Why I Still Buy Early Access Games

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Two years ago Steam introduced its Early Access platform to both developers and players. The system allows developers to put their game out on Steam in an unfinished state. The idea is that the system allows players access to games they are looking forward to sooner and from that the developers get more revenue earlier on as well as feedback to help them develop their games. I see a lot of people decrying the Early Access system and calling for others not to purchase any games that utilize it. Personally I feel that point of view makes the issue much more black-and-white than it is. Every game under the Early Access umbrella is different, as is every developer and their intentions and aims. I happily buy games that are still in Early Access within reason.

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4 Comics to Get Into Right Now

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If you follow me on Twitter, you know I’ve been talking about comics a lot lately. My dream goal is to open a comic shop in my little New Zealand town since the closest shop is over four hours away. Until then I have to rely on digital services like Comixology and online ordering. It doesn’t come close to the feeling of browsing a comic shop and seeing all the art for yourself though. From following sites like Comics Alliance and the Mary Sue and creators like Kate Leth and Madeleine Flores, I’ve discovered some pretty awesome comics without having to step foot into a store though.

It can be intimidating to get into comics, especially ones with decades-long histories. But today I want to tell you about some comics that I think are super easy to get into – whether because they’re fairly new or because the writing makes it easy to follow along, even if you don’t know the history.

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Shelter 2 – Cat-based Heart Ache

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Before I was a lynx mom, I was a badger mom. By the time my badger cubs were big enough to fend on their own, I had managed to save three of the original five of them. It was an emotional task filled with perils. But I did it. So I thought I would be able to handle being a lynx mom well enough.

How wrong I was.

The Shelter series is an emotional rollercoaster. But whereas the original Shelter is like a wooden roller coaster, Shelter 2 is like this coaster (yes, there are flames that shoot out of the ground near the end). And it’s because of that increase in intensity that I just couldn’t get very far in the game. I played for a little over an hour but my little cat-loving heart just couldn’t take anymore. Think of this as more of an extended Impressions than a Review.

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Captain Forever Remix – Early Access Impressions

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After a few hours of playing Captain Forever Remix by Pixelsaurus Games, I have to wonder how the developers managed to crawl into my brain and make a game based on my memories of growing up so accurately. Playing this game is like going back to the slightly-sticky arcades full of neon lights, clicking buttons, fast food, and carpets with random vibrantly colored squiggles and triangles. My brother is even there, calling me a butthead again and challenging me to a videogame. To top off this giant pile of nostalgia, CFR features some of my favorite game mechanics: permadeath, customizability, and replayability. While simple in theory, the game has a lot of unique ways to keep you playing again and again. For an Early Access title, it’s pretty damn impressive.

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History and Mythology: The Importance of Engaging Worlds in City-builders

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Throughout my life, I’ve sunk thousands and thousands of hours into city-building games. It started with Pharaoh, then Caesar III, Zeus, SimCity 3000, and on and on. These types of games have managed to capture my attention more than any other genre (MMO’s and their constant stream of updates, not withstanding). The Sierra/Impressions historical builders especially left their mark on me – I can still hear the music of Pharaoh in my head and can picture the purple-dotted fertile meadows of Zeus/Poseidon. Unfortunately with Impressions’ close in 2004 the stream of city-builders, even outside of the historical setting, ground to a halt.

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Alas, Poor Larry!

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This week, my original content is a very short story. I originally wrote this for the 52-week short story challenge that I only got about 4 weeks into before stopping. So I guess I didn’t technically write it this week, but I did do a lot of editing to it. It’s mostly based on true events that happened when I was 5, though some details are maybe exaggerated and chronologically it’s probably not accurate. But it is a weird series of events that, in retrospect, make me realize I was kind of a weird kid.

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The Liebster Award

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Today I have been nominated for the Liebster Award! If you don’t know what that is, you can read up on it more here, but the gist is that it’s a way to show other bloggers you appreciate them and also help them grow. There are a variety of ‘rules’ but I will be following the lead of the person who nominated me. Yay blogging! I have been bestowed this honor by Soultamer, who has similar gaming interests as I do and writes about them. Definitely go check her blog out! She has recently started following my blog and ramblings and has left some very kind words in comments!

So now comes the part where I have to answer the 10 questions that Soultamer asked:

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Rymdkapsel – Beautifully Simplistic Strategy

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In rymdkapsel, you build a space station using Tetris blocks. And like Tetris, you have a preview in the corner letting you know what shapes your different building elements will come as. By fitting different sections of your space station together you can utilize space in a more effective way. Sometimes that comes across in the form of taking up less space in the game setting and sometimes it just means that your workers can get to where they are going faster. Predictably like in Tetris, those long thin pieces come more infrequently than you would like.

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White, Blue, and Wings

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It could be considered that I’m cheating because for this week’s Original Content, I’m submitting… this blog. You might have noticed a few things different about it… there’s a new header image and description, the picture on the right hand side is new… and the URL is totally different as well. No longer is this city.navsplace.net, which is what cithryth.com directed to. Finally this blog has a proper name (besides mine) and logo.

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Unoriginality: A Writer’s Biggest Fear

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The past few days something has started growing on my mind. I don’t know what planted the seed, as it’s not something I had thought about too much beforehand. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m turning 25 in a few months and the “quarter-life crisis” machine is starting to spin its wheels. Whatever did it brought fertilizer though because it’s wrapped it’s tendrils around my brain and won’t let go. Hopefully writing this post out will help loosen the grip and let me think about other, more pressing, issues like whether it’s time I should finally get out of bed at 9am or what type of tea I’m going to have today.

What’s been growing on my mind is the idea and fear that I am completely unoriginal.

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