Gallery: DUELYST – It’s In The Cards This One Will Be A Hit

Posted on April 7, 2016 by geelw

While I’m not at all a “competitive” gamer or a huge fan of online-only gaming, every one in a while I’ll get something cool to peruse in my inbox that makes me stop and click away on a few links. Counterplay Games’ DUELYST not only got me to click away on a few links, I actually signed up to check out the beta of this free to play card battle/strategy game and came away pretty impressed. Given that lack of time is a big factor in getting me to even look a most online games, DUELYST grabbed me right away with its gorgeous pixel art style and short matches that take around 5 to 10 minutes to play.

Once you create an account, the game recommends you dive into a three stage tutorial in order to learn the basics. This is great advice to follow as the game takes off the training wheels should you choose to hop into it feet first. As with any good turn-based strategy game with card battles, positioning is crucial as is having the proper cards. Early solo play pits you against each faction and defeating them unlocks them and their cards. This gets you a nice starter deck as well as lets you choose which group to join. That said, the AI is pretty fierce. Expect to have your rear end passed back to you a few times when the AI outplays you or you run out of good cards because you haven’t built up a nicer deck.
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Second Death Hands-On: Survival of the Bit-test

Posted on October 23, 2015 by geelw

It’s 1958, and Chicago cop David Harris made the tough choice to bring his mobster brother back from Cuba and deliver him to justice, but things get tougher when their home-bound plane crashes on a mysterious island. Now he must save his brother — and learn the truth behind his terrible crimes.

That mysterious island isn’t something out of a Jules Verne book at all, but a rather interesting PC, Mac, iOS and Android game called Second Death. Created by Evan Wagstaff (design, coding, script) using Game Maker Studio with a small team helping out with art, music and sounds, this retro style “noir Survival RPG” mixes early 16-bit looks, item crafting, JRPG-like combat, a barter system and two game modes (plus a tutorial) to take for a spin. While the game won’t be officially released until January 2016, the demo that’s currently available at that link above (and seems to be titled or subtitled Absolution) seems to be pretty much what the final version will look and play like. Continue reading →

Marvel Mighty Heroes: DeNA’s Latest F2P Soon To Be Smash

Posted on March 31, 2015 by geelw

Excelsior, True Believers! here comes DeNA with yet another addictive F2P game guaranteed to kill your free time deader than Deadpool with a sack full of grenades and too much coffee in his system. Marvel Mighty Heroes is a fun-looking isometric co-op brawler for iOS and Android devices that’s a step up for action fans who want more action than some of the hugely popular card battle games on the mobile market. The kid-friendly art style and fast-paced play are sure to draw in the younger crowd. But expect this to also be a big hit among Marvel fans of any age who try it out and get drawn in by the fast-paced gameplay.

While some criticize most free to play games for their monetizing shenanigans, there’s an EASY way to avoid paying money for most of these games if you spread out how often you play them. You don’t NEED to spend hours every day “grinding” for good stuff at all. Just play until you’re prompted for a payment option and quit for the day. Rinse and repeat for about two weeks or so and if the game has daily rewards for continued play, you end up raking in digital coins or whatever currency the game offers up frequent players and you’ll be shocked to find you haven’t spent a dime and have credits to buy stuff in the online shop.

Or you could just go half to full super-fan and pay up front for a bunch of goodies or whatever starter packs you like. The beauty of GOOD free to play is having that option in the games you play and knowing it’s up to YOU to be in charge of what you spend if anything. That and you can always go read a book or step out for fresh air when that payment option pops up. There’s much more to life than gaming, you know. But when you DO get some game time in, make sure you enjoy 100 percent of that time.