Acquisitions

• Katamari Damacy REROLL

Katamari on Steam...the day I was waiting for came so unexpectedly I found out about it going through my queue for cards. I already beat it before I could post that, but I'll leave it for my next post.

Challenge Me!

Challenge Post

• Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion
  

  9.9 hours playtime

  0 of 0 achievements

• Roundabout
  

  9 hours playtime

  17 of 40 achievements

• The Sexy Brutale
  

  11.8 hours playtime

  18 of 18 achievements

• Nancy Drew: Treasure in the Royal Tower
  

  9.5 hours playtime

  0 of 0 achievements

Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion

At Least Somewhat Historic Detectives! Mystery! Murder! Educational Ghosts USA

The second Nancy Drew game I'm playing and the third in the series. I'm skipping the second for now because I don't have it, it's not on Steam, and I'm not really keene on spending $10 on a 20-year-old game that takes only a few hours when I can buy the others for $2.

This is the first time I'm playing this one. It takes place in San Francisco, but you spend the whole time in a Victorian mansion that a friend of a friend is trying to renovate to turn into a B&B. Something I like about the Nancy Drew games is how they try to incorporate the history and culture of a place. This one features a bit of Wild West/Gold Rush history (with made-up characters for the game) along with the influence of Chinese immigrants. In fact, get a notebook out if you play this, because a game-long puzzle has you collecting Chinese characters (which the game told me are called hanzi) that you will need to be able to distinguish. My Chinese handwriting is way better than my handwriting with the latin alphabet, but I also spent like 10x the time and effort.

Roundabout

Achievement Clean Up Favorites FMV LMAO Quirky

Challenge Me! game. I really liked this by the end. I didn't expect it at first, but the strange FMV scenes turned into a surprising story. You're a limo driver who has a weird mechanic: you revolve in circles everywhere, leading to a different type of planning around obstacles. You can also unlock various powers, can jump on buildings, buy different paint and decoration for your limo, etc. I don't think I have the patience to 100% this, but I still have some things I am willing to do when I feel like it.

The Sexy Brutale

Detectives! Mystery! Murder! Noticeably Good Music Quirky Time Travel Won on SteamGifts

Challenge Me! and SG win. Fun game, but I was confused at first because I stopped a murder by chance without knowing what was happening. Fortunately since the day repeats endlessly, you can see things again and can't miss anything. There is some great music in this game, and some really distinctive pieces play as you go about in certain areas. There is also a huge amount of depth to the story and characters. Everything seems to have a meaning or explanation somewhere. My only complaint is that the doors seem a little buggy.

Nancy Drew: Treasure in the Royal Tower

At Least Somewhat Historic Detectives! Mystery! Murder! Educational France USA

I decided I could sneak one last game into December, my best month so far, with another Nancy Drew game that meets the monthly theme. I had this game when I was a kid and it was my first Nancy Drew game, so there is a lot of nostalgia for me. This time you are in a castle turned ski resort in Wisconsin, but a blizzard has trapped everyone inside. Intriguingly, one of the (fictional) towers came from France and had once been frequented by Marie Antoinette.

I like the setting, story, characters, and French connection in this one. The downside is that getting to certain places can take a lot of time, and you have to go back to your room to set an alarm (to change the time) frequently.

December Totals

1206	games	+15
14	games beaten or completed	Best month ever!
65%	never played	-1%
14%	unfinished	no change
6%	beaten	no change
8%	completed	+1%
7%	won't play	no change