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Mar 5th, 2014 at 15:39:08 - Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge (PC) |
Having enjoyed the Space Quest games that I played when I was younger, I felt that this game would be a lot of fun. Playing those games prepared me for what I was about to experience in Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge. All the other Space Quests that I have played are point and click adventures. This one is a little different though but does not take away from the overall experience.
Gameplay:
Since this game was released in 1987, there's no fancy mouse clicking. The arrow keys move the character and actions are done by typing commands. To be able to use the commands, the player must be standing close to what he's trying to do. For instance, "wear pants" will not work if you are not standing near any pants. Objects can be found and are useful later on in the story.
Plot:
In all Space Quest games you play as Roger Wilco, a janitor. He is good at finding himself in bad situations and figuring a way out of them. Roger also seems to be good at saving the universe in humorous and outlandish ways. In Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge, Roger has saved the galaxy (Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter) only to be immediately forgotten by everyone. He is the head janitor on a space ship (also the only janitor) and is quickly kidnapped by a Sludge Vohaul. He makes Roger his slave and tells Roger about his plan to destroy his home planet. Wilco is then transported to one of Vohaul's work camps. Before he can get to the camp, the transporter runs out of gas and falls to the ground. Luckily, it kills the two guards who are in charge of looking after him. From there Roger is to find his way out and save the universe from Vohaul.
Play Session 1:
This wasn't my first time launching this game, but it was my first attempt at playing it. It did not go very well. After crash landing on the planet I was being transported to, the first thing I noticed was an annoying beeping noise. Since this noise was extremely loud, I decided to run away. I went to the east where there were 3 giant mushrooms. "Look" provided me some details about the scene. Typing "look" into the command line told me that the mushrooms, although purple, looked normal. Upon walking closer to one of the mushrooms to investigate, it happily ate me as seen by the big smile on it's face. The game informed me that I had died and must start over.
Play Session 2:
The second time didn't go much better than the first play through. I landed on the planet like the previous play. I then figured out how to turn off the annoying sound being ommited by the transporter. This time, instead of getting eaten by giant killer mushrooms, I walked north and then west, pretty much ignoring my surroundings. When I did not find anything particularly interesting in either of these scenes, I decided to walk east. I had not even gotten past the frame that I had originally gone north into before I was shot down by a search party. Again, the game told me I must start over.
Game Summary:
This game is fantastic! It took me back to my childhood, and I will definitely be playing it more in the near future. The only problem I had with it was the way it saved games. You have to create a folder before you launch the game, then type the address of the folder and give the save a name. I realize that this was the way to do it in 1987, but I'd be very disappointed if a game saved like that now. Other than that, I have can find no faults in this game (I don't really want to either). If you've never played a Space Quest game, they are worth looking into. I've had a lot of laughs and a lot of frustrations because of them. The original Space Quest was remade by Sierra (the original creators of the series), but this one did not. There is a 3rd party remake that apparently does not differ from the original too much.
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Feb 9th, 2014 at 20:18:32 - Dominion (Other) |
Summary:
Dominion is a deck building card game for two to four players. The object of the
game is to have the most victory point at the end.
Setup:
There are four stacks of victory points(VP) which consist of an Estate(worth
1,costs 2), a Duchy(worth 3, costs 5), a Province(worth 6, costs 8), and a
Curse(worth -1, costs 0). There are also three stacks of Treasure cards which
consists of a Copper(worth 1, costs 0), a Silver(worth 2, costs 3), and a Gold
(worth 3, costs 6). Then, there are ten Action card stacks which are chosen at
random. These stacks can cost anywhere from 2 to 6 Copper each and have 10 cards
that are exactly the same. Action cards allow the player certain abilities. For
example, one card, the Laboratory, grants +2 Card and +1 Action. Each player
starts with a personal deck of three Estate cards(1 Victory Point) and seven
Copper cards.
Terminology:
Discard: Put the card in your discard stack
Trash: Put the card out of play
Players will be called A, B, and C
Gameplay:
Each player shuffles his/her deck. One player then draws the top five cards from
their deck and play begins. Every turn, the player gets one Action and one Buy.
These can be extended by buying Action cards that give the player bonuses. After
the buy is over, the player puts his/her cards into a discard pile. Once there
are not enough cards, the discard pile is reshuffled and placed on the bottom of
the draw pile. The game ends when the final Province is purchased or three other
stacks of cards are depleted.
Play Session #1:
The Action Cards:
-Courtyard(Action, costs 2): +3 Cards, Put a card from your hand on top of
your deck
-Secret Chamber(Action-Reaction, costs 2): Discard any number of cards. +1 per
card discarded. When another Player plays an Attack card, you may reveal this
from your hand. If you do, +2 Cards, then put 2 cards from your hand on top of
your deck
-Warehouse(Action, costs 3): +3 Cards, +1 Action, Discard 3 cards
-Great Hall(Action-Victory, costs 3): +1 Card, +1 Action, 1 VP at the end of
the game
-Wishing Well(Action, costs 3): +1 Card, +1 Action, Name a card. Reveal the
top card of your deck. If it's the named card, put it into your hand
-Workshop(Action, costs 3): Gain a card costing up to 4 Treasure
-Spy(Action-Attack, costs 4): +1 Card, +1 Action, Each player(including you)
reveals the top card of his/her deck and either discards it or puts it back,
your choice
-Feast(Action, costs 4): Trash this card, Gain a card costing up to 5 Treasure
-Ironworks(Action, costs 4): Gain a card costing up to 4 Treasure. If it is
an...
-Action card, +1 Action
-Treasure card, +1 Treasure
-Victory card, +1 Card
-Mine(Action, costs 5): Trash a Treasure card from your hand. Gain a Treasure
card costing up to 3 Treasure more; put it into your hand
The Play:
Since this was the first time playing Dominion for two of the three players,
the first session took longer than a normal game would take. That being said,
the score was extremely close at the end. As seen by the cards above, players
could easily string together action cards to make their hands better. Usually
with a deck like this, I would have just played the route of buying only
treasure cards. Since the Action cards don't let you cycle or provide you with
guaranteed extra cash every time you play them, I feel like that is a better
strategy. With the other two not really having a strategy(Since it was their
first time), I bought a Spy, which allowed me to slightly worsen their decks. I
then got a few Great Halls, which let you cycle your deck and provide VP. Secret
Chamber then allowed me to use my VP as Treasure cards. This was not the best
strategy I could have had, but it still turned out fine. The final score ended
A-42, B-43, C-24.
Play Session #2:
The Action Cards:
-Moat(Action-Reaction, costs 2): +2 Cards, When another player plays an Attack
card, you may reveal this from your hand. If you do, you are unaffected by that
Attack
-Chapel(Action, costs 2): Trash up to 4 cards from your hand
-Shanty Town(Action, costs 3): +2 Actions, Reveal your hand. If you have no
Action cards in hand: +2 Cards
-Swindler(Action-Attack, costs 3): +2 Treasure, Each other player trashes the
top card of his deck and gains a card with the same cost that you choose
-Smithy(Action, costs 4): +3 Cards
-Thief(Action-Attack, costs 4): Each other player reveals the top 2 cards of
his/her deck. If they reveal any Treasure cards, they trash one of them that you
choose. You may gain any or all of these Treasure cards. They discard the other
revealed cards
-Scout(Action, costs 4): +1 Action, Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put
the revealed Victory cards into your hand. Put the other cards on top of your
deck in any order
-Throne Room(Action, costs 4): Choose an Action card in your hand. Play it
twice
-Coppersmith(Action, costs 4): Copper produces an extra Treasure this turn
-Laboratory(Action, costs 5): +2 Cards, +1 Action
The Play:
The second play session took around 30 minutes and ended with a fairly large
point spread between each player. A Thief was bought almost immediately, which
led to the Moat being purchased soon after. The other two players tried a
combination of Smithy, Shanty Town, and Throne Room. When I see cards that allow
me to cycle through my deck, I pick them up. The Laboratory card obviously lets
you do this. I immediately bought as many of those as I could. After that, I
purchased a Scout to thin the deck out even more. By playing the Laboratory
cards first, I could then my draw deck out. With any luck, I could then play
Scout and pull some of the point cards into my hand. This helped me get better
hands with less fluff that the point cards provide. The final score ended A-25,
B-37, C-31.
Changes:
I know this game has been out since 2008 and currently there are eight
expansions to the base game. The deck that we played only included two
expansions(Intrigue and Seaside). Mixing of certain cards can make the game
almost unbearable. For example, the Action card that gives you a Curse when it
is played, mixed with the Action card that allows the person playing it to put
tokens on any purchasable card that gives the buyer of that card a Curse card
every time they buy it. It is especially frustrating when there are a bunch of
Action-Attack cards and no Action-Reaction cards in play. Other than the
occasional bad selection of Action cards, this game is fairly well balanced with
the expansions we played.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 10th, 2014 at 10:39:36.
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