Sunless Sea Kickstarter: Victorian Gothic Horror... On A Boat!

Years ago I stumbled across an online narrative game called Fallen London.  I still remember reading choose your own adventure books when I was a kid and this game was perfect to scratch that itch (without the ability to cheat and see which option is best... come on, you know you did it too!).  More that just the story, I also found the setting fascinating and mysterious! Here you are trapped in the Fallen city of London, consorting with Rubbery Men, Devils, and the Masters of the Bazaar as you try to discover what this place really is and how you got here.

Now the folks at Failbetter games are looking to spin off into new and unknowable directions with their Kickstarter for a 2D seafaring exploration and survival game they are developing.  Welcome, my delicious friend, to the Sunless Sea!

Setting out from Fallen London, you guide your vessel into the unknown waters of the Sunless Sea.  Will you find endless wonders or horrors beyond imagining?  There is no way of knowing as each game is a unique experience leading itself to massive re-playability especially when combined with the deep story engine that is wrapped into the game.

Visually this game also looks stunning with its use of lighting effects.  You are literally exploring a world with no sun so even that becomes a resource you must manage.  Do you blaze your prow-light at full strength and risk attracting the attentions of pirates and monsters or run with the light low and slowly drive your crew mad?

Gameplay Concept shot from Sunless Sea

What's even better is this game will be available for digital download with a pledge of a mere 10 pounds (which equates to roughly $16 USD currently...) which is an incredible bargain! Right now this Kickstarter has about two weeks left and is nearly funded so I definitely recommend hopping over and checking it out.  Until next time...

To Boldy Go Where No MMO Has Gone Before...

While everyone else out there is clamoring for Tekken vs. Capcom, or Mass Effect 3, or Knights of the Old Republic, I've just gotta be different.  Oh I feel for a computer bug again but not one of the new shinnies.  Nope, I'm not nothing if not a nonconformist.  Heck, I don't even know if that statement makes any sense but I do know that I'm enjoying playing...

This game is seems to be set some time after at least Next Generation and maybe even Voyager but I'm not exactly sure.  While I do enjoy the whole Star Trek franchise every now and then I'm definitely not one of the rabid fans who can give you the exact star dates for everything that happened in the show..  Not that there's anything wrong with that... well, I don't know I'd go that far but I digress...

Star Trek Online puts you in command of your own starship in the Federation as it balances on the brink of war with the Klingons, Romulans, and even the Gorn.  The game play seems pretty standard based on my own limited experience with MMORPGs but one of the things that this game includes that I'm particularly enjoying is starship combat.  Never mind running around in the woods hunting for orcs, now you're soaring through space in all of its three dimensions as you try to out maneuver and destroy your opponents!  Just throwing in that third dimension adds in a whole new... well, would you believe dimension?

From what I've seen so far this game is lots of fun and though I could see it getting somewhat repetitive in the long run you can't beat the price; it's free.  There is an optional monthly subscription that runs $15 a month but if you are just looking for something that lets you cruise around the universe, explore new worlds, and blow stuff up too boot the free subscription should work out for you.

That's about it for this week but be sure to come back next week for a long overdue Song of Blades and Heroes battle report!  Can the adventurers overcome the goblin menace?  Will I be able to finish painting the last of the heroes before I bust out the camera?  You'll just have to come back to see!  Until next time...

Really Diggin' Dem Bones

At our last gaming session SpacerGal kept raving about this game she'd picked up for her Nintendo DS, saying that it was even better than Pokemon. Personally this is like saying that strychnine is better than cyanide but after listening to her go on about how great Pokemon was it got me thinking that maybe I should check this game out. Just what game was it? Why none other than Fossil Fighters.

In this game you play a budding young fossil fighter hoping to prove that you have what it takes to become a master fossil fighter. To do this you have to find and clean fossils of various dinosaurs which are then used to create a vivosaur copy that you can battle with. Kind of an odd concept but it sounded intriguing so I decided to bite the bullet and pick it up to see if it was as good as SpacerGal said.

I still don't know how it compares to Pokemon but I have to say that Fossil Fighters is a fun little game that challenges you on several levels. Finding the fossils is relatively easy but before you can make use of them you have to clean them. This is done using the touch screen on the DS to break and drill away the rocks from the precious bones within but be careful! If you just go at the rock willy-nilly you will not only break the rock but probably the fossil as well. At best this will make you vivosaur weaker than it should be but it could make the bones completely useless as well.

Once you have created your vivosaurs from the bones that you successfully cleaned it is time to fight! To do this you must choose which vivosaurs you will have on a team and then pick which team to use. In my opinion this is one of the places where the game really shines as you can either just pick whatever looks cool to you or you can get deeper into the mechanics of the whole thing to create a balanced team to take to battle. Each vivosaur has different strengths and weaknesses and its up to you to create a team that you can take to the "table" that is strong enough to beat you opponent and get you one step closer to becoming at Fossil Fighter Master.

This game is definitely worth picking up in my opinion. There is more depth to it than first meets the eye but even that depends on the user. Feel like just screwing around? Go for it. Want something a little more in depth as far as strategy? This game can give you that as well. And the really cool thing about it? You can get it for less than $20. A fun game at a great price is a combination that you just can't go wrong with.