My lord is it complex. I so much want to learn this game. But I just cant get into it.

I wanted to like Stellaris, but the game play eventually gets boring. CK2 I'ved played 252 hours, which seems really low, but Stellaris is just at 30 hours. I personally think CK2 is too simplistic, EU4, which I do also enjoy, seems more taxing. HOI or Victoria are too much for me to handle.

One of the secrets to CK2 when I want a different experience is I just give myself a crapload of cash and go from there.

I am the opposite. Love CKII, and still fire it up on occasion. Never got into Stellaris at all. Not the biggest sci-fi fan. Now, I have to leave go and play with my Starfinder group.

Looking forward to this game "Surviving the Aftermath" from Paradox. Don't know if zombies are in it but have to believe there will be a DLC for that sooner or later.

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/survivi...03-MASTER.html

Surviving the Aftermath Announcement Trailer - YouTube

Looks like almost every gaming site including Bethesda itself is having a Fallout Sale this week, 40-60% off seems like on most things including Fallout 76, so you might check them all out if you are looking to get a Fallout game.

TWD, meets Rimworld, meets Fallout, meets Banished.

I like it

I'm looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2 coming to PC later this world. Anyone playing it on the console have any thoughts?

I imagine it'll be a YMMV game. I dunno if I got 30 hours before packing it in.

The good stuff is still there as before. The scenery is lush, the voice acting was quality, the story unwrapped slowly but was satisfying (as far as I got anyway).

On the other hand, the controls felt janky as hell to me, the UI is a grind, the "open world" is filled with linear repetitive tedious missions/side missions, combat was largely disappointing, and bugs weren't uncommon.

And those negatives were so strong that they weren't enough to keep me playing despite a world I liked and characters I knew.

Thanks.

I've put well over 100 hours in, I delayed advancing the story until absolutely required. I've thoroughly enjoyed working on all of the "challenges" in the game, and working on completing all of the custom satchels (which require perfect pelts from different animals to craft), finding the legendary animals and even the legendary fish. I will say that I didn't really feel invested in many of the characters through the story until I was VERY deep in, but everything else was so much fun that I didn't really care.

I will say that I was streaming my gameplay on twitch the entire time, and for awhile was just doing it once a week, so I never got burnt out on this side stuff, and I always found myself very much looking forward to the next session. I'm sure some viewer engagement helped as well. If I was playing it hardcore every day until I finished, I may well have burnt out on things, but I'd still give an extremely favorable review of everything. I have no desire to 100% the game, there are some collection aspects (cigarette cards) that I have no interest in. But different segments of completion - like the challenges, I'm committed to completing them all.

Really looking forward to Outer Worlds releasing Friday

So I've pretty much maxed my fun with Slay the Spire (love that game). Are there any similar games on Steam like it that people here like or have played?

Not played but have similar feels to me at least-Nowhere Prophet, There is a reddit on Slay the Spire where someone asked that question-not sure how much I agree with the answers though:


Any recommended games similar to Slay the Spire? : slaythespire


Another suggestion I see a lot is Dream quest on Iphone/ipad:


https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dream-quest/id870227884

I second the suggestion of Desktop Dungeon in that thread. That is a great game.

Q.U.B.E 2 and Layers of Fear are the free games on Epic this week

Thea 1? Strikes me as similiar-ish.

If you're interested in Football:Tactics and Glory, now might be the time. They're going to up the price but they're giving people a chance to grab it before they do.

I've not played a soccer sim but this seems to focus on strategy & tactics vs dexterity. You would recommend this without hesitation?

yeah, it's fun :)

It says 20% discount but showing $25 without the typical Steam strikethrough to indicate a discount. Is $25 the discounted price?

Football tactics is a yes - without hesitation - even if you are not really a soccer fan.

Loved Football tactics - highly recommended

Yes, it's a strategy game in turns. You can take as long as you like.

It's kind of a cousin of Blood Bowl where you've got players on a grid with interestingly interacting skills and abilities. I've put tons of hours into it.

so what is up with the steam halloween events

they seem to just be pointing out games with halloween events instead of having their own?
and we would have to buy those events?

ok, looking for a new game to really grab me and give me an in depth experience.

I do not enjoy first person shooters
I'm not a huge fan of MMO, though I used to play everquest
I like RTS but other than Starcraft I've never hit one that I loved as much as that.(I dislike the newest incarnation as well)

My all time favorite games (in no specific order)

Sid Meier (pretty much anything from RR tycoon to Civ V)
X-com (all flavors)
Sports sims
NASCAR sims (NASCAR RACING 2003 Edition was the bomb)
Blood Bowl


Civ like space 4x games, I've tried many but they all get bogged down in too much detail, too much micro management

I don't want to micro- manage 500 things to succeed but I do like some detail.

SO, all you game gurus, help a guy out, offer up some things you think might pique my interest!

Fanatical has a deal on CIV 6 right now-get the base game, 6 DLC, and 2 expansions for $40

Inside the box:

• Stellaris for space 4x, though it can definitely get micro-managey and has a fairly high barrier for entry because, Paradox. Excellent game once you start learning the systems.
• Motorsport Manager is a pretty great F1 racing sim.
• The Shadowrun series is slightly X-Com-ish with a cyberpunk, RPG feel.

Outside the box:

• On the action side of things, Bastion is phenomenal, though short.
• Terraria is a pretty great 2d, platform-ish adventure / crafting / RPG game that plays very well solo.
• Even further on the action side of things (bring a controller), Dead Cells is a fantastic rogue-like side-scrolling action RPG.
• Along the lines of Terraria, though it's much more sedate than your typical action-RPG, Stardew Valley is a farming / crafting / action-RPG that is simply delightful.
• If you are at all into city-builders, Banished is an excellent twist on the typical style where you are given a group of exiled travelers and need to create a town. Much more focused on individual villagers / citizens than something like SimCity or Cities: Skylines, this is also set in a vague, rustic past where cutting edge technology is a windmill.
• If you are into reading, Sunless Sea is one of the most well-written (also one of the most written - seriously, so. many. words.) games I've ever played. Set in a Victorian Gothic (read: Lovecraftian) subterranean ocean in a world known as Fallen London, you pilot a ship and explore the unknown.

This looks really interesting. It almost seems like managing one of the settled colonies in Sid Meier's Colonization. Have you ever played that and would that be a fair comparison?

Colonization is one of the few Sid Meier games that I haven't played, so I am unfortunately not a good voice for comparison of the games.

I can't recall the name of internet precursor to Sunless Sea but I can definitely vouch for the well-written part of it.

*Google tells me that the browser based version was called Fallen London

I've bounced hard off of many attempts to get into the sunless seas/skies/fallen london stuff. I'm guessing maybe I don't make it far enough in for it to get interesting, but I never seemed to tap any of the detail or writing that all the glowing reviews mention and I felt like I kept reading the same couple-dozen paragraphs a hundred times over.

You may wish to consider AI War 2. Currently 40% off on Steam for literally another day and a half so if you want to try it, try it soon. I personally think for $12 it's a total steal.

The original had too much micro for what you describe, but the sequel is a lot more streamlined with enough busy-work cut out to eliminate about 30% of the average playtime they estimate. The formula essentially turns an RTS on its head.

** Disclaimer: I do have a vested interest here, but I believe everything I just wrote above and the 89% favorable review rating on Steam isn't something many complex strategy titles can match.

Battletech: X-Com with Giant Stompy Mechs.
Age of Wonders: Planetfall (strategy x-com like)
Nowhere Prophet: A Slay-the-Spire alike with card-strategy mechanics.
New Star manager: Has really good reviews on Steam, and is on sale for $5

Outside the box:
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Ninja Stealth XCom

Oh, and if someone wants to try Battletech, I have a key for it and the first DLC (the third and final announced so-far DLC, Heavy Metal, releases in three weeks)

I'd take that if it is still available.

PM sent. :)

Thanks!

Costume Quest and SOMA are the free games at Epic this week

I finished Disco Elysium in about 25 hours and I can definitely see people getting 30+ hours out of a single playthrough. Multiple playthroughs are going to be common as well.

The voice acting and dialogue are top notch. The story is solid. The gameplay is as polished as it can be. It's honestly difficult to find faults with the game without getting into personal preference as to what a game should be.

I played Torment: Tides of Numenera and I felt like I was just reading huge block of dialogue after huge block of dialogue. This game has zero combat and a massive amount of text, but the text is broken up and presented in such a way that I never felt the same way I did with ToN.

Easily one of my top 5 games of the year.

Everything I've read about this game makes me want to try it, but I have no idea if I'm going to love or hate the gameplay.

WTF happened to my steam library GUI!?!?!?!2

Ruiner and Nuclear Throne are the free games on Epic this week


Elder Scrolls Online, Just Cause 4 and Cities Skyline are free to play this weekend on Steam. Big Discounts on Cities Skyline most every place it looks like

did you click on one of the format buttons? there are 3 modes

I recently downloaded the EPIC platform hoping for a good discount on the new Anno game but that doesn't seem to happen (actually I don't see any discounts ever there, or am I wrong?). Also, I was semi-interested in Surviving the Aftermath.

Also, I have an extra copy of Battletech burning a hole in my PC pocket if anybody is interested in swapping something for it.

Edit: Also, all the complaining about the Steam GUI and platform. The EPIC one is 1000 worse. Doesn't even have a wishlist.

The Epic one also takes forever to download compared to the others at least for me. I have seen the Anno game discounted but not in a while

If you preregister for the upcoming mobile version of Black Desert Online, they will give you a code to get (I think) a free version of BDO on the platform of your choice. I may (or may not) have an extra code for NA/EU for the PC if interested. PM me.


Black Desert MOBILE - Official Website

Best City Builder?

Im looking at Atomic Society. It is early access, but looks like a lot of fun

got some horrible reviews though.

The Messenger is the free game at Epic this week

Think I'm going to get lost in Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition tomorrow. I didn't even know this was released yesterday.