Once I finished my semester, I had quite a bit of free time over the holidays. So I decided it was a good time to attempt to cull the backlog of games, both board and video varieties. Now while I did manage to play games I haven’t been able to play before, this challenge didn’t exactly go as planned every day.
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So the original plan was to play one new board game and one new video game every day. That quickly changed due to my own mental health and other factors outside of my control. So I switched it to 6 video games and 6 board games during the 12 days. So onto the games!
On the first day…
Since I got the Switch I have been looking for games that I’ve wanted to try and thought I’d be more likely to play on the Switch. Thus why I got Wandersong. Out of all of the games I played during this challenge, Wanderlust was one of two video games I finished. I’m saving my in-depth thoughts for a review post, but this was a wonderful game to play.
On the second day…
So Gris was not technically in my backlog, because it released during the 12 days and I was very intrigued by it. I definitely plan on playing this game to completion because I am fascinated by it, it’s beautiful, and the music is phenomenal. Speaking of the music, go listen to the soundtrack (it’s on Spotify!). It’s so good.
On the third day…
Not every game could be a winner, unfortunately. I tried out Marble It Up! and I found it a bit frustrating in a way that made me not want to play more. There is a difference between something being challenging and something frustrating, and this was the latter for me.
On the fourth day…
Finally a board game! It was easier to play video games solo, but thanks to the inclusion of solo variants on board games, I finally got to do a board game. I jumped in with Fire in the Library because I knew it had a solo variant and was familiar with the game since I demoed it at PAX Unplugged.
On the fifth day…
Ok back to video games. I was interested in A Normal Lost Phone because of the lost phone mystery concept, particularly the fact it was not a horror lost phone mystery like Simulacra. This game was very quick to play, and what I enjoyed most was the story. I was genuinely surprised by it, even though I pieced some of it together before fully revealed.
On the sixth day…
Just Shapes and Beats was a demo I had on my Switch so I gave it a play. This is a game I’d define as challenging, as it took a while to defeat even one level. But I did enjoy it quite a bit and the music is awesome.
On the seventh day…
More board games! Go Nuts for Donuts is one I got my brother to play with me so we could try it out and decide whether it was good for Christmas gaming. It feels like a hybrid of 12 Days and Sushi Go and is definitely a game I can easily take to my non-gamer family members.
On the eighth day…
Sooooo about the 8th day…
My best way to explain what happened is I ran out of spoons. If you don’t know what that means, I recommend looking up Spoon Theory. It was a rough mental health day and by the time I got to the end of the day, I had no energy to game at all. I do make this up later in the 12 days though!
On the ninth day…
So for the last official video game, I started The Sexy Brutale, which is a game I have wanted to play for so long but couldn’t get the motivation to start it. I can see how I can enjoy this game later, but the time-sensitive nature of the gameplay stressed me out a bit after the previous day drained me. This is a game I might pick back up again later, but not at the top of my must finish list.
Yes, I played 2 games this day, to make up for the previous day’s lack of gaming. I’ve had The Lady and the Tiger on my shelf for a while since I got my copy from Kickstarter. It has many game types and has a solo version, called Hoard, which is what I decided to try.
I am still so new to solo board gaming that I can’t definitively tell you it’s good or bad but I enjoyed my plays and would play the solo version again for sure.
On the tenth day…
So this is when I learned how bad I am at challenges because I like finding loopholes. But really this was derived from having very little motivation to play anything.
So I went to casually scroll through Google Play, and came across a few mobile games to try out in the future and then thought, why not play some for the challenge!
So this is Underhand, a cultist card game where you are the leader of a cult trying to summon ancient gods through resource management. I plan on playing this more to do a proper review, but I did enjoy playing this game.
On the eleventh day…
So yeah mobile games became more prevalent in this challenge. This is Assassins Creed: Rebellion, which I decided to try out since many major video game franchises are taking to mobile now.
I haven’t decided if I’ll write on this game more or not, because it interests me as part of the franchise but I can already see, without finishing the tutorial, how it has some predictable mobile game elements like waiting for things to complete or paying money to get things done faster.
On the twelfth day…
Yep, another mobile game. This one is Card Thief, which I have seen suggested to me on Google Play numerous times so I gave it a go. From what I have played, it definitely feels like a really good game. It is not excessively pay-to-win or time-determined on tasks like a stereotypical mobile game. I will probably write at least a first look if not a full review on this game.
What I have learned from doing this challenge was that I am not great at doing challenges and sticking to the consistent rules set in place for said challenges. I like finding loopholes and my mental health is a smidge too roller coaster to keep up with a challenge. But I did enjoy getting to play new games and seeing what I enjoy and can get further into in the future. It was great to try out solo board gaming for the first time and get back into trying out mobile games.
Have you ever done a gaming challenge? How did it go? Let me know with a comment below.
Hello! 🙂
I found “Gris” so mesmerising. When I watched the trailer, I really liked the developer’s use of watercolour. The musical score is also pretty and it is a soothing video game.
I felt the same way about Sexy Brutale. I liked it, but felt the time element stressed me out. I still haven’t finished it.
I still have to check out Gris. If a game has a unique art style it’s most of the way to convincing me to play it.