Finished Hard West 2, not bad, not great, I think the first was better and either I don't recall the "friend" system in the first game or it wasn't present, but not a fan of it here. Story is interesting enough and has some variation with gameplay that really came into its own by the final missions.

I was wrong in the last comment, Hard West 2 was about the same length as the first game.

Probably playing West of Dead next, but doubt I'll get it finished before month's end as I'm spending the long Turkey Day weekend renovating my bathroom before we sell the house. Although my new Steamdeck should be here on Friday and it is fully compatible, so may put it on there to play during downtime.

Alright, its been a while. I started strong the first week but then went through a bad breakup. During this time I've just been listening to Knowledge Fight and finally playing Ride 3... which ive now 100%ed. like: main campaign, all paid dlc, all free dlc, own every bike with >50% tuned. I had a lot of time and it was a good campaign (until the dlc then i found that the courses were repetitive and the categories were a bit uninspired)

Hoo boy, looks like the deadline is fast approaching. So far, I've just been picking categories at random to try to keep things interesting. I'd hoped things would just work out that way, but I'm actually still pretty far away from a bingo! I'm not going to force it and make myself play games when I don't otherwise want to, but maybe I'll still be able to pull it off in the last few days. Even if not though, I'd still consider this a huge success, considering I made more progress on my backlog this month than I have in years. Winning a "bingo" was never really the point, was it?

I'm expecting there to be a wrap up thread at the end, but I just wanted to say great job to all who participated. I've been reading through these threads and your thoughts, and I can see a lot of effort has gone into not just playing, but writing up descriptions/reviews of experiences. It's encouraged me to put some effort into my own responses.

I'd especially like to thank @kfwyre for putting this all together. It was a great idea, and I appreciate you leading by example.

Onto the bingo:

Cloudpunk - Recommended by someone IRL

What a gorgeous game. I love cyberpunk, which this game definitely is, but it also has a unique spin on the low-poly aesthetic that is popular right now. Visually it's still got pretty lighting and rain effects, but the models are almost Lego-like. Very cool.

I enjoy casual delivery-type games, such as flying cargo in Elite Dangerous, or running taxi missions in the Grand Theft Auto series. I was hoping Cloudpunk might scratch a similar itch. It almost does, but the frequent story bits - at least in the beginning - mean you'll be frequently interrupted if trying to pair this with a podcast or such. Either the game hasn't opened up to me yet, or there's not a sandbox element like I was expecting.

I'm enjoying the story so far. The characters are likable, and the humour doesn't feel too out-of-place. The dog character in particular makes for a fantastic companion. The choices haven't felt too critical to me yet, but maybe that'll change as I start running out of resources.

This isn't a game that I necessarily feel compelled to finish, but I think I'll keep it around to hop back into the city once in a while.

La Mulana - La Mulana, you wuss

I had to play this one, didn't I? It had a whole category to itself after all.

My first attempt didn't go well. Big surprise. I didn't know how to interact with things, which objects were breakable, or that drowning is apparently bad for your health. That run ended within 15 minutes, before I even learned how to save.

My second (and counting) attempt went better. I explored the outside area, started getting a handle on the controls, and discovered the hot springs, which is a real lifesaver. Then I began exploring La Mulana, the eponymous dungeon.

The dungeon is considerably more combat and puzzle-focused. I thought the game would be more of a metroidvania, but now I feel it's really a puzzle game with heavy platforming elements. You need to get good enough at not dying to make it to the next puzzle, which is where the real challenges are!

I don't know if La Mulana expects you to farm gold or not, but I had a much harder time before buying the Hand Scanner and some software from the vendors in town. The hints provided by glyphs and fallen skeletons help a lot, though they're rarely straightforward.

Even with items, La Mulana is a "trial by error" game. How does swimming work? Jump in and watch your health drain. Whip the wrong magical artifact? You're gonna get zapped. It pulls no punches. I'd almost liken it to I Wanna Be The Guy, except there is some internal consistency to this game. You just need to experiment to understand the internal rules.

I played for almost four hours, though my save file only shows 2 hours. That is because every death sends you back to your last save. It can be frustrating, but I felt like I was starting to make real progress towards the end. I collected a few additional weapons, solved a number of puzzles, and found an artifact that really helped for navigation. Sure I made lots of mistakes, but I felt myself learning from those mistakes, and they better prepared me for future rooms.

I enjoyed La Mulana more than I was expecting to. I actually do enjoy hard games, but I always understood this one to be hard for the sake of hard. I wouldn't say that's the case. It's punishing, but rarely unfair, and that makes all the difference.

This one I do hope to finish. I don't know if I'll be able to do it without consulting a guide at all, but I think that trial and error, and careful study of the clues, can get me pretty far.

Gave up on Have a Nice Death. It just became tedious trying to finish it. I think I got as* much enjoyment out of it for now.

Next one up is Tell Me Why. I really liked the Life is Strange games and the other ones like it. I also have a long weekend, so I should be able to knock this out.

I may buy Jedi Survivor while it's on sale on Steam. I'm a bit concerned some of the technical issues, but I think my PC can handle it.

I have not been very good at either slotting games into my new bingo board, or doing a write-up for them, so I'll try to do the writing here today.

Turbo Golf Racing - it's kind of like Rocket League, but instead of playing soccer, you're playing something more golf-like. There are a few modes - one is "stroke" play, which is very golf like, and one is "speed" play which is still sort of golf-y, but instead of counting strokes, you try to get the ball in the whole in the least possible time. Playing speed mode makes me want to rent a golf course and play actual golf like this, though at my age I would probably have to stop after 2 or 3 holes. I originally got a copy in a bundle and gave it to my son (9) and he convinced me to get another copy so we could play together. Overall this is fun, especially if you can play with someone you know and chat through it. Great casual game, 4/5.

Rocket League - I've reinstalled and retried this game because of Turbo Golf Racing. My son is mostly enjoying it, and it holds up pretty well for a relatively older game. We never had problems getting matches, and while I've never been particularly good at it, I stunned my son a few times with dribbles or air goals. Rocket League was a phenomenon because it was pretty great, and as casual fun games go, it's great. Another 4/5.

Portal 2 (co-op) - I had played the entirety of Portal 2 through at least twice, but never did the co-op mode. It is fantastic; in some ways it is better than the non co-op mode. I whole heartedly recommend this, especially if you can be in the same room while playing it. I've been playing with my daughter (12) and it is like finding a whole new game to play. A+ 5/5.

Forts - a fun and silly game where you build a fortress that has bulwarks and guns and defend yourself against enemies while trying to blow up their forts. It is very cartoonish, and a bit basic, but scratched a Worms itch that I didn't know I had. But it didn't scratch it that well, and I'll probably install one of the Worms games. 3/5

Unpacking - a game where you take things out of boxes and store them away. It started out very relaxing for me, but after a few of the levels, I got a bit anxious about where to put things, possibly because I was quite medicated, and I ended up shutting it off. I will return to it at a later date, but I think this is a solid little indie game that I recommend, and I think it's even in this month's humble choice bundle. 4/5

Aces and Adventures - is a card-based rogue-like that is a mishmash of Hearthstone, Slay the Spire, and poker. You identify and play a poker hand from your hand of cards to deal damage to whatever foe you are facing. There are characters that have different abilities, and "spells" that you can draw that do things based on the cards in your hand. I've only put a bit of time into it, but it's fun so far, and it's definitely scratching the Slay-the-spire sized itch that I've had since I finishing StS. Overall, 4/5.