Recent reviews by zack10house

Every time I think I'm getting close to finishing the game, I learn that I vastly underestimated the scope. I rolled credits like 18 hours in, and 12 hours after THAT I think I'm maybe halfway through based on my current understanding.

The RNG feels rough starting out, but it gets easier and easier to mitigate the longer you poke and prod at the game's systems.

I suck at MOBAs, but I love the concept. A turn-based MOBA cardgame is something I never knew I wanted.

It's not without its problems, of course. This is effectively a paper TCG in digital forms - all cards come from packs, and you don't earn packs by playing. I totally understand why people are upset by this, especially when it's so easy to compare it to Hearthstone and its "free" to play model, but for $20 the pre-constructed decks have been a blast to play, and you get 10 packs.

I don't know how deep I'll get into the deck construction, and I'm certainly not going to pay $10 for a single digital card, but most cards are in the $0.03-0.10 range, which isn't terrible. If I DO start playing constructed, I could feasibly fund my collection by selling Trading Cards earned playing other games.

The actual gameplay is - again - fairly similar to Hearthstone mechanically, but combat being spread across three lanes makes for an interesting puzzle. Games last around 30-45 minutes, and it feels like 10.

The Star Trek meets Oregon Trail game you didn't know you wanted.

Let me preface this by saying I am INCREDIBLY new to the game. I've only played about half an hour at the time of writing this (and I've made no significant progress) but the potential is incredible.

I've always been interested, at least conceptually, in survival games but the execution almost always falls flat for me. The core survival mechanics of this game are the best I've ever seen. No fellow scavengers, no hostile NPCs - just you and the wilderness. There are two maps - Mystery Lake and Coastal Highway - for you to scavenge and explore as you attempt to manage your temperature, hunger, thirst, physical exertion, and caloric intake. You WILL die eventually (most likely in the jaws of a wolf), but even the small incremental progress I make with each new respawn has been incredibly satisfying.

On my first life I spawned near a train wreck, looted a first aid kit half-buried in the snow, investigated a deer carcass (with options to skin and gut it, though I lacked the necessary tools for these actions), wandered in a circle through the woods, fell off a mountain, sprained my ankle, limped into a small cabin in absolutely dire condition (my "cold" bar was maxed out, and my health had dropped to 15%), and died while foraging for wood to start a fire. 10/10.

I had no idea beaurocracy could be so much fun. I absolutely love this game for reasons I don't quite understand. The gameplay boils down to fact-checking information, but the moral questions that arise when presented with bribes that could save your family from sickness and starvation make the game incredibly compelling.