November 2023 - Thankful for Clearing

Games played this month

• The Beginner's Guide
  

  84 minutes playtime

  no achievements

• Manifold Garden
  

  8 hours playtime

  23 of 25 achievements

• Tabletop Simulator
  

  15 hours playtime

  9 of 27 achievements

• The Jackbox Party Pack 4
  

  8 hours playtime

  8 of 20 achievements

Gameplay Summary

For the first time in a while, I had a very productive gaming month. I guess I should give thanks for that since it is also the month of Thanksgiving here in the US. Every game I touched was either beaten or completed, so nothing was left unbeaten. A couple of these games I will continue to achievement hunt in December (see below), so expect to see some repeats in the next month. Overall, I am very satisfied with my progress.

Completed: The Beginner’s Guide

This game needed a trigger warning. Although I did like it, and I think it is enjoyable, I had some problems with it. First, without spoiling anything, this game can be incredibly depressing for some people depending on how you interpret the message of the game, and for me personally it was hard to complete. I did make it through, but some people who are sensitive to mental health topics may be triggered by the content. Also, the game has to be played on a computer with less cores, so if you have a very strong gaming rig, it may not be playable.

Beaten: Manifold Garden

I will likely consider this my personal Game of the Year 2023. I am absolutely in love with this game. From the art style to the puzzles, the gameplay and the pacing, this is by far one of the best games I have played, and it will hold a special place in my heart. I was very close to completing it in November, but I got stuck at one point of the playthrough with no God Cubes, so I will likely watch a video to learn how to get past that and get the last two achievements for that playthrough. I am very thankful for the guide I was reading for the second playthrough, but close to the end I needed some more help. I highly recommend this to any player who likes puzzle platformers, but be careful if you get motion sickness.

Beaten: Tabletop Simulator

I was not originally planning to beat this game (and by beat, I mean 25% achievement completion per PAGYWOSG rules). For most of the month, my friend and I were using it to have a deck of cards we could both see and access while playing a tabletop RPG called Partners. On our last session of the first episode though, we ended up deciding to do a rapid fire achievement hunt, including a super rare achievement. I will come back to this for achievement hunting later, but for now we will likely continue to use it as a deck of virtual cards.

In Progress Completion: The Jackbox Party Pack 4

Once again, we played this game for our virtual happy hour at work. This time, we played some Fibbage 3, where we earned another achievement to add to my collection. It was a blast, and we actually had to cycle through players to be able to allow everyone to have a couple turns during the happy hour. Next month, we will be playing Fibbage 3: Enough About You, so I will update in the December post how that goes.