| Title | Ten games you overlooked in 2014 |
| Author | Tom Chick |
| Posted in | Features |
| When | January 14, 2015 |
Okay, this category might be a bit of a stretch, but I like to end the yearly lists on a positive note. So this is a list of smaller games that deserve more recognition..
Read the full articleYou're right, I overlooked all but #1 and #6 and both of those are great simple games. Easy to pick up and play for 15 minues when you don't have the time or will to play something more involved.
Tom, any chance you're going to do a similar year-in-review list of board games? Obviously maybe not as comprehensive as these lists, but I'd be fascinated to hear what you liked and didn't like this year on the table.
I'd never heard of Dungeon of the Endless but when you use terms like "rogue like", "turn based", "tower defense", "punishing difficulty" and throw in a "Spelunk" I feel like spooging all over my monitor. I'll definitely be picking that one up.
I can vouch for Velocity 2x and One Finger Death Punch. Both are very addictive games. I got Velocity 2x free from PS+ and I eventually had to quit loading it up for just a quick play session because I would end up losing an hour or two and not playing all the expensive games I bought.
Mercenary Kings never clicked for me.
Do it. It's one of those games where you go: "This is hard", then you go "Ah, I got this", then it happens and you're running to the final exit with just 1 of your 4 comrades still alive.
Mr. Spade, I would love to, but I unfortunately don't have nearly as comprehensive a knowledge of recent boardgame releases as I do videogame releases. A lot of the stuff I discovered last year was me still catching up with boardgames from years past. Archipelago and Troyes were my big revelations last year, and those are each a couple of years old! In fact, there were probably only a handful of 2014 releases that I actually sampled.
That said, Dead of Winter is a great twist on coop gaming, Phil Eklund's Greenland is awesome, and Xia: Legends of a Drift System is a lovely but messy sci-fi sandbox. I'll have more on those latter two in the near future.
The only one of these I actually overlooked (in the sense that I have never heard of it) is Magicmaker. I was under the impression that Ziggurat and Lichdom were in Early Access, or at least were last I checked on them, and I'm not quite sold enough on them to pick them up for full price even if they're out now. Next meaningful sale price, though! Waiting for sales on Super Time Force and Mercenary Kings also, since I don't think I'm likely to be skilled enough to get much out of either, though they certainly look appealing (especially Super Time Force). Hohokum isn't out on a platform I care about. And I think I got Velocity 2X as a PS+ title but it's really not my sort of thing.
I own Race the Sun, One Finger Death Punch, and Dungeon of the Endless. The former is pretty but doesn't really do all that much for me. The latter two seem great but I haven't sunk nearly enough time into them yet. Also, Dungeon of the Endless soundly kicks my ass so far. That end of level sprint is brutal.
I'd love to see a write up of how a game of Xia plays out . I've got a copy sitting here but haven't gotten to the table with it yet.
Town of Salem on steam is awesomely fun , It's like a computer version of Ultimate Werewolf or something...
Sounds like Shut Up & Sit Down will have something on it soon too.
The game I loved last year that I haven't seen mentioned much is Legend of Grimrock II. I really enjoyed the first one and the follow up is an improvement across the board.
Same - I've been tempted by the freeform nature of it and the production values, but it seems pricy for a game that seems wobbly in the rules and goals department.
Ziggurat and Lichdom: Battlemage are definitely not early access.
I figured that must have changed, given your general policy on Early Access games.
Have sunk more hours into Mercenary Kings than I care to admit. Couch and online coop make it a ton of fun, and its still a blast to solo hunt for some crafting mats.
Not to mention that One Finger Death Punch (which is awesome) is only ONE DOLLAR!
And it's by the same guy who made No Luca No!
