Come one, come all! Got a game that's not AAA (or god forbid AAAA) but you loved anyhow? Welcome to show and tell. Talk about your favorite, why people should play it, and what you love most about it. And yes, I'm aware this may just be end up being 25 comments about stardew valley.

I want to start by recommending Kingdom, a series with relatively simple (but elegant) graphics and side scrolling tower defence style gameplay. It doesn't sound like much but the presentation encourages this beautiful sense of exploration of mechanics. Amos Roddy did the music, which tells you just how much I love the soundtrack I didn't even have to look up his name. There are a few games, but I specifically recommend Kingdom: Two Crowns as it includes co-op and has some nice style options (European, Japanese, and more comprehensive Norse DLC that changes more than looks)

If that's not your speed maybe you'd the better known Stanley Parable. I won't say much on it as it's a fantastically written experience I'd recommend to anyone with a pulse. The less you know going into it the better, and it's very accessible in terms of design because it's largely a (hilarious and witty) walking simulator.

Finally, I'd recommend the Mount and Blade series. Bannerlord is the most recent but it's predecessor, Warband is a very loved game too. Essentially this series drops you into a grounded medieval sandbox world as a character you define, then you just go play. Want to be a merchant and make all the money managing a bunch of stores and contending with the unrest and banditry caused by warring kingdom? You can do that. Want to /be/ that bandit raiding caravans? You can. How about the classic Lancelot experience of being a tournament fighting, seige winning, lady wooing, knightly machine? Absolutely. And better yet, when the king shafts you of that territory you really wanted to be granted you can just rebel and become a king in your own right (long term results and stability of your kingdom may vary by circumstance). It's definitely worth a peek if you haven't looked at any of the games in the series.

And that's what I've got today. Hope you guys have some fun recommendations, stories and anecdotes for trade!

As a beloved cult classic franchise, XCOM has been around a long time and seen many forms of gameplay. While I eagerly await XCOM3 with a fervor that would put half-life 3 to shame, I'd love to hear your thoughts, stories and future hopes for the franchise. Spoiler warning, obviously.

My personal favorite is probably XCOM2, if only for the sheer number of mods that allow me to customize a single character for hours (only for them to die on their first mission) and completely overhaul the challenges and theme of the game.

I started with the XCOM reboot, which was such a delightfully crunchy little game full of steroid abusers wearing armor made out of hastily repurposed fridges. I would later look at a retrospective of the series and appreciate that the reboot simplified inventory management and condensed the base building down to just one base, which meant you could enjoy the strategy side of things without it wearing out its welcome. Just a fondly remembered game experience all around.

The DLC for XCOM was very welcome as well, adding new toys to play with but only letting you have them if you got off your ass and stopped over watching every turn. It was a good change that forced me to be aggressive in order to get a giant stompy mechsuit or a team full of go-go-gadget soldiers. It definitely refreshed the game for a playthrough or three.

Then came XCOM2, which turned the formula on its head and left me stunned that I canonically lost the last game. This inversion of not responding to random strikes all over the globe but /being the one doing them?/ I was SO in. Even on launch the game was a blast but they came out with some seriously solid DLC.

War of the Chosen is the closest I've seen to the universally praised (and regrettably copyrighted) Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor since that game came out, and they adapted it quite well to the style of the game. It rebalanced a few things, added new toys to play with, and gave you just another chance to have a massive wrench thrown into your plans to train up your all-rookie backup squad.

XCOM 2.5 episode 1 Chimera squad. Honestly? I liked it. I think it should stay a side project, a spin-off I can happily say is part of the XCOM family but it isn't required reading to understand the rest of the franchise nor is it a massive experience you can't miss on its own merit. It's good for when you're itching for a change but still want some XCOM. Can't complain.

I love this series, one day I'll go back and try the OG if I can ever get over the controls. Until then I'll just stay here enjoying good company. So, what are your thoughts and experiences with the franchise (pre or post reboot)? Any legendary tales to share?

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Warp nACLs (network access control lists)

I just discovered Beast and City of the Great Machine thanks to Shut Up And Sit Down and I'm pretty jazzed to try out Beast this weekend with some friends via Tabletop Simulator. I've never actually gotten to play a hidden movement game before, so this should inform my tastes quite nicely. I'll be sure to update with some impressions/stories when that's done.

If you haven't seen it yet, Beast is a all-vs-one hidden movement game that's conceptually very similar to the defunct video game Evolve. Players take on the role of hunters trying to track, trap and kill a monster played by another player before it can grow too powerful. With various monsters that all play differently I can anticipate a good deal of replayability, and with video games suddenly deciding 90$ is the new average price, Beast can be found for 65$. As a nice plus, it's got an expansion coming to crowdfunding soon so if I like it I can deep dive even harder!

That said, I'm curious what others in this hidden movement niche I might be missing that people enjoy. If you've got a notable example let me know!

Lets kick this community off with some of the good stuff. I'll go first:

1. Stars without Number - The first of many Kevin Crawford games I love, it's got excellent mechanics that can be easily extracted from the lore for homebrew purposes, but the lore is still pretty cool too.
2. Godbound - Probably the most absurd-in-scope RPG i've ever run. Turns out that when your players are heroes of steel in a world of glass you can teach them valuable lessons about the unintended consequences of taking the easy way out.
3. Star Wars FFG - Hard to run at first, it still has a certain appeal to me for the way it handles success and failure.
4. Lancer: Crunchy mechs and a strategy layer that's quite fun to play. The non-combat stuff is relatively freeform too which encourages RP.
5. Mutants and Masterminds - Last but not least, M&M comes with some caveats: Superheros are so much fun to make. Sure it takes a couple hours, but conceptualizing and building these characters mechanically is actually a ton of fun (protip: use herolab classic to build, its muuuuuuuch easier) The GM guide has some really solid advice on running hero stories of gold, silver, iron, and four color genres. What's more, the mechanics encourage acting like a comic book hero, so players /want/ to save the civilians even if the bad guy escapes because the game rewards them for it!

I could talk a lot more about these games, but this post is already looking pretty long. Tell me about some of your experiences and favorites!

I’m just curious what games keep you coming back, but I’ll go first (in no particular order)

Twilight Imperium - excellent for when you want to give your brain a real workout and enjoy some cutthroat strategy. Munchkin - It’s not a masterpiece or anything, but it’s a blast with friends Red Dragon Inn - Not dissimilar to Munchkin for the high quality evening with friends potential. Expansions are endless, but almost always worth the change of pace. Does suffer from a little power creep between the OG box and the stuff released after it. Xia Legends of a drift system - Best played on Tabletop Sim, but this sci-fi game about being a starship captain creates some great stories with friends. Space Base - You might be seeing a bit of a theme here, but really they’re just really good games. Space Base is a pretty refined worker placement game, and it doesn’t take 9 hours like some of the games on this list. Sheriff of Nottingham - Social deduction, pettiness, and silly voices, what’s not to love? The King’s Dilemma - Okay this one is a bit of a cheaty one, it’s a legacy game but with the right crew who like to get in character it’s a fantastic experience.

Alright, your turn!