As always, there’s a lot I didn’t play this year, mostly because of games from previous years. One in particular from a very previous year. Like, 2001. But that’s okay! Here on Tap we don’t let that kind of thing spoil a good list. A good wordy list.
Wow, where did 2016 go? It feels like I was just writing a —
Haaaaa…. Just kidding. 2016 has been regarded by many as a kind of rough year, from a personal or historical perspective. It was a perfectly good year for video games, though. Let’s start off with a few obvious picks, then a few not so obvious, some runners up, and finally, in the spirit of 2016, a few complaints.
I badgered Jay into writing this series. I felt that if anything needed his particular treatment, his uniquely Dobryvian acid humor, it was RimWorld. He’s outdone himself. But then, he always does.
“I did something different with Part Four,” Jay said. “Sort of a tonal shift. The pure humor angle wasn’t working.” What he has done instead is circle back to the point he made in Part One: that the player creates unique internal stories within each game, and that’s what makes RimWorld so memorable. This, the final chapter of Death in Fire, is one of those internal stories.
Anyway, consider yourself warned: the series title is not necessarily ironic in meaning, and if that comes as a surprise then you haven’t been paying attention.
— Steerpike
An escaped sex slave, a one-armed builder, an “herbalist”/sniper, and a cat-lover head into their third week of survival on a forgotten world. Hilarity ensues. Or perhaps blood. Bloody hilarity?
If you’re new to the series or need a refresher, go check out Part 1 or Part 2. Steerpike still owes me a Swedish massage, or at least a bag filled with money and drugs. (I promised him a cookie bouquet and nothing more —S)
If you’re new to Death in Fire, go check out Part 1. Otherwise, welcome back to my band of merry Black Mesa-ians!
So, I suck at RimWorld. Steam tells me I’ve played just over 100 hours now, and I’m personally responsible for the immolation of at least 25 human beings.
Affordable Space Adventures got an honourable mention in my (ridiculously long) Games of 2015 list solely because of what I played with Joel for this episode of Side by Side. Since then I’ve played it through to completion with my girlfriend and a friend, and I can tell you now that it will be on my Games of 2016 list too, but not as an honourable mention this time.
Here’s how this affordable spaceship went down.
Are you interested in reading about No Man’s Sky? The last few hundred words of this deluge might be related to that subject! Maybe.
Joel and I dig into the dark (and light) depths of the past with chess-like arena-fighter Archon: The Light and the Dark. It was released in 1983 which makes it one of the oldest games ever.
I was born in 1983.
Archon is particularly significant to me now after discovering that it’s essentially the grandfather of one of my favourite multiplayer games on the PlayStation: The Unholy War, by Toys For Bob.
For additional notes on the history of the game visit Electron Dance. For the video, see below.
Uranium is one of the most abundant elements on the planet.
This surprises many people, who assume it must be rare because it’s valuable, and valuable things are typically rare. Uranium is not rare. It’s as common as tin or zinc. Swing a cat in the Earth’s crust and you’ll hit some uranium. If you want some uranium, go outside and get a rock. Pitchblende is your best bet, but so long as you pick a really boring rock, there’s probably a little uranium inside.
This year I’ve got an honest-to-god list of games from 2015. Even if it is late.
From 2015.
AJ here, next on the list to present my series of 2015 Games of the Year. This format will be very similar to how I’ve posted in previous years, with five titles and some runners-up. Now… to the list!
Goatee. Goat-eee. Goat tie. Go tee! Go, tea. Goaty. Go-at-ee.
It’s GOTY time.
Black Viper manages, whether intentionally or not, to find game equivalents for all the shortcomings in typical Eurospy films.
In this episode Joel and I get our groove on with Crypt of the Necrodancer. Well, Joel gets his groove on. I just die a lot.