Cantrip Games Journal – Week 3 – Bravely Default First Impressions

Although I played a few different games this week, one sits at the forefront of my thoughts: Bravely Default. I’ve been on a big Final Fantasy kick lately, researching the series and thinking about the history of its development. I found the Bravely Default series to be an especially interesting tangent from the main series. The development team got started with the FF3 remake, then made a spiritual sequel with Final Fantasy: The Four Warriors of Light. Then they made Bravely Default as a spiritual sequel to Four Warriors. From my short time with the game, its apparent that it’s more of a Final Fantasy game than most games that carry the title. Despite its interesting background, I’m currently debating to continue playing it. More thoughts after the jump.

Cantrip Games Journal – Week 2

Welcome to week 2 of my games journal. This week I played a larger number of games, for a little bit of time. The first two are prototype card games I played at a local game design meetup. Then there’s a bunch of video games. Last, a recommendation for an entertaining YouTube video series about one of my favorite games, Final Fantasy VII.

Cantrip Games Journal – Week 1

I’m going to try something different for my blog. One of my goals for this year was to update at least once a week. So far, I’ve been keeping up, but I’ve been having difficulty with writing on interesting topics each week. Coming up with ideas for posts is easy, but I’d like to dedicate more time to fleshing them out. To compromise I’ve decided to make my weekly updates quick journal entries about each game I’ve played throughout the week. This is a pretty simple format that should be easy to keep up with, while also allowing me to put down quick thoughts on games as I play them (traditionally I’ve felt the need to “complete” a game before I express my total thoughts on them). I still plan on posting more focused essays, but they will be more sporadic, but hopefully longer and of higher quality. Without further ado, here is the first entry of my “Games Journal”.

Top 5 Coolest Hearthstone Cards from Witchwood

The newest expansion for Hearthstone, Witchwood, has been out for a little while now. In the past I did my card picks right before the set came out, but when I reviewed them the cards tended to be flashy clunkers. This time I decided to mess around with the new cards awhile before making any picks. This isn’t to say these cards may be unimpressive in the long run, they are pretty interesting. Generally I lean towards cards that open up new archetypes and gameplay options, which there are quite a few of in this expansion. Click on for my top 5 coolest cards from Witchwood!

Making Your Own Fun in Video Games.

In episode 146 of the Waypoint Radio podcast, they discuss ways in which they created new gameplay scenarios within the rules of existing games. This took the form of improv within open ended games like Sea of Thieves, or challenging themselves to play against their usual impulses in A Way Out. This is a fun episode and I encourage you to check it out.

It also got me thinking about ways in which I’ve used video games in unintentional ways to create new ways of play. Below I’ve got a short list of various ways I’ve created my own fun. Some are well known variants, but others may have been more original. Check em out, let me know in the comments if you’ve ever tried these things, or other ways you’ve created your own fun within video games.

Play my newest game: Escape the Dark + Devlog

Over the past week I’ve been messing around with PuzzleScript, developing my own little game. And now, its finished! Check it out here: Escape The Dark. In this game you are a little green person trying to escape a cave. Push around rocks, and avoid pits, to reach the light at the end of the tunnel.

After the jump I’ll include a quick rundown of the development process.

Mainline Final Fantasy Games Ranked From Best to Worst

Works got me pretty busy, but I still want to keep my blog updated. Here is a super quick post where I rank each mainline Final Fantasy game, presented without commentary, based on my personal preferences.  While the top and bottom rankings are unlikely to change, I expect the middle 9 could shuffle around with replays. In the future I may elaborate on some of my choices.

The Surprising Influence of Popeye on Video Games.

What do Mario and Pac-man have in common? Some things are obvious: stared in breakthrough arcade games, mascots for the entire medium, and both are characters in Smash Bros. Another, not so obvious, connection is the influence Popeye had on both their creators. Let’s look at how this spinach loving sailor helped create gaming as we know it now.

Into the Breach Tips and Tricks

Into the Breach is, so far, my favorite game of the year. If you haven’t played it yet, you really should check it out. It’s an addictive mix of tactics and roguelike. Maybe you are playing, but are having some trouble. In that case, I’ve compiled a short list of tips and tricks that I’ve picked up while playing.

Read about my first published card game

The publishers of my first card game Journey of the Emperor asked me to write an article about my design process for it. You can read it here.

Facebook page for the game – Do me a favor and give this a like.

BoardGameGeek page – If BGG is more your thing, like it here too.