Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here, and today, our writers share what they’ve been playing over the past month. Feel free to share what you’ve been playing because we’re all part of the Geekly Gang. I’ll get things started with what I’ve been playing over the past month.
Kyra’s Board Games
JinxO is a goofy party game in the vein of Sixes. Each player has a dry erase marker and board and try to match other players’ answers to bizarre questions. “Name an animal that looks like it’s drunk.” “Where on your body would you hide a weapon?” If you match with at least one other person, you circle your answer (gain one point). If you match with only one other player, you gain a star (three points). Players also receive points for circling every square in a row or column (kind of like Tic-Tac-Toe), and whoever has the most points wins. Fast, silly, and replayable, JinxO is a great icebreaker game. I can see kicking off a gaming convention with JinxO.
I love Tenby. It packs a lot of “game” into a small box, and Tenby rewards players who pay attention to small details. Look at the game’s cover (above). The number of smiling clouds, seagulls, specific doorways, benches, lampposts, flowers, and chimneys pictured could score points. Tenby has charming artwork, but that artwork serves a purpose. I may need to chain those smiling clouds for more points. And I like how Tenby determines play order. The game uses an action deck. Each card is numbered from 1 to 36 (I think). The higher the number on the action card, the better the action, but the later in the round you’ll be able to take that action. I liked that in Kingdomino; I like it in Tenby. I love building my own cozy streets in the Welsh town, Tenby.
Container is an AllPlay remake of the 2006 board game of the same name. While it does a great job of streamlining the original, there’s a lot going on in Container. When I played it at a convention, it took over thirty minutes for the teach. Just the teach. Yikes! The game box says Container takes 90 minutes. We had a full player count (five), and it took far longer than 90 minutes. But enjoyed my time with Container. AllPlay has a knack for putting highly strategic games into small packages. Container is no different. Make no mistake, Container is a heavy Euro game. I came in second (almost a tie), but I don’t know if deserved that placement. Resources are brutal in this game. I felt like I was underwater most of its runtime. You will take out loans. But you’ll need to time when you take out loans well.
I’d love to try Container at a smaller player count and play with gamers who already know how to play. I’d like to skip the teach.
Kyra’s Video Game
I’ve been getting back into Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, and I almost wanted to start over from the beginning. There’s a lot more to Monster Hunter Stories 3 than I remembered. Yikes! I’m not even sure where I was in the story. Anyway, the game is still a joy to play. The art style differs from the core games in the Monster Hunter series. The art fits Monster Hunter Stories 3’s vibe of a bizarre Monster Hunter/Pokémon mashup. Don’t let the cute artwork fool you. Monster Hunter Stories 3 holds a lot of strategy. You need to know when to switch monsters, which attacks work best and where you should target them. This is the biggest reason why I’ve thought about restarting the game. I like the the unexpected strategic depth.
Those are all the games I’ve been playing. Lets see what Skye has been playing.
Skye’s Video Games
Astro’s Playroom doubles as a love letter to classic PlayStation games and a guide to core components of the PlayStation 5. Astro’s Playroom takes you inside your console to not only highlight what it’s capable of but also provide you with references to classic PlayStation titles that will make your heart flutter. Astro’s Playroom nods to various games like Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Ape Escape, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Final Fantasy VII, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Silent Hill 2, God of War, The Last of Us, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Ghost of Tsushima, and that’s barely scratching the surface.
Honestly, part of the fun of Astro’s Playroom is going through the various levels to see how many references you can spot. If you get a PlayStation 5 and have been with PlayStation for years, I trying Astro’s Playroom.
I finally got around to playing Death Stranding. I can see why so many folks were impressed with the game. Putting aside the bizarre premise which adds a lot of intrigue, Death Stranding is unique in its mechanics. As the post-apocalyptic deliveryman Sam Porter Bridges, your job is to make deliveries across the ruined United Cities (that’s right, Cities) of America, locate the President’s successor, and reconnect the country in the process. Piece of cake, right? However, you carry all your cargo on your back, and you have to keep your balance on your travels. The whole time.
Death Stranding is the first game I’ve played that’s used this mechanic. Being an open world game, you have to hold various buttons while trudging through rivers and traversing uneven terrain to get to delivery locations. Some will see Death Stranding as a glorified “Walking Simulator” which I understand. It’s certainly an acquired taste, but I’ve managed to enjoy it for the most part. My main complaint about the game concerns its combat. Given the fact Death Stranding centers around delivering cargo, it’s incredibly difficult when you come across an enemy while simultaneously trying to complete an order and have boxes on your back stacked 8 meters high. It gives me the feeling that the combat was added purely for the sake of avoiding the label “Walking Simulator” and nothing else. Still, I look forward to completing Death Stranding.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here again. Season shared with me that she’s mostly played Apex Legends. She may play a new game by next month. So, those are the games our writers have been playing this past month. What’ve you been playing this month? Let us know in the comments. Thank you reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
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