What are you playing at the moment?

[hujsh]

Seems like there should be a thread about games. Whether it be video games, board games, table top games, card games. Whatever you're playing, tell us about it

Sorry if there's already a thread around game I've missed

[hujsh]

Going back to last year. Probably my Game of the Year was Metaphor Refantazio. If you are familiar with the Persona series you have some clue how this game plays but there are some interesting twists on the usual Atlus formula that freshen up the combat, calendar system and setting.

Another candidate might be Like a Dragon: Infinite Weath. I haven't finished it yet because I first had to go back and beat Yakuza: Like a Dragon which was very good but Infinite Wealth seems like a big improvement. The turn based combat is a nice change from the older Yakuza games and approaching with a better attitude towards the mini games meant I enjoyed it more than Yakuza:0

I've also been playing Vampire survivors with the Castlevania DLC and just got Ballatro on my phone. Ballatro is an interesting entry point into roguelikes if you are familiar with Poker or an entry to Poker if you're a fan of roguelikes

[mjp]

I've actually been playing my Ibanez semi hollow a lot more lately...not really sure why. Most of last year I played my Jaguar and nothing but...somehow I picked up the Ibanez though and it's been my regular in January...

Oh - you meant computer games? No idea. :-)

[hujsh]

Not just computer games, probably not instruments though

[BiteNibbleChomp]

I'm a game designer Strategic Command: American Civil War is the biggest release I've done, I've also been involved in some of the other entries in the series over the last few years.

Most of the time when I'm playing games, I'm really just testing things which haven't been released yet, so unfortunately can't say too much more than that.

- BNC

[hujsh]

That's super impressive. Seems like the reviews a pretty positive for that game too

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

After several editions trying to get into it but it just never clicking for me, I'm now addicted to Out of the Park Baseball 25!
I've also really been enjoying Suzerain, Detroit:Become Human and Ostriv.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I'm a game designer Strategic Command: American Civil War is the biggest release I've done, I've also been involved in some of the other entries in the series over the last few years.

Most of the time when I'm playing games, I'm really just testing things which haven't been released yet, so unfortunately can't say too much more than that.

- BNC

I wish I knew this a few months ago . I was tossing up which American Civil War game to buy when they were on a steam special...was tossing up between this and Grand Tactician The Civil War: 1861-1865 and I went with Grand Tactician.
I've not really played it yet, but have been reading and watching videos and whilst it seems to be a great concept, my impression of overall user comments is its glitchy and still needs work, and that work is probably not going to be forthcoming. In hindsight I think I may've been better off with Strategic Command: American Civil War.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

I wish I knew this a few months ago . I was tossing up which American Civil War game to buy when they were on a steam special...was tossing up between this and Grand Tactician The Civil War: 1861-1865 and I went with Grand Tactician.
I've not really played it yet, but have been reading and watching videos and whilst it seems to be a great concept, my impression of overall user comments is its glitchy and still needs work, and that work is probably not going to be forthcoming. In hindsight I think I may've been better off with Strategic Command: American Civil War.

Haha, we go on sale every few months, so you've hardly missed your chance

It's funny that you mention this though - Grand Tactician came out only a few months before we announced, and in the pre-release period there were a lot of people asking how the two games would compare. I haven't played GT personally, but the impression I got is that it tries to do an awful lot - great for attention to detail but probably a more complex game than I'd play myself. I understand there's only a small team working on it too, so it's an impressive effort!
About 10 years ago I went looking for an ACW game the same way you did - the one I ended up choosing (which I'd prefer not name) ended up being both too complicated for my liking and had a couple of mechanics I found to be a lot more frustrating than they were fun - so I said "screw this, I'll make a better one myself". Wasn't quite as simple as that, but of the handful of stories I have for how SC:ACW came to be, that's my favourite

If you do ever give the game a go, please let me know what you think - hearing the nice things people say afterwards makes the whole process (which is a lot more work than a lot of people realise!) so much more rewarding!

- BNC

[SonofScray]

I have a board game collection, around 300 games at the moment but usually have a few on the way in and a few out to ensure there is space for them! Wife and her best friend and her uncle love games, so we usually have dinner together and knock a few over once a week during footy season and a few times a week in summer. It’s replaced TV for us.

We are enjoying a few games at the moment :

Baseball Highlights 2045 - card game simulating baseball
War Chest - chess like tactical game
Cartographers - map drawing game
Fighters of the Pacific - WW2 air squadron combat


video games I went off for a long time after a traumatic eye injury during Covid lockdowns but I recently gave in and bought my daughter a PS5 and VR set which lured me into trying the God of War series and Ghost of Tsushima. Both have scratched an itch since Red Dead Redemption I never thought would be rivalled.

[GVGjr]

That's awesome SoS, Board games are excellent if you can get a few people interested.
It's come along way from the games I used to play like Monopoly, Test Match, Battleship, Stratego, Draughts and Chess.

Years back I had a friend who was very sick so a few of us purchased a PS and a few games for him. The only trouble was his father got addicted to Road Rash and would get up at 3am to play it so as to not upset the wife.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I mentioned above I've been playing Out of the park Baseball (OOTP) 25. I'm flat out addicted now to the exclusion of the other many games I have in my library!
I seem to recall another WOOFER was into this, when I mentioned I liked sport management games like the Football Manager series (and Championship Manager series prior to that).

I'd bought several iterations of OOTP over the last decade, when on deep discount on Steam... figuring this would be the year I got into it.
I think OOTP 25 was my 4th go at it, and it finally clicked.

I am amazed at just how immersive it is, and how many ways there are to enjoy playing it. I have only a rudimentary knowledge of baseball, but given my old man was a Yank who grew up in the golden era of baseball, I know quite a bit about the lore, history and players of the game.
So this time I started an historical/fictional alternate MLB universe. I chose a setting that whilst using historical players there is some variability as to whether they turn out as good, or maybe better or worse than in real life. Also I've introduced the draft so players don't start where they historically went and they don't necessarily retire according to real life (some earlier, some later).
For example in my universe, Babe Ruth went to the St Louis Browns, and remained a two-way player player until he was 28, I then made a trade for him at the Yankees, where I continued to use him as a successful two way players, for a couple of years, before his pitching started to decline and I made him a pure batter for the next decade where he dominated.

Similarly I drafted Bob Brown who historically had a short unremarkable career in real life. In my universe, he has become THE greatest pitcher, with 4 No Hitters over 320 career wins, Career ERA of 2.58., has won 11 World Series, 2 World Series MVP, 3 CY Young awards, 1 League MVP, and several pitching titles, and awards. He's 34 and still dominating the league. His last season was his best yet!

In my game I simulated the league from the 1870's all the way through the deadball era and started in Commish mode with a then fairly unsuccessful Yankees team from 1921, and a rookie Lou Gehrig! I'm now in 1946, have put together an amazing team (although I had to cough up loads of capital to trade for guys like Joe Dimaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Lefty Gomez, to try and ensure some legendary Yankee players were on my team.

I can't believe how immersed I've become in what is essentially a lot of numbers, and how making hard calls like benching a 40 year old Lou Gehrig, because his output had become terminal, and yet I had to show him some respect, given his stature and how annoyed teammates would be.
I've become very attached to the players personified by the data.

It's not for everyone, but I am now hooked..

[soupman]

I don't know if I am the person you mention, but I am a FM nut. Typically buy it only once every 5 years ish and embark on my own huge custom database and long term save.

Different game to OOTP but all the same beats for what is essentially a number simulator...form attachments to players, build up club legends, narratives, see clubs (and divisions even) rise and fall, feeds into national teams, etc.

I try and adopt transfer philosophies as to who i acquire:
-Only allowed to sign players with a nationality ranked outside the top 50
-Manage a Vanuatu club and as I'm trying to build up the nation will sign young French players and nationalise them so they can better the NT setup
-I follow St Pauli in Germany, in real life they have spoken about their lack of financial muscle compared to other Bundesliga clubs, and how they can't sign players that have already performed in good developmental leagues like Belgium because by then their value is too high, so have to be creative (for example their most recent signing is an African striker who has been doing well in the Estonian league). I've tried to emulate this by only signing players that are taking a step forward in their career, despite me being a regular top 3 finisher in the Bundesliga and very rich.

It;s a very time consuming game and not for everyone but it is so rich with depth, and from everything I've heard OOTP is even better in that regard, I just havent been able to connect with it the times I've tried.

[hujsh]

I don't know if I am the person you mention, but I am a FM nut. Typically buy it only once every 5 years ish and embark on my own huge custom database and long term save.

Different game to OOTP but all the same beats for what is essentially a number simulator...form attachments to players, build up club legends, narratives, see clubs (and divisions even) rise and fall, feeds into national teams, etc.

I try and adopt transfer philosophies as to who i acquire:
-Only allowed to sign players with a nationality ranked outside the top 50
-Manage a Vanuatu club and as I'm trying to build up the nation will sign young French players and nationalise them so they can better the NT setup
-I follow St Pauli in Germany, in real life they have spoken about their lack of financial muscle compared to other Bundesliga clubs, and how they can't sign players that have already performed in good developmental leagues like Belgium because by then their value is too high, so have to be creative (for example their most recent signing is an African striker who has been doing well in the Estonian league). I've tried to emulate this by only signing players that are taking a step forward in their career, despite me being a regular top 3 finisher in the Bundesliga and very rich.

It;s a very time consuming game and not for everyone but it is so rich with depth, and from everything I've heard OOTP is even better in that regard, I just havent been able to connect with it the times I've tried.

I'm also a big FM fan. On steam the FMs have more hours sunk into them combined than any other series. I love having a small team in a lower league and climbing up the ladder.

FWIW they are competently overhauling the game this next release and it doesn't seem to be going well. If you're looking to get a new version soon I'd advise to wait 1 more year.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I don't know if I am the person you mention, but I am a FM nut. Typically buy it only once every 5 years ish and embark on my own huge custom database and long term save.

Different game to OOTP but all the same beats for what is essentially a number simulator...form attachments to players, build up club legends, narratives, see clubs (and divisions even) rise and fall, feeds into national teams, etc.

I try and adopt transfer philosophies as to who i acquire:
-Only allowed to sign players with a nationality ranked outside the top 50
-Manage a Vanuatu club and as I'm trying to build up the nation will sign young French players and nationalise them so they can better the NT setup
-I follow St Pauli in Germany, in real life they have spoken about their lack of financial muscle compared to other Bundesliga clubs, and how they can't sign players that have already performed in good developmental leagues like Belgium because by then their value is too high, so have to be creative (for example their most recent signing is an African striker who has been doing well in the Estonian league). I've tried to emulate this by only signing players that are taking a step forward in their career, despite me being a regular top 3 finisher in the Bundesliga and very rich.

It;s a very time consuming game and not for everyone but it is so rich with depth, and from everything I've heard OOTP is even better in that regard, I just havent been able to connect with it the times I've tried.

Yeah I've been a long time fan of it too, I love the rules you've setup to make a really personalised experience. FM24 and about every 3rd iteration prior was my main game I played. Next time I set up a new game, I think I'll be a bit more brave with instituting different rules and conditions...
My big issue though is I'm just dumb on soccer and tactics so I'm just not confident I'd be able to be as adventurous as you.
My ideal game would be both an AFL version or Cricket (I think cricket would be perfect for an OOTP type game) as I'm just more intimately familiar with the sports than I am soccer or baseball.

In fact the main way I've gotten into OOTP this time, is by accepting I know bugger all about the tactics of baseball at the sophisticated level required to be awesome at the game with no help.

I figured this time around I would start off with lots of training wheels on in terms of leaving things largely to my coaches both strategically and on-field, and focus more on getting to grips with understanding scouting, and the skills required for each position, and putting together a team and watching as many of my games unfold as I needed to observe play and get a feel for game situations. This worked great, and helped me learn more about the game, so for example I feel more comfortable making subs when there are opportunities/risk due to a left/right handed pitcher with platoon issues, or for a pinch runner, or when to pull the trigger on benching my starter, and when to use my set-up man and closer.

I'm actually now even getting into taking more responsibilities in managing the whole entire farm system,.which has just exploded from a barely manageable 14 teams to now 22 in my 1946 season!!

[soupman]

I'm also a big FM fan. On steam the FMs have more hours sunk into them combined than any other series. I love having a small team in a lower league and climbing up the ladder.

FWIW they are competently overhauling the game this next release and it doesn't seem to be going well. If you're looking to get a new version soon I'd advise to wait 1 more year.

I think I have 6000 hours clocked across 4 versions of the game (13, 15, 17 and 22). It is a complete time sink (although some of that is when the game is lying dormant, the 450 hours i have apparently spent in the editor is pretty damning).

Very aware of the debacle currently happening, kind of hoping it shakes things up as the current team (Miles) have seemed out of ideas for a long tie now, and I think as such a complete world it has a lot of potential to grow in non obvious ways.

[soupman]

My ideal game would be both an AFL version or Cricket (I think cricket would be perfect for an OOTP type game) as I'm just more intimately familiar with the sports than I am soccer or baseball.

Theres been a few attempts.

TAR was the first I tried a long time ago and it wasn't terrible.

Footy Fanatic X I played a lot and was pretty good as a base game.

Premiership Coach was probably the most complete version that has come out and felt much more modern than the previous attempts.

Australian Football Coach is the current title and I while I think the developer is trying hard and it has some potential it has a shocking interface and doesn't play very satisfyingly.

They've really struggled imo to develop personality, the increased matchday squad size and inability to make tactics feel like they matter is to it's detriment, and the off season part is very hit and miss which is realistically a crucial part of it becoming a good game. I'll keep supporting it finanically though in the hope that down the line it becomes something more complete.