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The Duke

January 25, 2015 by Caleb Short Leave a Comment

Hailed by critics as a delightful abstract strategy game, The Duke, is a modern take on classic Chess.

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Like Chess, a player’s objective in The Duke is to capture their opponent’s Duke tile.  No dice rolling, card playing or other meddlesome crap interferes with your game here – oh no!  The Duke is a battle of wits, your tiles vs my tiles.  Plain and simple.

Players take turns moving their tiles around the board and onto enemy tiles which “captures” said target, removing it from play.

I mean look at the board, It’s not exactly A Game of Thrones or 7 Wonders. The fairly disappointing artwork and lack of extraneous cardboard fiddly-bits saddened me until the gameplay blew me away with it’s depth.  The game is fun with a ridiculous capacity for replayability.

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The Duke deviates from the medieval classic in two ways.  Firstly, after every tile is used, it is turned over to expose a secondary movement pattern.  Secondly, instead of moving a unit players may randomly draw a tile from the bag and place it on the field adjacent to their own duke tile.  These tile additions keep the game fresh and unpredictable as you are forced to adjust and scrap strategies to deal with new units that enter the field.

The game relies on the movement mechanics established in Chess with a few new movement types.  Moving (pawns and king), Sliding (rooks, bishops and queen), Jumping (knights), and Jump Sliding are carefully combined on tiles to create the 19 unique units.  Ranged attacks, “Strike”, is just what it sounds like, and “Command” allows other tiles of the same color to be flung about anywhere in the command zone.

Two out of the 19 tiles have special abilities that are (thickly) explained in the rules.  However, the  the four movement types and the two special abilities do not greatly complicate the game.  Each mechanic is easy to understand and remember.  The hard part is still skilfully out maneuvering and pressuring your opponent into checkmate.

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The high volume of distinct double sided tiles means each match will be unique enough to be fresh, but similar enough to use some fairly constant strategies.

Reading the rules is fairly daunting.  Some good editing or less confusing diagrams could really help with the exposition.  Push through them.  The rules are not as confusing as the booklet wants you to think they are.

In each box you get:IMG_0995

  • 1 Board
  • 2 Bags
  • 19 Basic tiles
  • 2 Flags
  • 1 Dragon!!! (That’s right, THIS GAME HAS PEOPLE-FLAMBAYING DRAGONS!!!)
  • 1 Mountain
  • 2 Blank customizable tiles
  • Rules and quick-reference cards.

These extra tiles look really cool.  Yes that is a monster strike zone on the Dragon 😀  Scenarios like Capture The Flag, Hostage, a 300-esk fight-to-the-death and Black Night are included in the manual.  Unfortunately, these are not as fun as the basic game.  The Dragon tile is a neutral force that alternates being controlled by both players.

The blank tile you see there is actually pretty cool.  Each team has one.  It is a totally customizable piece!  The mad scientists over at Catalyst Game Labs really support moding of the game.  Full print outs of all the units (even the expansions!) are available for free on the website.

Two expansions exist for The Duke, however, both appear to be overpriced ($20+) for the minimal amount of tiles you receive, (roughly eight or less).  In my 2 month play time with the game, I find the basic game to be the most exciting.  The scenarios just slow gameplay down.

Learning curve: Shallow

Skill level: High.

Strategy vs Luck scale: (X/10)

Strategy=8.  Luck=2.

Time: Short (30- minutes)

Age: 6th grade+

Party-ability: -Zero-  It’s an engrossing 2 player, quiet, game.

Awards:

The Verdict:

Visually boring but more than makes up for it in fun, skill and originality.  I would recommend for anyone who is comfortable with playing chess.

The Duke is Produced by Catalyst Game Labs and designed by Jeremy Holcomb, Joe Huber and Stephen McLaughlin.

This review and those pictures are made by me!

Filed Under: Board Games Tagged With: board, board game, board games, chess, entertainment, fun, funny, game, review, viedo game

Unique: Mirror’s Edge

October 22, 2014 by GreenTeaGamer Leave a Comment

I recently picked up Mirror’s Edge, a cult classic from DICE, that was a very different game from the studio’s Battlefield franchise.  It’s very rare to see a triple A studio announce a new IP, especially when they already have a very successful FPS franchise.  Mirror’s Edge, although released to favorable reviews with a solid 79 on Metacritic, never realized the “free running open world” that many people were expecting.  Selling around 2 million units over its entire lifetime would not be considered a success especially by the standards of today’s triple A studios.  Although many who loved the game wanted a sequel no one assumed that dream would come true.  Which is why the announcement of Mirror’s Edge 2 at E3 2013 was a huge surprise to everyone.  Set to release on current gen consoles sometime in April of 2016 it’s a long wait for what is claiming to be the “free running open world” we have always wanted.

Mirror’s Edge was a special game not only because it was a new IP but it was so very different from everything else on the market.  The protagonist is a woman named Faith who, far from being a damsel in distress, is a master in the art of par quor and hand to hand combat.  Faith is a far cry from the bald male space marines that dominated the market not so long ago.  From a studio best known for the battlefield series Mirror’s Edge has an interesting take on combat.  Although you are allowed to pick up guns the game tends to discourage their use.  Most of the time I found running, kicking the bad guy in the face seemed to work the best.  Unfortunately the combat is the games biggest failing.  It can feel you’re like punching at air instead of a solid human being much like the combat problems in Skyrim.  Improving the combat is supposedly on the top of DICE’s to do list; hopefully Mirror’s Edge 2 will have a much improved combat system.

Despite its faults Mirror’s Edge is important because its rare to see a triple A studio to risk money on a new IP especially now.  Hopefully the fact Mirror’s Edge is getting a sequel will encourage other studios to take risks apart from their established franchises.

Filed Under: Video Games

Are eSports sports? the great debate

October 20, 2014 by GreenTeaGamer Leave a Comment

As gamers we strive for recognition. We want to prove ourselves, have our skills tested, pushed to the limit. We get a thrill from seeing our name at the top of a leaderboard or finally getting that achievement. On a larger scale gamers have been fighting for recognition in the world at large. We are either fighting congress who has tried in the past to regulate violent video games or the parents who are worried about their child’s moral compass. What many of us want is for video games to have the same respect that movies, tv shows, music and books have. Video games should be viewed as just another creative medium unique in it requires user input. Lately the front line of the battle has shifted with the emergence of eSports. Now the debate is whether or not video games are worthy enough to be equal with the likes of Baseball and Football. The question is, why do gamers want League of Legends, Call of Duty etc. to be recognized as sports? Why would we care? It all comes down to again recognition but this time on a global scale. We want to show the world that it can take just as much skill to be professional eSports player as it does to be an athlete.  And in a lot of people’s minds we will attain this recognition when eSports become sports.

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Evolution of eSpots courtesy of Reddit

 

As a gamer I feel this is an unfair comparison, apples to oranges. Video games require quick thinking, fast reflexes and mental flexibility. Regular sports require these same traits but has an emphasis on physical prowess whereas video games have an emphasis on strategy. Obviously Sports have an emphasis on strategy but again differently than video games. Professional gamers don’t have a coach they create and modify strategies on the fly. Most sports move at a slower pace allowing more time to think and analyze the situation. It’s not that video games are on a lower level than sports, they are in a completely different world. The apples to oranges analogy works the best: they both come from a tree, both have stems, both are edible but but at the same time they are completely different.

Filed Under: Video Games Tagged With: eSports

Gut reaction: Bioshock iOS

August 29, 2014 by GreenTeaGamer Leave a Comment

Bioshock iOS was an out of left field announcement and a slightly confusing one.  It exists in a very exclusive club of hardcore console/pc games that have been ported to phones and tablets.  On the surface it is a very impressive display of the processing power modern tablets possess.  Underneath, there is a lack of logic as to why Bioshock iOS exists in the first place.  There is no reason  its should be on the same place that birthed Angry Birds and Flappy Bird.  A huge misconception is any gaming experience can be transferred to a tablet with no problems, this is simply not the case.  The best gaming experiences on the app store are ones that have been hand built for phones and tablets.  Device 6, Angry Birds and many others are examples of the developer understanding not only the device they are developing for but also the audience.  This raises another question, who is Bioshock iOS for?  If you have already played the game why would you pay money for a less optimized version of the same experience?  If you haven’t played it but are a hardcore gamer, the audience for which Bioshock was originally intended, you probably own a console on which to explore the city of Rapture.  Lastly if you are a causal gamer who plays mobile games Bioshock probably doesn’t appeal to you in the first place.  Bioshock is not a step forward so much as a step to the side for mobile gaming although it does hint at the potential for more immersive experiences in the palm of your hand.

Filed Under: Video Games Tagged With: Bioshock, iOS

The backlog

August 27, 2014 by GreenTeaGamer Leave a Comment

Like any other gamer I to have a massive backlog.  It consists of games that I want to play, or feel like I should play, but just haven’t taken the time to play.  One constant feature of the games in my backlog is they all take a large time commitment.  The Mass Effect and Metal Gear Solid series are a few examples that would take me a month if not more to complete.  One problem that has increased everyone’s backlog is how inexpensive video games have become.  From Playstation Plus to Steam summer sales it is easy to have a huge library of games for very little money.  Looking at trophy data from the Playstation Network most people don’t beat the games they are given for free.  The problem here is people don’t feel as much investment in a game they acquired for free.  On the other hand, pay sixty bucks for a game and you already have a monetary investment.  Even if the game is good but not great I want to get my money’s worth and complete the game.  I own many games through Playstation Plus I have never even started.  If a game doesn’t immediately hook me I usually don’t play more than a hour.  The only reason this doesn’t cripple developers is because all of these games are digital.  If I buy a used game for five bucks and it doesn’t hook me I would return it and the vicious cycle of used video games takes over.  If I pay five bucks for a digital game I can’t return it’s mine forever.  The developers don’t care if I don’t finish a digital game because there is no danger of me returning it.  This being the state of video games purchases my backlog is growing faster than ever.  The upside is if there is ever a large gaming drought I will have plenty of games to pass the time.  Is there any hope of me taking the time to complete the Mass Effect series when I can buy ten new games for a nickel?  Probably not but I can hope.
backlog final jpeg

 

Just a small sample of my backlog.

 

Filed Under: Video Games

Feeling overwhelmed?

August 25, 2014 by GreenTeaGamer Leave a Comment

Just a few years back Minecraft took the gaming world by storm.  It is not only the best example of a “sandbox” game but also introduced a development cycle that had never been tried.  It is easy to forget that Minecraft was released as beta in May 17, 2009 and 1.0 was not released until November of 2011.  Three years later Minecraft is still being updated regularly with new content coming every few months.  With every new update Minecraft becomes a little deeper and more complicated than the last time.  For those of us who play the game regularly this is perfect.  It keeps Minecraft fresh and interesting.  However, from an outsider’s perspective each update makes Minecraft become a little more daunting and the “endgame” is a little farther out of reach. More features requires more time from the player to learn and understand them.  Traditional game development never had this problem.  For example, Assassins Creed gains new features with every new release of a game.  If you have never played Assassins Creed and want to jump in all you have to do is start with the first game.  Minecraft forces you to jump in with all the latest features and doesn’t even give you a tutorial.  Minecraft has changed drastically after only three years; what will it look like after ten?  When the minecraft wiki releases its own textbook and most Youtube tutorial videos start with, “Let’s pick up right where we left off in chapter 9 dealing with hostile mobs and where to find them.”  Ten years of updates with turn Minecraft into a seemingly endless mine of blocks, mobs and mechanics to learn and understand.  A good example of this problem is World of Warcraft.  Sure everyone was on the same page when it was first released but now after fifteen years of content jumping in with the knowledge of how many hours it will take to see everything is overwhelming to say the least.

But don’t worry, Minecraft has a defense against this problem built right into the game itself.  Minecraft is as complicated as you want it to be.  World of Warcraft is always pushing you toward the next quest and making you equip better gear, this is present in most games not just World of Warcraft.  This struggle continues until the endgame.  Minecraft gently nudges the player with its only true objective, survive the night. Beyond this, it has no objectives, nothing pushing you to learn about enchanting or the best way to grow potatoes but you will want to because it is fun.  The more you learn the more you want to know.  Minecraft showed us the player can learn without being told what to do.  In telling the player nothing Minecraft gave us everything and is without a doubt one of the most important games of the past decade.

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Why did we build this? BECAUSE WE CAN!!!

Filed Under: minecraft, Video Games Tagged With: minecraft, musings

Post E3 hype

July 7, 2014 by GreenTeaGamer Leave a Comment

The dust from E3 has settled and after sifting through the rubble these are the game I am most hyped for.

 

Evolve

Hype level: very high

From the makers of Left 4 Dead come a truly unique game that seems to defy ganres.  The premise: a team of four hunters try who take down a giant monster controlled by another player.  It sounds awesome and so far it looks awesome.  The more I see Evolve the more I want to play it.  This will be a breath of fresh air for online multiplayer.  The Wii U showed us that a-synchronous multiplayer it a underused premise.  One catch, teamwork is paramount for the hunters(duh!).  Sure this is easy when you are with a group of friends but what about an anonymous online match?  Will it still be a as fun when you have to deal with the online masses?  Well just have to wait and see.

 

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Hype level: wait and see

Ah Call of Duty, one of the most popular and yet most hated games ever.  This time around Call of Duty seems to be taking a page from Titanfall’s book.  The next COD will have mechsuits, drones, futuristic weapons and most importantly Kevin Spacy.  Hopefully this introduction of a big name actor means the story will be more than save the world form the russians and/or terrorists.  However, I can assure you we will save the world from something.  Activision is taking a big risk, Advanced Warfare has totally reworked the engine. COD has updated and used the same engine since Call of Duty 2. But then again we will be running around in mechsuits.  The internet has demanded Call of Duty to change for years now.  Will Advanced Warfare be the futuristic boost COD has needed or is it little more than an advanced paint job over the same game?

 

Battlefield Hardline

Hype level: higher than COD’s 

Anyone remember Payday?  The surprisingly entertaining bank heist simulator seems to have inspired the folks over at Visceral Games.  Battlefield Hardline is a surprising change from the norm of military simulation.  Instead of huge explosion filled war zones the setting is urban, the objective is a bank heist, and the explosions still remain.  One would think the cops vs robbers vibe would mean fast close quarters combat without tanks and the like, but you would be wrong.  From the gameplay footage I have seen the bank heists look like they were planned by Michael Bay.  There may not be any tanks but they have been replaced by armored cars, and helicopters still battle for air superiority.  If every bank heist was like this half the world would be in flames.  But besides that, this is Battlefield and it still looks fun.  Like it’s rival its cool to see Battlefiield put a new spin on its time honored formula.

 

Batman Arkham Knight

Hype Level: Extreme

After the less than fantastic Arkham Origins Rocksteady is back and Batman Arkham Knight looks mind blowing.  Using the power of next gen hardware Rocksteady is making the Batman game we have always wanted.  This time instead of a claustrophobic insane asylum or a deceptively small mega prison Rocksteady is giving us all of Gotham City to explore, reportedly the map is five times bigger than Arkham City.  But the headline here is the playable debue of the Batmobile.  Drawing inspiration from Christopher Nolan’s Bat tank, this Batmobile is the completely un-nearfed, always there, rocket powered, bad guy busting Batmobile we have all come to know and love.  Rocksteady claims Gotham City has been built for the Batmobile making the streets wider so you won’t go crashing into helpless thugs, or buildings.  The Arkham Knight, Batman’s main antagonist this time around, is worth mentioning simply because Rocksteady claims he is a completely new villain never before seen in the Batman universe. I bet his true identity will be saved for a dramatic reveal and a, hopefully, epic boss fight.  But enough speculation all you need to know is Rocksteady is back and Arkham Knight is Batman’s debue on the power of next gen hardware.

 

Destiny

Hype Level: very high

The more I learn about Destiny the more I want to play it.  Bungie’s first game since stepping away from Halo, Destiny is yet another game that promises a “truly next-gen” experience.  So far, it seems to have the best chance at delivering on that promise.  Best described as Borderlands 2/mmo/Mass Effect Destiny promises the solar system on a massive scale.  Although Bungie has a “please call this anything but an mmo” attitude Destiny does share many characteristics to the genre.  Described as “mingle-player” Destiny gives you the choice of playing alone, but again like an mmo, many aspects of it are built to be played with friends.  And if you do choose to play alone you will have to deal with other people wandering through your play session.  The big question is of course, will Destiny deliver?  Will it be the first next-gen experience?  Will it be worth the 500,000,000 price tag its cost Bungie?  I for one can’t wait to find out.

 

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Hype Level: face melting

Sure no one knows anything about this game but it doesn’t matter.  All you need to is Naughty Dog, next gen hardware and Drake is back!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Video Games

Achievements: underrated and underused (by developers)

May 16, 2014 by GreenTeaGamer Leave a Comment

Achievements, trophies whatever you want to call them, have taken the video game world by storm in the last five or so years.  They add an interesting metagame to a video game and encourage the player keep playing.  When achievements are best used is when they make the player play the game in a way they never would have done before.  However, I see a unfortionet pattern with most achievements.  They tend to fall into boring categories of: complete the mission, collect the collectable and do action x amount of times.  Completing a mission, something that is rewarding in its own right, usually has an achievement slapped on top just for good measure.  There needs to be more achievements that challenge the player in interesting or bizarre ways.  I am surprised one doesn’t more achievements that make the player play through the game again. Not just harder difficulties but for instance complete Batman Arkham City without using detective mode.  There are achievements like this but they are not as prevalent as I would expect.  The best achievements make the player get out of their comfort zone and encourages them to try more things.  I hope in the future developers will put much more thought into achievements.

Filed Under: Video Games

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