The 365 Days 2022 Gaming Challenge - achievement unlocked.

[MartyG]

Disgaea 6 - Nintendo Switch - Day 23 Game 23

It's more Disgaea but this time the sprites have gone and everything is rendered in 3D. I had been putting this one off, hoping that the game would come to PC. It will happen eventually I'm sure, but the Switch will have to do.

Unfortunately the Switch really can't cope with everything that's going on, at least not in the quality mode. Set it to performance and it (mostly) runs at 60 FPS with only the odd hiccup, but it doesn't look fab as the resultion isn't 1080P. Jaggies all over the place.

If you can put that stuff aside, this is more of the Disgaea that everyone loves, but some QoL things have been added to help things along. There are options for auto battles now, everyone who was on the map gets XP (whether in battle or not), auth healing after battle. If you're an old master, you might think the game has been dumbed down a bit (and it has a little), but it does make getting into things easier for first timers.

Will need to get to the end game to really open things up, but so far the story is as daft as a brush with a zombie and his dog taking on the main character role.

Disgaea is life - this one gets 9 Prinnies out of 10 dood. It'd be a 10 were it not for the performance issues.

[MartyG]

Out of The Box - PC - Day 24 Game 24

You are an ex-con newly employed bouncer who doesn't want any trouble but unfortunately seems to find it all over.

Pressured by your criminal overlord boss, spied on by your parole officer and hassled by drunks and agressive customers, it's your job just to let the nice over 21 year olds in.

If you've seen Papers Please, it's the same kind of thing but a little more basic and as such it's one of those games where one play is enough - not sure where this one came from, so was probably part of a bundle.

I give it 5 nightclub brawls out of 10 - it's passable.

[MartyG]

Life is Feudal : Forest Village - PC - Day 25 Game 25

A city builder set in a feudal village. Pretty complex from a system point of view. The number of different food types seems to be important so that your villagers get the right nurtitional mixture and vitimins apparently.

It's the usually gather, builder, gather build but looks very pretty and has seasons and bears.

I give this one 7 workers unions out of 10.

[MartyG]

1000 Days to Escape - PC - Day 26 Game 26

Not a lot to this one but you'll not be idling about as every moment counts. It's 1000 days until the end of the Earth and it's your job to evacuate the 7 billion planet inhabitants to their new exoplanet homes.

With rockets on stand-by, make for the stars and search for inhabited worlds. Of course, most of them aren't, but this is the age of terraforming. Planets can be converted by sending the right equipment and supplies.

All this is against the clock and with limited science points (currency) - get the populations to the planets and earn more points to get bigger rockets, and better equipment and hopefully leave an inhabitable Earth for new homes.

I give this one 7 ion engines out of 10.

[MartyG]

Half Way - PC Day 27 Game 27

A strategic RPG. You wake up from cryosleep on a large space cruiser that is almost deserted and you need to find out what's going on.

Made me think a little bit of Laser Squad but I think I preferred that ancient game. The AI isn't particularly clever, it just swamps you, so lots of level restarts to get things progressed. The setting seemed nice, but I didn't find it particularly strategic, more a case of retreat, get distance and pick off enemies at a distance.

I give this one 5 maintenance bays out of 10.

[MartyG]

Mini Motorways - PC - Day 28 Game 28

The sequel to Mini Metro (not the car) but this time instead of running train lines you're running roads. Mixing it up with bridges, roundabouts, A-roads, traffic lights and yes, motorways, you need to use your limited resources carefully and plot the most efficient route possible to maximise the car journeys whilst minimising the traffic jams.

If the cars can't get to their destination in a timely fashion, then the tick markers grow and once too high at that particular destination, then it's game over.

I'm not sure the traffic flow simulation is particularly accurate, but the interface is easy to use and it's quite fun. Although the mechanics don't really change, there are different levels with different challenges and a daily and weekly mode to show who's best.

I give this one 8 carbon monoxide poisonings out of 10.

[MartyG]

Tetris 99 - Switch - Day 29 Game 29

Been meaning to play this for a while - you know what Tetris is (if not, why are you even on this forum?) and you know what Battle Royale is (if not, why are you even on this forum?). This is Tetris Battle Royale.

This game also shows I'm not as good at Tetris as I think I am. Mind, there is a bit of randomness to it - if you get targetted right at the start by multiple high level players you've got no chance. I suspect this game has meant a number of controller being thrown at random though.

I give this one 9 T-Spins out of 10. Frustrating and brilliant in equal measure.

[MartyG]

Epic City Build 4 - PC - Day 30 Game 30

It you remember early city builder games, this is one of those. It's an indie title and clearly a bit of a passion project, this one is a bit rough around the edges.

It does try to do something a little bit different in that there's an almost 4x element to it. There are other nations you can interact with and should you decide to develop nuclear weapons, can start a war with and nuke them.

But the music. Please won't someone kill the music.

I give this one 6 it's the same music track playing again out of 10.

[MartyG]

TransOcean 2: Rivals - PC - Day 31 Game 31

Well, made it through an entire month of playing a new game every day and to end January it's shipping, not piracy, that completes the month.

The basic premise of TransOcean is to run a shipping company and move containers from port to port. And actually that's just about it. Much of the game is a case of waiting for a ship to arrive, choosing another contract and set sail for a port and wait for that to arrive.

As things go it's a fairly slow-paced and calming game. I'm sure once you get a fleet of ships moving about the place it becomes more hectic, but wouldn't you in real life employ a few managers to manage a few ships rather than the one ring?

It's alright, but it's not a desert island game. I give this one 5 striking union dockworkers out of 10.

[MartyG]

Transport Fever 2 - PC Day 32 Game 32

Had hopes for this one but it just turned out to be utterly frustrating to play from graphical glitches to electric lighting and loudspeakers on railway stations in the 1800s, to an awful unintuitive UI to buggy tutorial missions that wouldn't complete.

I give this one 2 derailments out of 10.

[fishbowlhead]

Keep up the good work Marty.

[MartyG]

PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate - PC Day 33 Game 33

Fairly standard Tower Defense game. I've had this game in the library for years and never got around to playing it.

Only a handful of different towers and enemies, but the method of turning trees into weapons and collecting the coins from kills to build more works well enough. It's fun quick play title that passes the time.

I give this one 8 babies gonna be eaten out of 10.

[MartyG]

GemCraft: Frostborn Wrath - PC - Day 34 Game 34

Another Tower Defense game, but this time there seems to be a little more strategy to it. The basic premise is you're a wizard who can spend mana on different things. Build towers and walls to slow things down and arm these towers with different gems which have different powers.

But wait, there's more ...

It's also possible to combine gems to make them more powerful, so is it better to have more towers with lower-powered weapons or fewer towers with bigger better arms. All the time the enemies move closer to the base and if they reach it take mana away from you - if it reaches zero then game over. Another strategy then, do you build enough towers to earn just enough mana that should some enemy crabs make it thru, your mana store can never reach zero so it doesn't matter?

Some clever stuff that definitely makes this one of the better TD games I've played and for that reason, I give this one 8 wait is that Ubisoft in the distance asking you to climb them out of 10.

[MartyG]

Wizard Warfare - PC - Day 35 Game 35

Think it's supposed to be a 4X of some description but it was more like a click next turn simulator. No tutorial to explain the game and an unfathomable UI meant I quickly got bored of it.

4X games don't need to be this obtuse - Civ has complex systems without them being opaque, along with a meaningful UI.

I give this one 3 I've no idea what's going on out of 10. Also I didn't see very much Wizard Warfare going on.

[MartyG]

Deep Sky Derelicts - PC - Day 36 Game 36

Set in space, this dungeon explorer card battler has some similarities to Darkest Dungeon but enough differences to make it feel like its own experience.

With a crew of scavengers, your job is to search derelict spacecraft to find some mystical alien tech that's going to make everyone richer. Searching the wrecks costs energy reserves which reduce with every action, so the strategic challenge to keep this is in check whilst fighting off challengers in card battles, with the usual play of offensive, defensive and status acting moves.

Really enjoyed this one with its comic-like art style and storytelling and the deck building is always fun.

I give this one 8 alien worm guts of of 10.