July's Theme: The Endless S
Dear fellow Assassins,
in case you are reading this, the emergency monthly protocol activated! This means, that I, Ninglor03, jumped in to save the monthly theme! This theme will not be the most wicked or awesome one, but better that then nothing, right? \o/
So with that being said, let’s jump into the adventure!
We are going this month on a simulation trip! So everything that has anything to do with building, planning and the sorts, is exactly the right thing here! Endless hours of fun are awaiting us! We don’t aim for any completion – since simulations don’t really have any endings, right? -, but this month for the joy of just… playing! \o/
I lost you? You totally hate simulations? Aw, that’s too bad! But, hold on! Don’t run away! Because if you think about it, the endless S is also above our heads! Stars all around! So to offer an alternative, you may also play something set up in Space! Brilliant, right?
In case you are extra wicked you can cover up both things and play a space simulation! 
Without further ado: Let’s get going!
Happy Killing, my dear Assassins!
Short facts
- Every Simulation counts!
- Every Space game counts!
- Endless games also work out!
- There is no list of games, but steam tags should help I hope
- I’m always happy to hear of your progress – but you don’t need to tell or show me something! This is totally up to you :)
“Anyway, if anyone doesn’t know about it, you can use Steam Filters to quickly search your library for Simulation and Space tags.” Thank you, Errise :)
name of game 1 | playtime this month | unfinished/finished
name of game 2 | playtime this month | unfinished/finished
name of game 3 | playtime this month | unfinished/finished
This is totally up to you and only thought as help in case you wanna keep it organized ;)
FAQ
Do I have to participate in this month’s theme?
No, as with every theme, these are merely suggestions for anyone who is unsure about what to play next. If you already have a battle plan for your backlog and/or don’t like this month’s theme, you’re free to ignore it.
What happens if I don’t participate in the monthly theme?
Nothing.
What happens if I play all the games from the theme list this month?
There is no list!
| Game | Achievements | Playtime | Theme | Status |
| Pixel Puzzles Ultimate | 274/1113 (+95) | 19.4 hrs | Simulation | Currently Playing |
| Tharsis | 5/12 (+5) | 4.5 hrs | Space | Beaten |
| Space Channel 5: Part 2 | 1/12 (+1) | 0.7 hrs | Space | Currently Playing |
| Escape First | 4/4 (+4) | 1.7 hrs | Simulation | Completed |
| Chicken Invaders 2 | 1/4 (+1) | 2.9 hrs | Space | Beaten |
| Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator | - | 5.7 hrs | Simulation | Completed |
| Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball | 42/76 (+31) | 10.2 hrs | Endless | “Beaten” |
| Together | - | 0.1 hrs | Simulation | Completed |
| Octodad: Dadliest Catch [2 Free DLC Shorts] | 15/32 (+2) | 1.9 hrs | Simulation | Beaten |
| Riptide GP2 | 8/29 (+8) | 3.3 hrs | Simulation | “Beaten” |
| Year Walk | 2/10 (+2) | 0.3 hrs | Walking Simulator | Currently Playing |
| Sid Meier’s Civilization® V | 85/286 (+77) | 46.0 hrs | Endless | “Beaten” |
| Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes | 8/10 (+1) | 2.4 hr | Simulation | Currently Playing (Nearly Beaten) |
| Total: | 227 | 99.1 hrs | 9 Finished |
Wanted to play Planet Coaster this month anyways, so this adds incentive. Have some other ideas as well, like Goat Simulator: Waste of Space (been meaning to play this for a year now), We Need to Go Deeper, Tabletop Sim (another priority - rly wanna play with my brothers before he leaves for college)!
I’ve gotten rid of a lot of my space sim games but might give one a go, though I tend to enjoy watching ‘em more than playing myself. I’ve seen you recommend this theme a couple times, glad you were able to make it happen! Have fun. :)
Edit: This was one hell of a month (to put it lightly), as I had major withdrawal from percocet + co., so it threw a loop into my plans and I really wasn’t in the right mindset to play several of the ones I’d been planning on. Still played a looot, fingers crossed I’ll get to Planet Coaster sooner than later! Civ V especially kept me busy and engaged which I’m grateful for, glad to have finally picked up for myself. Of the 99 hours there’s a bit of AFK time, but not sure exacts.
I’m gonna be a little flexible with the tags. If a game is set in space/sci-fi themed without the actual “space” tag I’m gonna count it. Also a couple newer games didn’t have the simulation tag but clearly were. Same with walking simulators etc.
aaa I always feel weird typing so much, even tho I know I shouldn’t and no one reads it anyways…so tempting to delete. ;_; Just wanna be a hermit crab lately 🙈 but this is nice to remember the basic gist of my experiences, should I wanna look back. Nvm, managed to figure out how to do a dropdown so not quite so massive!
(More Thoughts)
I nearly gave up on Tharsis after losing for 3 hours straight to some horrible, horrible RNG. I generally like some RNG, it can be a fun addition, but I went from having a perfect spaceship to hitting every single bad roll possible and every character suddenly dying and my ship exploding...all on my last turn after doing so well. I decided to watch a couple guys explain the first few rounds on youtube and it was super helpful in giving me tips to prevent the RNG from being so one-sided and allowed me to enjoy the game SO much more. I ended up beating it my first game after watching!! Was genuinely a lot of fun. I binged this game and am glad I finally got to it, as it was a "high priority" for 2-3 years now (yikes). Would recommend, especially if you have the patience to understand the mechanics.
Escape First was definitely overpriced at $6 per copy (mp up to 6 players) since it really feels half-assed in many places. Came across several bugs - one that completely reset your location the Dev said they'd fix back in November but never did, super finnicky controls with items completely disappearing often (there's a reason there's a built-in "reset items" button). The last level was especially cheaply made. Overall an underwhelming experience, despite loving the concept. It got a couple puzzles right and I caught a glimpse of the game I wanted it to be, but alas. Would love!!! for there to be a really well done escape room game made...I have hope, some day. Despite being crammed into fairly small rooms, I'd suggest playing co-op if playing. Versus felt quite distant and highlighted the flaws, really took the fun of out it.
I got soo close to beating Chicken Invaders 2 without using rockets, was just a few hits away from beating it at one point. But after restarting the final level like 15 times I finally decided to just use 'em and forget the achievement. Was nostalgic and fun for what it was.
Beat Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator and have seen all the secrets/endings, gonna count this as completed.
Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball is an endless mp game, but I feel like I've played a lot to count it as beaten. Tried out loads of different modes/custom options. Played solo vs. bots as well as local-co op and online. Am currently 0.8% for my badge rank. If you own this would recommend checking it out, is like a fast-paced, chaotic, fun dodgeball game with Mario Kart Battle maps.
Riptide GP2 : I beat the whole VR Challenge and have beaten every map at least 3 times, several more than that. This game is very grindy, but I have been enjoying it more than I expected, has an arcadey feel to it. It's a blast played in shorter spurts, but can get burnt out and honestly no "real" reason to fully beat it, so I'm counting it as beaten for now and will continue to pick it up.
Need to beat 2 more modules of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes still. They're the end ones, so really tough. We beat one with 0.45 seconds left after doing it pretty perfectly (for us). He solved so many right away that I was struggling to even put 'em in fast enough before he solved another, plus I solved a few by myself while he worked on others. Gonna keep trying, fingers crossed we can beat it before he leaves. Getting super intense!
Civ V : While this is pretty much an endless game with a lot of DLC I don't have, I'd say I've loosely "beaten" it. Played it a lot this month after finally getting to it! I've watched some guys playing it for a couple hundred hours over the years, was nice to play it firsthand. That said, I don't think I'd get into it enough to micro-manage everything and continually slightly improve strats. I will play some more mp with my brother occasionally which is fun, but as for vs AI not sure how many more hundreds of hours imma play. I really don't like the big maps/games because I have a hard time getting back into it after setting it down (even for a day). Honestly got myself sick from forcing myself to beat some of the games so I didn't set it down and lose my footing. I know it's probably heresy, but I did enjoy the quicker, more manageable matches! Can understand the compulsion of "just one more turn" with these games, though I don't think it meshes with my personality. (I get sucked into these games but don't necessarily love it, more so major concentration and suddenly hours have passed.)
Planet Coaster? Is that Roller Coaster in… space? Or Roller Coaster with planet theme? Or no Roller at all? :D
I’m honestly not sure myself, since I played Harvest Moon Stardew Valley already. Gotta find something nice and fitting! \o/
I hope you’ll have loads of fun with what ever you’re going in the end ;)
Had a pretty free hand, so HERE WE ARE! :D
Ooh good point, I forgot that there’s a space sci-fi theme! (though sadly on Earth haha)
Yeah Stardew Valley is a good one, I’m close to “beating” it could maybe focus on that as well. despite 100 hours played :P I still have Harvest Moon on my 3DS I need to play as well, these games are such time sinks so addictive! Hope you manage to find some fun ones. :) Passpartout is quite good if you’re in the mood for some casual drawing!
Yep, you can also go all Space Man! ;)
Er… Stardew Valley is telling me something about 147h thinking And Selby might wanna play mp with me some more - I might wanna do that too o.o
I confess: I STILL buy the HM games for my 3DS. I actually only got the 3DS for HM o.o And yes, they eat way too much time offer hours of playing fun! I never managed to get kids in them though, because I just… stopped at some points and hate to get back to a started game and figure out what I was doing with my farm -.-
I decided to play more Cities in Motion 2 and FINALLY get to Tropico 4! The story mode (can’t think of the proper word, sry) is still waiting for me and that would be my main goal to beat really :) Although casual drawing sounds pretty good too o.o
I’m not too worried about 100%ing Stardew, but would like to have my last child and finish the community center since I’m 2 items away (and have been for a while) but should get it this Spring! Hope you enjoy mp and the rest of your games. :)
And I completely feel you about struggling to come back to old saves, I’ve restarted so many HM games. I’ve kind of had that problem with Stardew as well even after just a couple months, can be difficult jumping right back in. I’ve put off logging back on for the longest time, since I left off mid-changing the whole farm layout with only 2 days til Spring and loads of shit respawns. ;_; (pls send help)
Well having two kiddos and rebuilding the community center are already two more cheevos \o/ :D
Oh god, yeah! But funny, I also did a total… change of my farm at some point :) Guess we wanna focus on getting the money cheevo at some point and don’t care about them animals anymore thinking :D
Haha and then once you’re loaded you can use all the money as bales of hay, it’s a win-win. :P Good luck!
That’s it! \o/
Oh my, the perfect timing is real. My boyfriend just gifted me an American Truck Simulator DLC (also Hidden Paws :3333) out of the blue earlier today. Guess what I will be playing ;D
Also glad to hear that other post from 2 days ago was not a real thing…
Edit: All American Truck Simulator . Heavy Cargo Pack DLC achievements done :)
Double edit: Welp I officially have the best boyfriend ever. He also gifted me the New Mexico DLC for ATS 2 days ago so ATS is now 100% completed \o/
Haha I was already compiling a list and was excited for the extra push for a few mixed games, before reading the comments. ;_; That’s what I get for reading the rules after. :P Totally went over my head minus noticing the doofy image.
The only thing I did after reading that was just to be really confused :D Because it had to be fake, but why would someone go through so much effort to make it o.o :D
I keep seeing long nosed truck screenshots in Euro Truck Simulator 2 loading screens and some of these screenshots have American locations on the sign posts. Is World of Trucks connected for both games?
Yea and the screenshots from both games go into one single gallery (don’t ask me why, seems odd to me) on the site so I am assuming they just get randomly picked out of there.
Imagine being a mod and seeing that show up on the front page…
I don’t think I even can :o
Hurray to your bf!!!!
More Trucks on the Road! \o/
Have fun driving! ;)
Er…. what did I miss? takes a closer look at the Activities
Thanks :D Have fun plaything whatever you will be playing as well ^^
I guess you have seen it now :)
Oh, I will totally play some (more) Cities in Motion 2 and FINALLY play Tropico 4! That is waiting way to long for me to really take it serious nod
Yep, found it, had a good laugh with it :)
Hmmm now that you mentioned it I should probably finish of those 2 games as well since I have started them all the way back in 2015. And start up Tropico 5 as well…. man this monthly theme is just perfect for me, thank you <3
It IS purrfect! happy cat :)
>.>
done-
going back to oxygen not included I guess
I just shove all my endless games into a special list and consider them beat when I’ve played my fill anyways cause if I liked the game I end up coming back to it
blinks rapidly I’m missing dots! I’m trying to work your sentences out here :D
Endless is good! Go for Endless! \o/
Have fun ;)
I think I saw this theme suggested so long ago and in such detail, that I thought it had already happened!
Anyway, if anyone doesn’t know about it, you can use Steam Filters to quickly search your library for Simulation and Space tags.
I suggested it… a while back, yep :]
Now is my chance for it! \o/
Thanks for pointing it out, I’ll just steal copy that real quick ;)
Last month.
Guess it’s finally time to play ABZÛ? :P
And also Cook, Serve, Delicious! and Craft The World from my Challenge me also fits~
And and I should probably get back to playing Stardew Valley. :3
For real tho, the “joke” theme is actually a great theme idea. x3
EDIT: ABZÛ ran really badly since I have shit graphics card. ;-; So I guess no swimming simulator for me……
| Game | Playtime | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Cook, Serve, Delicious! | 10 hours | Slowly playing |
| Craft The World | 31 hours | Pause for now |
| Total: | 41 hours | 0 |
Yay! Happy to hear it!
Stardew Valley sounds pretty good! I had a good portion of fun with it… until I had played it a bit too much :D
Have fun with the games! Abzu sounds pretty neat! :)
| Cities in Motion 2 | 62h | finished! |
| Tropico 4 | playtime this month | unfinished/finished |
| name of game 3 | playtime this month | unfinished/finished |
Oh boy. Just right after I finished the American Truck event and spent 10+ hours playing Factorio.
10+
was that just yesterday too? cause we played 10 hours yesterday
if in total tho weak :3
look look I just launched a rocket into spesss \o/
and beat the game finally
No. 10h in one week. I’m still learning to play it =)
Ehm… What can I say? I smell these kinda things and can be totally mean! Drive some more Trucks! \o/ ;)
It’s ok. Just bad luck for me =P
I’ll try to play the Italia DLC for ETS2 (get its achievements).
Sounds good! As long as you are not (yet) feed up by truck driving ;)
If I manage to finish my PoP games in time, I’m gonna try to beat both Community Inc and Galactic Civ III! I’ve already started Community Inc yesterday, so I don’t know if it counts. xD
I’ll just assume it counts, since most games here have loads of playing hours. So counts!
Also happy gaming on your PoP games!
Have a bit of playtime on American Truck Simulator and Pixel Puzzles Ultimate…will make in the next days a table with my playtime…not sure if I will progress further to it after i finish both games events :)
Will edit hours closer to the end of month and add more games in case if I’ll play…rocket league time and achievements are done on f2p weekend
| Game | Achievements | Playtime |
| American Truck Simulator | 10/31 ( 0 new) | 13 hours |
| Pixel Puzzles Ultimate | 81/1113 ( 0 new) | 3 hours |
| Rocket League | 23/82 ( all new) | 3 hours |
| Clicker Heroes | 86/111 (2 new) | 30 hours |
| Time Clickers | 71/99 (10 new) | 29 hours |
No worries. The most important thing about gaming, is the fun part! And as long as you play something that brings fun in your life, I’m happy ;)
So have a great time gaming, what ever you feel like \o/
| Game | Achievements | Playtime (July) | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stardew Valley | 40/40 (+8) | 88.1h | Farming Simulator |
| Hyperdrive Massacre | 1/34 | 0.2h | Space |
More farming! \o/ Have fun growing plants, talking to ppl and taking care of animals ;)
And off to space after that! Sounds pretty good to me!
Hope you’ll have a great time with both games!
Thank you for saving this month’s theme! I don’t know if I’ll end up participating - FF12 is going to take up a lot of time and doesn’t fit - but if I do, I’ll edit this post here.
I think it’s a good double-edged theme that encompasses different gameplay AND theme. I think that’s a good idea! It means more people can participate - they’re not necessarily turned off from monthly challenge if they dislike one or another. I’m not a huge simulation fan, but I am more likely to play a space-themed game, so I can still participate! Good thinking, Nin!
| Name | Achievements | Playtime | Status | Type |
| Queen at Arms | 31 of 31 | 10 hr | Completed! | Dating Simulator |
| Totals: | 31 | 10 hr | 1 |
Never played any FF game, but they are supposedly good. Well, I hope you’ll enjoy your time with it! <3
Ha, you do know, you’re playing dating-simulations, right? ;)
But I know what you mean. The regular building sim is not your thing. And that’s ok. We all like different things and that is awesome!
In case you join the spacey part of the theme: Good luck and loads of fun! :)
I’m sure I will - FF12 is my favorite one, and this will be my third playthrough. I’m pumped!
Also OMG HA WILL THOSE COUNT? I’m down for those counting!
I feel like if those count, though, everything else could count - Sexy Brutale is a murder-stopping simulator, Black Mesa is a escape-from-your-shitty-job simulator…I guess it’s just about simulating responsibly!
Sounds as if you enjoy it a lot! <3
Ok, I dunno if they REALLY really count, but I’m (as always) willing to bend the rules. As long as it has simulator of some kind in the tags, go for it ;)
This might just be the motivation I need to play Endless Space, but that game looks so huge and complex that I’m a bit underwhelmed by it. Maybe I’ll just take this time to 100% Cities: Skyline, since I love that game. I’ll look around to see what other endless games I have.
Aw, man! I love Cities: Skylines! Gotta get back to it at some point too! Right now I’m working on Cities in Motion 2. HAve quite the struggle going on with the subway though o.o
Good luck and loads of fun with whatever game you pick in the end! :)
does clickers/ idlers count to the theme?
Er….. do they have simulation or space in the tag?
But really, you wanna idle for a monthly? :D
I’m openminded and super easy going. If you feel they fit, then.. they fit! Since I made no (restricting) list, you are super free to do, what you like ;) :)
Ofc I’d way more like a.. not idle game though shrug ;)
Oh hey, I started Subnautica last week without looking at this month’s theme and it turns out it fits the theme lol. So I guess that’s one game that I can put for this month. I also plan to catch up either my Netflix or CR watchlist so I’ll probably fire up some Plague Inc while I binge watch.
| Game | Achievements | Playtime this month | Status | Genre |
| Subnautica | 17 of 17 | 35.4h | Completed | Survival |
| Plague Inc Evolved | 12 of 183 | 2h | Unfinished | Simulation |
| Total Games: 2 | 29 achievements | 37.4h | Beaten Games: 1 | 100%’ed Games: 1 |
Ha! Very nice! I’m listening atm to The Witcher books while organizing my traffic in Cities in Motion 2 ;)
Have fun playing! \o/
| Game | Achievements | Playtime | Theme | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astervoid 2000 | 9/9 | 1.7h | Space brawler | Completed |
| Bulb boy | 12/12 | 2.9h | Bulb & gore simulation | Completed |
| Finding Teddy | 19/19 | 1.7h | Aural skills simulation | Completed |
| Eets Munchies | 14/14 | 2.1h | It has “simulation” in tags | Completed |
| GemBreak | 23/27 | 2.4h | Space arcade | Beaten |
| KHOLAT | 20/20 | 4.9h | Dyatlov Pass simulation | Completed |
| Linked | 12/12 | 0.6h | Linking simulation | Completed |
| Loot Hero DX | 20/20 | 1.1h | Looting simulation | Completed |
| PixelJunk™ Shooter | 15/15 | 7.8h | Liquid physics simulation | Completed |
| Reset 1-1 | 12/12 | 1.5h | Numismatics simulation | Completed |
| Serafina’s Crown | 25/25 | 2.1h | Palace intrigues simulation | Completed |
| Sinister City | 17/17 | 1.5h | Shitty vampires simulation | Completed |
| Sparkle ZERO | 11/11 | 1.3h | Natural selection simulation | Completed |
| Stories Untold | 13/13 | 2.1h | There were some space invaders | Completed |
| Super Star Path | 5/5 | 2.0h | Space shoot-em-up | Completed |
| Tadpole Treble | 8/12 | 5.4h | Frog simulation | Beaten |
| Tick Tock Isle | - | 2.1h | Time traveling simulation | Completed |
| The Fidelio Incident | 14/14 | 2.2h | Walking simulation | Completed |
| TIS-100 | 10/10 | 4.6h | Assembler simulation | Completed |
| Zombie Bowl-O-Rama | 21/21 | 2.0h | Bowling simulation | Completed |
| Overall | 280 | 52.0h | - | 20 |
Ok, I made up theme connections and just put here every game that I played this month
Every Space game counts!
Endless games also work out!
So I’m not just wasting time playing Warframe this month! Only problem is, I’m playing the game outside of Steam :D
System error detected. Monthly themes is shutting down. Game over, dear Thirteen! ;)
/Whistles innocently and backs away slowly/
Not my fault… nope, not at all!
| Verde Station | 2.8 hours | completed |
Yay! \o/
| CAT Interstellar | 1 h 7 m | completed |
| Viridi | 19 minutes (5h 3m total) | completed |
| Airplane Sky Voyage | 38 m | completed |
| Ashley: The Story of Survival | 1 h 46 m | completed |
Ha, Viridi.. the main reason I started in rl with succulents :]
I would totally go back if they added new plants!
| Game | Theme | Playtime this month | Achievements | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tropico 4 | Simulation/Endless | about 7 hours | 64% (45 of 70) (+3) | Finally finished main story |
| Plague Inc: Evolved | Simulation/Endless | about 4 hours | 32% (63 of 199) (+9) | Got around dozen new achievements |
| Mini Metro | Simulation/Endless | 34 minutes | 60% (27 of 45) (+3) | Got few new achievements |
| Lethis - Path of Progress | City builder/Endless | about 3 hours | 2% (1 of 50) (+1) | Finished tutorial :D |
| Age of Empires II | Endless | about 10 hours | 39% (112 of 294) (+54) | Got few dozen new achievements |
You… finished… the main story in tropico in 7h? awestruck
I’m toooooooooooooooooo stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupid for the game! cries
Nice work. Hope you enjoyed the month ;)
I had left 3-4 missions left of main story, dropped it long ago :D So those 7 hours are just playtime this month :P
Game is not difficult, just first improve your economy before doing tasks :)
Aha! Well that explains a lot :D
I’m trying. But man, they always want this and that and I don’t want my ppl to hate me, so I spam them with doctors and churches and markets… oh, housing! Loads of that! :D
Edited chart a little so it is less confusing :D
You need to understand that in Tropico it is ok for people to hate you and really only thing you need is army, teamsters/garages/construction (and high school if you are going for industry) :D So you really only need to build things that will make you more money. Mines, salt mines and lumber camps are good way to start, also sugar and tobacco farms. Latter depending on what you started you can go weapon factory if you have iron mine, cigar or rum factories depending on what farms you have(there is also good trait, booze baron gives you +% to rum prices when selling). Later once you have the money you wait for tasks that give you blueprints for factory, once you get it you make new factory and start importing needed good for it to make more things and so on.
Occasionally there are some good mission tasks which you can do once they show up, but mostly do them once you get good economy running. E.g. clinics,hospital, churches and cathedrals are good for improving health(first two), religion(second two) and overall citizen satisfaction with you, but they all cost a lot of money and they need collage graduates to work who need a lot of money to get to the island and later pay :D
As for the housing there is a trick, if you make ministry fast and get a minister of foreign affairs you can get edict with Russia for 50% cheaper Tenements and Apartments :)
I guess… I play the game completely wrong o.O
I’M TO NICE FOR THIS WORLD! I can’t even be a dictator! cries ;)
I’ll try improving my meany side ;)
Thanks for the tips!
Yep, being dictator is only about yourself :D People are there only to make you more money ^_^
And you’re welcome. If you need help feel free to ask :) Also i remember there were some tips around steam community long ago when i first started playing it. :D
This comment was deleted almost 6 years ago.
Playing with some Dinosaurs sounds pretty good! Hope your PC manages, so you can have loads of fun with it! \o/
Also early congrats on 100%ing Euro Truck Sim 2! ;)
This comment was deleted almost 6 years ago.
This comment was deleted almost 6 years ago.