28th March
Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little about the games we’ve been playing. This week, everyone’s playing the same games again. Bertie’s probing Slay the Spire 2; Connor’s getting frustrated with people in Marathon but not in Old School RuneScape; Kelsey’s playing Pokémon Pokopia while also trying to ‘ship Leon Kennedy and Lara Croft; and Dom’s playing with their balls again.
What have you been playing this week?
Here’s another question: do you remember what you were playing last week? You don’t have to! The What We’ve Been Playing archive has you covered.
Play another game, Bertie!
So I’ve been playing Slay the Spire 2 again… But hey, look, listen, I had a successful run as the Regent so all has been forgiven, and I started to toy around with the idea of really small decks and repeated cards, which I don’t think I’ve done before. It made me feel clever. I died; but it made me feel clever. So I’m experimenting a bit, and I’m trying to build strictly around certain ideas and resist the urge to take card rewards early on, which is difficult. Often I’m still really struggling towards the end of Act 2 to make a deck click, which feels really precarious, though there are glimpses of gloriousness.
In a recent run I had a card that bestowed another card with “Replay 3”, which means a card is automatically played another three times without an associated energy cost. It’s random which card is bestowed with this heavenly gift, but at one point I had one of my ‘multiplayer’ cards – they’re new – buffed with it. Alone, this card gives my co-op partner four extra energy (it’s upgraded from three) to play cards with, so “Replay 3” effectively quadruples that, giving them 16 energy in total. They didn’t realise what had happened to begin with when I used it, then I heard some swearing on voice comms. You’re welcome. And it’s this kind of fortune-favouring game breakage that Slay the Spire is all about.
I also spent a bit of time playing Nutmeg, a nostalgic football management card game, which I wrote an impressions piece about. It’s got incredible retro vibes, but as I’m starting to discover, the card game part of it is limited. Or maybe I just need to push past a very slow start. We’ll see.
-Bertie
Play another game, Connor!
Yes, so I’m playing Old School RuneScape again, and Marathon. In RuneScape I’ve finished mining shooting stars for Stardust, which I’ve used to colour my lovely mining gear gold and buy a fancy ring that… improves mining. Look, this is the game! I could be killing monsters and completing quests but I’ve been mining for hours – it’s just how it goes.
With Marathon, I’ve found myself deeply frustrated running Cryo Archive with random people online. Putting a lot of loot on the line just to have the people you play with not talk and get caught out by other players, killed, and then quit before they can be revived is hair-pullingly awful. If I had to compare it to other gaming experiences, I’d compare it to being trapped in a terrible World of Warcraft raiding group for upwards of two hours, and playing Ranked League of Legends.
On the bright side, I’ve talked my way into an organised crew with other games media people this weekend. Our hopes are high!
-Connor
Play another game, Kelsey!
Surprising absolutely nobody, I am still playing Pokopia. I’ve managed to sink in around 70 hours since launch and while I have rolled credits, most of that time has been spent in the first region of Withered Wastelands. I’ve sculpted cliffs, built a lot of homes (and then demolished and rebuilt said homes… twice), and created a rather underwhelming tree house for all my bird Pokémon to live in. My next plan is to build a very big and not-at-all underwhelming dojo for all my fighting type ‘mons to live in, but I am also forcing myself to take a break to avoid burning myself out too quickly.
That and the Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream demo came out, which took my attention away from Pokopia for a few hours. On my island, I’ve currently got Lara Croft yearning for Leon Kennedy’s attention, though he’s too busy having sleepovers with Agent 47… It’s a real trip.
-Kelsey
Play another game, Dom!
It’s got me, again. Thanks to the Regal Update that landed in the game a couple of weeks ago, I’m playing with my balls again. I just can’t keep my hands off. It’s so compelling, so hypnotic. I think this game gets me more into ‘Tetris Effect’ mode than even Tetris Effect did. Between Balatro, Ball X Pit, CloverPit, Die in a Million, and The Rogue Prince of Persia, it’s been a stunning few years to be a roguelike fan. Just bring on Vampire Crawlers, I guess!
-Dom
