Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Octopus City Blues

I recently came across a Kickstarter for a very interesting new game called Octopus City Blues. It's a really unique adventure game that's hard to describe so I recommend you watch the Kickstarter video.

"Assume the role of Kaf Kafkaryan, a cowardly middle-aged octopus blood junkie and tentacle trimmer, living in a city built around a giant octopus. Kaf has been experiencing bizarre dreams about a world populated by twisted creatures. To help the inhabitants of his dreams, he must learn more about the people of the city and explore the underside of the towering metropolis. Along the way he becomes entangled in a conspiracy with far-reaching implications for Octopus... Read All

Terraria on Mobile Review

At the end of last month Terraria came to the iPhone and iPad. 505 Games, the company that ported Terraria to iOS plans to bring the game to Android but right now, it's only available on Apple devices. Since I love Terraria and have an iPhone, I bought the game the second it dropped in the iTunes store.

I don't have much luck with games I love being ported to the iPhone. That said, 505 Games has really done a great job with the Mobile port as it really captures much of the fun of Terraria. My only major gripe is that the game is not quite as easy to control as the PC version, but its pretty damn good considering the touch only interface. But don't take my word for it,... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 09/09/2013 at 12:38am

I was going to write up something just like this in a few days once I had more time with it and tried some boss fights. I had a bad experience with it the first day, but I kept with it and I'm glad. It takes some getting used to, but it's great for when I want to kill some time. I've mentioned before that I don't play many mobile games except time-wasters like Jetpack Joyride and Angry Birds, but this fills that role and actually feels like a real game as well.

The controls are clunky, even after you get used to them, but they're serviceable. I put blocks where I don't want them pretty frequently, and I can't imagine fighting Skeletron with them. We'll see how that goes.

I played the PC version some to compare and contrast, and I disagree that on PC you *must* build a house the first night. It's timed well so that after you've spent the day collecting the materials you can use the first night as a chance to build out some of your basic needs, but it isn't entirely necessary. I ended up collecting fallen stars my first night. That said, it wasn't exactly easy. On the iOS version, it's much easier to pull off.

The player emitting light was an interesting choice. I actually prefer it for iOS. Placing torches frequently needs some precision controls, which you don't get here.

Resources are definitely more plentiful, which is good, as you said, because I don't want to put up with the controls long enough to find them.

I do like automatically moving over terrain, and I'm glad that's coming to the PC version as well (for one block, anyway).

Your non-empirical data is pretty empirical. I've seen that complaint all over the place since it dropped. It's quite annoying, I feel like unless I fall into a pit I shouldn't get fall damage just from walking left or right. It did lead to a more interesting build for me, though. My spawn point was in a very jagged snow biome, so I ended up building a snow block fortress in the center of a snowy hill rather than a rectangular thing like usual. It's bad design, but at least it led to some creativity.

So yeah, I agree with you. It's as good as an iOS port really can be I think, but it still isn't *real* Terraria to me. This doesn't bother me at all, though, because I still have it on PC.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/09/2013 at 01:13am

Good (or not) to hear that other people have seen what I have. I hope they roll out a patch to fix it up, it sucks to exist in a world that is so uneven. I'll just keep generating worlds until I find something with a more manageable surface.

That said, you should post how the later game goes for you. Sounds like you are further into the base game than I am as I only just started harvesting gold and don't even have a full iron set of stuff yet. Just poking around trying things out and collecting stuff.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Sign Up / Log In

Delver: A First Person Action Roguelike

Delver is a new first person Roguelike created by Chad Cuddigan. The game is heavily influenced by Ultima, Hack, Rogue and ... Minecraft. Which is to say, the game looks awesome.

Delver is currently out on Steam Early access, the Humble Store and Android.

Blue_Element wrote on 09/08/2013 at 12:31am

It's already available for Mac and Linux on their website, delvergame.com. :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/08/2013 at 01:32am

Oh cool. I missed that since it's not on those platforms on Steam yet.

Have you played it yet? How is it?

Blue_Element wrote on 09/08/2013 at 04:44pm

Yeah, it's been free on the site for a long time so people could try out the alpha/beta of it. So I've been playing for a while. But now you have to pay, so I'm thinking of buying it some time. And the game itself is really fun. It's always scary to turn a corner and have monsters jump at me, and it's fun to see what awesome loot is laying around the dungeons.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/08/2013 at 06:39pm

Yeah, the game looks great and I only just found out about it myself.

Thinking of picking it up today.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/08/2013 at 10:21pm

Just picked this up. WHOA, it's fun.

Can't seem to get past floor 3 right now, but I have only played it a few times now. Very well polished for an early game but I did have to restart after getting stuck in a wall.

Blue_Element wrote on 09/09/2013 at 12:19am

Haha, how'd you manage to get stuck in a wall?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/09/2013 at 01:04am

I just walked up to it. I also just ran i to a case where I couldnt progress because the only way out of an area was to hit a warp and it took me back. So yeah, a few bugs but it is still really fun.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Sign Up / Log In

Collect Cookies in This Addicting Web Game

The premise for Cookie Clicker is fairly simple. Click the cookie to get cookies. Save cookies to buy things that help you get more cookies. Buy powerups with Cookies to get more Cookies. Rinse repeat till you have zillions of Cookies.

The game is very simple, yet terribly addicting. The game stores its state in your browser and keeping it open for longer nets you more cookies. I've shared my progress above, how are you doing with your Cookie empire? Or are you going to skip this entirely?

pro tip: Keep a look out for the golden cookie, if you click it awesome things happen.

http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/

Blue_Element wrote on 09/07/2013 at 01:59am

I'm playing that game right this second. So addicting.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/07/2013 at 05:08am

You should add a link :)

Travis Admin wrote on 09/07/2013 at 05:14am

After about 2 minutes, I felt as if my wrist was about to go on strike.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/07/2013 at 06:38am

Hahaha, yeah totally. I put a link on the post, good idea.

hardeyez wrote on 09/07/2013 at 09:12am

why, oh why is this so compelling?? I blame OCD.... I'm up to 1.2 billion total and it's silly, but compelling.....

Travis Admin wrote on 09/07/2013 at 02:34pm

This reminds me of The Kill Everyone Project

http://everything2.com/title/Kill+Everyone+Project

One of my college suitemates bought two mice with many easily clickable buttons so he could sit there for hours on end clicking and clicking and clicking and clicking.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/07/2013 at 04:15pm

My current stats of this morning:

Bank: 2.6 billion
Baked: 240 billion
Buildings: 567
CPS: 29 million
CPC: 877,432

hardeyez wrote on 09/09/2013 at 03:55pm

So, I'm almost done with this (let it run all weekend and spent too much time messing with it and strategizing)... I'm at 35 trillion total baked... But it's getting rough. The upgrades are really expensive at the end (just bought a 9 trillion one, and have a couple 10 trillion, a few 100 trillion a 77 trillion, etc...) and the getting cursors to 200, portals to 100 and time machines to 100 is going to be killer expensive (to finish out the achievements... they are right the OCD makes you bankrupt :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/09/2013 at 09:54pm

Haha, yeah. @CapnCurry "beat it" in terms of getting all the achievements. I think those just take a long time.

I am going to try for it, I mean having it open in a tab isn't too difficult :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/25/2013 at 07:40pm

Did anyone notice the "Antimatter Condenser" before? Looks like they added that recently.

First one costs 3.9 billion.

Blue_Element wrote on 09/25/2013 at 11:40pm

Yeah, they added that a little over a week ago.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Sign Up / Log In

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream Drops on GOG

Our friends over at Night Dive Studios recently released the classic adventure game, "I have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" on GOG.com. Based on Harlan Ellison's book, this game takes the players through a dystopian world where a rouge AI kills all but 5 people. Over the course of the game you have to make choices that prove humanity's superiority to computers. It's a really compelling game that weaves in lots of social elements to make this very interesting classic game.

http://www.gog.com/game/i_have_no_mouth_and_i_must_scream

Interview with Death Road To Canada's Kepa Auwae

Back this on Kickstarter!

Death Road to Canada was one of those games I was very impressed with at PAX 2013. It has 21 days to for its Kickstarter and it is doing quite well. I want to give the game more exposure on the site because this game needs to be made.

I want to thank Kepa Auwae and Rocketcat Games for doing the interview and I wish them to a speedy game launch and Kickstarter funding!

jdodson: For me, Death Road To Canada was one of the most compelling games at PAX. How did your experience at PAX 2013 go and how do you think people responded to the game? Did Tarn and Zach bring the star-power the booth needed?

Kepa Auwae: Thanks, glad you liked it! PAX 2013 did really well. Got to meet a... Read All

Game/Show: Why Is LET'S PLAY So Huge?

"The idea of watching a stranger play a video game for hours seems counterintuitive to many. But they are actually quite popular. HUGELY POPULAR, in fact. Let's Play Video creator Pewdiepie currently holds the record for most subscribers, with over 12 MILLION!!! Considering that people could just play the games themselves, what's behind the immense popularity of Let's Play Videos? Is it about learning game strategies? Entertainment? Community? Mind Control?! Watch the episode and find out!"

New episode of Game/Show drops and talks about the Let's Play epidemic and why it's so big. I they were big, but I didn't know they were that big. Game/Show really digs in on the... Read All

Development Update: Fishing and new UI

A recent Stardew Valley development video has dropped and shows off the new fishing mechanics. With each update the UI, graphics and mechanics seems to really improve drastically and in this video it really shows.

They say the game will launch in 2013 and when a more formal date is announced, you will be the first to know.

http://stardewvalley.net/dev-update-10/

The Sim Game I've Been Waiting For

SimCity 4 was released 2003 and I picked it up a few years ago in a discount bin with every expansion and a few other Sim games tossed in. How could you go wrong? Possibly no DRM(its on the discount bin), all the expansions AND it's a SimCity game. I mean, even if it sucks a bit it won't suck that much because again, SimCity. Well... about that. SimCity 4 wasn't fun. It had the epic scale I wanted as you could build huge cities and spend time managing things, but it just wasn't fun.

my history with sim games

Some of the most magical moments of gaming have been related to Sim games. Making a planet and populating with creatures that evolved in SimEarth was incredible. I... Read All

JaBo wrote on 10/12/2013 at 05:23pm

That's a great review. I really enjoy this game and it has the challenges you'd expect from a Sim game. Managing the day to day as well as the grand scheme. I'm going to restart again. Each time I start my prison I play until I hit a road block in my design that is not easily fixed. My current game is overrun with angry rioting prisoners and more are arriving in a couple hours! I haven't figured out how to stop prisoners from constantly coming each day, I think if I say my prison isn't open to prisoners...but does that get rid of my current ones? 8 new prisoners a day is hard to deal with!

It's funny to catch prisoners with weapons or tools before they get to actually use them. The guards kind of start out dumb though lol... they all gathered up in the yard...I'm like, oh hey, good idea, cuz there's 0 prisoners in there right now lol.

But, gonna eat breakfast and then play some more!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/12/2013 at 06:54pm

You can stop accepting prisoners and you keep your current ones. I turn off new prisoners until I can handle more but now I need to accept them because I have so many and release so many per-day. I need to do a lets play of my main game, its pretty good and I figured out how to make some good money with it.

I've dealt with the rioting prisoners and I believe I know why they do that, so ill put that in the Let's Play and post. At least, I think I know part of the reason they riot :D

JaBo wrote on 10/12/2013 at 11:16pm

Ya, I just realized I can hit closed and it just means closed for NEW prisoners. Also, I started with low-risk inmates this time. I wish my guards would stay in the cell area, so many people just dug tunnels and I had "fog of war" in there!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/13/2013 at 10:15pm

So far, I haven't noticed a difference between low and medium inmates, so I just do medium inmates.

Well there is one difference, low inmates are released sooner which is a bit of an annoyance because they leave quickly and you need to get new prisoners quicker than you would otherwise.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Sign Up / Log In

Differences Between The Famicom and NES

YouTuber Resonance recently compared the NES with the Famicom side by side and the difference in terms of audio is seriously compelling. Like him, I had no idea the Famicom shipped with superior audio quality. He compares Castlevania, Zelda & Metroid. The NES sounds a bit more muted and does less with the score. I would say each song sounds better on the Famicom to my ears but the changes in the original Zelda are very interesting and something I am not used to hearing.

If you want to skip the side by side scrub ahead to 1.15m.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/05/2013 at 02:03am

That was a little shocking. Though I did think Castlevania sounded wrong. When it started up first on the NES version, it didn't sound at all like I remembered it. I might have to dig that up.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/05/2013 at 02:57am

Good idea, might be a case of an emulator translating the sounds wrong or our ears failing us in our elderly age.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/05/2013 at 03:05am

WHAT?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/05/2013 at 03:15am

Well, an emulator may not get it perfect.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/05/2013 at 03:16am

:D

Travis Admin wrote on 09/05/2013 at 03:18am

WHAT?

Travis Admin wrote on 09/05/2013 at 03:18am

(Sorry, the dumbest joke ever)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/05/2013 at 03:40am

Fear not, it worked well enough :D

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Sign Up / Log In