Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Other Online Distractions

Since the majority of my free time comes in small doses, I use a variety of online games to scratch the gaming itch. I tried out some new ones recently so I thought I would blast out mini-reviews.

Gameknot - An online chess site with millions of registered users, its exactly everything you would want for playing chess. Casual games, tournaments, rankings, stats, databases, puzzles, leagues. I've been a platinum member for years and have played over 1800 games.

Weewar - This is a turned based strategy game that can be amazing or horrible depending on the individual games. There are hundreds of maps to choose from to start a game and lots of different settings, but even a perfectly fun map can be ruined by a poor sportsman of a player on the other side. Still, the good experiences outweigh the bad for the most part. I was a full member for a year but since it got purchased by EA I've been playing free as it went through a bad patch of no support and poor stability. Seems better now and a lot of veterans came back.

Blight of the Immortals - Still in beta, this game is one of two new I've tried done by Iron Helmet Games. The idea is that you work with (or against) other players to stop a zombie apocalypse in a fantasy setting. I've played about 5 games and I really like it. The mechanics are real time but slow paced enough that you only need to check a couple times a day to give orders and respond to events. You score honour by fighting the zombies and win by having the most honour when the zombies are finally eradicated. I plan to keep trying this out.

Neptune's Pride - The second Iron Helmet Game, this is their first one. Its a space empire PvP game with similar time based mechanics. While the rules are simple, the complexity of player versus player strategy and diplomacy make it quite intense. I've only been playing free but the worst part is having players drop out giving the neighbours a huge advantage. I won't be staying with this game because although you can play casually, the PvP nature can allow for a player to launch and attack that you don't get to respond to until too late. I just don't have the stomach for that kind of stress.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting stuff. I'll give them a look - especially Gameknot. Maybe knock the rust off my chess and hunt you down for a game ;)

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  2. Anonymous5:39 am

    Another you can add to the list to check out

    Frozen Synapse. I was put on to it by an EVE player, and I love it. It's like a multiplayer version of the tactical combat system from x-com. Awesome stuff!

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