Further Classification: Casual Genres

Launcher

A game in which you start in one position and move linearly in a direction (or towards a goal) while some amount of stats consistently drain. (e.g. Fuel for a rocket.)
Examples: Burrito Bison, Learn to Fly, Kitty Cannon
Easily Paired With: Incremental, Platformer, Racing
Favorite Example: Burrito Bison Revenge

Incremental

A game which focuses on increasing a value via extremely simple activity. (Clicking, waiting, moving the mouse.)

Examples: Cookie Clicker, Clicker Heroes, Swarm Simulator

Easily Paired With: Launcher, Sim

Favorite Example: Clicker Heroes

Further Classification: Roguelites?

And once again, we come to my examination of game genres and classification. This time, I have a brief opinion on the term "roguelite".

Roguelite is a weird term. It seems to be taking "roguelike" meaning "like the game Rogue" but then appending "lite" onto it, like "lite butter", meaning "barely even butter". I don't really get the point in doing this, however.

Further Classification: My Steam organization

Further classification seems to be an ongoing series about how I mentally, digitally, and physically organize games. In this installment, I talk about Steam.


This is my Steam games list. You can't see the games, because it's minimized. When expanded, you can't fit it all on one screen. This is because I have, quite simply, far too many games. Many of the games are currently hidden, because I didn't like them or care about them. At the bottom are "Games" which is shorthand for "Haven't Even Touched Yet."

Further Classification: Thematic vs Mechanical Genre

Further classification seems to be an ongoing series about how I mentally, digitally, and physically organize games. In this installment, I talk the differences between themes and mechanics when talking about game genres.

I'm gonna try to quickly summarize something that I think we all understand, but maybe never really consider. The difference between a game's dynamics and its themes. A game's mechanical genre is what we generally talk about: Shooter, Platformer, Puzzle, etc. A game's thematic genre is a little more rare/undiscussed. Things like horror, science fiction, and fantasy are all pulp genres of fiction, and they can apply to games too.

Further Classification: Game difficulty levels

Further classification seems to be an ongoing series about how I mentally, digitally, and physically organize games. In this installment, I just list some game difficulties.

Further Classification: Some game genre definitions that I use

Further classification seems to be an ongoing series about how I mentally, digitally, and physically organize games. In this installment, I talk about some game genre titles that I find really interesting.

Games Played in 2013, a Year In Review

My blog has been mostly empty as of late, pretty much because I've been exhausted trying to find ways to keep myself busy and productive. I thought I'd put together a post talking about a lot of the memorable games I've experienced this year. Note that this won't be a completely exhaustive list, as there is a lot of stuff that I may not remember fully, and I have actually done a fair bit this year. Some things that I've just started, but not finished, are not included, mostly cause my thoughts on them don't feel complete. Others are, because 'why not'. Also, some (many?) of these games came out before this year. I don't care.

Some of these things could certainly be extended into full analysis, though at the moment I'm not really in the mood to do so. However if you'd really like to see my full thoughts on something here, please leave a comment letting me know, or tell me in person.

Why I feel that Little Big Planet is so important

At ConBravo I picked up a Sack Boy from Little Big Planet, and after annoying my fiancee to no end by whistling the theme, I realized how much I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and still enjoy it. It's a simply fun game that focuses entirely on positive emotions. Released in a time when games were obsessing over "moral choices" (would you rather be Satan or Pretty Nice Guy?) this was a game that went all the way back to why we started playing games in the first place, and decided to explore all the good things about the imagination and creativity.

In light of recent "dramatic evolution" in games (cry-wanks like The Last of Us or anything coming from David Cage), it's more important than ever to recognize when a game really gets it right; when a game knows how to make us laugh or smile, even when we're feeling down.

A game that really understands the power of happiness.

This game was Made For Me: Sleeping Dogs

Let's start this out with a confession: I love martial arts action movies. Part of the reason The Matrix is one of the big film trilogies I adore is because of all the awesome kung fu. As silly as it was, I couldn't help adoring the gun-kata in Equilibrium. I recently sat down and watched Ong-Bak and had a great time.

But sadly, I've never had much opportunity to explore the legendary kung-fu cinema which inspired so many. I've never really had a chance to watch a ton of Hong Kong action movies.

And Sleeping Dogs made me realize how much I've missed out on.

My thoughts on E3 2013

Now that E3 is over, I've collected all my thoughts and put them into one place. Here is everything I've got an opinion on, in no specific order. At the very end, I'll summarize my general feelings about this upcoming gen, and what I think it means for me.

Made For Me, but won't see The End: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

What do you mean I'm late to the game?

So I was playing Left 4 Dead 2...

L4D2 always makes me feel like quitting when the exact same thing happens. Every game I play. I will describe it:

Two headshots and three body shots with a sniper rifle into a witch. She doesn't die, chases me down, and gets me immensely close to death if doesn't kill me right there.

No.

Humble completely reasonable THQ Bundle

Ah good, the wave of indie/drm-free/FOSS purists feels they need to strike again. People are swearing off Humble Indie Bundle and saying they'll never buy another one ever again and that the brand has entirely lost their wallet thanks to the recent THQ bundle.

A thought plopped in my head and brewed all day

I was reading quotes from earlier in the day: stuff Will Wright was saying about how video games and computers can bridge gaps in the human synaptic pathways, allowing us all to express and share our creative ideas better. Minecraft and Spore have been good examples of this, but it gave me some thought.

My E3 2012 thoughts

Now that E3 is over, I'm gonna quickly wrap up my thoughts on stuff that was shown, that actually interested me.

Wiil U stop with the bad controller ideas?

This year's E3 had a lot of stuff that didn't really interest me, but one thing really stood out: The Wii U is not a good idea.

Made For Me, but won't see The End: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Sometimes, when you want to talk about a game, it's very hard to do so while removing yourself from the equation. It can be the case that a game just so personally touches you, that your viewpoint is forever biased towards it. It can also so deeply affect you that you can't erase your history with it from your judgement. Sometimes, it's good, and sometimes, it's bad. Even if the game is the other.

Which is rather our case today.

This game was Made For Me: Dear Esther

Dear Reader,

It's hard to talk about Dear Esther, surprisingly. The game, once a mod for Half Life 2 and now a full-fledged indie production, has received critical acclaim, and has proven a financial success so soon after its release. Indeed, I bought it mere minutes after it was released on Steam. I sat waiting with my tantalized memory... the aged visions of the last and frayed teasers of the new, intermingling in my mind as a vision of what was to come.

I am a man in love, and thus a release on the day of that was going to take second place. I spent the evening with the woman I love and I saw a fantastic, good old-fashioned ghost film. Though I had spent the day up till the purchase and download of Dear Esther, waiting for it to unlock, once I had it I knew I need only wait till the night.

With my love heading off home and myself sitting alone in my room, I turned off the lights and the volume suitably high. I sat in darkness, waiting, as the screen loaded. The room seemed so much louder, the whirr of the fan of my laptop amplified in my ears. Yet the game did load, and I found myself soon, standing on the edge of an island.

Why Valve will never tell us about Half-Life 3

I think it's impossible for Valve to even say "we've been working hard" without people immediately jumping to speculation about Half Life Episode 3, or even Half Life 3. Seriously, it's starting to get ridiculous. Which is why I am not even going to go into why it may or may not be happening, but go into why Valve won't even say what's going on.

Made For Me, but won't see The End: STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl

Shadow of Chernobyl is my second-favourite game. You might've been able to guess, from hints I've dropped in my previous writeups, but I might as well start by revealing all.