Best Games of 2018
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 1:01 am
We're looking at music, so may as well discuss gaming as well. Note that not all of these are strictly 2018 releases, but summarise what I've enjoyed most in the last 12 months:
Slay the Spire
When people think of card games, they tend to think of multiplayer ones like Magic the Gathering, Hearthstone and the more recent Artifact. This game is purely single player, and follows a more roguelike/RPG path than the others. Many, many hours have been spent on this one.
Oxygen Not Included
This game is a 2D colony sim style game, somewhat in the vein of Dwarf Fortress (though no where near as complex). With a focus gas and liquid management, it makes for a strange experience as you manage the facilities of a growing space colony.
Subnautica
Survival sims are interesting - I tend to love the idea, but find many have some tiresome mechanics that get in the way of having fun. Others don't really provide enough direction, throwing you in the world where you dictate your own progression. Subnautica straddles the line nicely balancing a game that's relatively simple to play, and with a cool sci-fi plot to keep you moving forward.
Assassins Creed: Odyssey
I enjoyed Black Flag, but mostly AssCreed doesn't do a heap for me. Origins sounded pretty cool, but I never got around to checking it out, and then Odyssey came out, I could resist no more. I've always enjoy a bit of Greek mythology (though that's not really what the game is about) and found this to be a pretty pleasant experience, murdering my way though a huge map, which I've hardly seen a third of so far.
No Mans Sky
I'm one of the few it seems who didn't buy into the hype, and actually enjoyed this game quite bit on launch. Which makes it all that much more exciting when the team announced some significant post-release work undertaken on this game, and half a dozen patches later this is a really cool exploration experience. Sure, the procedural generation renders worlds that are largely a variation on a theme, but there's so much to do in this game, it's hard to be too critical. It's reasonably relaxed nature make for a game I'm always keen to come back to.
Dead Cells
This is touted as a 2D Dark Souls like game, which is played in a procedurally generated environment. I've only briefly played the DS games (I find them to frustrating to be enjoyable) so I can't make a direct comparison, but this is a fun game. The controls are on point, the there's enough fun in this game to keep propelling you towards one more turn.
Slay the Spire
When people think of card games, they tend to think of multiplayer ones like Magic the Gathering, Hearthstone and the more recent Artifact. This game is purely single player, and follows a more roguelike/RPG path than the others. Many, many hours have been spent on this one.
Oxygen Not Included
This game is a 2D colony sim style game, somewhat in the vein of Dwarf Fortress (though no where near as complex). With a focus gas and liquid management, it makes for a strange experience as you manage the facilities of a growing space colony.
Subnautica
Survival sims are interesting - I tend to love the idea, but find many have some tiresome mechanics that get in the way of having fun. Others don't really provide enough direction, throwing you in the world where you dictate your own progression. Subnautica straddles the line nicely balancing a game that's relatively simple to play, and with a cool sci-fi plot to keep you moving forward.
Assassins Creed: Odyssey
I enjoyed Black Flag, but mostly AssCreed doesn't do a heap for me. Origins sounded pretty cool, but I never got around to checking it out, and then Odyssey came out, I could resist no more. I've always enjoy a bit of Greek mythology (though that's not really what the game is about) and found this to be a pretty pleasant experience, murdering my way though a huge map, which I've hardly seen a third of so far.
No Mans Sky
I'm one of the few it seems who didn't buy into the hype, and actually enjoyed this game quite bit on launch. Which makes it all that much more exciting when the team announced some significant post-release work undertaken on this game, and half a dozen patches later this is a really cool exploration experience. Sure, the procedural generation renders worlds that are largely a variation on a theme, but there's so much to do in this game, it's hard to be too critical. It's reasonably relaxed nature make for a game I'm always keen to come back to.
Dead Cells
This is touted as a 2D Dark Souls like game, which is played in a procedurally generated environment. I've only briefly played the DS games (I find them to frustrating to be enjoyable) so I can't make a direct comparison, but this is a fun game. The controls are on point, the there's enough fun in this game to keep propelling you towards one more turn.