kfwyre's recent activity
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Comment on Is there a site where I can check if a game has multiple endings or missable stuff without spoilers? in ~games
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Comment on Is there a site where I can check if a game has multiple endings or missable stuff without spoilers? in ~games
kfwyre LinkI sometimes check in on Before I Play which gives general tips on starting out in some games. The advice leans toward stuff that can come back to bite you later — whether that’s missable stuff,...I sometimes check in on Before I Play which gives general tips on starting out in some games. The advice leans toward stuff that can come back to bite you later — whether that’s missable stuff, building a character wrong, locking yourself out of choices, etc.
It’s a neat little resource, but unfortunately it’s got limited information. I think it deserves more attention and contributions.
The other thing you can do is check the game’s Steam guides (assuming the target games are available on Steam) for a “beginner’s” or “starting” guide. These generally avoid spoilers as a best practice.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentPictoQuest - Perspective PictoQuest is an RPG-themed picross/nonogram game. Each puzzle is an RPG task, like battling an enemy or opening a chest. I chose it for Perspective because, whenever I'm...PictoQuest - Perspective
PictoQuest is an RPG-themed picross/nonogram game. Each puzzle is an RPG task, like battling an enemy or opening a chest.
I chose it for
Perspectivebecause, whenever I'm solving nonograms, I'm so focused on individual squares the entire time, that it isn't until right at the very end that I catch a full glimpse of the complete picture and go "oh, THAT's what it is!" Even when it's really obvious -- my mind simply doesn't "zoom out" until I'm done.With regards to the game itself, it's well-made and polished and perfect for the Deck, but I also don't know that the RPG elements add much of anything to the game. They might come more into play later, but thus far (about two hours in) I've just sort of solved everything and ignored the fact that there's an enemy attacking me and I have a health bar and whatnot.
The only time it's really been an issue is that sometimes an enemy attack will remove an already solved tile, which I don't like. This is infrequent though.
At present I'm only at 10x10 puzzles, and they've all been relatively easy. The game does present as being aimed at kids, so I'm not sure if it'll get more difficult as I go. That said, I'd definitely recommend it as an entry point to nonograms for kids. I imagine they'd get a lot more out of the battle elements and item system than I have.
I'll keep playing this, not because I think it's a great game, but because I simply enjoy the puzzle type it focuses on.
Oh, and one neat little touch that I really enjoy: after you solve a puzzle, not only does it get colored in for the full picture, but it's actually animated as well. That's cool!
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Comment on Meta Quest 2 - For someone in a wheelchair in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentFair warning: the game was buggy as heck when I played it. I still enjoyed it overall, but I ended up fighting against glitches a lot, which made it less fun. This was based on the Steam release...Fair warning: the game was buggy as heck when I played it. I still enjoyed it overall, but I ended up fighting against glitches a lot, which made it less fun.
This was based on the Steam release at launch though. No idea if the Meta build is better, or if it's been patched since.
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Comment on Meta Quest 2 - For someone in a wheelchair in ~games
kfwyre (edited )LinkHighly recommend a Quest! I'm out of that ecosystem now, but I loved my Quest 1, and from what I've heard it's only gotten better since. Also, you can filter Meta's games list by Player Mode >...Highly recommend a Quest! I'm out of that ecosystem now, but I loved my Quest 1, and from what I've heard it's only gotten better since. Also, you can filter Meta's games list by
Player Mode > Sittingto see what some good options are.If he's never played VR, I highly recommend taking it easy for the beginning games. Anything with movement can be very disorienting at first. It's something you get used to over time, but if he were to jump right into, say, a flight sim or racing game, it could be very off-putting or even nausea-inducing.
Here are two good "starter" VR games that I recommend. Each is simple and isn't likely to cause motion sickness since they have no player locomotion:
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Esper is a short puzzle game where you manipulate objects through telekinesis.
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Moss is a narrative combat adventure starring a mouse. The mouse is adorable. Your partner will fall in love with the mouse.
Also, a cool feature of the Quest is that you can cast it to a TV. This means that he could play a game, and you could watch him play it on the TV while the two of you chat about it. This can be fun, because being in a headset can sometimes feel a little isolating, so this turns it into a shared experience.
My husband watched me play Taskmaster VR, for example, and we collaborated on solutions while I played. Meanwhile, I can't do anything close to horror in VR, so one of my friends played Half-Life: Alyx on my headset while I watched him and we commented on the game together.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentKind of cool to see Never Yield pop up — I actually tried it out quite recently myself! It only has 77 Steam reviews, so I assume the game isn’t very well known at all. That said, did you run into...Kind of cool to see Never Yield pop up — I actually tried it out quite recently myself! It only has 77 Steam reviews, so I assume the game isn’t very well known at all.
That said, did you run into any timing issues? I was playing it on my Deck and it felt unresponsive, like my input were way off. I ended up bouncing off of it quickly, despite liking it conceptually.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre (edited )Link ParentThis game is actually on my shortlist of things I’m considering playing for the Backlog Burner, so it’s cool to see it show up on yours. I knew nothing about the game other than “golf + decent...This game is actually on my shortlist of things I’m considering playing for the Backlog Burner, so it’s cool to see it show up on yours. I knew nothing about the game other than “golf + decent reviews,” so I appreciate you sharing that it’s got interesting narrative elements. That definitely piques my interest.
Might have to see if I can slot this one into my card before the month is out.
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Comment on Follow up on the username thread: What Tildes users do you recognize when browsing and, without being rude or inflammatory, what is your impression of them? in ~tildes
kfwyre LinkWow. A lot of very kind comments from people here. I'm honored. I thought about making my own list, but it quickly became too big to do justice to, and also I'd perpetually worry about leaving...- Exemplary
Wow. A lot of very kind comments from people here. I'm honored.
I thought about making my own list, but it quickly became too big to do justice to, and also I'd perpetually worry about leaving people out.
Instead, I'll say this: if you're someone here who participates in good faith and speaks from earnest conviction, then I appreciate you. Even if we disagree on things. Even if we've had friction in the past.
The cool thing about this community is that the above qualifier is genuinely almost everybody. Yes, that does mean I genuinely like and appreciate nearly everyone here, but no, that isn't a copout -- it's the honest truth. It's why I put so much time and effort into this community in the first place.
I don't know of another space, especially online, where I get to interact with people behaving as people and not just avatars in culture wars.
So, genuinely: if you're someone here whose comments make it so that we can glimpse the authentic human person behind your username, then you're someone that I like and appreciate. I want you to imagine that I've pinged you directly. Yes, you specifically.
You make Tildes a great place to be.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentMining Mechs - Progress I fully realize that I’m one square away from a bingo and that this choice was not a strategic one. Nevertheless, I had lots of air travel this weekend, and, as is the case...Mining Mechs - Progress
I fully realize that I’m one square away from a bingo and that this choice was not a strategic one. Nevertheless, I had lots of air travel this weekend, and, as is the case whenever I fly long distances across multiple flights during a short window like a single weekend: when I’m on my way home, I’m always exhausted.
I can’t really sleep on planes though, so I need something mindless to occupy my mind to pass the time.
Enter Mining Mechs.
The game reminded me a bit of Wall World, SteamWorld Dig, and GEO — each of which are primarily about digging for resources so that you can make digging easier so that you go deeper and get better resources. In other words:
ProgressThis game follows the same loop, albeit a bit more bare-bones than the others. You mine for resources, and while down there, discover mines that you can connect pipes to. These generate passive income over time. You use the income to buy better mechs and level them up so you can go deeper.
The mechanics are there, but they lack refinement. For example, you can increase your mech’s dig speed, but the deeper you go, the slower the digging goes. So, even when you do upgrade that stat, it gets negated over time. At endgame, with full drilling power, the lowest dig levels will take an excruciatingly long amount of time.
The game is also grindy to a fault. The costs of later upgrades are unnecessarily high. I ended up leaving the game open to idle for two hours today simply to let my passive resource generation accumulate enough to buy a few more points.
I did end up 100%ing the game, but only because I’d completed most of it on my flights yesterday. Had I not been stuck on planes and in airports, mentally and physically exhausted, then I definitely wouldn’t have seen this one through. I do think other games (like the ones I mentioned above) scratch the same itch and do it better.
That said, the one strength of Mining Mechs is that it is genuinely mindless, so it’s a great game to play while listening to audiobooks or podcasts. I finished it up today (after idling) while listening to a book. So if you’re in the market for something to turn your brain off for, then this is a good choice.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentEigengrau - Symmetry This little game is sitting at a lowly 52 Steam reviews right now. All 52 of the reviews are positive. It's good enough that I think the pattern would still hold if it had 520...Eigengrau - Symmetry
This little game is sitting at a lowly 52 Steam reviews right now.
All 52 of the reviews are positive.
It's good enough that I think the pattern would still hold if it had 520 reviews. The game is a rare and genuine standout.
Eigengrau is a bullet hell scrolling shooter with one significant twist: instead of always shooting upscreen, your ship shoots in one of the four cardinal directions based on whichever face button you're pressing at the moment. (“Eigengrau” is also probably German for… something. I don’t know; I don’t speak German but I can if you like.)
The shooting directionality is a novel idea, but the game is also genuinely much more than that. It keeps innovating, playing around with all sorts of different conventions -- some related to direction, and some not.
I don't want to say too much about these, because they're genuinely fun to discover as they unfold. The game does a great job of introducing an idea or new mechanic, then ramping it up and iterating on it. It does this a lot. These occur over the course of a stage, and then the final boss is a culmination of all of the different elements put together.
The game remained consistently creative during its two hour runtime for me. It was genuinely a joy and didn't get old or wear out its welcome.
Furthermore, the game is wonderfully polished. It looks good. It plays well. It's got lots of nice little touches.
For example, in each substage, there are stars that can be earned. You're not told specifically what to do to earn them, but as you're playing you might notice a counter start when you kill a certain enemy type, popping up with "1/8". The next one advances it to "2/8". Get all 8 and you get the star. These little micro-goals as you play are spread throughout the entire game. Also, upon beating it, you unlock a separate list of challenges to complete -- one for each sublevel again.
Additionally, I give credit to the game for being beginner friendly. The game is, by its very nature, quite challenging, but it gives you a difficulty setting and the opportunity to increase your number of shields per level from 10 to 30. There is no way I would have survived hard mode at 10, but I was able to make it through the full game on easy with 30, albeit with several close calls. One of my common complaints about scrolling shooter/bullet hell games is that there's often not a point of entry. You're expected to be very good at the start and grind to get better. I like that this one is a bit more open to less skilled players like me.
That's not to say the game isn't challenging. Fans of the genre who want to grind and face down extreme difficulty absolutely can. Whether that's by score chasing, dropping the number of lives and chances, ramping the game up to "hard" instead of "easy", or tackling the specific stars and challenges for each sublevel -- the game offers a wide surface area for anyone that wants to dive deep into it.
I chose this for
Symmetrybecause bullet hell games often have beautiful geometric patterns. Eigengrau doesn't disappoint in that regard and is genuinely pretty. Furthermore, because of the directionality of its shooting, it has a lot of rotational symmetry in its design that I felt made it particularly apt for this category.Overall, I give an enthusiastic recommendation for this game to fans of the genre. It's excellent. It deserves to have a player base much bigger than it currently does. I think it is a certified hidden gem.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre (edited )LinkMode: Standard Bingo! Finished 9/25 ✅ Journey to the Savage Planet Organization Duality ✅ PictoQuest Conflict Courage ✅ Eigengrau Adaptation Open ✅ Mining Mechs Isolation ✅ That Which Gave Chase ★...Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 9/25 Wonder
✅ Journey to the Savage PlanetOrganization Duality Perspective
✅ PictoQuestConflict Courage Symmetry
✅ EigengrauAdaptation Open Progress
✅ Mining MechsIsolation Endurance
✅ That Which Gave Chase★ Wildcard Trust Creativity Synthesis Empathy
✅ Sea of SolitudeDeception Change Freedom
✅ Snow Moto Racing FreedomFear Truth
✅ RumuRestoration Fleeting
✅ WindwardCausality -
Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - Voting Thread - Minority and Disadvantaged perspective books - Spring 2025 in ~books
kfwyre LinkGoodreads links: Boyne, John - The Heart's Invisible Furies Cho, Zen - Black Water Sister Cosby, S.A. - Blacktop Wasteland Emerson, Ramona - Shutter Erdrich, Louise - The Sentence Fernandes, Fabio... -
Comment on Follow up on the username thread: What Tildes users do you recognize when browsing and, without being rude or inflammatory, what is your impression of them? in ~tildes
kfwyre Link ParentIn case you need to hear it from someone else too: you’re loved here, Akir!In case you need to hear it from someone else too: you’re loved here, Akir!
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentFocuses on relationships is a great slot for Hades — and not really an obvious choice. The depth of the character writing really surprised me in that game. I went in expecting it to be a beautiful...Focuses on relationshipsis a great slot for Hades — and not really an obvious choice.The depth of the character writing really surprised me in that game. I went in expecting it to be a beautiful and punchy action roguelike (which it 100% delivers on), but the way the devs tied progression into the character interactions through gifting was really smart and gives the game’s lore and narrative a lot of heft.
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentThis is the most Actual Bingo way to play Backlog Bingo. Random numbers get called and maybe there will be a win? I love it!I'm not actually trying for a Bingo; if it happens, it happens (like real bingo). In fact, I'm not even choosing the games I'm playing. I'm letting a friend pick random numbers of the backlogged games I have installed already and just going from there.
This is the most Actual Bingo way to play Backlog Bingo. Random numbers get called and maybe there will be a win?
I love it!
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentIn my phone I have a note where I jot down different ideas for discussion topics to post to Tildes. It’s got dozens (maybe hundreds?) of different things accumulated in there from over the years....In my phone I have a note where I jot down different ideas for discussion topics to post to Tildes. It’s got dozens (maybe hundreds?) of different things accumulated in there from over the years.
One line that has been in there for a while now is “So you want to explore a derelict spaceship…”
I put it in years ago, after I played a series of space station crisis games, like The Station and Event[0]. I had an idea of doing a “round-up” of a lot of them, but then realized there were plenty I hadn’t played, as well as many I’d played so long ago (e.g. the original Dead Space) that I couldn’t really do them justice. I ended up not moving on the idea, and it stayed buried in my brainstorming note, like so many other topics.
It is cool that they really are their own entire sub-genre of gaming though. System Shock 2 is one of my favorite games of all time and is probably what originally inspired my love for the trope. So, just like my comment last week, this is my way of saying “I get you!”
I also need to go back to Prey. I played the beginning of it and really liked it (it felt like a worthy successor to SS2) but ended up dropping my playthrough due to other unrelated-to-the-game factors.
Your writeup of it is incredible, by the way. The way you describe the game’s systems and your attitude towards playing it is rich and illuminating. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into your commentary!
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Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre LinkPinging all Backlog Burner participants/conversationalists: here’s the new topic for the week. Notification List @aphoenix @AugustusFerdinand @CannibalisticApple @Cannonball @CrazyProfessor02...Pinging all Backlog Burner participants/conversationalists: here’s the new topic for the week.
Notification List
@aphoenix
@AugustusFerdinand
@CannibalisticApple
@Cannonball
@CrazyProfessor02
@deathinactthree
@Durinthal
@Eidolon
@Evie
@hamstergeddon
@J-Chiptunator
@JCPhoenix
@Pistos
@SingedFrostLantern
@Wafik
@Weldawadyathink
@Wes
@WiseassWolfOfYoitsu
@xothistIf you would like to be removed from/added to the list, let me know either here or by PM.
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November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion
Week 3 has begun! Post your current bingo cards. Continue updating us on your games! If you did not participate in Week 1 but want to start this week, that's fine! Reminder: playing bingo is...
Week 3 has begun!
Post your current bingo cards.
Continue updating us on your games!If you did not participate in Week 1 but want to start this week, that's fine!
Reminder: playing bingo is OPTIONAL.Quick links:
Week 2 Recap
14 participants played 13 bingo cards and moved 36 games out of their backlogs!
There were 0 bingo wins.- 6 people played Flow bingo cards
- 7 people played Flux bingo cards
- 1 person played free choice
Thus far, a total of 53 games have been played for the November 2024 Backlog Burner.
Week 2 Game List:
- A Dance of Fire and Ice
- ActRaiser
- Affordable Space Adventures
- Anomaly: Warzone Earth
- CAYNE
- Celeste 64: Fragments of the Mountain
- Control
- Cult of the Lamb
- Dark Future: Blood Red States
- DarkStar One
- Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
- Journey to the Savage Planet
- Lethal Company
- Mandragora (demo)
- Monster Hunter Wilds (beta)
- Moonring
- Odysseus Kosmos and his Robot Quest (and Let's Play video by u/JCPhoenix)
- Otherskin (demo)
- Part Time UFO
- Pikmin 4
- Pokémon Kanto Expansion Pak
- REMNANT II
- Rumu
- Secrets of Grindea
- Snow Moto Racing Freedom
- Super Mario Eclipse
- Super Mario Maker 2
- Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings
- Tacoma
- TaleSpire
- That Which Gave Chase
- The Battle of Polytopia (and Let's Play video by u/JCPhoenix)
- The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
- Wilderless
- Yes, Your Grace
Week 1 Recap
11 participants played 10 bingo cards and moved 17 games out of their backlogs!
There were 0 bingo wins.- 6 people played Flow bingo cards
- 4 people played Flux bingo cards
- 1 person played free choice
Game list:
19 votes -
Comment on November 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentOh gosh, I guess I do have “a type” don’t I? 😂I see you've once again got the "AI companion" games list on lockdown!
Oh gosh, I guess I do have “a type” don’t I? 😂
It’s a public wiki, so it’s definitely a YMMV type of situation since pretty much anyone can contribute anything.
That said, I’ve overall found it more useful than not. I feel like most of the contributions are from people trying to be helpful.