous and left several large unanswered questions... which might be exactly what was intended. I feel that Electric Highways may be one of those games that focus more on the journey than the destination, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep75: Rayman Origins

Platforming fun available for a limited time via Uplay!

Rayman Origins is a polished platformer that features a cast of silly characters, bright and colorful settings, and a fair amount of environmental interaction.

It's obvious that a lot of care and work went into this title, as it's a quality game. It has a cute, cartoon art style and is packed with humorous moments and animations. Even the premise of the game is rather silly - Rayman and his slacker buddies end up snoring so loudly they actually wake the dead. The characters all seem to speak pig latin, further adding to absurdity of it all.

Style and story aside, the game has excellent controls, level design and pacing. You gain access to new abilities, areas and alternate characters by collecting items and saving your friends scattered throughout the game. You can switch characters and look at your progress in between levels by going back to the Snoring Tree (where you begin), which is thankfully accessible with a simple button press. Completionists can get their fix by finding all the secrets and collectibles, which seems to be the real challenge of the game.

In short, Rayman Origins is a fun, high-quality platformer with a lot of charm.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep74: Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt

Heal the sick and get married in this retro-styled shooter adventure!

Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt is an adventure title made by Ludosity in four days during a game jam competition. You play as the title character on a quest to heal the sick, find your missing friend and save the prince from a variety of illnesses.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep73: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Time to get sneaky doing covert ops in this stealth action game!

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is the first in the Splinter Cell series of stealth games by Ubisoft Montreal. You play as agent Sam Fisher, using your stealth skills to complete covert ops missions.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep72: Aborigenus

Pixelated platforming with RPG elements!

Aborigenus takes the traditional platformer and adds in a number of roleplaying features like leveling, skill choices and quests. It's an interesting mix that I enjoyed, though it needs some work.

42Craft - Ep30: Project T.U.R.D.S and Cam's Sign Story

Noble and Dylan introduce me to The Underwater Reptile De-Extinction Study (Project T.U.R.D.S.) then show off some updates to the aquatic zone, including live liopleurodons and mosasaurs!

Bonus - an inspirational story left by Cam in the aquatic dome!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep71: Sage Fusion

Explore a galaxy of conflict and intrigue where politics, wealth, religion and technology clash for supremacy!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep70: Can Your Pet & Blendimals

Two animal-themed games this episode!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep69 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Puzzle-platforming action combat with the ability to rewind time!

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is available free for a limited time on Uplay. This title is mainly a puzzle-platformer, but also features a fun action combat system and a handful of time-manipulating tricks. 

42Craft - Ep29: Surviving the Erebus

At long last, we've found our friend! I only hope that living in the Erebus for this long hasn't affected him (though I have my suspicions)...

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep68: Dead Meets Lead

Stranded on a zombie plague island, hack 'n' slash your way to an antidote.

I'm a sucker for top-down or isometric hack 'n' slash games, and probably even more so for zombies. Cram them together and you should have a title I'm going to love, right? I thought so, but Dead Meets Lead somehow manages to fail at doing anything interesting.

42Craft - Ep28: Secret of the Pyramid

In the search for Kon, we discover a pyramid surrounded by an underground maze. What secrets does this place hold? Let's find out!

42Craft - Ep27: Looking For a Sign

Wellxam and I figure out how to escape the Erebus, but we still need to find Kon. Things seem to get more dangerous the farther we travel...

42Craft - Ep26: Drugs Are Bad, M'kay?

Wellxam and I experiment with the local flora and consequently make some bad decisions. I wouldn't recommend it!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep67: The Way of Life

Play through the same life experiences as a child, adult or elder in this unusual game.

The Way of Life is an exploration walking simulator that lets you experience life from three different viewpoints. It was originally created during the Global Game Jam in 2014 and over the last couple years received updates, crowdfunding and was recently released on Steam after going through Early Access.

After playing all three perspectives in all the free levels for about 2 hours on stream, I found this title difficult to recommend to anyone. 

42Craft - Ep25: Who's Following Us?

Wellxam and I continue searching for Kon in the Erebus, but it seems we are being followed...

I'll try posting two episodes a week until the Erebus footage is completed. The Erebus is quickly becoming one of my favorite dimension adding mods to date.

42Craft - Ep24: Secret Below the World

I open a portal to The Erebus to find Kon and hopefully discover the identity of the great destroyer. To assist in this adventure, I'm accompanied by the (second) most powerful person I can find!

The next several episodes are focused on adventuring in The Erebus. It's my first time ever checking this dimension out, so there's sure to be plenty of action and surprises!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep66: Project Adventure Game

Challenging Metroidvania-style platformer!

Project Adventure Game is a difficult but rewarding exploration platformer. It plays similarly to classics like Metroid or Castlevania, requiring you to learn the patterns and moves needed to survive an area with save points being few and far between.

MOWIN' THE LAWN! Grass Is No More HIGHLIGHTS! The Friday FREE GAME Feature 65

Here it is - an example of "The Friday FREE GAME Feature!" in highlight form!

Let me know what you think by posting a comment on here or the video itself. I feel this change improves the channel by making the videos brief and to-the-point... but as always, I value your opinion.

If you'd like to see the full-length video or read more about the game, you can check out my previous blog post here.

NEW TIME! The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

"The Friday FREE GAME Feature!" moves to a new time!

I'm rolling out some changes to my Youtube and Twitch channels which I believe will improve both. The livestream time is being set in the evening at 6:45pm ET to accommodate viewers. Instead of uploading the entire broadcast to Youtube, I'm switching to a highlight reel format. My blog will still contain detailed thoughts and opinions on the game for each episode, along with the highlight video.

I feel these changes make the content more tailored to the format and audience. If you want to participate or just hang out and watch the full broadcast, come watch the stream live on Twitch. You can check out the highlights on Youtube for a brief and to-the-point look at the game. If you want more detailed information, the blog post is for you!

The start time for the livestream is subject to change while I figure out the best time for my viewers. Hopefully it won't take long to settle on a start time, as I have ideas for new content on both channels that I'd like to get going afterwards.

42Craft - Ep23: Dire Warnings

A friend leaves a chest in my home with unusual contents... a mystery begins!

What starts out as a base and project update episode turns into something completely different when I open a chest left by a friend. It turns out something nefarious has happened, so I try to track down konceptum for more information.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep65: Grass Is No More

Mowin' the lawn, movin' the lawn!

Grass Is No More is a lawn mower driving "simulator" where you score points by cutting grass while avoiding obstacles. It was developed during a competition in a limited time, so it's not going to have all the bells and whistles that one might expect due to the deadline.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep64: Super Square Chaos

Platforming shoot-em-up with destructible levels and lots of weapons!

When I first saw Super Square Chaos, my expectations were fairly low. There's a lot of action/shooting platformers to choose from, and the majority of them are very similar. I was pleasantly surprised to find some interesting twists in this title.

42Craft - Ep22: Jody v. Ender Dragon!

We hop into the End to witness Jody (Mandelsage) take on the Ender Dragon (and read the end credits) for the first time!

This is the longest episode to date, and will likely be the longest episode of the series. I thought about editing the actual fight to bring down the time, but decided against it so viewers could get the full experience. Jody's comments while reading the end credits were a little surprising, so I just had to include them after the battle!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep63: Crown & Council

Retro turn-based strategy created by Mojang!

Crown and Council was created during a 72-hour game jam by Henrik Pettersson and released on Steam by Mojang. You play as the ruler of a kingdom with the goal of defeating all opposing kingdoms on the map.

42Craft - Ep21: Manor, Court & End Portal!

 Cam shows us his villager manor and court, then we journey to the End Portal to prepare for the Ender Dragon!

I didn't want Cam's awesome builds to be overshadowed by the Ender Dragon fight (plus the video would've been really long), so that will be the next episode.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep62: Slither.io

Browser-based multiplayer snakes!

Slither.io is a browser-based multiplayer game where you play as a snake (or maybe a worm? I'm not sure) trying to become the biggest of the bunch (while not becoming lunch). You accomplish this by eating pellets scattered around the map. Pellets are left behind as snakes move and when they die. Snakes die when their head bumps into another snake's body... and this is where things get interesting.

42Craft - The Dodo Run

Here is Noble's epic compilation of "The Dodo Run"!

Check out the rest of his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/HollowProductions111

42Craft - Ep20: Operation Dodo Drop!

Noble and I find a creative way to donate my horde of dodos to Dylan's project! Afterwards, we take a peek at the start of the south entrance.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep61: Process

Stuck on a train, you have 20 minutes before it collides to your doom! Can you stop it in time?

Process is a point-n-click adventure game with a couple of interesting twists.

42Craft - Ep19: Start of the Aquatic Zone!

Dylan and Noble show us the beginnings of the area designated for aquatic exhibits, and we hatch some pteranodons in what will become an aviary!

This was more of a planning than building episode, but I feel it helps to give an idea of how large some of these projects are. I'm very pleased with the Funky Locomotion elevator, and thanks go to Cam for helping with its design!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep60: FLARE & Zelda 30 Year Tribute

Another double feature today! First up, a voxelized update to a classic adventure, then a moddable hack 'n' slash RPG!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep59: Endorlight

Dash to the exit in this platformer with random levels!

Endorlight is labeled as a roguelike platformer that some have likened to Spelunky. While I haven't played Spelunky, a glance at its store page on Steam shows that it's rather popular and enjoyable. I'm not certain I can say the same for Endorlight.

42Craft - Ep18: April Foolery!

I check out the beginnings of the park's attractions, but get sidetracked by pranks and go searching to find who's responsible!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep58: Serena

A point-and-click story about a man's relationship and memories, created by a slew of developers.

Serena is less of a game (in the traditional sense) and more of an interactive story. You play as a man trying to piece together his memories of living in a cabin with his wife, Serena. He seems to have a severe case of amnesia and perceptual issues, as the opening of the game focuses on a photograph of him and his wife, whose face is blurred out. As you wander about the now-decrepit cabin looking at its contents, the man's memories slowly return, revealing what happened long ago.

I really liked the atmosphere of this title. The decayed cabin was dark and mysterious, but the protagonist kept things from being too depressing with an amusing anecdote here and there. Speaking of which, every story and memory, along with each written letter comes with full voice narration. While the game isn't incredibly long, it's nice to see that the developers (did I mention this was a large collaborative effort?) went with voice acting for every bit of information. The title would've lost a lot of immersive impact without it.

That said, it wasn't difficult to figure out what probably happened in this man's life that he had mysteriously (or conveniently) forgotten. I was able to pretty much call out the ending about halfway through the game, and there wasn't much of a surprise when I reached the game's conclusion. The tale itself was a little predictable, but I was pleased with how they doled out the story as a collection of anecdotes and memories.

In all, Serena was an interesting experience with great atmosphere and exposition. In some ways, it reminds me a lot of A Night In The Woods (which I played late last year), so if you liked either of these you might want to check out the other.

42Craft - Ep17: Floating Island & Pub

I visit Ginja and Jausst's island in the sky! Jausst then shows me his underwater lair, complete with a pub!

42Craft - Ep16: Biodiesel & Excavator

I upgrade to the diesel generator and strike it rich with the excavator from Immersive Engineering!

Of the available crops accepted by the industrial squeezer and fermenter, it seems like a melon farm works relatively well. I couldn't get MFR to harvest (or was it plant?) industrial hemp correctly, and figured it would just be easier to use a vanilla crop. Wheat ended up being somewhat problematic, as you often get more wheat than seeds, and most of seeds are used for replanting. As long as the melon stems don't get broken, you never need to replant (which also cuts down on the number of machines and item transport systems needed).

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep57: Adventures of FrikiBoy

Classic 2D action adventure with a comedic twist!

Adventures of FrikiBoy is a modern take on the classic adventure game ala Legend of Zelda. You're tasked with a mission of utmost importance - to reclaim stolen baked goods, including the Coconut Delight, from the clutches of a villain named Guitar Shark. As you might've guessed, this game comes with a heavy dose of comedy. The villain tends to leave behind notes that point out his own lair's mistakes and comes pretty close to breaking the fourth wall.

Sometimes humor is used to mask what is otherwise uninteresting or just bad gameplay, but this is certainly not the case here. In fact, FrikiBoy is one of the more solid indie games I've played for this series recently. The controls are intuitive and responsive, it's well paced in terms of exposing new features/elements, and it even comes with an in-game manual! There's some great design choices going on here too - having a circle to show the reach of your melee attacks is very helpful for kiting enemies, and the flashlight feature really plays up the "adventuring in a dark dungeon" feeling that many games miss (or overdo) completely.

The standard adventure features multiple difficulty settings, and logging in via GameJolt gives you access to additional content and game modes.

For fans of classic adventure games, I highly recommend giving Adventures of FrikiBoy a try!

42Craft - Ep15: Noble's Private Museum

We take a quick look around Noble's base, then head to his private museum featuring exhibits from Fossils & Archeology, The Erebus and more!

It was fun doing a "design spotlight" type of episode, and it really gave Noble a chance to show off his design skills. I think the museum looks great and I can't wait to see how the official park turns out with such talented builders and designers in our group!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep56: Marvel Heroes 2016

Superhero MMORPG Diablo-styled action!

Marvel Heroes 2016 is a free-to-play top down Diablo-style action MMORPG set in the Marvel superhero universe. You can play as a number of iconic characters - there are dozens (perhaps over a hundred) to choose from.

42Craft - Ep14: Botania Bonanza! pt2

The tour of Jody's place continues! We check out his mob farm, the Alfheim portal and his personal quarters, and see an explosive source of mana. He also provides me with a nifty gift using the Botanical Brewery!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep55: Need For Speed Most Wanted

Do you feel the need... for speed?

Need For Speed Most Wanted is an open-world driving and racing game developed by Criterion Games and published by EA, and it's available free for a limited time on Origin.

Let me get this out of the way - I'm not a fan of driving games. I haven't played a game of this type since probably the PS2 era. Even then I casually tooled around on a couple of GTA titles while hanging out with friends, but we focused more on causing havoc in the city than actually driving. I have nothing against driving games, they just don't pique my interest. If you're wondering, I chose to play this title to add some diversity to the games featured on the series, because it's often a good idea to try something new or different once in a while.

That said, I can appreciate what this title has to offer for fans of the genre. There's a big city to explore with races, challenges, new cars and other unlockables waiting to be found. Beating the races and challenges earn you upgrades to improve your vehicles, and doing pretty much anything in the game eventually racks up points and achievements. This gives you a nice feeling of progression while you work toward the main goal of beating the elite drivers in town.

I was disappointed to see cars sitting out ready to claim, only to find out they're DLC-only and bring you to an advertisement screen. I'm not necessarily opposed to DLC, but the in-game ads are kind of lame. Being that I got the title for free, even the ads are somewhat excusable - though I can imagine how one might've felt when they purchased the game at retail price and stumbled across these.

Still, if you're looking to race across a city while evading the authorities and unlocking new stuff by exploration and completing challenges, Need For Speed Most Wanted will likely suit you.

42Craft - Ep13: Botania Bonanza! pt1

I take a boat ride to Jody's (Mandelsage) place and discover his love for Botania! Jody shows off a few cool things from the mod, including the Rod of the Shaded Mesa, Livingwood Avatar, Runic Altar and a mana gun!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep54: Transcendence

Space exploration, combat and roleplaying with roguelike elements!

Transcendence is a sci-fi space game where you pilot a ship on a divine mission to reach the galactic core. You can choose from three different starting ships - freighter, yacht or fighter - depending on your playstyle. Beginning at the Sisters of Domina outpost, you're given some basic missions to get acquainted with controls and game mechanics important for your journey.

One of the game's strong points is its variety of options. While your choice of starting ship can affect your success at certain missions, you can always upgrade your ship with an assortment of weapons, armor and devices (and later on purchase entirely different vessels) assuming you have enough credits.

The title has a high amount of replayability as well. In addition to piloting a different class of ship, each new game has some amount of procedural generation to keep things fresh. If that wasn't enough, there's even an array of expansions and mods to provide you with more campaigns. options, content and missions.

I don't have much in the way of negative remarks for this title, but I'll mention what few small gripes I have for sake of disclosure. I couldn't seem to find a reliable way to stop/brake my ship - the period key supposedly does this, but it didn't work for me. Also, a recent update added in-game music, but it seems to only have one song which plays just once, leaving you with the silence of space afterwards. I assume that a patch will likely fix that issue soon enough though, either with more tracks and/or a looping feature.

Those minor issues aside, Transcendence is a great game that provides a plethora of space exploration, combat and trading goodness!

Is Your Love For Portal Still Alive?

Let GlaDOS and Wheatley hold and organize your earbuds (when not listening to Jonathan Coulton, of course)! Now available in my Etsy shop!

You Got the Touch, You Got the Power!

Optimus Prime's ready to kick some Decepticon tail in this Perler beadsprite, now available in my Etsy shop!

42Craft - Ep12: Never Have I Ever! (Valentine's Edition)

Cam, Ginja, Noble and I play a couple rounds of Never Have I Ever!

This was a nice change from the usual survival-based videos. We have a lot of people that would be great for this game, so there may be more of these in the future!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep53: Mansionvania

Castlevania-inspired platforming action!

Mansionvania is a short platformer heavily inspired by the classic Castlevania games. You're on a mission to retrieve your pet which was stolen by a warlock. Chasing the villain to his mansion, you now must defeat the monsters and obstacles in your way.

If you've ever played the NES-era Castlevania titles, you'll feel right at home here. Enemies are defeated using your trusty whip, though you can obtain other weapons for a limited time. The controls are tight, though you'll probably encounter some frustration when enemies knock you back (which is perfectly in the spirit of the genre). Thankfully, the game provides you with unlimited lives, allowing you to memorize strategies and progress much faster than the titles it was inspired by.

While most of the monsters were standard for a game like this, there were a few interesting additions. The guy that spawns a large slime when you get close was pretty neat, and the boss fights were all enjoyable (which was also the case with another title from the same developer called Yet, I despise him).

If you have some free time to spare and need a quick Castlevania-style fix, be sure to check out Mansionvania!

42Craft - Ep11: Slime XP Vat, Lighthouse, New Pets!

Back at home, I show off a slime-based experience farm, a new storage area and discuss what's next.

I had fun doing the "Hamateur Science" segment, both recording and editing it. I didn't have an actual script for that part, but I had a general idea of what I wanted to talk about and just improvised the majority of dialogue. I think it turned out alright.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep52: Prisoner

Wrongly imprisoned, you make your escape in this action game reminiscent of classic Legend of Zelda.

Prisoner was developed in the span of one month as an exercise in game design. As it was the developer's first game, I'd say they did a decent job at putting together a functional title.

You awake in a cell, hearing the voice of someone who has supposedly come to your rescue. Grabbing a convenient nearby weapon, you traverse the prison looking for a way out. The game (both in looks and play) feels very much like oldschool action games from the NES-era, such as Legend of Zelda. You can break open crates to find extra health and "coins" that can help toward attaining extra lives. You only have a sword through most of your journey, but towards the end you finally get to pick up a bow. Most of the game involves dodging obstacles and avoiding pitfalls along with timing your attacks against enemies.

The title also seems to include an element of stealth, as enemy aggro looks like it's based off their visibility. Unfortunately, you often have to kill every enemy to get to the next section, making this pseudo-stealth mechanic somewhat less important.

As I mentioned above, Prisoner is functionally sound and a good first attempt at game design. It lacks any real punch though - the gameplay is basic with little variance and the dialogue is pretty bland. After being defeated by what I assume was the final boss, I couldn't find a good reason to jump back in and try again.

42Craft - Ep10: Jetpack Journey & DaVincing Demo

Mad Miner and I chat about upcoming mod updates and other topics as we travel to his place. He gives me a tour of his base and shows off the basics of the DaVincing mod.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep51: Right Click To Necromance

Raise the dead to fight by your side in this Agar.io-styled army battler!

Right Click To Necromance was created in 48 hours during a recent Indie Speed Run development competition. The goal of this game is to build an army created by raising your fallen foes. This title follows the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) design philosophy by requiring only a mouse to control the game - left click to move your army and... you guessed it, right click to necromance.

While RCTN takes a cue from the immensely-popular title Agar.io, it features more variety and flavor. Instead of playing as a basic circle, you control a number of independent soldiers and monsters that form an army. There are a handful of different troop types - from a lowly knight to a giant rock monster - each with different strengths and weaknesses. As a fan of tabletop warfare, I vastly prefer the wave of troops over a bland circle. You can't split into smaller groups, but you really wouldn't want to as this game is all about strength in numbers and picking your battles wisely.

Getting into multiple combats can be risky, as you have to eliminate an entire group before you can raise them. In the thick of battle it's not easy to pick out one remaining soldier when there's a wave of identical enemies all mixed in together. You'll often start a fight with one unit only to get flanked by an incoming army you didn't see coming, and at that point you need to decide if you can finish a unit off to raise reinforcements or make a hasty retreat. As you accumulate troops, you'll also find it increasingly difficult to avoid multiple enemies as your army simply occupies so much space. This makes for a great balancing mechanic as larger armies inevitably end up taking on a combination of forces on multiple fronts.

While RCTN is a decent title, it currently lacks long-term potential. There's no scoring system, alternative game modes or even a way to "win". You just keep fighting until you lose or get bored. As the game was created in 48 hours, I certainly don't hold this against the developers (Juicy Beast). I do however hope they decide to add more features to the title later on. I'd love to see any of the following: a multiplayer mode, a scoring system possibly with leaderboards, or even a final fight against a boss and/or opposing army.

Right Click To Necromance is impressive and reasonably polished for having only a 48 hour development period, but it has the potential to be much more.

42Craft - Ep9: Off To See The Wizard!

I check out Cam's jungle base of magic and machinery, and we watch an impressive (and destructive) display. Don't eat the cookies!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep50: Execute & Life vs Life

Another double feature for episode 50!

First up is Execute, a strategy battle game created for Ludum Dare 26. In this game, your job is to defeat all enemies as efficiently as possible. This idea is taken to the extreme, meaning that if you use too many actions, you end up losing the level (as if you had died).

While I appreciate the overall concept, the game could use a bit more polish (now that the time restriction from Ludum Dare is long over). Perhaps a clue as to how many actions are "too many" would've been helpful, as well as better-defined victory conditions for each level. I couldn't seem to find a winning combination for level two, and it felt pretty vague as to what I was doing wrong.

After that is Life vs Life, an interactive point-and-click type of title where you play as a pizza delivery guy in a city. While technically a game, it doesn't seem to have any failure states (including not getting fired for disregarding your job) and is more of an interactive short story. That said, everything you do in the game seems to have a larger influence on the city than you might at first expect. Continually tipping the street musician will eventually have him playing a sold out concert, and excessively feeding the pigeons can result in a huge flock of them taking over one end of town.

This game is broken up into days of the week. At the end of each day, you return to your apartment to fall asleep in front of the television. The decorations of your abode change slightly depending on what you've done. At the end of the week, the game is over with a message talking about how people choose to live their lives. It was interesting to try clicking around everywhere to see what happened, but after several playthroughs you'll probably have seen about everything Life vs Life has to offer.

42Craft - Ep8: Nether Fortress!

Time to explore the nearby Nether fortress!

This is the final part of our initial adventures in the Nether. Expect more 42Craft episodes to release Mondays (and maybe Wednesdays)!

42Craft - Ep7: Corpse Run

The struggle is real when the Nether decides to punish us for our intrusion!

42Craft - Ep6: So Far, So Good!

The adventure continues as Wellxam and I explore the Nether in hopes of finding a fortress!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep49: Into the Underdusk

Retro platforming adventure!

Into the Underdusk is a retro-styled platformer created using the Multimedia Fusion engine. You play as the last remaining person in a world now shrouded in darkness. You're losing your memory and decide to seek out a locket you had long ago.

The game features classic pixel graphics and tight controls. You'll spend most of the time trying to navigate each screen's obstacles, dying until you get it right. Thankfully, there are numerous checkpoints scattered about, giving a "difficult but fair" level of challenge overall.

As you explore, you'll encounter a number of glowing blue collectibles and other power-ups that improve your character (speed increase, double jump, etc.) and allow you to explore previously unreachable locations. 

There are many similarities between Into the Underdusk and You Have To Win The Game, so if you enjoyed one of these titles you should probably check out the other. Both are short but sweet classic-styled platformers with a few (more modern) improvements.

42Craft - Ep5: Nether Boat!

Wellxam and I head to the Nether for supplies and adventure. We also get to try out a few specialty arrows from Ropes+. The next few episodes will be focused on the Nether and are packed with action, exploration, (hopefully) a fortress and (probably) death!

42Craft - Ep4: Go West, Young Troll

I visit some neighbors to the west - one blends medieval with high tech and the other harnesses flower power beneath a village!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep48: Cornerstone, The Song of Tyrim

Legend of Zelda Windwaker meets Dark Souls in this action adventure game!

Cornerstone, The Song of Tyrim is an epic adventure of exploration, combat and crafting. You begin on the docks of a small island with no real idea of what you're supposed to do. The game provides you with some tutorial popups to teach you the necessary controls, and you're left to explore as you wish.

The game makes use of some physics, allowing you to pickup and throw objects, break things into crafting materials, or use them to interact with the environment (such as placing mines or setting things on fire with a torch). You can even use the environment to kill enemies - I shot the ballista on my ship to take out a guard and kited other guards into some laser-shooting flowers! I felt like a number of strategies were available for getting through an area, which was awesome. Additionally, the island is packed with little hidden areas and shortcuts along with a number of puzzle-type obstacles to get from point A to B.

For the most part, the controls were fairly tight for keyboard and mouse. Controller support exists, but you have to map the buttons before launching the game. Being that this is a demo, I can excuse that. It's just nice to see that the game's challenge isn't about fighting with the controls. The art style is cartoony, bright and whimsical, obviously inspired by the LoZ series. I'm not sure if there's really a story in the demo, but I feel that it was intentionally focusing on decent gameplay instead of throwing lore and background in your face (perhaps taking a cue from Dark Souls here as well).

I was a bit skeptical when I saw the claims of Windwaker meets Dark Souls, but having tried the demo I have to say they're going in the right direction. Sure, the demo is unpolished (it crashed a few times and there were a few other glitches) but overall I was impressed. I'll be keeping an eye out for Cornerstone, The Song of Tyrim to see where it goes once it releases on Steam.

42Craft - Ep3: My Closest Neighbor

I show off the most recent changes to my base, then journey over to my friend's place. It's adventure and story time with Wellxam!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep47: The Old Tree

An atmospheric adventure made in Flash

The Old Tree is a point-and-click adventure puzzler made in Flash. You assume the role of a creature that reminds me somewhat of a wacky wall crawler toy, and your job is to solve puzzles to get the little guy to the next screen.

This game has a great deal of atmosphere, with a dark but relaxing art style and music to match. Unlike many titles of the genre, you don't actually control the main character - instead you clear the way for him to continue his journey. This was kind of a nice change because you could focus more on the environment than where your character was positioned to solve the puzzles.

Sadly, the game lacks a lot of substance. The puzzles aren't terribly difficult and there seemed to be no penalty for failure - you just keep trying things until you sort it out. There's no replay value, unless you want to see the levels again (which admittedly look very nice). There doesn't seem to be a story, save for whatever you make up in your head as you go. It's also an incredibly short title, as you can finish the entire thing in less than 15 minutes.

If you're more about the journey than the destination, perhaps The Old Tree may be worth checking out.