Sorry this one is late. At the time of writing we are into the final week and few days of the school summer holidays and everything is overwhelming, trying to get things sorted for an autistic daughter. But I wanted to talk about a couple of ‘older’ games I’ve been playing of late.
Endzone: A World Apart
With the very recent early access release of Endzone 2, I thought it would be an ideal time to go back to the original and give it another go. Initially I found the game a bit too much, getting not very far each time I played.
However I believe it has an updated tutorial and I’ve learned to play these games at a much slower pace. So this time around I had a great time.
The idea is simple, you are in a post-apocalyptic world and you need to build a settlement to survive and then eventually thrive. Starting very simple by gathering water, wood, food and scrap, you just need to get a base so a few survivors can settle.
Then you need to add housing, better ways to gather, start producing tools, food, resources, protection, militia and more. Eventually leading you to a thriving world all governed by you. Along the way there will be decisions you need to make, that will have an effect on your community, similar to that of a Frostpunk.
Although I found the decision making to be a little arbitrary at least when playing on the easier difficulties. It felt much more important on harder runs. You really need to think about how you grow, what jobs people have, how they are balanced, sending scouts out and doing expeditions.
It is a game that is somewhere between Against the Storm and Frostpunk for me. Not quite as good as either, but something that offers you the experience of both in a single title. Endzone is often on sale and can be picked up for £3-4 and you’ll get a great taste for the genre.
Just to add one little thing. For a colony/builder type game, the controls are really well done to work excellently on the Steam Deck.
Tactical Breach Wizards
Developers Suspicious Developments made the excellent Gunpoint and I loved my brief time with the demo of Tactical Breach Wizards, so I was day one for this when it hit Steam and I am so glad I picked it up.
On the surface Tactical Breach Wizards is a turn-based strategy game akin to the likes of X-Com but where those games can be difficult to get into, TBW just feels like a game you can play from the very first moment.
It does this by having a tutorial that is still pretty much how the game plays for the rest of your time with it. Just with some added instruction, leading to a cliffhanger that takes you into the main meat of the title.
Whilst yes TBW is a turn-based strategy it for me is more of a puzzle game. The area you have to handle are much smaller on scale than other genre titles and whilst you can kind of bully your way through, there is a sense of achievement when you find optimised ways to clear a level.
This comes from having a main task that will take you through the story beats, but also a bunch of additional objectives that yuou can go back and replay whenever you want. The great thing here is that neither parts trip over each other, despite them both being there together.
It means that Suspicious Developments have created a game that is wonderfully balanced throughout, one that want you as the player, to improve and be better. The game wants you to get experimental to really test the limits of what is possible. Yet does so without making you feel like an idiot for not doing these things.
The visuals are excellent and make the game standout but also understands the need to let the levels be simple to understand. Again getting the balance between aesthetics and functionality spot on. The other big plus comes from the writing which is genuinely funny at times and does a great job of making you care about the characters within the world you are plunged.
Works perfectly on Steam Deck and very very highly recommended.
