funtimegameland

It's all fun and games until someone grades you on it.

[funtimegameland]

In Rites, you are a Wizard. Wizards need to have knowledge. Books contain knowledge. Maybe you should read a few. 

Rites is a top-down, shooter, puzzle game. The puzzles are knowledge based and may require a bit of research. Luckily, there are plenty of books (which are actually links to webpages) which contain the information needed. 

So far, we have implemented walking, shooting, collisions, enemies, mana, book interactions (opening webpages), doors (which lead to the next room), and a basic HUD. 

We are implementing a menu system based on the book interactions. The game will begin with the player in a room, with a book. Interacting with the book will serve as the game menu. (In retrospect, I’m not sure that I love that idea. Wouldn’t that imply that the following story takes place in the book you read to begin the game? This would only work if the person reading the book is not the same person going through the rites. That might be interesting.)

Enemies spawn at spawners. There’s currently a simple limit to how many enemies can exist on a level at one time. We intend to allow spawners to be destroyed in the future, as part of our puzzle designs. Presently, the enemies drop mana potions, which (surprise) restore your mana. Mana is depleted by casting spells. Mana can also be restored by touching the mana...bucket. Maybe it’ll be a nice fountain or something equally magical in the future. 

Puzzle design is a challenge. We hope to create puzzles which require the player to learn and read. The player gains knowledge as the mage completes her rites to become a full wizard.  Our main two aesthetics are discovery and fantasy. 

[funtimegameland]

This is Forest Flier 

Made by Emma Wang and Katelyn Leary.

You can download it here

To play, use the arrow keys to move and the space bar to shoot. This can be held down continuously. Shoot the mushrooms, pick up potions to restore health, and dodge the mushrooms and their spores!

The only issue that I know of is that spores occasionally get stuck in the top section of the screen where the mushrooms spawn. 

The game has only changed slightly from alpha. I completed the visual assets and Emma added the potions, high score table, and menu stuff. This was a very simple game, based on a previously existing GameMaker game. However, going through the process was very informative and feels like a great foundation for understanding game development. 

[funtimegameland]

Design Document

Description In this game you control a flying Faerie in a forest. There are many toadstools in the forest that will hit you. You should use your magic to destroy the toadstools and avoid being hit by them. The goal is to destroy as many toadstools as you can to survive.

Game Objects The background is a forest with grass and trees. The player character flies through this forest. You can use your magic to destroy toadstools. There are a few different types of toadstools. You must also avoid running into trees.

Sounds There is background music, sounds for your magic and the toadstool's attacks, and sounds for when the toadstools are destroyed or the character is damaged.

Controls The player controls the game through mouse. The Faerie will use the magic constantly.

Game flow Gameplay starts very quickly. The player can control the Faerie once the game starts. The player has five lives. The scores are accumulative within all five lives. Pressing <F4> key will display the game information. Pressing the <Esc> key will end the game.

Levels There is only one level. The game is over when the character is defeated 5 times.

((I think I want to make it a cute magical girl or witch though))

[funtimegameland]

My partner for this Game Lab was Un Hou Chan. We played This is the Only Level, QWOP, Wizard Wizard, You Have to Burn the Rope, Don't Shit Your Pants, Board Game Online, Jurassic Heart, One of Them, and How to Be Happy. 

Today, I’m going to talk about QWOP, One of Them, How to Be Happy.

I’ll start with QWOP, as it’s the outlier among the three. This is a pretty famous game; it’s been around for a while (as far as the internet is concerned) and yet I hadn’t actually played it before- only seen it played. Initially, there was the fun frustration of trying to figure out how to make this guy not eat it over and over again, but that fun quickly dissipated when I found a First Order Optimal Strategy (this is a strategy which requires a low skill to power/success ratio). If you could get the runner in a splits position, you could indefinitely wiggle your way forward in tiny increments. It was merely a matter of your own patience. This got boring fairly quickly. I suppose this would be alleviated by the pressure of racing another human. However, I have never seen anyone successfully run in QWOP. A race seems like it would be two sad wiggling masses trying to outwiggle each other.

On an entirely separate note, I played two games that I would call social commentary: One of Them and How to Be Happy. Right off the bat, I wouldn’t say I loved either of these games. Social commentary games often seem more art/message/commentary than game. I wouldn’t call either of them particularly fun. One of Them provides a little interest by seeing your subjects change over time, while How to Be Happy requires that you figure out how to play it.

The instructions in How to Be Happy are singular words. Click, fit, maintain. I get it; you don’t know what you’re doing the first time you go through any phase of a relationship. I get it; maintaining a relationship is hard work which requires stamina. I GET IT, Sometimes we change for relationships. However, I didn’t think it was actually fun or informative. I was intrigued the first time I saw it, I figured it out fairly quickly, and then I honestly had not thought of it again until writing this post. It had essentially no impact on me. I felt like I gained no insight that I did not already have. Also, it felt a little negative. Relationships are hard to start, hard to maintain, you change yourself, it’s hard to commit, and maybe it doesn’t even work out. Bummer, dude.

One of Them is a game in which you are given various prompts (One of them makes delicious cheesecake, One of them is named Camille, etc) and then you choose one of the five people pictured. They are all female and progress in age and appearance as the game goes on. This game fared a little better for me than How to Be Happy. The ending was a different than I expected: I thought it was going to be about prejudice, but I think the real intention was to humanize female victims of violence. I at least thought about some of the implications after playing it. However, this game was not really fun. Part of it might be that I had to translate all of the text from French. The responses of each character were typically funny, and this would possibly have been more rewarding if I could see them quickly. The first time I played, I didn’t even finish because the effort essentially was not worth the payoff I was getting. However, when I played it again at home, I got to the end and was surprised by the intention behind the game. Ultimately, this game is like a lot of other social commentary games: unfortunately not that fun. If the game isn’t fun, your audience won’t want to stick around and won’t care that much about your message. So let’s all try to make fun games.

[funtimegameland]

Monasteries and Monks

For two to four players

For ages 10+

Gametime is approximately 30 minutes

You are the abbot of a monastery. Your monastery is small. You want your monastery to be big. Other monasteries are getting bigger and diverting the flow of pilgrims with their big, fancy floor plans and their gem encrusted relics. No pilgrims means no money. Well, how do you get more pilgrims? Seems like you need fancy floor plans and shimmering relics too. If enough pilgrims started coming to your monastery, it could change the face of pilgrimage routes across Europe.

The goal of this game is to be the first to reach Peak Pilgrimage (Pilgrimage Level X). This means that your monastery is now the main monastery which all pilgrims are trying to reach (take that, Santiago de Compostela).

Pilgrimage levels are increased with the acquisition of relics and aesthetic expansions. These are purchased with Gold. Gold is gained through pilgrim donations or by selling resources. Relics may also be stolen from another player, but only if the player stealing the relic has the Favor of the Pope (see Favor Stage). Having the Favor of the Pope also protects players from potential ill-effects of events. Only one player can have the Favor of the Pope at any time. Players maintain the favor of the Pope until it is taken by another player.

Setup:

Shuffle the Event and Expansion decks. Each player receives 2 Food and 1 Book. Flip a Gold coin to determine who goes first.

Turns progress thusly: - Draw an Event card and follow any rules dictated by the card.

- Collect donations from pilgrims (see Pilgrimage Level) and resources from any functional expansions you control

- Pay upkeep for your Pilgrimage Level (see Pilgrimage Level)

- Purchase things (see Expansions, Relics), conduct trades with other players or the Market (see Market), or steal relics (see Relics)

- End of Turn

Favor Stage:

At the beginning of every Round, there is the Favor Stage, in which players vye for the Favor of the Pope by betting a number of Books. The player who bets the largest amount of Books, wins the Favor of the Pope. Each player puts their hand of cards under the table. On the count of three, all players reveal the amount of Books they have bet. In the event of a tie, the Favor of the Pope goes to nobody, unless it is already held by one player. In that case, that player maintains the Favor of the Pope.

Event Cards: Players draw an Event Card at the beginning of every turn. Five of the fifteen Event Cards have negative effects, which can only be negated if the player has the Favor of the Pope.

Pilgrimage Level: As your Pilgrimage Level increases, so too does the amount of Donations you collect per turn, as well as the amount you are required to spend on Upkeep.

At Pilgrimage Level I-III, pilgrims generate 1 Gold in Donations and require 1 Food for upkeep.

At Pilgrimage Level IV-VI, pilgrims generate 2 Gold in Donations and require 2 Food for upkeep).

At Pilgrimage Level VII-IX, pilgrims generate 3 Gold in Donations and require 3 Food for upkeep).

If a player chooses not to pay their upkeep, their Pilgrimage Level decreases by one for every Food they do not pay. For example, if a player is at Pilgrimage Level V, the cost of their upkeep is 2 Food. If the player chooses to pay only 1 Food, then their Pilgrimage Level will decrease by 1. If they choose to not pay any Food, then their Pilgrimage Level will decrease by 2. If a player’s Pilgrimage Level decreases below Pilgrimage Level I, they instantly lose the game. If more than two players are playing, the eliminated player’s cards are returned to the appropriate deck and the deck is shuffled.

Expansions: Expansions cost 2 Gold. When a player purchases an expansion, they draw one card from the Expansion Deck. This deck includes both Functional Expansions (which produce resources every turn) and Aesthetic Expansions (which increase Pilgrimage Level).

Relics: Relics cost 5 Gold, with the exception of the Superior Relic which costs 8 Gold. A Relic increases Pilgrimage Level by 2, while a Superior Relic increases Pilgrimage Level by 3.

Stealing a relic initiates a Bargaining Stage (similar to the Favor Stage). When stealing a relic from another player, the player stealing must have the Favor of the Pope and must win the Bargaining Stage. In this Stage, the player who bets the higher amount of Wine wins. The two players involved place their hand of cards under the table. On the count of three, both players reveal the amount of Wine they have bet. In the event of a tie, the player with the Favor of the Pope wins and steals the opponent’s Relic.

Market: The Market contains all resources and Gold not currently owned by a player. On their turn, a player may trade with the Market for 1 resource card. The Market will pay 1 Wine for 2 Food, or 1 Book for 2 Wine. If the Market is out of a resource which a player produces on their turn, they do not gain that resource.

The game ends when one player reaches Pilgrimage Level X—all pilgrims in Europe are now pilgrimaging to that player’s Monastery because of its beauty and splendor.

Example Play: On Player A’s turn, she draws a card which says “Wrath of God: Famine.” Her farm, and all other player’s farms, will not produce food this round. If any player has the Favor of the Pope, they would not be affected by this. After drawing her event card, she collects 2 Gold (for being at Pilgrimage Level IV) and 1 Wine (from her Wine Expansion). Her Farm does not produce food because of the Famine. She can now choose to spend that 2 Gold on another expansion or save it.

INVENTORY: Event Cards (15):

Blessings of St.Jerome (+2 Books)

St. John the Evangelist (+1 Book)

St. Urban (+1 Wine)

St. Peter the Apostle (+1 Wine)

St. Saragossa (+2 Wine)

St. Neot (+1 Food)

St. Ambrose (+1 Food)

St. George (+2 Food)

St. Christopher (+1 Pilgrimage Level)

St. Nicholas of Myra (Your relics cannot be stolen this round. If you already have the favor, gain +1 Food and +1 Wine instead)

Wrath of God: Famine: All Farms produce no food for 1 round

Root Rot: All Wineries produce no wine for 1 round

Mass Hysteria: All Libraries produce no books for 1 round

Flood: Route is destroyed (-1 Pilgrimage Level)

Fire: Lose one Expansion (opponent randomly picks from face down cards). If no expansions, lose two resources (opponent randomly picks from face down cards)

Expansion Cards (15): Functional:

Library x2

Winery x3

Farm x4

Aesthetic x6 (all +1 Pilgrimage Level)

Increased Ambulatory

Imposing Gargoyles

Stained Glass Window

Fascinating Statuary

Comfortable Cots

Exquisite Arches

Resource Cards:

Food x25

Wine x15

Book x 10

3 Relic tokens

1 Superior Relic token

2 Pilgrimage Level Meters

2 Pilgrimage Level Markers

25 Gold Coins

1 Favor of the Pope token

Alright, there are honestly so many problems with this game. The stuff we read, the people I talked to, everything said “You’re going to make a game and it going to be awful. You’ll have to playtest a thousand times before it gets anywhere near good.” I was full of optimism. I was sure I would make a fun game. I was wrong. Optimistic HUBRIS. This game is not fun to play. I still love the basic idea (That the Middle Ages were a crazy time and Relics are especially crazy), but this whole deal is just awful.

In the first playtest, the win condition was 10 Victory Points.

Major relic: 2 Points

Minor relic: 1 Point

Expansions: 1 Point ea

Maximum Pilgrimage: 3 Points

Expansions cost 3. Upkeep was 1F&1W per turn. F & W could be either bought or sold for 1G from the market. B could be bought or sold for 2G. Beginning resources were 1F, 1W, 1G, and 1 Farm Expansion. Relics cost 5G or 10G. Our first turns were the same. Soon, we both entered a loop of the same actions over and over. Earn 1G from Donations, earn 1F from Farm, Spend 1G (for 1W), 1F on upkeep. The upkeep/income cost was not balanced; rather, it was exactly balanced: you only ever made enough to pay your upkeep.

In the next playtest, upkeep could be bypassed at the cost of one Pilgrimage Level. Players could not fall below Pilgrimage Level 1.

This led to nobody ever paying upkeep.

Players never generated surpluses so there was no trading.

In the next playtest the rules were; SETUP: 2F, 2W, 1B, 1G, PL:i PER ROUND: Bet books for Pope Favor (Simultaneous Action) If tie, no favor is given. PER TURN: Generate Resources and Donations

Spend Upkeep (if not, lose one PL)

Purchase/Sell/Steal if you have favor

PRICES: F,W=1G. B=2G. Expansion=3G. Relic=5G. Special Relic=10G.

PL +1 per Expansion. +2 per relic, +3 per Special Relic.

Introduction of PL Tiers. Upkeep 1F,1W Tier 1. 2F2W Teir 2. 3F,3W Tier 3.

Upkeep costs were WAY too high.

Next Playtest, Same but Upkeep is 1F 2W or 2F 1W.

Expansions can be improved for 3G (produces +1 Resource)

Ivan won by 10 VP. 6 expansions, 2 Relics.

Stealing relics is too easy

RETHINKING:

Resources should each have a unique function?

Food for upkeep

Wine for stealing relics

Books for Gaining Favor

No trading with market? Currency equality means 1 resource is equivalent to other.

Market trade 2F=1W. 2W=1B.

Expansions: Functional/PL Increasing. Cost 2G.

NEXT Playtest: Used above market trade, Wine for stealing, Upkeep is food only.

Can buy Food for 1G from Market.

Sean loses from Wrath of God dropping him below PLI

Sean kept trading 1G for 1F every turn.

Katelyn had LOTS of food. Sean’s only hope was to trade but he did not.

Once a player reaches Tier 2, they produce 2G per turn. This means 1 Expansion buyable per turn.

Next playtest (same) Stuck in 1G for 1F rut again.

Issue with whether or not +1PL Expansions are kept and can be lost in fires.

No incentive at all to buy relics. They can be stolen so… very expensive too. Expansions worth more. Person who gets farm wins.

First round is stupid. No control over direction. Maybe there should be a setup round with no upkeep cost??

[seabassbitch]

Trying to sit in video games

[spook-life-deactivated20170502]

the camera work and music is phenomenal tho?????

[meshugenist]

i legitimately thought this was cgi at first

[funtimegameland]

Star Fluxx: Session Report

Players: Katelyn, Ryan, Phoenix, Kevin, Andrew

Initial Rules:

Play 1, Deal 1

No Hand Limit

No Keeper Limit

One Goal

Shuffle cards Deal 3 to each player. Andrew dealt so Katelyn begins play

Katelyn: Drew 1  Played KEEPER: Small Moon

Ryan: Drew 1 Played: GOAL: My Time Machine Works!

Phoenix: Drew 1 Played: ACTION: Steal a Keeper - Stole KEEPER: Small Moon from Katelyn

Kevin: Draw 1 Played: NEW RULE: Draw 2. Drew 1: CREEPER: Malfunction  Drew 1

Andrew: Drew 2 Played: NEW RULE: Keeper Limit Four

Katelyn: Drew 2 Played: KEEPER: The Doctor

Ryan: Drew 2 Played: ACTION: Space Jackpot - Draw 5, Discard 2.

Phoenix: Drew 2 Played: KEEPER: The Stars

Kevin: Drew 2: CREEPER: Evil. CREEPER: Brain Parasites Drew 2 Played: NEW RULE: Play 2 Played: ACTION: Beams Up: All beings on table return to owner’s hand. (Katelyn’s KEEPER: The Doctor returns. Phoenix’s KEEPER: Small Moon, KEEPER: The Stars remain on table)

Andrew: Drew 2 Played: NEW RULE: Double Agenda - 2 Goals allowed on table Played: GOAL: Alien Life Forms 

Katelyn: Drew 2 Played: KEEPER: Cute Fuzzy Alien Creature (CFAC) Played: KEEPER: Energy Being KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Ryan: Drew 2 Played: KEEPER: The Computer (Draw and Play +1 on your turn) Played: GOAL: Artificial Intelligence (Replaced Alien Life Forms) KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player Phoenix: Drew 2 Played: ACTION: Trash a New Rule - Removed Double Agenda (Removed Artificial Intelligence)  Played: NEW RULE: Keeper Limit 3 KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Kevin: Drew 2 KEEPER: CFAC gains CREEPER: Evil, CREEPER: Brain Parasites Played: SURPRISE: Veto - Discards 3 Keeper Limit  Played: KEEPER: Expendable Crewmen KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Andrew: Drew 2 Played: GOAL: More Power Played: GOAL: The Ultimate Answer KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player Katelyn: Drew 2  KEEPER: The Doctor - Removes Brain Parasite from CFAC Played: NEW RULE: Draw 3 Drew 1 (Katelyn should have played another card this turn. Rule is still Play 2) KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Ryan: Drew 3 Played: KEEPER: Laser Sword KEEPER: Laser Sword - Removes KEEPER with CREEPER - CFAC is discarded.  KEEPER: CFAC moves to top of draw pile upon being discarded Played: NEW RULE: Draw 5 Drew 2  Played: KEEPER: CFAC (Ryan should not have been able to play CFAC this turn. Rule is still Play 2) KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player 

Phoenix: Drew 5 Played: ACTION: Exchange Keeper - took The Doctor from Katelyn in exchange for The Stars Played: KEEPER: The Scientist KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Kevin: Drew 5 Played: KEEPER: Unseen Force Andrew Played: SURPRISE: That’s Actually Mine - took the KEEPER: Unseen Force Kevin Played: SURPRISE: Belay That Order - KEEPER: Unseen Force remains in Kevin’s possession.  KEEPER: Unseen Force - Kevin took random card from Ryan’s hand KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player 

Andrew: Drew 5 Played: GOAL: Power of Evil Played: NEW RULE: Draw 4 KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Katelyn: Drew 4 Played: KEEPER: Teleporter Played: GOAL: No Trouble At All (Winning conditions met, I really thought I had won. shucks.) Ryan: Played: SURPRISE: Cancelled Plans - New Goal is removed  KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Ryan: Drew 4 Played: GOAL: Lunar Archaeology Played: KEEPER: Holographic Projection (One KEEPER owned by another player may be used with one of your own KEEPERs to meet a GOAL) KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Phoenix: Drew 4 Played: GOAL: Evil Brain Parasites Played: KEEPER: Energy Crystals KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Kevin: Drew 4 KEEPER: Unseen Force - took 1 from Katelyn Played: KEEPER: Laser Pistol Played: NEW RULE: Wormhole - On turn, player may draw and immediately play 1 off top of draw deck KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player

Andrew: Drew 4 Wormhole: KEEPER: Artificial Intelligence Played: NEW RULE: Play All Played: ACTION: (missed the name) - All other players must discard 1 KEEPER  Katelyn: The Stars, Ryan: The Monolith, Phoenix: Small Moon, Kevin: Expendable Crewmen Played: GOAL: Ultimate Answer (winning conditions met by Ryan) Played: ACTION: Brain Transfer - Andrew and Ryan switch seats/hands KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player Katelyn: Drew 4 Played: NEW RULE: Hand Limit 4 Played: NEW RULE: Hand Limit 1 - All other players must discard down to 1. Does not apply to ther current player during the current player’s turn Played: KEEPER: The Engineer Played: KEEPER: The Captain Played: KEEPER: Starship KEEPER: The Captain - took KEEPER: The Scientist from Phoenix KEEPER: The Scientist - took KEEPER: Unseen Force from Kevin Kevin Played: SURPRISE: It’s a Trap! Kept KEEPER: Unseen Force and took KEEPER: The Scientist Played: GOAL: That’s no Moon Played: NEW RULE: Play 3 KEEPER: CFAC is passed to next player (I see now that I should not have made everyone discard their hands! They may have had some counter to Andrew’s winning next turn) Andrew: Drew 4 Played: GOAL: Laser Weapons KEEPER: Holographic Projection allows use of KEEPER: Laser Pistol (in Kevin’s possession)  Winning conditions met, no counter plays available. END OF GAME

We also played SET, one of my all-time favorites. The session report for that would pretty much be: Ryan: called a set. Picked up a set. Red Oval Solid 1, Red Oval Striped 2, Red Oval Empty 3. Kevin: called a set. It was not a set. Green Solid Diamond 2, Green Solid Oval 2, Purple Solid Bean 3. etc. We didn’t even really keep score. 

[funtimegameland]

Making a Race to the Finish Game

Start with a path

Divide into steps

Decide how to move forward

Add conflict

Add agency

Is it Fun? Fair?

Keep making iterations and testing!

This was the basic outline we were given for a little in class exercise which, for many of us (myself included), would be our first game. Andrew and I paired up and right off the bat, I will tell you that we did not follow the steps in that order. 

Instead, we first thought of a few mechanics by which to move forward, and settled on one: words! 

We decided that on each player’s turn, s/he would say a word (in response to some yet undetermined prompt) and that the number of letters in that word would be the number of spaces the player’s piece would move forward on the board (with an upper limit of 10 spaces). 

Next, we needed a prompt for these words. The simple solution: each space has a letter. Simply say a word that begins with that letter. Easy!

Maybe that was a little too easy. For a bit of pressure, we needed a time limit. These words have to be fast! A timer of some kind is probably too long of a time limit. I thought of the game Anomia, in which the time limit comes directly from the other player. Whoever says a word first, wins. Instead, we decided to use tongue twisters in lieu of a timer. On your turn, while you’re trying to come up with a word beginning with whatever letter you’ve landed upon, your opponent is simultaneously reciting a tongue twister. You have to say a word before they finish. 

We played this and it was honestly a bit too easy. Coming up with words with no other constraint besides beginning with a particular letter was not terribly difficult. How could we introduce more difficulty? More constraints! Again, I thought of Anomia. What if each spot also had a category from which you had to draw a word? For example, you land on a spot which says “Tree, M.” Responses could include “Maple” or “Madrone” or “Magnolia.” 

Another bit of difficulty: the player cannot move forward all at once or by counting the number of spaces you may move forward. Instead, you must spell your word and move forward one space for each letter. As in, for “Magnolia,” I could not simply say “I move forward eight spaces,” and then do so. Instead, I could only say “M-A-G-N-O-L-I-A” tapping each next space as I move the game piece forward. This adds just a slight bit of difficulty in that the player must not only spell their word correctly, but must also say each letter while looking at different letters on the spaces they are moving through. If a player misspells their word, they do not move forward.

One thing which might add to the replayability (more on whether or not this is an acceptable word later) is a tile system like Catan: The board has 52 spaces, and there are 52 tiles. Each tile is a letter (there are two of each letter) and they can be distributed randomly along the path. This way, you don’t consistently have “Tree, M.” Sometimes you can have “Tree, S” or “Tree, L.” We considered having variable categories too, but that started sounding a little too complicated. 

As far as the tongue twister component, I’m not honestly sure how effective this is! We didn’t get a chance to play with categories in every space. Also, it seems like it might be difficult to determine a fair, consistent length for the tongue twisters being read. 

All in all, She Sells Seashells (cute, right? And the board is shaped like a spiraling seashell) is not an amazing game. However, it isn’t altogether terrible either, and I consider that a small victory in my first game making experience. 

[funtimegameland]

Twitch games have never been my favorite genre, and yet for some reason I chose to play Sinistar: one of the all time twitch classics. Playing on a laptop is nowhere near as fun as playing on a real cabinet though. Arrow keys do not give the same control that the full on cabinet joystick does. Joy is in the name for a reason. (Okay, maybe that actually came from pilots). A game like Sinistar requires quick, successive changes in direction. At first, I thought this would be impossible with mere arrow keys. After several fiery deaths, I began to get the hang of it. The goal of Sinistar is to defeat the entity called Sinistar. Of course, Sinistar can only be destroyed by I guess mining asteroids, which release crystals, which combine to make Sinibombs (sounds to me like the next product from Cinnabon), which are the only things that can harm the great and powerful Sinistar. These same crystals are meanwhile being harvested by enemy ships to create Sinistar himself. So Sinistar gameplay really happens in two stages. Stage one: harvest crystals while attempting to stop enemy ships from harvesting crystals. Stage two: destroy Sinistar with your Sinibombs while harvesting more crystals to make more Sinibombs. The best part of Sinistar is honestly the voice acting. I think I’ve heard the Sinistar roar in my dreams before, and I cannot even recount how many times I’ve shouted a reference of “I HUNGER! RUN, COWARDS!” to nothing but blank stares. Oh well. Sinistar gets me.