Awesome Indie Games: Papers Please

I think the five dollars I spent last weekend on Papers Please is easily one of the best purchases I've made on Steam. Papers Please puts you in the working role of an immigration inspector working at a border checkpoint to the fictitious country, Arstotzka. You are tasked with inspecting the documents of incoming immigrants and keeping an eye out for forged passports, terrorists, criminals and smugglers. If all the information in the papers of the immigrant match up, you can admit them into your country. If not, they get a big ole' fat denial and in some cases, you can have immigrants arrested. Making mistakes earns you citations and racking up too many and you'll have your pay docked.

Your pay is central to the game. The more immigrants you successfully approve or deny the more money you make, but you only have so much time in a day and if you go too fast, you can miss small discrepancies. At the end of each day, you are shown how much money you made or lost and are allowed to manage your expenses. Your money pays for rent, food, and heat for you and your family. Rent is mandatory but you can decide whether or not to pay for heat and food. Careful though, ignore them and your family members will get sick and you'll need to pay for medicine. I'm sure you can guess what happens if you don't pay for medicine.

It doesn't sound too hard but you realize at the very start of the game you're in for a rough ride. When you arrive to work, you are given very little instruction on how to do your job; likely similar to how lower-class working conditions were in that period. The game definitely makes you feel like a replaceable cog in the machine. When you start to feel like you're getting the hang of it, the game changes things up and adds in new documents to inspect, tools to scan or procedures to use. Things are usually changed day-to-day so you need to remain ever vigilant.

You're also challenged with moral dilemmas like a mother trying to see her son for the first time in 10 years without the right papers or a man trying to escape his war-torn country for safety in yours. I was surprised how my attitude quickly became very selfish. Helping people would directly hurt me and my family and that's what was important to me.  But not all of these encounters are given in complete selflessness, a revolutionary group seeking reform will compensate you for your cooperation in their plans.

Papers Please has 20 different endings, I've only unlocked 5 of them myself. Some are only slightly different while others give you a drastically different ending. You can also unlock an endless mode. In both story and endless modes, the entrants are randomized so you can't retry days and expect the game to follow a script that you can memorize. I definitely recommend Papers Please for any puzzle or simulation enthusiasts but it also makes a fun experience for more casual players.

Review: Gone Home (Spoiler Free)

Gone Home is an indie first-person interactive adventure game developed and published by the Fullbright Company. In the game, players take control of Kaitlin Greenbriar, a young woman returning home from a long trip in Europe to find no trace of her parents or sister. The game relies on the exploration of players as they move about the house and collect clues.

Kaitlin's parents inherited the secluded mansion in which the game takes place from a recently deceased uncle and have been living in it for about a year when she returns home. The game does a great job of setting the mood; the game takes place at night during a violent storm and the house is alive with creaks and moans as you move about. It provokes a very unsettling feeling as you explore and dive into various notes, drawers and cabinets all while hearing footsteps and creaky floorboards just behind you. It's incredibly eerie and had my hairs standing on end quite a few times. Gone Home is also great looking visually. It does a fine job of crafting realistic looking environments and objects, all of which you can investigate up close and maneuver as you search for clues.

Gone home takes place in the year of 1995; a blast to the past when I was still playing Super Nintendo games and watching VHS tapes. In Gone Home, you'll find stacks of VHS recordings of the X-Files and audio cassette tapes, also reminiscent of my childhood. The focus of solving the mystery however lies in notes, letters, journal entries and newspaper clippings scattered throughout the house. Scavenging for these items and trying to determine what they mean is the core of the game.

The notes do a great job of getting players to know Kaitlin's family, almost to a point where you feel you know almost as much as Kaitlin herself. As you hover over certain clues, Kaitlin will occasionally make some kind of comment or remark. For instance, discovering a dirty magazine belonging to her father hidden under some books will prompt an "oh gosh, dad" on screen. As a player, I felt somewhat the same way and it was fun to see Kaitlin's realistic reactions to some of her discoveries. Digging through her father's books and VHS tape collection, you'll learn very fast that he's a sci-fi junkie. Going through the belongings of the mom and sister reveal characteristics as well but I'll leave that for you to discover.

There is no fighting in Gone Home nor is there any use for weapons or a flashlight. You have a map and will find keys to unlock certain locked doors in the house or combinations to unlock various compartments. You use the intricacies and details of the house to learn about members of the family and search for clues to learn of where they are. This was one of my only gripes about the game. I didn't need any fighting or weapons but for an interactive story based game, I felt it was lacking any challenging puzzles. Anyone with a good sense of direction and the ability to read can play the game without any trouble. Maybe that's what Fullbright was going for though. A game that just about anybody could play and enjoy.

However, the play doesn't last long. Even after I took plenty of time to read every note and scrap of paper I found and search every nook and cranny of that house, I finished the game in just two hours. The other sad thing is that there isn't really any point in replaying the game; you won't experience anything different. Gone Home normally retails for twenty dollars (thankfully I bought it for eight) which feels like a lot for a two hour game, so be wary if you plan to purchase.

Now don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the game despite the ease and the short play through. The game has a great story and a twist unlike any other game I've played before. It's unconventional but at the same time, refreshing and fun. Gone Home has a good message and it is definitely worth  playing. I sat down to play for only a few minutes but found myself unable to put it down. I'd recommend playing it all in one sitting for the best effect. After playing, I'm looking forward to seeing more games from the Fullbright Company in this exploration style. I believe they executed it well, but they have the potential to do even better.

Don't Starve: Why Can't I Get Into It?

I'm a big fan of Indie games. I find them to be refreshingly creative and original compared to some of the more mainstream titles we see on the shelves. I also enjoy the great majority of classical approaches developers have taken with their games like the top-down view in Hotline Miami, the 8-bit graphics of Minecraft, the retro style of Faster Than Light and side-scroll gameplay of many others. However, the open world survival adventure game, Don't Starve from Klei Entertainment has me at a loss. 

I love the concept of Don't Starve; it evokes images reminiscent of a Tim Burton movie mixed with something like Minecraft. You craft supplies from materials you collect, build fires to keep you sane in the night, explore caves and much more. The different monsters you find throughout the world are terrifying and add an element of horror to the game which I love. The game progresses through the seasons which alter your needs to survive. When you die, you are awarded experience to unlock more characters, each with their own perks. 

While it sounds fun and intriguing, I just can't get into it for some strange reason. The really weird thing is that I want to; I want to like Don't Starve but I can't bring myself to play it for more than 10 or 15 minutes before I move onto something else. I feel like I've explored the entirety of my world and I haven't come across anything particularly interesting. Then again, it's the only world I've played in, so maybe I should just die and generate a new world. If I were to die, I could also gain some experience which might allow me to unlock another character. I also haven't made it to winter which I hear adds more excitement to the game. I've also pondered if there are some secrets or lesser known features of the game I may not have yet discovered. 

Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll figure it out. I like Don't Starve and I want to enjoy it. Perhaps I just need to sit down and really grind for a bit and discover where the true fun is in this game. Have you had a similar experience with a generally well received indie game? Feel free to make suggestions for indie games I should check out too. 

What I'm Playing

So this is a new type of article that I will occasionally post to talk about what I'm playing, my likes and dislikes and even recommendations. Note, I play a good deal of older games (2-3 years old) but I'll keep things fresh with new titles and stuff that isn't always found on store shelves.

Dark Souls - Xbox 360

So lately, what have I been playing? I think the question should be, what have I not been playing. I'll start off with Dark Souls. I picked this game up about a month ago after I got about half way through the PC version and realized I was leveling my character all wrong. Instead of using the min/max approach, I balanced my skill points and was being annihilated by common enemies. This time around, I put together a knight build, and played a lot smarter and with more strategy.

People warned me before I bought the game saying that I'd regret it, or return it, or that I'd get so frustrated I might punch a hole in the wall. I haven't felt that way once with Dark Souls. I've had plenty of "screw this" moments but I find the game to be more rewarding than frustrating. When I'm able to tackle a particularly hard area or take down a difficult foe, I feel empowered and accomplished. Completing parts of the game are also so rewarding because they unlock new mysterious areas of the game, ripe for exploring. While the plot is minimalistic, the game play is tense and exciting; I swear, my hands have never sweat so much while playing a game. If you're looking for a challenge and some good fun, try out Dark Souls. I should mention, I also went with Dark Souls because the sequel is right around the corner, March 11th.

Castle Storm - PC

Castle Storm is almost like Angry Birds meets medieval tower defense games. The 2D physics based destruction game comes from Zen studios and pits Knights against Vikings! In the campaign, you take control of the knights and ward off invading vikings using various projectiles, ground soldiers and magical spells. It sounds kind of hokey and looks childish but it's good fun. You gain money to upgrade your weaponry, train your soldiers and fortify your castle.

You can unlock special rooms to add on your castle that give you bonuses during combat. For instance, if you build a treasury room, you collect more gold on the battlefield. Build an architect's room to strengthen your castle walls from enemy attacks. These bonuses only remain active while the room is intact however. One of the cool aspects about Castle Storm though is that you not only ward off invaders but you are sometimes tasked with invading or destroying the enemy castle as well, so you need to be good at multitasking. The game also has multiplayer and cooperative modes which are a blast. Castle Storm is an enjoyable experience and the game is easy to pick up and put down, not requiring a great deal of time or devotion.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Xbox 360

After the mess of Assassin's Creed III I really wasn't that excited for AC IV. Sure it looked cool because it has pirates in it, you could sail your ship all around the Caribbean and hunt sharks and stuff but I wasn't ready to drop sixty dollars on the game. However, I had the opportunity to get my hands on a copy and I decided to try it out. I was pleasantly surprised by how addicted I became to the game. Note, I'm not really into Assassin's Creed so much for the plot line anymore, ever since Brotherhood and same goes for Black Flag. The plot is weak and predictable but the gameplay is great.

After a few missions of setting the scene, you come into possession of your ship and crew which you can sail anywhere you want in the Caribbean. This is the biggest world that Ubisoft has created for any Assassin's Creed game. Seriously, it's vast. In between my time sailing to different cities, I come across tons of awesome side quest opportunities such as searching for buried treasure, hunting animals for upgrade materials, searching Myan Ruins, destroying naval forts, harpooning sharks and whales, diving into ship wrecks and boarding enemy ships to steal supplies and ships to recruit to my personal pirate fleet. Yeah, it's pretty nasty the amount of stuff you can get caught up doing in this game.

Myan ruins and ship wrecks often yield items that while help you unlock special armor and weapons or unique upgrades for your ship, so they are worth your time. Combat is great as always in Assassin's Creed and the naval combat is leagues better than it was in AC III. Environments are also richer and more interesting than the frontier. If you're looking for a game to sink some time into, check out Black Flag.

Payday 2 - PC

Payday 2 has been eating up a considerable amount of my time since I bought it during the steam winter sale. I have two brothers who also bought it and I think I remember us playing it for the majority of two or three days while I was still on winter break. The thing I love about Payday is the cooperative play. Playing games is fun but playing games with friends is even more fun, especially when you're robbing banks and jewelry stores and smuggling drugs.

Payday 2 isn't some run and gun shooter where you can take a million hits or shoot every enemy you see. Heists require planning and careful coordination for things to go smoothly. Make a mistake and you'll have the fuzz all up in your business and that just makes things tough. In some missions though it's impossible to avoid conflict and you have to stick to your guns. Each heist isn't always the same either. You may notice small changes such as room locations, number of guards, camera locations and other things change each time you play a mission. It's a good way of keeping players on their toes. You can also increase the mission difficulty for higher payouts in both money and experience.

Money buys you weapons, upgrades for your weapons, and new masks as they become available. Players can spend experience on skills that are split into four categories, each with their own specialty and set of skills. There's the Mastermind, The Enforcer, The Technician, and The Ghost. Each class has a skill tree that you invest points into. My brothers and I took a balanced approach, one of us investing heavily into the Mastermind, one into the Enforcer and myself into the Technician. The variety in our skills gives us an edge and it's fun to plan out the heists based on what skills we have unlocked.

One of the greatest things about Payday is the thrill of the heist. Whether you're trying to keep things quiet or fighting off the police, it's always pretty crazy until you make your escape. If you like cooperative games and something that is pretty hectic but incredibly rewarding, look into Payday.