Noble Gamer

For my first BLAEO post, I will go over my use of BLAEO categories, first impressions about my initial stats, recap the games I have played for the past month (May 2019), and what I might start to play for June 2019:

Use of BLAEO Categories

The different categories available are relatively straightforward, but there are certain types of games where the line between Unfinished, Beaten, and Completed is kinda in the eye of the beholder - So I will explain those situations here:

Unfinished

Multiplayer Only Games: Any progress that falls short of Beaten category. Examples includes Rising Storm/Red Orchestra 2 Multiplayer where I have completed training, but only played a few matches.

Beaten category

Multiplayer Only Games: If at the time I played it I had played every major mode available, have made significant progress, and played any limited training modes, I will consider the game “Beaten”. Therefore, it is possible for content to have been added after I “beat” it that I have not played yet. Examples include Rocket League where I have reached level 70+, Warframe where I reached mastery level 20+, and Tower Unite where I have played every game & every level as well as purchased the most expensive condo.

Games played outside of Steam: If I previously beat a game that I own outside of Steam or prior to getting a Steam account, I will mark it as “Beaten” or “Completed” depending on progress. Examples include Worms which I owned before Steam was a thing.

Remastered games: If I beat the original game, and the remastered edition does not add much to the gameplay, then I will consider the remastered game to be “Beaten” but not “Completed”. Examples include Full Throttle and Mark of the Ninja

Games without a clear end game condition: If I am reasonably sure that I have unlocked everything available within a game and progressed significantly in it, then I will consider it “Beaten”, but not “Completed” unless I have 100% achievements or if no achievements I am 100% certain I have maxed out the game. Examples include Game Dev Tycoon, Mad Games Tycoon, and SimCity 4 Deluxe.

Completed

Games without achievements: If a game I beat did not have achievements and I am reasonably certain I unlocked all things & modes available, then I will consider the game to be completed.

Won’t Play category

Original editions when Enhanced/Complete editions exist: When there are games that I own that come with both an original and an enhanced edition that significantly alters some gameplay elements, I will mark the original as Won’t Play, and then will mark the Enhanced edition appropriately. Examples include Divinity Original Sin 1 as well as Ori and the Blind Forest.

My Initial Stats

562 games
73% never played
11% unfinished
12% beaten
1% completed
3% won’t play

My First Impressions

I expected my stats to be more like this:
69% never played (off by -4%)
20% unfinished (off by +9%)
5% beaten (off by -7%)
1% completed
5% won’t play (off by -2%)

I am relieved that I have beaten more than I thought and don’t have as many unfinished games as I thought, but my never played games doesn’t surprise me given how active I am with trading and gifting games. I would say that at least half of the “unfinished” games are ones that I am “stuck” at a certain point on, but can’t bring myself to consider actually abandoned.

Game Activity for May 2019

    Hand of Fate

    Hand of Fate

    35 hours playtime

    I recommend this deck building action RPG to anyone who enjoys action RPGs, as it combines them really well, although the action elements aren’t perfect (but they’re not terrible either). This is one of the few games where it was beneficial to go back to a prior level/stage in story mode, which is due to them being a lower difficulty. I eagerly await a sale for the sequel to see how they change and improve upon this deck building action RPG format.

    Do Not Feed the Monkeys

    Do Not Feed the Monkeys

    10 hours playtime

    I recommend this voyeuristic game on sale to fans of other big brother-type “choices matter” games after having played through it twice in 6 hours with a desire to play it again maybe once or twice more (a rarity for me). Gameplay well illustrated by the 2 Steam trailers seems well balanced when not feeding monkeys, as I only had to rollback to 2-3 days twice in order to reach end game (~15 in-game days), wherein “game over” is not unlocking enough cameras by the designated day #. It is worth considering “feeding the monkeys” in the early game.

    Rocket League

    Rocket League

    235 hours playtime

    So I have a love/hate relationship of advancing Rocket Pass levels: I love that it is not exclusively tied to how much you play through some secondary pass-specific XP level, but I hate that there have been multiple weeks where one of the basic three goal/achievements requires owning a specific item that needs to be purchased from a prior seasonal event.
    I’ve maintained my Gold division for competitive Rumble and Ice Hockey modes. The traditional competitive game modes have been much tougher as well as far more toxic.

    Tower Unite

    Tower Unite

    62 hours playtime

    Tower Unite is a collection of mostly party-type games that branch off of a virtual world, some of them more integrated with the core Plaza area than others, all of which is free of microtransactions. Almost everything is purchased with in-game currency earned through playing games and getting achievements, with the exception of some unlocks or random drop opportunities (spin a wheel, cat pouches, etc). You have lots of cutomization options for your character and condo, including custom player & condo items that can be brought into the game through the Steam Workshop. I recommend the game to midcore gamers as well as achievement hunters, but casual and hardcore gamers may not enjoy it.
    My personal favorite games are Minigolf, Virus, Laser Tag, High Stakes Texas Hold Em, and Balloon Pop.
    I built a penthouse type condo with a club area, and a trampoline basketball & volleyball courts.

    60 Seconds!

    60 Seconds!

    4 hours playtime

    This is a largely narrative based survival game that I unfortunately can only recommend at historic low prices for survival enthusiasts that love achievement hunting.
    It is fun to spend the first 60 seconds trying to grab as many people and things as you can to survive nuclear fallout, but grab & Go Controls feel kinda clumsy, even after adjusting sensitivity to your liking. That’s partially because there are some scenarios where one item can appear above the other, like on a shelf, but there are no controls for which one to pick other than left or right and hope the item you want winds up getting highlighted. Items don’t seem balanced, because some may be more vital to rescue & survival than others. The different events and choices are interesting…for a few hours. I played through every mode several times and all challenges.

    SIMULACRA

    SIMULACRA

    4 hours playtime

    I never play horror games, but this was somewhat more of a voyeur-centric game in that the game is played entirely through someone else’s cellphone and you communicate with people that the phone’s owner knows. I recommend it to people that are okay with horror and voyeur elements of games while enjoying some choices that matter. The story doesn’t branch though, as it stays pretty much one set of rails, but your interactions with people change based on your choices.

    Gladiabots

    Gladiabots

    4 hours playtime

    This is a unique cross platform single & multiplayer (asynchronous) bot combat arena strategy game that runs entirely using AI logic and command sets that you define. It does not require programming knowledge by any means, but it may require the patience or willingness to “troubleshoot” kinda like one given that there is considerable trial & error. Intro tutorial is decent at teaching the basics, and the official wiki is even more helpful in terms of other strategy tips & options.
    I have only focused on Elimination mode in single player with only a few multiplayer matches, and will get into the other two base & capture modes once I have a fully fleshed out Attack AI from beating Elimination mode.
    The Android version is free, and progress can easily be synced between the PC and Android versions when an account is registered with the game’s site.

Games I Might Start in June 2019

Spelunky, Lethal League, Brothers - A tale of two sons, Dreamstones, Worms Pinball

LastM

Welcome to BLAEO!
You’re off to a great start! I hope to see you around.

Noble Gamer

Thanks, I plan to try to post at least monthly updates here so I can visualize my progress.

Arbiter Libera

Welcome aboard and what a great first post. Always helps to have an attack plan.

Hand of Fate

Sadly, that’s the only game of your bunch I actually played. I remember the last level went really hard on curses and double effect, I think. If RNG wasn’t on your side it could become a real chore. Did you partake in Endless mode at all?

Noble Gamer

I remember the last level went really hard on curses and double effect, I think.

That’s right, a new curse every map/level definitely makes it more challenging because if you don’t adapt your deck beforehand or in-game strategy when getting more curses, there is next to no chance of winning.

If RNG wasn’t on your side it could become a real chore.

I had to stack the deck with encounters that were least likely to give me curses, and item(s) & an encounter where curses actually help. Without these, combat with the final boss would require near perfect in execution.

Did you partake in Endless mode at all?

Yes, when I got stuck on the last 2-3 bosses I thought I’d try endless as a means to earn more tokens and reveal attributes of new items, since Endless pulls in ALL your cards and not just your pre-defined deck.
I thought it was fine, but I’m not really into leaderboards and I didnt like being forced to play some encounters again that I worked so hard to unlock so I could avoid them in the future.

Arbiter Libera

I think I brute forced the final boss. Didn’t bother optimizing my build at all or anything. Took couple of tries. Well, “couple” is being stingy.

Noble Gamer

Haha, it felt like a couple tries times ten for me!

Lucky Thirteen

Hey, welcome to BLAEO!

Personally, I loved the “card/deck building” aspect of Hand of Fate but hated the “action” aspect of it.

Noble Gamer

I had hate/love relationship with some battles: I’d hate having a hard time beating some boss-like encounters that happen before end-bosses, but I’d love the feeling of unlocking their token or beating them, because that would mean they would no longer be locked to my deck and I could banish them from my future decks ;)

Joe

Welcome! I hope you like Brothers A Tale of Two Sons if you get around to it, it’s one of the most memorable games I’ve played.

Noble Gamer

I started it today actually - It’s shaping up to be a great story rich puzzle platformer thus far!

EvilBlackSheep

Welcome to BLAEO :) You’re up to a great start!

If you loved Hand of Fate, you’ll have a blast with the sequel.