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[Archived] The Casual Playthrough Voting Thread
I’m not so sure Calavera Day of the Dead would be a good game for a community playthrough. I’m playing it now and having trouble persuading myself to finish, even though it’s a game which fills almost all my requirements for a casual - coherent, good to look at, fun to play - up to a point. You’re in the Land of the Dead and it has all the Dia De Los Muertos trappings you could want, skeletal characters everywhere, including cute little animal skeletons walking around and even a dark thread running through. I’ve said I wanted more innovation and this has it in spades. Don’t expect Grim Fandango, however.
The problem is a “challenge” system which requires you to collect too many objects in ridiculous places, locked until ONE certain object opens ALL last objects near the end. Ugh! when you’ve covered the same locations hundreds of times and when you do find the last objects - surprise - they have five missing pieces! It’s providing me with very little satisfaction or incentive and a lot of annoyance, which is deadly in a game
Even so, I would recommend it for a solo playthrough just to see all the cool things about it, but in the words of - for American readers - Donald Trump…“trust me!” Unless you’re fond of slogs, even with a map, there are better games to choose from for a community playthrough.
I’m going to nominate Maze: Subject 360 and would be willing to lead it if nobody else will. Don’t let the maze part put you off because it’s not the major part of the game. You do have to go through 2 of them, but they’re not very big nor very difficult, and you can use a map you’ve drawn. I purposely ignored the map and investigated the dead ends because of the spooky art. It’s the scariest casual game I’ve played in a long time and quite different from so many in structure. Mad Head is really on the right track with this one.
Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.
Vote totals as of August 20
1 Surface: The Noise She Couldn’t MakeTimovieMan
1 Calavera - Day of the DeadTimovieMan
2 Shiver - PoltergeistTim (leader) TimovieMan
1 9: The Dark SideTimovieMan
Depths of Betrayal
2 Lost Lands - The Four HorsemenTim (leader) TimovieMan
Nightmare Adventure: The Witches Prison
2 Myths of the World - Of Fiends and FairiesTim (leader) TimovieMan
2 Maze - Subject 360 Lady Kestrel (leader) Tim
Notes: I’ll put the voting in the correct order once we get a slightly bigger sample. How could I not vote for F&F if I thought it was the casual game of the year in 2014? All games are available on BFG. Currently Maze is only available as a CE.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Game nominations:
Dark Realm: Queen of Flames — wide variety of puzzles, lengthy game play, all the bells and whistles of a modern game. Was on my “Best of 2014” list.
Fantastic Creations: House of Brass — for you steampunk fans (I know you’re out there). See my review here. I would be willing to lead.
I also vote for Lost Lands: The Four Horsemen and Depths of Betrayal. I like a change of pace/genre from one game to the next.
These days I go everywhere with a carpetbag containing a crowbar, a flashlight, a screwdriver, an oilcan, a ladder, a zipper tab, and a chihuahua.
Vote totals as of August 20 Last total of the night - preparing to snore
3 Lost Lands - The Four HorsemenTim (leader) TimovieMan, cluelass
2 Shiver - PoltergeistTim (leader) TimovieMan
2 Maze - Subject 360 Lady Kestrel (leader) Tim
2 Myths of the World - Of Fiends and FairiesTim (leader) TimovieMan
2 Fantastic Creations: House of Brass cluelass, Tim
1 Surface: The Noise She Couldn’t MakeTimovieMan
1 Calavera - Day of the DeadTimovieMan
1 9: The Dark SideTimovieMan
1 Depths of Betrayal cluelass
1 Dark Realm: Queen of Flames cluelass
Nightmare Adventure: The Witches Prison
Note: All games are available on BFG. Currently Maze is only available as a CE.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I’ll vote for Surface: The Noise She Couldn’t Make and Shiver - Poltergeist.
Currently Playing: Dragon Age Origins: Awakening
Recently Played: Red Embrace: Hollywood, Dorfromantik, Heirs & Graces, AI: The Somnium Files, PRICE, Frostpunk, The Shapeshifting Detective (CPT), Disco Elysium, Dream Daddy, Four Last Things, Jenny LeClue - Detectivu, The Signifier
I’ll vote for Surface-the Noise She Couldn’t Make and also for 9 the Dark Side.
Tim, I didn’t vote for Lost Lands, but I will now that I’ve seen the AGSotD, so you can keep my name up. 
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
rtrooney, I could use some help here. Which of those games have the less HO screens in them?
I’d like to nominate Beyond: Light Advent
I’d also like to vote for
Lost Lands—The Four Horsemen
Calavera—Day of the Dead
Dark Realm: Queen of Flames
Nightmare Adventure: The Witch’s Prison
Sefir—I don’t know about the other games, but Nightmare Adventure: The Witch’s Prison has exactly 1 Hidden Object screen. It’s there as a sort of joke/satire.
Final vote total as of August 21
5 Lost Lands - The Four Horsemen Tim (leader) TimovieMan, cluelass, Becky, Dara100
3 Shiver - PoltergeistTim (leader) TimovieMan, millenia
3 Dark Realm: Queen of Flames cluelass, Becky, Tim
3 Surface: The Noise She Couldn’t Make TimovieMan, furgotten, millenia
2 Maze - Subject 360 Lady Kestrel (leader) Tim
2 Myths of the World - Of Fiends and Fairies Tim (leader) TimovieMan
2 Fantastic Creations: House of Brass cluelass, Tim
1 Calavera - Day of the Dead TimovieMan, Becky
1 9: The Dark Side TimovieMan, furgotten
1 Depths of Betrayalcluelass
1 Nightmare Adventure: The Witches Prison Becky
1 Beyond:Light Adventure Becky
Note: All games are available on BFG. Currently Maze is only available as a CE.
Note: Beyond: Light Advent is currently available only as a CE. However, it released on July 26th, so the SE should be available soon. (source: Becky)
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
In addition to what Becky said, both Myths of the World and Lost Lands have HO scenes, but very few random list scenes.
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
I decided to have a closer look at how many Hidden Object screens are in the nominated games, so I searched the walkthroughs for the older games. These are estimates for the numbers of Hidden Object screens.
Just for context, F.A.C.E.S. had almost 40 list-based HO screens.
Shiver: Poltergeist—about 15 list-based
Fantastic Creations: House of Brass—no list-based HOs, instead you are asked to click on objects by type (all transparent objects; all concave objects, all silver objects, etc.)—about 12
Surface: The Noise She Couldn’t Make— about 12 list-based
Calavera: Day of the Dead—about 15 list-based
9: The Dark Side (these HO screens have frequent interactions in them, which makes them more interesting, IMHO) about 12 list-based
Depths of Betrayal—hard to describe until you play it. No list-based HO screens, but virtually every location has image-based Hidden Objects to find—usually 8 per screen, but sometimes less and sometimes more
Nightmare Adventure: The Witch’s Prison—1 list-based
The newer games that have been nominated (including the ones Tim just mentioned) are harder to categorize than the older games. Newer games tend to have a lot more variety in their HO screens, and sometimes even integrate them into the storytelling.
Note: Beyond: Light Advent is currently available only as a CE. However, it released on July 26th, so the SE should be available soon.
I don’t usually vote in this poll because I never know how busy my work schedule will be and I don’t want to influence a choice I may not be able to play in. This time, though, I’ll vote for Lost Lands - The Four Horsemen, which I’ve played, because it’s a very good game and I actually may have time.
Great work, Becky!
I flipped through a few more walkthroughs, but I couldn’t tell whether HOPs were list-based.
Lost Lands - The Four Horsemen - 11; looks like most contain mini-puzzles
Dark Realm: Queen of Flames - 15
Myths of the World - Of Fiends and Fairies - 24
These days I go everywhere with a carpetbag containing a crowbar, a flashlight, a screwdriver, an oilcan, a ladder, a zipper tab, and a chihuahua.
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