Summertime is a time for vacations and relaxing, at least for the kids. At my house, it means more time to play games. A couple years ago, I posted about the games my kids were playing, but this year, my husband and I are also playing some new games.
First up…
Mobile games!
Words With Friends logo. [Image from Zynga.]
While it isn’t new to me this summer, a mobile phone game I’ve been playing for well over a year is Words with Friends. I love Scrabble, and this is a great way to play with friends. Initially, I played the free version from Zynga. Because of how much I play it (daily, with several partners, depending on their move time), I paid the $10 for the ad-free version last November. I’m always looking for game partners, so feel free to challenge me (Fiainros).
Earlier this summer, my go to back-ups to play on the bus (ie. for when it wasn’t my move on Words with Friends) were the free mobile games Plants Vs Zombies (from PopCap), and Dumb Ways to Die. If you’ve never heard of Dumb Ways to Die, it is a game put out by Metro Trains Melbourne to encourage safety around trains. The song cracks me up, and the game has me laughing, which gets me funny looks on the bus. After switching phones, I’ve lost my high score a few times, but I have yet to unlock all the platform characters on the first one, let alone graduate to Dumb Ways to Die 2 and 3.
Summoner’s War logo. [Image from Com2Us.]
After Anime Expo, I started playing Com2Us Summoners War. There was a game code on a card in my swag bag. To me, the game is a cross between Pokemon and Final Fantasy. The graphics are incredible, better than the console Final Fantasy graphics from when I played Final Fantasy VIIand X at their release on PlayStation. Please allow me a moment of awe at our advances that my little phone can look like what it used to take a console and nice television to see. The game is free to download, with in-game purchases. I wasn’t planning to make any in-game purchases, but they got me with a reduced price on upgrades for my monsters and I paid $5 for one of the intro packages. I used my game code from Anime Expo and got a bunch of other items as well. If you play, add me as a friend (fiainros).
Love Live! School Idol Project promo. [Image from KLabGames.]
I asked my family what they play on their mobile devices. My teen son was indignant because he does not play games on his phone. My teen daughter was a little indignant, until she admitted she plays Love Live! School Idol Project on her phone and the family iPad. Love Live! is a multi-media anime that has evolved to include magazines, comics, card games, and other media. School Idol Project is a music game called a “rhythm action game.” If you know someone interested in anime and music, this is probably a game they will love.
Fallout Shelter logo. [Image from Bethesda.]
My husband was thrilled when Fallout Shelter, the latest game in the Fallout series (his favorite of all time) was released. It’s a free game, but he admitted he paid the in-game fee ($20!) to unlock all the special stuff. For as much as he loves the series and plays the game (he had me baby-sit the game in early stages when he took the dogs for a walk), it’s worth it. In this game, you build a fallout shelter, you need to create resources, which get used up for survival.
Console games!
Splatoon logo. [Image from Lab Zero Games.]
The only console games I’ve played this summer have been when my daughter has asked me to join her playing Lab Zero Games’ Skullgirls or Nintendo’s Splatoon. Skullgirls has been out since April 2012, but they had a 2nd Encore release in mid-July. She also plays the game on her PC. Skullgirls is a fighting game along the lines of Soul Caliber with an involved storyline. Nintendo’s Splatoon released just after Memorial Day, and has been a hit in my house, with both kids playing it. I find it to be very novel. The player runs around covering surfaces with ink, flitting between a “kid” and a “squid.” Team match-ups with online players is awesomesauce. Our Wii U is fun, and we’ve been collecting Amiibos and using them with Super Smash Bros and Mario Party 10. We also had a revival of the kids playing Paper Mario on our old Wii since it plays Gamecube games.
Titanfall logo. [Image from ReSpawn.]
My son was playing Titanfall and Destiny on our various consoles. Both were 2014 releases and are multi-player first-person shooter games. Titanfall is very popular with pilots controlling mech Titans. Destiny is a shooter with a role-playing aspect.
PC games!
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor logo. [Image from Blizzard.]
The only PC game I’ve been playing is World of Warcraft (WoW). I had taken a number of years off from WoW, but started up again after the Warlords of Draenor expansion. At this point, I find people are WoW enthusiasts, hate it, or dabble.
Board games and beyond!
We try to play board games as a family pretty regularly. My son got King of Tokyo for his last birthday. We still need to try it out. My daughter plays Cards Against Humanity with her friends. Of course, I always have a Sudoku book with me for a quick puzzle game.
What have you and your family been playing this summer?
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[…] the past, I’ve shared the joy of games from my house to the GeekGirlCon community. One game I’ve mentioned is Skullgirls, by Lab Zero games. At Anime Expo this past summer, Lab Zero announced a new […]
[…] the past, I’ve shared the joy of games from my house to the GeekGirlCon community. One game I’ve mentioned is Skullgirls, by Lab Zero games. At Anime Expo this past summer, Lab Zero announced a new […]