Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Papers, Please!

"A Dystopian Document Thriller."

The above words are used to describe the game Papers, Please by Lucas Pope. This game is currently in beta mode and I cannot wait for the full version release.

In Papers, Please, you have "won" the labor lottery and now have to work as border control for the fictional Communist country of Arstotzka. It is your job to allow people entry into the country for meager wages to support your family of 5.

With ever changing immigration laws and your pay being based on each person seen, you have to try to get through as many people as possible without making any mistakes. Each mistake made (after an inital "learning" period) docks your pay and... Read All

Nekro. A Game Where Evil Does Your Bidding.

"Nekro is a dark, twisted action game about summoning demonic forces to do your bidding. With a fully-customizable array of powerful monsters to summon, Nekro challenges you to create a specialized army of hell-spawn to counter the forces of a corrupt King.

Playing with the speed and fluidity of an old-school action game, Nekro breaths fresh life into the genre with a deep and robust minion upgrade system. Use different monsters in unison to create a force that's greater than the sum of its parts. Utilize a blood mechanic unique to Nekro by harvesting the flesh of your enemies to power your unholy war machine."

Hot off of a successfully funded Kickstarter, darkForge... Read All

The Stomping Land

Back this on Kickstarter!

The Stomping Land is a multiplayer survival game about dinosaurs. Create traps, salvage resources, form tribes.

Stumbled on this Kickstarter project when perusing the Massive Chalice, and was surprised I hadn't heard of it yet. One of the fellows that worked on Skyrim (Alex Fundora) is making his own game, that revolves around hunting all forms of dinosaur in a massive 3D world. What he's put together so far looks fantastic, and the first stretch goal has been reached, which is allowing him to bring in other designers to add polish and depth.

I've never played Monster Hunter to any real degree, so I don't know how this would compare, but the realism alone has me hooked.... Read All

Tiny Barbarian DX: Get Barbarian Fever!

Recently Travis and I were able to play the all new game Tiny Barbarian DX. After playing it a bit the last few days I decided to do make a video to showcase the Horde Mode as well as to see how far into the Single Player as I could go. From the video you can see that my Horde Mode performance is a bit lacking but I make it WAY further into the Single Player story than I planned. In fact, I decided to quit where I did because I didn't want to make the video too long. That said, I plan on doing a follow up video where I try and take down the first chapter boss.

I won't try and cover too much of what Travis already said in his review again but I will sort of toss out a... Read All

Review: Tiny Barbarian packs a Big Punch

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/2012/07/tinybarbdx.jpg

I'm really quite sorry for the title. I couldn't resist.

From the playable title screen (I managed to stay alive for quite a while once or twice), the game starts you off right in the action. There are no tutorials to help you on your way, but you'll see things that you can only get to by using a skill that you can easily figure out. New mechanics come organically in this way, rather than popups telling you what to do. It's easy to figure out the skills, but not so easy to pull them off every time. The challenge in unashamedly high, but it never feels cheap. When you mess up, you can see what you did wrong, and correct it next time. It's the good kind of Nintendo-hard... Read All I'm really quite sorry for the title. I couldn't resist.

From the playable title screen (I managed to stay alive for quite a while once or twice), the game starts you off right in the action. There are no tutorials to help you on your way, but you'll see things that you can only get to by using a skill that you can easily figure out. New mechanics come organically in this way, rather than popups telling you what to do. It's easy to figure out the skills, but not so easy to pull them off every time. The challenge in unashamedly high, but it never feels cheap. When you mess up, you can see what you did wrong, and correct it next time. It's the good kind of Nintendo-hard where you don't want to throw the controller down, you want to get back in and beat it!

I'll admit, I haven't been able to complete the game yet, but I keep getting further! There is no way to save as of this writing, so if you have to close it you'll have to start over again. So far this hasn't bothered me at all, because it's a joy to play.

The only downside is the keyboard controls, which for my hands don't feel natural no matter how I remap them. This game needs a gamepad, but the controller settings are in a bit of a pickle at the moment. The team is currently working on a new XInput system to make it work, but for now if your controller doesn't work you'll need to get XPadder or JoyToKey going or just stick to the keyboard. Those programs have never worked well for me, throwing in extra keypresses when I don't need or want them, so I've been sticking to the keyboard. I have a feeling the game will feel much more natural when we get to play it with a controller.

The graphics in Tiny Barbarian are great, just what you'd expect from a retro hack-n-slash from the NES/SNES era. The sprites are all done well, and the animations are smooth.

The music is chiptune heaven. Some of the best music in a retro-styled game I've heard in a while. It complements the settings well, and doesn't get in the way.

Overall, this is definitely well worth the price and will give you tons of fun. Pick it up at http://tinybarbarian.com/ and help it get on Steam at http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=110272647

Double Fine's New Kickstarter: Massive Chalice

Back this on Kickstarter!

"We're inspired by classic tactical strategy games like X-COM, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Fire Emblem, as well as Game of Thrones’ array of noble families. With these influences in mind we’re creating an epic, replayable turn-based tactics game where you train generations of heroes to repel a demonic invasion.

And with Kickstarter, we can do it. We have a great concept and team ready to go, and we want to work closely with our community to control the future of MASSIVE CHALICE free from outside interference."

It seems Double Fine has totally embraced the Kickstarter/Humble Bundle model for game studio-hood. All told this is pretty awesome as they can have more control... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/01/2013 at 06:45pm

At this point, Double Fine could just launch a Kickstarter, call it "Double Fine Mystery?", with no description at all, and it would earn millions. They have the trust and respect of the people, and they have the talent and creativity to give those people the games they dream of playing. Hell, the 2Player Production behind-the-scene videos alone are worth the price. Golden gods, the lot of them.

I like the ideas behind Massive Chalice. Particularly interested in the generations system, and the choice to either continue fighting to the death, or retiring a warrior to raise a little warrior of their own, and the inheriting of the family relic... very cool. Plus, it's a new creative endeavor! Can't wait!

Travis Admin wrote on 06/01/2013 at 09:29pm

The game itself sounds really interesting, bringing some new ideas to the table that I don't think I've ever seen. Having warriors raise the new generation of warriors is really fascinating.

But I'm really tiring of the unnecessary, badly-acted, scripted stuff that seems to be a requirement on Kickstarter videos these days. "Hi, I'm Tim Schaffer and I'm here with my friend and coworker Brad Miur who's going to tell you about a new game..." etc, then the last two minutes of the video, is really all they needed. They're Double Fine, so they don't need to impress everyone with theatrics. Just tell us what you're making, guys!

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/01/2013 at 09:39pm

Aww... I think it's hilarious! Part of what make them Double Fine is their brand of humor. Like big kids in a toy shop :)

Travis Admin wrote on 06/01/2013 at 09:54pm

Oh I love their humor. They just aren't good actors :)

It isn't just Double Fine though, it seems like nearly everyone on Kickstarter has something cringeworthy before they get to the point.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/01/2013 at 10:29pm

While I do like good cheese every once in a while, you're right that it is nice just to get to the meat of things ;)

Travis Admin wrote on 06/01/2013 at 11:09pm

Gouda? I love gouda.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/01/2013 at 11:20pm

Gouda is good. My favorites lately have been Beecher's Flagship and Bergenost. Flagship is really good with Jerk turkey and cranberry chipotle sauce....aaaaaamyygod.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/01/2013 at 11:53pm

Beyond Cheese loving, I thought the video was neat and was entertained.

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The Most Engrossing Games I've Played Recently

I can remember certain games that really defined times in my life. My first experiences with gaming were with Super Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong. Later on I was infatuated with The Legend of Zelda, so much so I would make my own maps of every secret I knew of. After that, Ninja Turtles and Metal Gear. When I got my Super Nintendo, Super Mario World and Link to the Past really hooked me. Then I discovered Koei games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms II & Genghis Khan Clan of the Grey Wolf. Then we got a PC and a new set of games came with it.

I have been thinking the last couple of days about what games have caught my fancy lately. I think this is a interesting... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/31/2013 at 07:03am

This past year has produced an amazing crop of games. Thinking back on it and looking over lists of what has come out, reminds me of some that I either haven't taken the time to play, or almost forgot about entirely, due to the sheer volume of goodness there was.

Journey

I'll never forget this experience. When I finished my first playthrough, I felt as if it were the first time I had ever played a video game. It hit all the senses in a singularly profound way. It was that deep for me. When I think about what to compare it to, I find myself thinking of real life experiences, rather than other games: Viewing stars and planets from the darkest part of Rabbit Creek Rd on a cloudless winter night. Driving through Portland with Jeremiah in his Volkswagen Golf, on our way to his house from Nampa, Idaho. My first kiss from a girl. My first rejection from a girl... Journey ranks on those levels.

Planetside 2

Not quite the life-changer that Journey was, but epic nonetheless. The players that play this game offer some of the best multiplayer experiences I've had in a shooter. Communication is key, and moving as a massive force across these gorgeously generated landscapes (or defending from such a force) is a thrill I'm glad to only participate in on a digital level. Although, if I actually got the opportunity to pilot a Scythe on some distant planet, I would not turn it down.

The Swapper

Uhh... So, this game just released today, and honestly there are many other games I could put here in it's place, but I like to keep it in the moment. Keep it fresh. I'm only a couple hours in, but I'm hooked, in a "now, this is what I'm talking about" kind of way. All graphic elements are hand-crafted from clay, beautifully haunting music, finely crafted storytelling, set in that Metroidvania-like 2D sprawling dungeon, with maneuvering mechanics (swapping) that remind of the first time you opened your first portal. I'm really liking this game :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 05/31/2013 at 08:33pm

The video for The Swapper looks intense.

http://facepalmgames.com/the-swapper/

Looking forward to you talking more about it. I have so many games right now, I think ill hold tight until I get another one but WOW it does look really great. The music alone in the trailer was very cool.

I may need to get Journey. From what you and Travis have said about it and it does have a disc version I can get for the PS3 too.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 06/01/2013 at 06:57pm

First off, you're welcome @jdodson for that Terraria recommendation. ;) I look forward to our next CheerfulGhost server when the new update hits!

Also, I watched the video for Swapper and... wow... those graphics. That is a beautiful looking game.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/02/2013 at 05:24am

Yeah I appreciate you mentioning it. Not sure I would have tried it otherwise.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/25/2014 at 05:23am

Minecraft sucked me in last year (to be technical) around Thanksgiving. I was home alone as the rest of the family went to Kentucky and I stayed home to look after the pets. I was amazed with Minecraft and amazed also at how it made time completely irrelevant. I remember I had spent a 20+ hours awake playing Minecraft, something that hasn't happened in a while. That said, I played Minecraft for a month or two.

I remember years ago when I was playing Skyrim, I spent over 300 hours on it, just with my first character. It was awesome!

Recently, Terraria has sucked me in and I've spent 159 hours on it. I still love it, but I feel like I've reached a near-end-game point where it's time to move on to something else.

I don't remember how much time I spent playing any of the Fallout series, but I really did enjoy Fallout 3 and New Vegas on the PS3.

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Shadow Warrior Classic Now Free on Steam

Devolver Digital is working on a Shadow Warrior remake and due to a recent promo glitch some people got the original Shadow Warrior for free. Because of this they decided to make the original totally free on Steam. If you haven't played this 1997 classic and want to, now is your chance.

Available for free download on Mac and PC.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/238070/
https://twitter.com/_ShadowWarrior/status/339752731780726784

It's Dangerous to go Alone

I've played something like a hundred FTL games. As of yesterday, I had won exactly once. Tonight, I had an FTL pairing session with the Cheerful Ghost himself, and we won. And not by a small margin, either - we picked up eight crew members along the way and lost none; our hull dipped into the red exactly once; our missile stock never got into the single digits.

Sure, we caught some lucky breaks, but nothing dramatically "wow". Our weapons bank was, by the end of the game, a small bomb, a burst laster I, a burst laser II, and a pike beam. Solid, but not world-shattering. Likewise our drones; we finished with a beam drone I and a defense drone I. Our final loadout was,... Read All I've played something like a hundred FTL games. As of yesterday, I had won exactly once. Tonight, I had an FTL pairing session with the Cheerful Ghost himself, and we won. And not by a small margin, either - we picked up eight crew members along the way and lost none; our hull dipped into the red exactly once; our missile stock never got into the single digits.

Sure, we caught some lucky breaks, but nothing dramatically "wow". Our weapons bank was, by the end of the game, a small bomb, a burst laster I, a burst laser II, and a pike beam. Solid, but not world-shattering. Likewise our drones; we finished with a beam drone I and a defense drone I. Our final loadout was, by some standards, rather modest: while we did succeed in garnering 8 crew members, we didn't max out our shields, got just over halfway up the engine progression, and our augments were an FTL Jammer and a Scrap Recovery Arm. No, it was not our equipment haul that set this run apart.

What won us this game was our combined tactical and strategic prowess. jdodson, as a rule, pulverizes the enemy weapons bank before all else; I tend to focus on bringing down shields and engines - his strategy is the better one. I coaxed him into purchasing a cloaking device instead of fuel - we had a couple of close calls, but no fuel emergency, and the cloaking device saved our bacon more than once. When we got boarded by mantises, I turned our ship into a winding corridor of hopeless suffication; when we got boarded by drones he dispatched and managed a security contingent that dismantled the boarders with ruthless efficiency. In short, we were able to fill gaps in each others' technique that we didn't even know we had.

Beyond that, though, it was the most satisfying game victory I've had in recent memory. I went in to the last sector convinced we were going to fall just short of the mark. It wasn't until halfway through the battle with the rebel flagship that I truly realized how well we had all the bases covered between us.

jdodson and I invented FTL Pairing more or less on accident - I wanted to know what FTL was all about, and he offered to give me a demo via Google Hangout. I started asking questions about the ramifications of different choices, and he started talking out loud about what he was thinking - from there, we just naturally settled into playing the game as a pair. I think I'll be trying this technique with other so-called "single-player" games - not only is it a total blast, but it's the fastest way I've ever seen to learn a game (whether it's for the first time or the hundredth).

Many thanks to jdodson for hosting a stellar game of FTL, for showing me the true value of a shipful of mantises, and for building the event system that made it all happen. I, for one, will be scheduling my next adventure there shortly.

FTL Pairing Session 2: VICTORY!

Tonight CapnCurry and I beat FTL together in our pairing session. FTL pairing is where two people both make choices for how to play FTL together*. Since FTL is a turn based game its setup well for this. Since I was the less experienced player I controlled the game on my end and we used Google Hangout to share my screen and talk to figure out our strategy. The session lasted about 3 hours in total.

From the start things were going pretty well. One choice about mid way through the game, I believe helped us out considerably. We had our drone system built and two drone weapons on board. We made it to a space station and if we sold off our two drone weapons and our FTL... Read All Tonight CapnCurry and I beat FTL together in our pairing session. FTL pairing is where two people both make choices for how to play FTL together*. Since FTL is a turn based game its setup well for this. Since I was the less experienced player I controlled the game on my end and we used Google Hangout to share my screen and talk to figure out our strategy. The session lasted about 3 hours in total.

From the start things were going pretty well. One choice about mid way through the game, I believe helped us out considerably. We had our drone system built and two drone weapons on board. We made it to a space station and if we sold off our two drone weapons and our FTL jammer we could afford the cloak. We decided to take the cloak and that was a really good gamble. As it turned out we found more drone weapons later so the gamble really paid off.

Since I only unlocked the Kestrel thats the ship we went with and it proved to be good enough to beat the game with. I sort of figured that you needed to get the other ships to win, but the Kestrel held up like a champ.

I think a few items really sent us over the edge to survive the 3 end boss fights. The Cloak, The Pike Beam and the small bomb. Basically we would hit the boss with the bomb, then do a double salvo using our laser weapons. When the shields were down we raked as many rooms as we could with the Pike Beam and that was all she wrote for the boss.

I want to thank CapnCurry for pairing with me because he really showed me a bunch of useful strategies for FTL. I want to give him a lot of the credit for the win because his strategies were really effective. That said, I was controlling things and we did win so thats also rad.

That said, I had a blast and am looking forward to the next pair session. PS if you can and want to learn your way to a better life and FTL there is no substitute for pairing with the Captain.

We scheduled our pairing session with the new Cheerful Ghost event system. You should do the same.

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/events/11

* I am fairly certain we invented FTL pairing too, so you know thats also awesome.