Slydris

How did I end up playing this game for three hours?

This is a slow-paced game. I get unlimited time on each move and I keep going until I hit the top.

I started playing just one game, and it kept going and going. It just wouldn't stop.

It's called "Slydris" because it's like Tetris in that you have to clear horizontal lines, except with sliding. It's turn-based. I slide a piece, then more drop from the top. Then I slide another piece, and it drops more.

I guess this is the sort of game that people who like puzzles will probably enjoy. It's also something I could see playing casually on an iPad on the bus or whatever.

I know I ended up playing it for several hours straight, but it's hard for me to say that I really like it. Mostly I felt like I owed it to the game to at least keep going until I died. Which I did, of course, at level 10 with over 600,000 points.

But okay, as far as these sorts of puzzle games go, I guess it's not bad. I dunno. I don't usually play these sorts of games, and it's very hard for me to feel strongly about them.

What bothers me is that I feel stupid when I start to mess up. It makes me imagine a little voice saying "No no no, you should have done [obvious other move that I didn't see] instead! You suck at this game!"

Anyway, I'll check it off the list.

• Alien Shooter
• Alien Shooter 2
• Altitude
• Alien Zombie Megadeath
• A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda
• Astro Tripper
• The Baconing
• Ballistic
  
• Beat Hazard 
• DeadEnd Cerebral Vortex
  
• Defense Grid: The Awakening
• Depths of Peril
• Disciples II: Gallean's Return
  
• Explodemon
• FlatOut
• Future Wars
• Gear Grinder
  
• Greed: Black Border
• Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes
• Hack, Slash, Loot
• Inferno+ 
• Lunnye Devitsy
• Madballs in...Babo: Invasion
• Plain Sight
• Really Big Sky
  
• Slydris
• Sol Survivor
• Tobe's Vertical Adventure
  
• Trapped Dead
• Twin Sector
• Unstoppable Gorg 
• Wake

I have to add some more now, though, because I ended up getting the Indie Gala 4 after all. >_>

Adding:

• Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded, the sequel to the first game
• Altitude, some game with dogfighting planes that's supposed to be multiplayer or something
• DeadEnd Cerebral Vortex, some sort of surreal labyrinth dreamland
• Disciples II: Gallean's Return, some sort of turn-based strategy type of thing
• Lunnye Devitsy, like an exploration-based platformer, I think
• Really Big Sky, a "bullet hell" shooter
• Wake, some other exploration-based platformer I guess

I hope they're at least a little good.

Not the best value.

I guess I forgot to mention that the Groupees Be Mine 2 bundle added an extra game at the very last minute before it ended. But I don't really want to add it to my Quest for Value because it's a point-and-click adventure game. Those games are lame.

It's called Scratches: Director's Cut, and it's (apparently) a point-and-click survival horror adventure game. And really, I am just not very interested in the whole style of gameplay. More than any other control scheme, it pulls me out of the experience and makes me aware that I'm clicking on things on a computer screen. And it's so easy to hit a wall and be completely unable to proceed. And also there are these other things I don't like and...I dunno, I just don't really like it...

Okay, I played a little bit of Machinarium, just a few screens. I admit that the art and animation and general aesthetics on that one were very good. The little robot is pretty adorable. But aside from the visuals, it didn't appeal to me all that much. I mean, I guess a lot of RuneScape quests have the same kind of problem-solving gameplay, and I like them, but...

...Sigh. Alright, I guess now I'm going to have to play the damn game just to be able to articulate the things I don't like about it, huh? Okay, it'll have to be an intellectual exercise. But I'll do it tomorrow, okay? I'll just try it and keep an eye out for things that I like or dislike, and I'll write them down, and maybe I'll learn something from it. It's probably going to suck though.

Speaking of games added to bundles, the Indie Gala 4 unlocked its third game. It's Steel Storm: Burning Retribution. Which I already have, so...disappointing. I actually liked it at first, but it got repetitive and annoying pretty quickly once I unlocked some stronger weapons. As soon as I unlocked the homing missiles, the correct strategy became "Spam homing missiles constantly and never bother trying to actually aim or hit-and-run or kite or anything" and all of a sudden it was boring and tedious instead of exciting and suspenseful. To say nothing of the awful sound effects. I have Babo: Invasion now, which seems like a better-executed version of the same concept, so if I'm looking for a top-down shooter I'll just go with the Madballs instead.

They also added Alien Shooter 2 and Really Big Sky to the bundle for people who pay above the average. Which I didn't. I was waiting to see what they would add. Well, Really Big Sky looks like a decent "bullet hell" shooter, but if I wait for a Steam sale I can get it for $2.50 which is actually cheaper than paying an extra five bucks to upgrade my Indie Gala bundle...so that's not good value at all. And it's hard to be excited about Alien Shooter 2 when I don't even know if the first game is any good yet. How many Alien Shooters do you need?

So I think I'll pass on the bundle upgrade once again. There's just nothing there that interests me. I like value, but I'm not going to go that far out of my way to find it. I'm already bending over backwards to try and get value out of the games I already own.