What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.
Looking up the Boox Palma device right now, it seems to be very handy actually. The only point where I may not be able to use it for everyday use would be that it seems to struggle with playing Spotify music. But I wouldn't mind picking up one of those 4G dumbphone devices that Nokia puts out for that usecase.
I like the idea of MOBAs, and sometimes contemplate learning one. Not to be really good -- just enough to have fun as a lower-class player. It sounds attractive as something that might occupy my brain for a few hours, but I wouldn't wanna treat it like a career without pay, like I used to work on my chess (with serious courses, studying books, etc).
So my question it, is that something that can or should be done? And what game would be best?[1]
[1] As long as it is not an FPS.
I wish to know more about science in general and books are a good way to do that. We have a good assortment of science-minded people on Tildes, so I think it would be interesting to know what everyone recommends. The one requisite is that the books must be adequate for a general audience. This means that the books must not require the reader to hold a STEM degree or even have a particular aptitude for STEM.
Just so it is abundantly clear: I am looking for books that people with an arts and humanities background can read. Laypeople. "Dummies".
I'm asking more about books that are intros to a specific field than introductions to science in general.
Thanks!
Q: I missed the beginning of this event. Can I still join?
A: Of course! It's open all month.
Topic etiquette:
It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week if you play multiple games.
It is fine to respond to yourself with updates if you're continuing a single game and walk to talk more about it as you go.
If you are playing Backlog Bingo, feel free to make a top-level post with your card that you edit as you go, while making new posts underneath that to talk about the games as you play them.
Gameplay guidelines:
Goals for this event (if any) are entirely individual and self-determined.
You do NOT need to finish games unless you want to. The point is to try out games and have fun, not force ourselves to play things we're not interested in.
Thanks to the amazing efforts of our very own @Wes, we are debuting Backlog Bingo! This is a completely optional way to participate in the month.
You can generate a unique Backlog Bingo card from a collection of 73 different categories. Choose the ones you want in your batch, and then use Wes's custom-made online tool to automatically create your own individualized bingo card.
Wes's tool automatically assembles the markdown for your table, so it will paste beautifully into comments here on Tildes. For example:
| Bingo! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not super popular (e.g. <50 user reviews on Metacritic) | Is one of the oldest games you own | Arcade game | Has DLC | You own on physical media |
| You have to tinker in order to get it running | You got from a bundle | You wanted to play it when you were younger but never did | Owned for more than five years | Has cute, feel-good vibes |
| Co-op game or campaign | From now-defunct dev studio | ★ | Has a non-human player character | Owned for more than one year |
| Not found on any distribution service | You can save/pet/care for animals | Begins with one of your initials | You paid full price for it | Solo-dev project |
| Has an animal player character | From a series you have played | Has number somewhere in the title | Owned for more than three years | Came out more than 5 years ago |
Play games throughout the month to check off categories in the Bingo card. The ★ in the middle of every card is a free space -- there are no requirements for that square and any game you play fits there!
The most basic win condition is five-in-a-row, but, if you're feeling really wild, you might go for a win pattern that's a little more involved. Your choice!
Here's an example of someone "winning" the card above:
| Bingo! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not super popular (e.g. <50 user reviews on Metacritic) | ✅ Terminal Velocity (1995) |
Arcade game | Has DLC | You own on physical media |
| You have to tinker in order to get it running | ✅ World of Goo |
You wanted to play it when you were younger but never did | Owned for more than five years | Has cute, feel-good vibes |
| Co-op game or campaign | ✅ Blur |
★ | Has a non-human player character | Owned for more than one year |
| Not found on any distribution service | ✅ Super Metroid |
Begins with one of your initials | You paid full price for it | Solo-dev project |
| Has an animal player character | ✅ Rise of the Tomb Raider |
Has number somewhere in the title | Owned for more than three years | Came out more than 5 years ago |
Bingo Golfing (thanks @Wes and @aphoenix!) is also an option: trying to clear a pattern by counting multiple categories for a single game, thus “winning” with as few games as possible.
Step 3 of Wes's tool includes instructions for checking off games, which has to be done manually. If you need an in-thread guide, you can use the following example below:
This markdown:
||
|:-:|
| ✅ ~~Struckthrough Example Category~~ <br> **Bolded Game Title** |
Gives this completed square: (ignore the header row that markdown requires for its tables)
| ✅ Bolded Game Title |
If you can't figure out how to check off categories or you break the Markdown for your table, feel free to ask for help in the comments or PM me and I can help you out!
Your "backlog" is all those games you've been meaning to play or get around to, but never have yet. This event is an attempt to get us to collectively dig into that treasure trove of experiences!
Choose a game (or several) from your backlog and play it/them. Then tell us about your experiences in the discussion thread for the week! If you're not sure what you might write, take a look at our 2022 or 2020 events to get an idea.
Nope! Not at all. There aren't really any requirements for the event so much as this is an incentive to get us to play games we've been avoiding starting up, for whatever reason. Play as much or as little as you like of a given game. Try out dozens for ten minutes each or dive into one for 40 hours. There's no wrong way to participate!
I will post an update thread weekly, each Wednesday, all through November. At the end of the month, I think it would be neat to tally how many collective games we all removed from our backlogs, as well as what the best finds were from our collective digging into our libraries. I expect we'll turn up some good hidden gems, as well as interesting insights.
You don't have to do anything to officially join or participate in the event other than post in these threads! Participate in whatever way works for you.
I'm doing the best that I can! A "problem" with 2023 is that it has been an absolutely stacked year for gaming releases. There simply hasn't been a "slow" month. With limited time left, I figured November was at least better than December. Think of this as an opportunity to cut down on your backlog before all the end-of-the-year sales hit.
My son got invited to a birthday party, which will be at a candy shop. I don’t know the girl other than she’s 7 and likes dogs and crafts. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Budget would be under $20 or so.
Edit: thanks so much for all the suggestions!
This is the third movie we discuss of Academy Award Winners. Kim Basinger won for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and it won for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Sound and Best Director.
Did the movie deserve its nominations and awards? Did the screenplay and Kim Basingers performance in particular stand out? Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The rest of the schedule is: