PLAY 100 GAMES IN 2018
Clear your backlog and expand your horizons. Here’s what the team played this month
IPhil Savage Editor
’ve had a productive month, thanks to a selection of smaller games. A Case of Distrust is a short, neat detective adventure. Chuchel is a short, neat comedy adventure. And Minit is a short, neat Zelda- like adventure. You’ll find reviews for all of them in the magazine.
Beyond that, I’ve mostly just played Into the Breach— also reviewed this issue. While it may look short (and neat), it’s incredibly easy to lose hours trying to kill a swarm of bugs with my varied and versatile mechs.
I’m also back playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. It hasn’t made my list yet—I’m only adding stuff that I start or finish this year—but I’m closing in on the end. It’s going to be strange to say goodbye to this massive, sprawling game that I’ve been chipping away at for nearly three years now. CHALLENGE
Philippa Warr Deputy Editor
When filling out my challenge this month I had plenty of free games to add in thanks to the Top 50 Free Games feature. I spent whole afternoons checking in on projects and replaying things to weigh them up against one another. FYI the list itself isn’t comprehensive—it’s more akin to a selection box which you can open up and find something tasty to suit your mood.
I’ve decided I can count replays of games towards my 100 games if the experience brings me something new. Not new in the way that Proteus brings me new delights, but new in terms of how I think or what I get out of the time. Thus the creepy late-night cable channels of 2:22am is now on the list.
As for paid games, only the colored block-swapping of Ian MacLarty’s puzzler Dissembler made the cut!
IAndy Kelly Section Editor
started Final Fantasy XV this month, and it’s a weird game. I love the concept of being on a road trip, journeying between locations, stopping off to camp. But the sidequests are hilariously half-baked and trivial.
I finally gave Frontier’s theme park simulator Planet Coaster a go this month as well. The sheer amount of granular detail is overwhelming for a newcomer, but I’m having fun watching people riding my ineptly-designed roller coasters and cynically raising the price of hamburgers.
And after the disappointment of Metal Gear Survive, I decided to try another survival game called The Flame in the Flood. This one sees you traveling up a river in a post-apocalyptic setting, stopping off to scavenge supplies and craft life-saving gear. It’s fun, elegantly designed, and very stylish.