The new Hearthstone Kobolds & Catacombs expansion is out today and for just logging in you will get 3 K&C card packs. If you kill a Dungeon Run boss you get another card pack and then another if you kill 5 and then another if you kill 10. Kobolds and Catacombs is a normal 150+ card expansion that adds Legendary weapons to each class and as an added bonus you get a free weapon for just logging in. It seems like Blizzard is setting the pace with expansions with a free random set Legendary and about 6 packs of cards.

I've played quite a few dungeon runs tonight and I think it's a really amazing single player expansion mode. You don't need any cards in your collection and can select the ones you want to add to your deck as you make your way through the dungeon. I got to the second to last boss but lost because they held over 20 damage in 4 spells and just demolished me in one turn. Dungeon Run mode is really fun and does capture the rogue like spirit as you can randomly find awesome cards and that can swing many boss fights in your favor. The new single player Dungeon Run mode is really fun but downside is you can't complete daily quests playing it. That's a huge bummer because the only way to grind for gold to open card packs is to complete quests BUT if you are looking to come back to Hearthstone and don't know the game well or have many cards Dungeon Run mode is the one to try.

https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/21274279

I honestly didn't think we'd get more games in the Portal universe but it looks like December 20th Bridge Constructor Portal is going to see me happily wrong. The developers of Bridge Constructor look to have licensed the Portal franchise from Valve and if the trailer is an indication the games looks like it fits well into that universe. But what's the game?

"Enter the Aperture Science Enrichment Center and experience Bridge Constructor Portal – the unique merging of the classic Portal and Bridge Constructor games. As a new employee in the Aperture Science test lab, it's your job to build bridges, ramps, slides, and other constructions in 60 test chambers and get the Bendies safely across the finish line in their vehicles. Make use of the many Portal gadgets, like portals, propulsion gel, repulsion gel, aerial faith plates, cubes, and more to bypass the sentry turrets, acid pools and laser barriers, solve switch puzzles, and make it through the test chambers unscathed. Let GLaDOS guide you through the tutorial, and learn all the tips and tricks that make a true Aperture Science employee.
The bridge is a lie!

Features:
- The merging of two worlds: the first Bridge Constructor with an official Portal license
- Create complex constructions in the Aperture Science labs
- Let GLaDOS accompany you through tricky physics adventures
- Use portals, aerial faith plates, propulsion gel, repulsion gel, and much more to master the complicated tasks
- Evade dangers such as sentry turrets, emancipation grills, laser fields, and acid
- Help your Bendies cross the finish line – on their own or in a convoy"

All of that sounds great and to top it off it's coming to iOS, Android, Linux, Mac and PC on December 20th and Switch, PS4 & XBox One in early 2018. I think i'll be playing this on iOS unless the reviews aren't great because this game seems like a good fit for mobile devices. Is Bridge Constructor Portal something you are interested in playing?

For the most part i've decided to stop buying a lot of new games and focus on playing through my backlog for the next year. It's still something i'm working out the final details on (how many games to limit myself to purchase next year, if any at all) and what games i'll play in some kind of order. Now that I have a son my time is limited and i'd like to spend it the best I can and since I have games i've never played now seems like a good time to do that. One such game is Zelda II: The Adventure of Link a game that before I picked got it with the NES Classic I've never owned before. I've played it a handful of times and always thought it was an interesting game in the Zelda series as it's the only side scroller with experience based RPG progression.

The Beginning of The Game

The story of Zelda II starts like the game before it, with an intro story scroll.

"After Ganon was destroyed, Impa told Link a sleeping spell was cast on Princess Zelda. She will wake only with the power of No. 3 Triforce sealed in a palace in Hyrule. To break the seal, crystals must be placed in statues in 6 well guarded palaces. Link set out on his most Adventuresome quest yet..."

Well since Adventure is in the title of the game I suppose this could be his most adventuresome quest yet. It's also funny to see that Link is placing crystals in statues as the goal because in the next game in the series Link to the Past the goal is to collect the crystals... err pendants... err... sage crystals!

I also like that there is some ambiguity on who cast a sleeping spell on Zelda. But that ambiguity lasts all of a handful of minutes because when all your lives are gone a red screen flashes showing an outline of Ganon with him laughing at you harkening his return to Hyrule. Yeah I kinda figured it was him but Zelda II is a sidescroller so it's possible they changed other elements and I just didn't know about it.

You're Going To Die A Lot

The original NES Legend of Zelda never felt too difficult to me. Whenever I played the game I had a map that a friend made me or something I made myself. The difficulty of the dungeons never felt too crazy and the last dungeon wasn't too hard... if you mapped out your route. I personally never played the second quest but the first quest always seemed amazingly fun and not too hard. I felt similarly about Link to the Past and Link's Awakening. Come to think of it i've never felt any of the Zelda games were too difficult. Sometimes what you have to do next was impossible to figure out and I had to ask a friend or consult a player guide but I've never considered the games to be particularly challenging. All that said Zelda II: The Adventure of Link might be the most difficult Zelda i've ever played.

Zelda II has a experience based progression system that when you gain enough experience you can level up. Health, attack and magic are all abilities you can level up and each makes you tougher, hit harder or the ability to use less magic while casting spells. Along the way you can find heat containers that increase your life and magic bottles that increase your magic. To progress through Zelda II you need to make sure you are collecting enough experience to level up while making sure you get each heart and magic bottle or else the game will simply be too difficult. For instance, after you complete the first dungeon you can either go south to get the hammer or east for the second dungeon. I opted to go for the hammer so I could make my way easier through the overworld and I spent over 10 runs and 6 level-ups before I could make my way to actually collect the hammer in the cave maze. I might have taken that part a bit early but I was also getting completely wrecked at the second dungeon too. Zelda II is a fun game but it's the first Zelda game i've spent time level grinding to progress.

Zelda II Is All About Defense & Run Management

Zelda II reminds me of a modern rogue-like in that each enemy has a specific method of attack and way you approach it and if you don't consider defense to be more important you will not progress through the game. In fact, i'd say a good defense coupled with health management is the most important part of Zelda II. In most games you can ignore small enemies that you outclassed because the amount of damage done to you is minuscule and you can easily heal. It's the same in Zelda II as low class enemies don't do much damage to you but healing is hard to come by and you need to plan your run accordingly. For instance the best healing in the game is a spell you get but that takes up magic which isn't easy to come by either and you need that magic for defense and jump spells. If you run out of magic and you need the jump spell you can't progress. If you run out of magic and you need the defense spell for a tough run of enemies you will die. If you die too much the game is over and you can continue but back at the start of the game.

Zelda II is a game all about managing your runs to dungeons, items and the like and how to balance when to focus on leveling up VS when to focus on getting items to progress. For instance if I am close to death on my last life but also close to leveling up I'll choose leveling up and focus less on progression so I can save the game and restart my run. But if i'm close to collecting an item (key, heart, hammer) I might choose to avoid fights to collect the item so I can die, save the game and start over a new run.

I'm using a map to make my playthrough of Zelda II easier and I'd recommend you do the same if you are going to play it. Like nearly all the NES games i've played recently on the classic I am using the map out of the Playing with Power book. The Zelda II maps aren't perfect and contain a few omissions like they print out the general area where you can find Bagu but not the actual tile location. Some of the text is also vague but I didn't find it too hard to figure out or enhance it with a quick search online.

If you missed out on Zelda II and are looking for a challenge you might want to play Breath of the Wild. But if you played that and want to head back to something a bit more retro, Zelda II is here and Ganon is ready to laugh at you each time you die.

Back in the 1986 Nintendo released the Nintendo Cereal System that was available for about three years before it was discontinued. It had two bags of cereal such as the separate Mario & Zelda bags. My favorite was the Zelda cereal and I only ate it a couple of time's at my cousin's house as my parents never let us get it. Looks like kids everywhere are getting another chance to eat Mario in cereal form because Nintendo is partnering with Kelloggs to bring us Super Mario Cereal. Not only will kids get to eat Mario but the box comes with a scannable Amiibo that allows you in game bonuses in Super Mario Odyssey such as gold coins and hearts.

Super Mario Cereal will be available in stores on December 11th and is this something you plan on buying? I plan on getting one making this the first Amiibo that I own.

https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/super-mario-cereal-from-nintendo-and-kelloggs

Today Capcom announced that Mega Man 11 is in development and will be launched in 2018! The good news is there is a new Mega Man game coming out and my hope for it will that it will live up to the Mega Man series legacy and be challenging. That said, visually it looks pretty much like Mighty No. 9 and that surprised me a bit. Personally i'd have continued the Mega Man numbered sequels with the old school pixel art graphics and then continued the Mega Man X series with the Mighty No 9 art style.

Capcom also noted that both Mega Man Legacy collections are coming to the Switch and that they are working on collections for the Mega Man X series.

http://www.capcom-unity.com/capkel/blog/2017/12/04/ready-mega-man-11-is-coming-in-late-2018

Into the Breach is the upcoming turn based Robots vs Monsters strategy game by the creators of FTL. Recently PC Gamer has been playing an updated build and shared the gameplay video above. I can't make out much from the game itself except the person playing it was experimenting with it in ways that weren't entirely easy to understand. One thing I did take away from the game is that it looks pretty far along in development and it seems like every choice you make impacts how the battles will turn out. Into the Breach also seems like it's designed for mobile devices in mind as well as PC so it seems we might be able to play it on whichever platform you want. Eventually.

The game also looks very much like it's the next game from the creators of FTL. I like how the interface, graphics and music(same composer as FTL Ben Prunty) all harken back to the tone of FTL.

There is no release date for Into the Breach but when it gets one i'll write more about it. That said from the gameplay footage my guess is it will launch sometime in 2018 but don't mark it on your calendar just yet.

This Black Friday I bought a couple gaming related items and one such thing was The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts for $11 on Amazon which is an incredible steal of a deal. At 427 pages and weighing in at 6 pounds this book is a beastly tome that will take you quite some time to finish. Firstly it's a very rich sampler of the art of each Zelda game starting with the original Legend of Zelda on NES and finishing up with Skyward Sword. It drops a couple of pages to the latest Zelda Breath of the Wild but you can sort of tell that the game wasn't quite released when the book was being made because the Breath of the Wild coverage isn't more than a couple pages. That said the books covers nearly every Zelda game (The CDi games are not featured) and even the HD re-releases such as Twilight Princess HD and even notes the difference between Link to the Past and the later release on Gameboy Advance.

If you are considering picking this up I don't want to spoil some of the more fun elements in the book I didn't quite expect. And if I was thinking of potential negatives I suppose the heft of the book is something to consider. This is perfect coffee table material but this book is so large it's not super easy to hold in your lap to read. If you have a firm grip, love of Zelda history and the time to leaf through 427 pages of Zelda art this book is something you absolutely need to get.

I was recently a guest on Game Dev's Quest which is a local Podcast all about the process of making Indie Games and in the latest episode I talk about Cheerful Ghost and my involvement publishing Starship Rubicon. Rett, Taylor and I talk about all of that and also round things off talking about mindfulness and chasing the next $60 game. For quite some time i've been thinking about how to structure the games I pick next to play to better fit in my life and find something sustainable because it seems like every couple days a new incredibly engrossing $60 game comes out I have no time to play. I really enjoy Game Dev's Quest and if you like a couple of friends talking about games where the discussion often ends us at mindfulness, philosophy or random map discussions then you need to check it out!

I really want to thank Rett and Taylor for having me on the show and I'm really happy with how the episode turned out. You can listen to the show above or by hitting the link below or subscribing to the show on iTunes or any other Podcast client.

http://airpodcast.com/games-devs-quest-e37-cheerful-ghost/

I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! As you all tuck into eating more turkey than you should I was wondering what we will all be playing and watching this weekend? Linked above is my ritual MST3K Turkey Day marathon and they are starting out with the Swedish classic “The Day The Earth Froze!” I’ve been playing a lot of The Adventures of Link and that’s been really fun to play(check my review on it later)!

Wanted to share this NES Review by YouTuber Killian Experience before we all enter the Thanksgiving holiday. I laughed out loud so many times watching this review because of how inventive the jokes and commentary is. If you like Red Letter Media Plinkett Reviews or other deconstructive reviews you need to watch this!