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.

October 2023 - My First Late Post

Games played this month

• Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
  

  45 hours playtime

  36 of 36 achievements

• The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
  

  3 hours playtime

  no achievements

• The Jackbox Party Pack 4
  

  7 hours playtime

  7 of 20 achievements

• Bloons TD 6
  

  17 hours playtime

  25 of 146 achievements

• Kingdom: Classic
  

  33 minutes playtime

  1 of 34 achievements

• Left 4 Dead 2
  

  15 hours playtime

  38 of 101 achievements

Gameplay Summary

This month was another month where I was fairly busy, though strangely I was more productive in my gaming with the same time, so that’s a positive. For the first time, I am actually a week late with my post since I was celebrating Halloween with my sister, and I only realized now that I failed to make a post. I hope you didn’t miss too much without an update.

Completed: Placid Plastic Duck Simulator

A new DLC came out for PPDS, so this month I went and earned all the new achievements as part of PAGYWOSG. There were some interesting duck interactions, but there’s not too much I can say about a mostly idle game given the time I have spent in it. I did like the fun mini-game that was added as part of the latest DLC, so I’m glad I tried it out.

Completed: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

This free game was an absolute gem. I can see why it has overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam and is regarded as one of the best Sonic games. It is an interesting mix of visual novel with 2D light platforming levels (though these do get a bit tough toward the end). It only takes a few hours to complete, so I highly recommend playing it since it comes at the absolute low price of $0.

In Progress Completion: The Jackbox Party Pack 4

I revisited Jackbox 4 again this month, but this time it was with a much larger group. I was hosting the game for a virtual happy hour at work, where we were able to completely fill the 16 slots for Bracketeering, and we had loads of fun. In fact, many of my coworkers plan to buy other games in the series to host themselves for other virtual happy hours. I even managed to get a rare achievement during the test session with a few coworkers to make sure I can properly display the game. We will be playing the game again in November for our next happy hour, so I’ll fill you in on that next month.

In Progress: Bloons TD 6

I played another couple of sessions with my friend on BTD6 this month. At the beginning of the month, we powered through to get me the achievement for completing 10 maps with only primary monkeys, which was pretty easy. Later in the month, we tried our hand as a recently added boss balloon, which was an interesting challenge. We beat the first version of the boss, but we failed quickly at the second one.

In Progress: Kingdom: Classic

As an entry for PoP, I started to play this title to see how it works. I made a little progress on my first playthrough, but ultimately failed when I went too aggressive pushing into the forest. I have learned my lesson, and I plan to try to actually beat a session at least once. I read a guide for how to play since the in-game instructions are lacking, so I feel much more prepared to play.

In Progress: Left 4 Dead 2

My friend and I had a session of L4D2 as well. It was another session of achievement hunting, and I was able to earn a couple of achievements, including a rare one for killing a witch with only melee weapons and no incapacitation or death. I actually earned it on accident, so it was nice that I never need to purposely try it again.

September 2023 - Living on the Edge

Games played this month

• Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
  

  41 hours playtime

  32 of 32 achievements

• Antichamber
  

  6 hours playtime

  no achievements

• Gunfire Reborn
  

  13 hours playtime

  32 of 120 achievements

Gameplay Summary

This month was extremely busy for my personal life. Between work and home life, the majority of my month was characterized by minimal down time except sleeping, but thankfully I beat a couple games at the beginning and end while I could. Cross your fingers that I can hopefully get some more significant balance to be able to spend time on fun and not just adult responsibilities.

Completed: Placid Plastic Duck Simulator

At the beginning of the month, I managed to finally earn the last few achievements of this game. They were split across a couple DLCs, but thankfully the game lets you select which DLCs of ducks to include when you play. This made it a lot faster to duck around and achieve my last couple of achievements. At least, it will be completed until the next DLC arrives.

In Progress Completion: Gunfire Reborn

This month I only got to play with my friend once or twice, but I managed to earn some achievements out of it, including beating the hardest boss in the game. Or at least, my friend carried my carcass through the final boss so I could earn the achievement. Next up, I plan to earn some of the other achievements, including getting practice on harder difficulties since this game is a sort of rogue like.

Beaten: Antichamber

This game is mostly complete, but it still has a few secrets for me to find. I had an absolute blast with this game, falling under the category of Escher-style games with non-Euclidean space. The puzzles were well thought out, and I only needed a couple of very minor prods to get through some puzzles I was stuck on. I highly recommend the game for anyone who is a fan of first-person puzzles.

August 2023 - In With a Bang, Out With a Whimper

Games played this month

• Beat Saber
  

  16 hours playtime

  17 of 26 achievements

• Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
  

  35 hours playtime

  29 of 32 achievements

• The Jackbox Party Pack 4
  

  5 hours playtime

  6 of 20 achievements

• Bloons TD 6
  

  14 hours playtime

  23 of 146 achievements

• Left 4 Dead 2
  

  13 hours playtime

  36 of 101 achievements

Gameplay Summary

This month’s gameplay started incredibly strong. I beat two games after my end-of-July beaten game, bringing my PAGYWOSG game beaten count for August’s event to 3, one of my strongest months. Unfortunately, I became very busy in the second half of the month, leading to me abandoning my plans for two other games I originally anticipated completing for the month. Despite this, I still consider this month’s progress a success, and I plan to lead into the next month to finish a few games for both PAGYWOSG and PoP if all goes according to plan. But in my life, plans are just wishes, so let’s see how things turn out.

Beaten: Beat Saber

At long last, this entry is finally considered beaten. The tough part of trying to beat this entry is the intense physical activity required to be able to complete the later stages of the campaign. Despite the strenuous exercise, I was able to power through the last level of the single-player campaign at the beginning of the month. I still plan to use this game for cardio workouts, and I still have some more missions to beat in order to 100% the campaign, plus other achievements. I’m looking forward to my upcoming progress on this one.

In Progress Completion: Placid Plastic Duck Simulator

With this and the next game, I am adding a category of status for games which I have previously achieved beaten status but am working toward 100% completion still. In this case, I completed the Hippospace Download DLC achievements, which took surprisingly little time. It’s still fun to watch the ducks when I need something to relax to, so I look forward to earning the last few achievements and earning the final completion status. At least until more DLCs are released, that is.

In Progress Completion: The Jackbox Party Pack 4

This is another title I previously earned the beaten status for, but in this case I was not achievement hunting. This month, I was mostly playing for fun with my mom and a friend, which I enjoyed a lot. It’s a fun title to play with groups, and it’s especially convenient that only one person needs to own the game. We played Bracketeering, Survive the Internet, and Fibbage 3 during our play session, and it was all just for good fun. It’s nice sometimes to unwind without focusing on beating or completing a game.

In Progress: Bloons TD 6

While playing with my friend, I was able to earn a couple more achievements. This small progress is nice, and it was fun to play some coop matches with my friend. We tried and failed to beat the most recent boss bloon event, but it was a blast to try to problem solve through the unique challenges the boss threw our way.

In Progress: Left 4 Dead 2

This title was last seen in May, but it was fun to come back to it after a while. The good news is I earned a couple new achievements since the last month I played, which means progress. The bad news is that the playtime was soured by the fact that I was trying to play on a new computer, and my headphones were not compatible with my new desktop tower. This led to me using Apple AirPods for my audio, which was a horrible experience. Thankfully, I have a new headset that works very well with my desktop, so I will not have this issue again.

July 2023 - Time Away and Time to Play

Games played this month

• Gunfire Reborn
  

  12 hours playtime

  26 of 120 achievements

• Size Matters
  

  81 minutes playtime

  22 of 57 achievements

• Beat Saber
  

  15 hours playtime

  16 of 26 achievements

• Bloons TD 6
  

  12 hours playtime

  21 of 146 achievements

• LEGO® Batman™: The Videogame
  

  3 hours playtime

  no achievements

Gameplay Summary

This month I started with a plan. I took a week off from work to recharge, and I wanted to knock out some longer games. Sadly, that did not happen. Ironically, I spent over two weeks not playing any games for a variety of reasons, and when I did play games it was at most an hour or two with several days gap, more so than my usual pattern of limited game time. However, I did manage to get some good wins in place, and I have goals next month to knock out even more.

Beaten: Gunfire Reborn

A continuation from previous months, I finally worked with my friend to beat the game for the first time. Although there is plenty of replay value left (and I intend to continue playing next month), I was able to squeeze in a beaten status. There are more bosses to beat, more difficulties to play, and more characters to master. With persistence, I will continue to play through and attempt to complete this fun title. Given the time zone differences, I actually managed to beat this game for the August PAGYWOSG event, which is nice since I don’t have to rush now to do something for August.

Beaten: Size Matters

This game is a fun mind bender when I need something that is both relaxing and challenging at the same time. I have so far beaten the first three main difficulties and earned many of the side achievements. I will continue to work towards completing the other difficulties and achievements as I play some more. The next level of difficulty has proven much more challenging than the first three, but it gives me something to work towards. I beat this early on as part of the July PAGYWOSG event and double dipped for PoP.

In Progress: Beat Saber

At long last, I spent a little time on this title again! I finally got to try out some tracks from the new music packs (Queen, added Panic! At the Disco songs) and get some exercise in. I only played once and made myself super sore, but I did find my limit to avoid going too high on my heart rate until I work up. I plan to get some more regular exercise starting next month, so expect to see some more progress as I build up my heart health and endurance.

In Progress: Bloons TD 6

Here is a title that I have not played in a long time, but set aside a little time to play with my friend. The classic bloon popping game continues to be a fun puzzle to solve, especially with some of the newer challenges. My friend and I spent time trying (and miserably failing) to defeat the boss bloon for the current event, but I cut us some slack given the difficulty of the map.

In Progress: LEGO Batman: The Videogame

I actually bought and played this as part of the PAGYWOSG/PoP Discord Monthly Game event. The theme was to play a Batman game from select titles, so I started off with the first entry of LEGO Batman. It took a bit to figure out the crashing issues, but after figuring out how to get my Windows 11 laptop to run the game in Windows Vista compatibility mode, it has worked almost flawlessly. Although I only beat the first of three episodes, I had a great time playing for the event, and I expect to continue working to beat it given how fun and light-hearted it is.

June 2023 - Open For Extended Hours

Games played this month

• Broken Sword 1 - Shadow of the Templars: Director's Cut
  

  11 hours playtime

  no achievements

• Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
  

  33 hours playtime

  25 of 32 achievements

• Among Us
  

  8 hours playtime

  5 of 33 achievements

• Dino Run DX
  

  77 minutes playtime

  8 of 49 achievements

• Gunfire Reborn
  

  7 hours playtime

  18 of 120 achievements

• Victoria 3
  

  80 minutes playtime

  no achievements

Gameplay Summary

June was a good month for gaming time, with more than double the gaming hours of the last two months combined. This allowed me to make good progress on a few games and play around randomly with a few others. My personal life was relatively relaxed last month, allowing me some time to push through some gaming that would be otherwise difficult to complete. Granted, one game was mostly idling, but even so, I was able to dedicate several hours of active gameplay that I was not able to in previous months.

Completed: Broken Sword 1 - Shadow of the Templars: Director’s Cut

As part of Play or Pay, I was able to squeeze in a third game for the event. Broken Sword 1 was a fun point-and-click mystery game, filled with witty humor, challenging puzzles, and an interesting story. I was pleased to be able to complete it within the month with very minimal hints. I highly recommend the game to point-and-click fans.

Beaten: Placid Plastic Duck Simulator

I had taken a break from this title, but the calling of the ducks (and newly released DLCs) pulled me back in. I was able to “earn” all the base game achievements, as well as all the achievements from the Quacking the Ice DLC. A few other achievements were also unlocked. I had fun playing hide and seek with the ninja, but most of the time was spent idling for the random unlock achievements. Later I will unlock the remaining achievements for the other DLCs, including the recently released Hippospace Download DLC.

In Progress: Among Us

This was one of the titles I only played for a short time on one day, but it was fun. As one of the titles my friend and I played together, it was good to unwind with a social deduction game. Unfortunately, he killed me twice in a row, which was amusingly frustrating, but it was fun nonetheless. I sometimes come back to the title periodically, so it may pop up on occasion in my BLAEO reports in the future.

In Progress: Dino Run DX

Another game with limited play time, Dino Run is a classic which I originally played on Kongregate during the height of Flash gaming, and I periodically play it when I feel like experiencing a bit of nostalgia… and earning a few trading cards. Despite my low play time, I was able to earn some achievements to make progress.

In Progress: Gunfire Reborn

Returning to games with longer playtime, I had a wonderful experience after purchasing Gunfire Reborn based on my brother’s recommendation. This co-op shooter is an absolute blast to play, especially if you have friends to play with. I have played many sessions with my friend, and my brother who recommended the game joined in on the fun for one play session this month. This is a title I will be returning back to frequently over the coming months, and I can say it is one of my favorite FPS games.

In Progress: Victoria 3

At long last, after pre-purchasing the game and proceeding not to play until multiple major updates were released, I finally had the joy and nostalgia of playing this fun Paradox game. Though I did not play too much of it, and no achievements were earned since my friend and I were in multiplayer, it was amazing to step back into some familiar but different gameplay. I previously played Victoria II years ago, and this new iteration has some familiar mechanics, but I had to learn as I went. I started off as the Papal States, and my friend started as some low-tech, poor west African country. By the time we logged off for the night, he was ahead of me. Go figure. A small nation battling with sticks was beating one of the largest religious institutions of the time period.

May 2023 - Something Old, Something New

Games played this month

• STAR WARS™ Episode I Racer
  

  4 hours playtime

  no achievements

• Left 4 Dead 2
  

  12 hours playtime

  34 of 101 achievements

Gameplay Summary

If last month was targeted, this month was laser focused. And not in an overly productive way. I had very little opportunity in May to game. Real life always takes precedence over gaming time. Despite this, I was able to make great progress on a couple of great games. I will take that as a win and hope that I have more time for games in the upcoming month while still having time for personal life.

Beaten: STAR WARS™ Episode I Racer

This game was an amazing nostalgia trip. I previously played this game on Nintendo 64 many years ago, and I finally took the time to play it after it was selected as a PoP pick for me. I also got to use it for PAGYWOSG. It was just as fun as I remembered it, and this time I was able to beat all three of the main circuits. The high speed, low forgiveness races were an amazing experience, and I highly recommend to anyone who wants to enjoy a great racing game. I beat the entire main series with Anakin. I hope to beat the last three Invitational circuit courses in a later month, but for now I am ecstatic about my performance.

In Progress: Left 4 Dead 2

This month saw significant progress in achievement hunting thanks to the play sessions between me and my friend. I was able to grab some rare achievements and significantly increased my completion percentage. I have played all the campaigns that have achievements (haven’t played a few though). I will be continuing this progress over the months to see what it takes to 100% the game, and I will continue to post my progress as I go.

April 2023 - Targeted Work

Games played this month

• Tacoma
  

  3 hours playtime

  4 of 12 achievements

• THE GAME OF LIFE
  

  42 minutes playtime

  0 of 10 achievements

• Left 4 Dead 2
  

  3 hours playtime

  7 of 101 achievements

• World of Warships
  

  350 hours playtime

  21 of 45 achievements

Gameplay Summary

This month saw a pretty strong start, but there were some home circumstances that made it difficult for me to game a lot. There was an approximately two week stretch where I didn’t play any games at all while attending to home matters, but I was able to squeeze a little into the end of the month. Therefore, most of my gameplay time was targeted to specific tasks such as quick game completions and achievement hunting. And ducks.

Beaten: Tacoma

I had a blast with this game, and I plan to earn the last few achievements given the relatively low difficulty level. I loved the story, the gameplay was solid, and the amount of world building through random items was awesome to see. I am excited to try finding the remaining secrets that unlock achievements. This was played as both a Play or Pay game and a Play a Game You Won on Steam Gifts game.

In Progress: The Game of Life

I got to play a session of this game with my mom one day during the month, but I came to a frustrating discovery. You cannot unlock achievements in multiplayer. Strangely, you must play the game in single player with bots to be able to unlock any achievements, which is disappointing considering I bought this game to play with friends, and the second game lets you unlock achievements regardless of whether you play single or multiplayer. If there is any solace, I got to spend some time with my mom that did not involve adult housekeeping activities.

In Progress: Left 4 Dead 2

This month I had the opportunity to play some more zombie shooting with my friend. We focused on completing campaigns and earning achievements during our play time, which was fun by itself. I especially had fun knocking some zombie heads with a golf club and running a whole campaign using only melee (with my friend carrying me) to earn some harder achievements. More progress to come.

In Progress: World of Warships

I only played this game at the beginning of the month, literally on April 1. My friend and I had a blast though since there was a temporary event to play as rubber ducks in a pool, and it was a cute, fast-paced mode that was surprisingly relaxing. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

March 2023 - Good Progress, Random Progress

Games played this month

• Cube Destroyer
  

  2 hours playtime

  no achievements

• The Jackbox Party Pack 4
  

  4 hours playtime

  6 of 20 achievements

• Retro City Rampage™ DX
  

  6 hours playtime

  5 of 20 achievements

• Beat Saber
  

  15 hours playtime

  16 of 26 achievements

• Left 4 Dead 2
  

  87 minutes playtime

  4 of 101 achievements

Gameplay Summary

This month had a good mix of targeted and ad hoc gaming. I beat two wins for PAGYWOSG that I planned at the beginning of the month, beat another for the event I did not plan on, played another game I planned but not as part of an event, and started working on a new game that was completely unplanned. This mix helped give some variety to my month, and it took away some of the “I’m playing this because I’m required to” feeling that can sometimes come with certain events. Even with the random games mixed in, it turned out to be a productive month.

Completed: Cube Destroyer

Cube Destroyer was a decent game I would recommend if it’s on discount (most sales end up at less than a dollar). It had solid gameplay, though the variety was lacking. Some of the levels were frustrating, but it wasn’t bad per se. It’s worth a shot to play if you own it, and if you do not own it, you can pick it up cheap during most sales.

Beaten: The Jackbox Party Pack 4

When it comes to this game, “beaten” is a bit of a stretch. I am using the definition from PAGYWOSG where beaten status is considered earning 25% or more of the achievements, which is what happened here. This was a random game I added to the event last minute. My family had some friends over, so I hooked my laptop up to our TV, and several of us played Bracketeering together. It was a blast, and we accidentally earned a few more achievements from me. I’m sure we will play some of it later, so this may eventually reach complete later.

Beaten: Retro City Rampage DX

This game was a joy. It has taken a couple separate months of intermittent gameplay to beat the main story, but it was a blast. I can best describe this game as what would happen if GTA were developed on the NES. It was super fun, and I am glad to have beaten the story. I will one day go back to earn the other achievements and complete the other missions, but for now the main tasks are complete. Definitely pick this one up if you have not already.

In Progress: Beat Saber

This month’s Beat Saber progress went toward playing the new and revamped Imagine Dragons songs available as DLCs in the game. They have definitely gotten tougher from the originals, and the new songs were also fun to play. Other than trying a few of the new levels, I played a couple of my go-to tracks. I only had the one session this month. Next month I am targeting to try the new Panic! at the Disco songs that were just released, so I will provide an update on those in my next post.

In Progress: Left 4 Dead 2

This game was also an unexpected addition to my month’s play time. My friend and I were bored World of Warships, so we decided to play this classic that I have had in my library for a long time but never touched. The last time I played it was with the same friend on Xbox 360 more than a decade ago. It was nice being able to play one of the classic missions and reliving a fun game. We’ll be working through some more of the missions later, so stay tuned for updates.

February 2023 - A Slow and Short Month

Games played this month

• Super Hexagon
  

  7 hours playtime

  6 of 6 achievements

• Ballpoint Universe: Infinite
  

  3 hours playtime

  9 of 27 achievements

• World of Warships
  

  349 hours playtime

  21 of 45 achievements

• Beat Saber
  

  14 hours playtime

  16 of 26 achievements

Gameplay Summary

This month has been fairly sparse on gameplay, with limited hours and limited games. In retrospect, it makes sense given how busy I was with work, family life, and generalized lack of intrinsic motivation to actually play games, but I managed to pull off a couple goals by the end of the month.

Completed: Super Hexagon

After over 10 years of owning the game and several hours of gameplay dispersed through that time (many of which were on the DRM free version I got from Humble Bundle before I got Steam), I finally beat the last level. There were a couple agonizing points where I got within a couple seconds of beating the game, but in the end I completed it less than an hour before the Play a Game You Won on Steam Gifts event ended. This is a title I will likely visit later to try to improve my scores, but I will likely take a break.

Beaten: Ballpoint Universe: Infinite

This one was agonizing to beat. I tried working on it a couple months ago until I hit a roadblock where the game just crashed whenever I played a certain level. I found a workaround which involved switching back and forth between the main build and a beta build, which was tedious but manageable. I did like the game when it worked, but I do not recommend it if you do not already own it. I will likely revisit this later to get the remaining achievements.

In Progress: World of Warships

This month’s update is fairly similar to last month. I have continued making progress toward unlocking the next Japanese Aircraft Carrier, but progress is slow. I would rate myself an average (maybe even somewhat below average) player given my playtime, but that does not stop me since this is a common pastime with my friend. Hopefully I will have more of an update next month, so wish me luck on my sailing (and flying).

In Progress: Beat Saber

This one has an even smaller update than World of Warships. I think I played one time for only about 15 minutes, so I can’t give much of any progress. Here’s to hoping I’ll get more cardio in next month so I can give you all an update. I guess I also bought the latest DLC songs from Imagine Dragons yesterday, so there’s that. I’ll test them out and provide an update after March ends.