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Yeah, I just meant part of the reason I haven’t checked out the new ones is I keep just being satisfied dipping into the originals.

I had a similar experience and even at the end I love the fact that you can just go back to the ‘point of no return’ so easily and make different decisions to play them out.

I haven’t to be honest. I came to Monster Train kind of late and find myself going back to Steamworld Heist every year or so and it still feeling satisfying and fresh so when I’ve had time I’ve experimented with the other Steamworld games. Haven’t found one that’s stuck for me like heist though.

I love all things mushrooms so once I’ve (finally) had my full of the first one I’ll check it out.

I absolutely adored the sequel and I wasn’t expecting it to live up to the first since it’s one of the best and most effecting games I’ve ever played.

I was impatient and posted a bunch. There’s a few with roguelike/lite elements in the list I posted, but should be plenty in there that you’d like. On the RPG front I’d strongly recommend both Citizen Sleeper and Thronebreaker.

Please Touch The Artwork is a cool relaxed puzzle game based on real paintings (£2.15)

Citizen Sleeper is one of my favourite games ever; a really narrative rich (but not long winded) sci-fi game with fantastic worldbuilding, vibes, and politics that uses a novel streamlined version of TTRPG dice to do decision making and resources stuff. Really sublime (£5.02) The sequel is on sale but is new so is more like £15.

Mad Max is an open-world vehicular combat (and occassional Batman game style parry combat section) game that was the best 7-out-of-10 type game when it game out but has aged well & is genuinely a great bit of canon Mad Max lore and worldbuilding if you care about that series. (£2.39)

Thronebreaker: Witcher Tales is a narrative RPG based around playing Gwent (sometimes with traditional rules, sometimes with unique interest puzzle battles) that has writing as good or better than the Witcher 3. It wasn’t a hit, despite being excellent, and so they tried to turn Gwent into Hearthstone later, but Thronebreaker is standalone and still my favourite Witcher game. (£3.39)

Swordship is a fast, roguelite indie ‘schmup’ where you pilot a superfast boat through heavily sci-fi militarised sea dodging turrents and other dangers. I found it difficult, but addictive with a cool style and soundtrack. (£0.84)

Invisible Inc is a fantastic turn-based strategy heist game with a great art style and really good gameplay. I’m quiet a picky turn-based nerd and this is one of the best. It’s also not too punishing (unless you want it to be) and is relatively short to finish a run in a satisfying way compared to longer campaigns. (£3.74)

Steamworld Heist is my favourite of the various Steamworld games. It’s basically robot Firefly and a 2D turn-based shooter-strategy game where your pirate captain & crew board ships, fight your way to cargo with a variety of cool weapons (and hats) & escape with it. (£1.13)

Yoku’s Island Express is a unique, colourful, joyous platformer-pinball hybrid game where your little dung beetle (with dung ball) slides, pinballs, jumps through a lovely, relaxing island metroidvania world. Just lovely all round. (£3.19)

Sludge Life is a stylised, low-rez, 3D open world adventure game with excellent lofi 90s hip hop meets chillwave vibes and a banger soundtrack including the best in game rapper since Parappa; BIG MUD! (£2.55)

Ape Out is a top-down indie action game where you play as a giant ape escaping its captors and splattering armed mercanaries against walls with a Saul Bass animation style and top drawer jazz-drum soundtrack that syncs with your hits. (£2.55)

Monster Train is probably the best roguelite card game since Slay the Spire with more variation and quicker to get into, where you play the forces of hell trying to protect a big train careening through the seven circles to relight hells fires while battling those irritating crusade-fash coded angels heaven has sent to stop you. (£6.29)

Crypt of the Necrodancer is a roguelite homage to old Zelda (so much so Nintendo eventually had them do an actual Zelda version) that’s also a hardcore rhythm game where you move and attack with the beat (and so do all the enemies). As someone who really cannot play rhythm games and never even beat the fourth level I still loved my time with it. It’s got an all time banger soundtrack and the best shopkeeper in games. (£1.27)

Is there anything you broadly like / dislike? You’ve given me an excuse to browse it even though I shouldn’t be.

It’s a shame really because I’m probably contributing to a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy of not reading games journalism because most of it is bad, therefore not finding the better stuff etc.

I don’t read a lot of games writing because a) most of it is pish and b) there’s too much else to read but I really enjoyed this one.

This bit genuinely made me lol:

Books FIFA 2003 and SimCity 3000 computer games.

Soccer makes me feel empty and I barely know how to read, so the first two mean nothing to me

Same. (Actually it was mostly the new, early Terry Prattchet Discworld books back then. But a lot of those have pretty based politics too)

Yeah, but it wasn’t a random accidental death based on numbers. Lib-organiser designated ‘peacekeepers’ tried to murder a leftist protestor for walking down the street open carrying (which is legal and they always did) and killed a bystander in the process as well as shooting him. The lib organisers, the ‘peacekeepers’ involved’, and the police they worked together in an attempt to cover it up, smear the innocent open-carrying protestor they’d tried to murder as “an evil and depraved domestic terrorist” and mass shooter, and then slapped a murder charge on them despite them being the only living victim. And they’re still trying to obsfuscate and cover it up, despite video coming out that shows what really happens and destroys their lie.

None of us are famous enough to be the target of this meme. Otherwise it’s perfect

Already done, but it’s good that you posted this here. Same goes for the recent Big Issue articles on disability benefits and this governments attack on disabled people more broadly.

I always wanted to play this game but haven’t got anything that’ll play it, so usually I avoid the ongoing meta-fun, but this one has bled into my algorithm elsewhere, and for once I love to see it.

It was a decade ago, once, but I stand corrected as I do love seafood treats

Don’t you get an achievement called something like ‘Enjoyed the crab puffs’?

It’s a shame you can’t mix and match really. I want to know the geopolitical ramifications of running an Inoffensive Iron Fist Bordello.

God, I’d forgotten about this thing!

Also… new 3D, triple-tier, heatmapped political compass just dropped courtesty of NationStates: