It’s time for the 2018 Quarterlies! Vote for Quarter to Three’s Best Game of 2018

Games
225

A pretty good, streamlined X-like space trading/empire building game that came out of Early Access this year.

EDIT: it’s also hard(ish) sci-fi, which is a rare thing these days.

226

Way to make a man cry, man.

227

Hmmm, how X-like? Confusing hard to learn controls, fairly non-existent story, and so on?

228

X-like in the sense that you’ll do trading most of the time, and you can also build stations, mess with the economy for profit, and go to war against other corporations. But it’s considerably streamlined compared to X, and the UI is mostly competent (even with the “trade routes” interface being a bit more confusing than it could be). There’s also no story to speak of, as far as I know.

Anyway, it’s streamlined X. You’ll essentially do the same things, but most things are easier to do. Being streamlined, there are less options for trade goods/ships/etc., but it does allow for a faster, more… well… streamlined experience.

I’d say it’s well worth exploring for X fans. Of the X-inspired games, it’s the one I enjoyed the most by far.

229

Straightforward controls, excellent tutorial, fantastic UI…

230

On the subject of Subnautica, I can say that a half-hour with a first-person swimming game is likely to end with me bent over a toilet followed by 2 hours in a dark room with a cold compress on my forehead, so I’ll pass.

231

Play it in 15 minute chunks, then.

232

Ha ha ha, I like your word choice there.

233

Hey @buzznaut can you unbold the numbers and then bold Northgard?

234

Northgard needs all the bolding it can be given, its fantastic and should be in at least everyone’s top 10, if you like RTS.

235

I forgot to add Railway Empire to my honorable mentions. I might bump Decrypto off my list if I manage to get in enough playtime to see how well-cut Railway Empire is. Right now it seems to be a diamond in the rough, but it sure does sparkle.

236

Now I have to decide between Obra Dinn, which made me feel smarter than I probably am, and Celeste, which made me feel like I was better at platformers than I probably am.

237

I have a feeling these are the same game, but could one of you figure out what it’s really called and whoever is wrong maybe fix up the name?

Thanks!

238

  1. Pillars of Eternity 2
    It’s just a great RPG with few frustration and great replayability.

  2. Slay the Spire
    Yes.

  3. Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
    It’s not perfect in any way, but it gave me the most beautiful world there is. Gameplay is fine too, it’s freeform and varied. Feels more like an ancient world Deus Ex rather than those boring slashers of older days.

  4. Into the Breach
    Yes.

  5. Hitman 2

I guess it’s great, I’ve spent a lot of time on Hitman 1 and only toe deep in Hitman 2.

Haven’t played that many of 2018 games, played a lot of older titles this year. Some games like Kingdom Come Deliverance, Prey Mooncrash turned out to be disappointing. Slay the Spire, RimWorld and Star Traders Frontiers, Pathfinder Kingmaker feel great but they require a deep dive before I can say anything, and StS is still in Early Access.

239

Fixed my error.

240

Second best game of 2018, but too early to say anything about it yet? :-)

241

Again, Early Access titles are able to be voted on. Personally, while Slay the Spire technically came out in late November 2017, the game didn’t really pick up on steam until early 2018, so, to me, it is a 2018 release. They sold like a million copies in 2018.

I think that Early Access games that are not being publicly sold shouldn’t be included, like kickstarter backer only builds, or private betas, but stuff you can plop down real cash on steam for? Vote away.

Either way, I can’t stop playing Slay the Spire.

242

And I put it back in my list. I go where the wind last blows!

243

I love how Slay the Spire fans in this thread are mostly keeping the game a secret since it’s not out yet. They just say the name and run away. :)

Upthread, @tylertoo didn’t get the memo and revealed to the rest of us that it’s a deck builder. Secret’s out of the bag guys!

244

Slay the Spire, which didn’t come out in 2018, is eligible if you mostly played it in 2018?? That’s great! This means there ARE NO ELIGIBILITY RULES!!! EVERY GAME IS ELIGIBLE AS LONG AS YOU PLAYED IT THIS YEAR!!!

  1. Invisible, Inc.
  2. Invisible, Inc.
  3. Invisible, Inc.
  4. Invisible, Inc.
  5. Invisible, Inc.