2022 Gaming--A Year in Review

With the end of 2022 looming, it's time to roll out all those end of the year lists.  I'll admit that I'm a sucker for the fun little "wrapped" videos and do find it enjoyable to compare lists with others (*although parents who share Spotify with kids have valid gripes when their lists are tainted by their kids who listen to the soundtrack to Encanto five thousand times).  Steam decided to join the fun and created a personalized "re-play" list (here's mine).  While their list is a fun way to look back at what I played this year, it doesn't necessarily capture what I truly enjoyed...just what I played the most.  So, here are my thoughts and personal picks of the games that released in 2022.

The Game I Played the Most

Ugh, irradiated space rocks are the worst!

Two Point Campus topped my list and there's nothing surprising about this fact.  I love the Two Point games and the release of Campus was a pleasant addition to 2022.  Campus doesn't change the Two Point formula much--the signature goofy humor and semi-serious management aspects from Hospital are still there, but in a college setting.  The Space Academy DLC added in three new campuses and new space themed courses, rooms, and challenges, so I saw myself returning to the game after I had completed the 12 base campuses.  If you enjoyed Two Point Hospital or are just looking for a relaxing, light hearted management sim, give it a try.  (If you haven't played in awhile, it's worth going back to check out the very affordable DLC and the new holiday themed challenges)

The Best Game to Relax To

One of my Dorf Romantik maps.

As I've gotten older, I've definitely lost my desire to come home after work to even more stress.  I'm always on the look out for something that's low stress for times when I just want to throw on a podcast (or some music) and let the stress of the day wash away.  I found myself frequently drawn to Dorf Romantik--even though it has a bit of a strange name, it's a cute little puzzle game about piecing together random tiles to create cities, forests, and other features.  Even though it looks relatively simple, figuring out the best placement for tiles provides challenge.  Ultimately your goal is to keep growing your map, but if you fail it doesn't feel that bad...and you get to start a brand new map!  Each map winds up feeling different--sometimes you build large cities; other times you have sprawling railroads or huge forests.  

Surprising Indies

Even though they didn't crack the top of my Steam re-play list, many of the games that I remember the most are the many unique indie games.  In particular, two of them made a big impact on my 2022.  Strange Horticulture offers up a novel experience in the detective/mystery genre--it's a game where you have to identify and use plants to solve a supernatural mystery.  While it sounds fairly bizarre, it turned out to be a lot of fun (in fact, I need to go back and replay it sometime seeing as how there are multiple endings).

Spending each dice is Citizen Sleeper is a choice.

Citizen Sleeper was another indie that I wound up finding myself truly enjoying.  The gameplay is so deceptively simple--the dice-based system is totally ingenious--but figuring out how to best spend those daily resources and which path you want to pursue...well, it turns out to be a bit agonizing.  Like Strange Horticulture, it's also a game that has many paths and plenty of replayability (in fact, they are still releasing additional content for it).

I would highly recommend checking out both games (and, the good news is that you can buy both of them relatively cheaply).

My Personal GOTY

You can pet the dog (and cats too!) in Pentiment.

When the big sales roll around, I generally find myself taking advantage of those sweet, sweet deals.  The most recent (and currently still ongoing) holiday sale is no exception.  I bought exactly one game...and it turned out to be absolutely amazing!  Pentiment is a point-and-click adventure/mystery game set in a beautifully illustrated, semi-medieval setting.  Being a history teacher, I found the historical setting to be very genuine and the events that shaped the world play out in the game (in a much more personal way than simply reading about it in a history book).  The story is choice based and it's one of those games where your choices are final--there aren't any convenient saves to reload.  It's so well-written and engaging that making those choices is extremely difficult--I constantly found myself torn between the varying factions in the story.  The story plays out beautifully and I immediately wanted to start over and make different choices.  And, the best part, you can pet the dogs and cats!  (I plan on writing up a full review for Pentiment, so look for that in the near future).

Let's hope our 2023's are filled with lots of fun games!  Happy New Year to all!

(**Something weird happened with the formatting on this post and I can't figure out what it is.  Please forgive the weird white background on half the post!)

Solving Mysteries...with Plants

I'm always on the lookout for new games that offer something unique so when Strange Horticulture began showing up on my Steam home page, my interest was immediately piqued.  Even better, the user reviews were "overwhelmingly positive" which is usually a good sign that a game is solid.  At the price of $14.99 it seemed like a low-risk purchase, so I gave it a whirl.  I've gotta say, it made me wish there were more games that involve plant-based capers.

What is it?

A point-and-click mystery/detective game that involves discovering, identifying, and using plants to unravel clues.  You play the role of the shop owner (which, of course, you inherit from poor grandpa--can I just say that grandpa characters need a break from dying and being the starting points of games) of "Strange Horticulture," and are trying to continue the family tradition of satisfying the plant related needs of various townspeople.  It's quickly revealed that the lands have been plagued by some mysterious folks who have quite possibly unleashed some sort of nasty, murderous critter.  It's your job to choose who you believe...and who you want to help (or hinder).

The gameplay involves using a descriptive plant encyclopedia (which offers general descriptions of plants and a drawing) to correctly identify plants.  Each plant has multiple uses--some are mundane, like helping to clear up a cough--while others are more sinister.  Customers show up to the shop and will ask for a certain plant for a specific issue--it's your job to correctly identify the plant and its usage.  There's a cast of strange characters who frequent the shop and they each have some sort of link to the greater mystery.

Each in-game day you also receive mysterious clues.  As time passes in your shop you accrue "will to explore" and can use a handy map to help analyze the clues and try to solve them.  Solving the clues will lead you to new plants which are useful to help the customers who show up at the shop.  There's also some choice involved as sometimes you can choose to give someone the plant they want...or a different plant that might throw a wrench in their plans (or give them a nasty rash because they are nasty people).

My full playthrough clocked in at 7.8 hours (and I played a bit extra to finish identifying all the plants), so it's not exactly a long game.

Pros:

+ It's unique.  The entire concept of identifying plants, solving mysteries using vague (and sometimes frustrating) clues, and making choices around the characters you meet just isn't a combination you'll find in other games.

+ Identifying plants is just challenging enough to be fun.  The plant encyclopedia provides general descriptions but it's up to you to puzzle out which plant is which.  Some of the more elaborate puzzles involved puzzling out elixir recipes from just drawings of plants.

The same can be said about most of the daily clues in the game--they're challenging and it might take you a few tries to figure something out, but they're not so impossible as to frustrate you to the point of quitting.

+ Replayability.  Even though the game is relatively short, there are multiple endings (I think one of the end screens said there are 16 different endings--I might be misremembering though).  Throughout the game you are given the choices about who to help--do you help the weird plant cult or the weird forest cult (there's a lot of cult-related activity...)?  Your choices impact which of the endings you get.

+ Your shop has a cute black cat named Hellebore who hangs out while you help the customers.  You get an achievement for petting Hellebore.  I wholeheartedly approve of games with cats and games that reward you for petting cats.

+ After you finish the main story the game gives you the option of continuing to play so that you can locate and identify any plants that you missed.  There's an achievement for identifying all of them (and it's possible that you wouldn't be able to identify them anyway due to the choice you make).  This is a nice option that helps eliminate multiple playthroughs for those who want to go after certain achievements.

Cons:

- It's on the short side.

- There's not much of a tutorial (it's pretty easy to figure out though) and I think it would be nice to have some of the exploration mechanics better explained.

- At one point in the game you receive a clue that is completely boggling.  Solving it requires using an object that is only explained much later--I think they intend for people to figure it out on their own.  It's a minor gripe, but I wish the timing on that object was moved up a bit in the timeline of the game. (*It's one that I will admit that I looked up...and then regretted).

Recommendation:

Strange Horticulture offers unique gameplay and much replayability.  The puzzles and clues are challenging without being frustrating and the game has a relaxing vibe--you're solving puzzles through your knowledge of plants!  I would recommend paying full price (the $15 price tag is just right) and look forward to more games from this developer.