Firefly Fluxx

David and I recently found the game Firefly Fluxx and it is just as much fun as one might expect. If you have played any version of Fluxx then you understand the basic mechanics of the game. Part of what is so wonderful about all the versions is the fact that you can just pick it up at any time.

The great part about playing the version based off of Firefly is all of the inside jokes and references. One of the little extra details that is great about the Firefly version is also the fact that there are quite a few ways to steal Keepers from each other; Wash gets Serenity, Zoe gets Wash, Simon gets River, etc. So since there is not much extra to talk about with the game here are some of my favorite cards from Firefly Fluxx.

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Geek 501 – Geek Where You Are

I feel like the massive explosion of geek culture in recent years – to the point that it doesn’t feel like a counter-culture anymore – is due in large part to the Internet. The Internet allows geeks to find each other, allows fans and fandoms to find each other. It allows for our expressions of geekiness to be found by others, for us to be creators as well and to have an audience. It allows niche and obscure things to have a large following, because the whole following can potentially connect together.

However, I’m also frequently reminded of how important it is to have a local focus, even as we geek. Let’s go with an example.

New Edition of Warmachine and Hordes – First Impressions

Well, the new edition of Warmachine and Hordes came out over the weekend, with the rules provided for free online (finally found them in the bar at the top of the page here). They also built the actual rules PDF into their army list app, the newly released War Room 2, which is where I’ve been reading it.

I’m about halfway through. I’ve been busy. Also, keep running back to building armies…

The advice from Privateer Press was to read all the rules, and to do so carefully, so by golly I’m doing so. So far, not a lot of changes that they didn’t let us know about in advance… and otherwise, some changes where they cleaned things up and made them clearer.

There’s definitely some mistakes on all the various model cards, and some other different ones in the app, but I don’t mind those necessarily – it’s a new edition, these things happen. Or as the joke goes, they did just hire for an editor position… The real positive in their favor is it sounds like they’re planning on a full errata write-up in about a month, so they’re planning to jump on the obvious problems quickly. They have a rules forum as well, which I hadn’t frequented before but which looks quite busy!

I also played my first couple of games in the new edition last night, so with rules and games, I think I have some grounds for a first impression post!

Sims 4 Get to Work Review

I’ve held off on writing a review of the Sims 4 expansion Get to Work for a few reasons. I needed to give myself some time to really try out all of the features, and also time to decide whether I hated it, loved it, or was really “meh” with it.

I’ve talked about it before, but one of the main reasons I like The Sims is for use as brainstorming for writing. So when I saw that I could actually simulate being a detective in Get to Work, I got excited since I’ve been working on a mystery.

As far as added features go, besides adding additional character creator pieces-parts and household items, the expansion adds extra jobs and the ability to own a business. The three professions are Detective, Doctor, and Scientist, and the businesses you can run are retail-oriented, so that you can sell goods that your Sim creates.

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD – First Impressions

I finally recently picked up Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, one of the first games I was actually interested in for the X-Box One. Well, mostly… it’s a port of a PSP game, with cranked-up graphics. There’s some really solid parts, from fantastic cutscenes, to pretty good third-person action sequences, to a pretty fuzzy world map where you go zipping into active time battles.

One of the first things that I should mention is that this game is rated Mature. That would be an easy fact to miss because, come on, it’s a Final Fantasy game… those are usually rated Teen. However, the decision on this one apparently was that they needed blood. Lots and lots of blood.

However, the blood does a good job of underscoring the serious nature of the story. Four kingdoms, where one decides to invade the others. It actually feels very Avatar: The Last Airbender. Except instead of the fun of that series, you take the more serious tone of Legend of Korra and add in bloody violence to really send the message home…

I’m a couple missions in, so I’ll say a few things about the story, and then about the two aspects to this RPG: action combat, and strategy.