Dec 17, 2019Quick Bits
Overcooked 2 is still one of my favorite co-op games out there and every time Ghost Town Games and Team17 announce new content for it, I’m super excited! As of today, December 17th, 2019, you can play new DLC, Winter Wonderland, on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, for the total of $0! From the trailer below, you can see that these new kitchens are inspired by the most recent Season Pass that includes Campfire Cook Off, Night of the Hangry Horde and Carnival of Chaos!
Moreover, with these 5 new festive kitchens, you can cook s’mores by the campfire, feed the Horde which are now holiday cookies and candy canes, and use those awesome new cannons from the carnival levels! If you haven’t already purchased the Season Pass, this is a great free way to test the features! Furthermore, look forward to 5 new seasonal recipes, hot chocolate, pancakes, roast dinners, Christmas puddings and mince pies! You can also play as 2 new chefs; Reindeer Chef or Present Head Chef!
Dec 13, 2019Quick Bits
In the latest free update for The Sims 4 on December 12th, 2019 for PC and Mac, the developers over at Maxis have added large bug fixes and improvements to the core game and their expansions. Most recently those expansions include: Island Living. Realm of Magic, and Discover University. You can check out the full patch notes on EA’s official website here. However, what’s not in that update list is the fact that you can now purchase in-game the best new item that is Baby Yoda.
If you’ve been on the internet lately you probably heard about the new streaming service Disney+ and their popular new original Stars Wars show The Mandalorian. In an episode named “The Child”, the internet immediately fell in love with the new character that’s of the same race as beloved franchise character Yoda. Since we don’t have a name for said race, this new character has been dubbed Baby Yoda.
All you have to do is go to your Build/Buy Mode to add this adorable decoration to your Sims’ home! Baby Yoda is officially named ‘The Child Statue’ in The Sims 4, costs 504 simoleons, and the descriptions says, “This statue is a lovable replica inspired by the Disney+ live action series, The Mandalorian.”
Dec 12, 2019News
A free update (1.1.0) is coming to Planet Zoo December 17th, 2019 which includes a large amount of bug fixes, improvements, and many new features such as more heat maps, menus, information panels, and alerts. Alongside this update, you can purchase The Arctic Pack on Steam or the Frontier Store for $9.99 US which includes two new Scenarios, four new Arctic animals, and new building items. See below for the detailed information via the official Developer Journal.
I’ve played a little of Planet Zoo on Steam and gave my first impressions here. You can also check out my blooper video of all my building mishaps! I’m looking forward to diving back in the game and creating my own winter wonderland!
Dec 3, 2019News
Toripon, created by Victoria Smith, is a low-poly and pixel bird photography game releasing on itch.io here in only 2 days! On December 5th, 2019 you’ll be able to discover several types of birds around your fancy apartment and capture adorable moments of birds just being silly birds. Catch some birds partying to some tunes, playing around with household items, or getting into trouble, and share it with the world.
Take photos of cute birds doing cute things, and make people happy on the internet! Explore a surprisingly spacious inner-city apartment filled with far too many pet birds doing their own silly things. Take photos and share them with your internet friends to spread the love around. The more bird pictures you post, the more your follower count will go up! Just like real life! Unlock new birds by taking the right pictures and try to find them all…
Once you’ve taken millions of photographs of the cutest birbs, may I suggest looking forward to also taking pictures of doggos and puppers in Pupperazzi? There could never be enough games where you take pictures of little precious sweet baby animals.
Nov 22, 2019Quick Bits
After a successful Kickstarter over a year ago, Dwarrows now has a new trailer and can be Wishlisted on Steam (for PC, Mac, and Linux) with an expected release date of Q1 2020! There isn’t any news on the Xbox One version as of now but at least we’ll be able to get our hands on the game very soon!
Dwarrows, developed by Canadian indie studio Lithic Entertainment Inc., is a peaceful 3rd-person adventure and town-building game. Gather, build, puzzle, explore, and quest in a beautifully handcrafted world!
Since I spoke of Dwarrows last, the developers note that there have been many major improvements and updates which include new pets and pet abilities (yes you can befriend them), new character quests, new dungeons, and more!
If you’re interested in town-building games like this one, check out my article here: Foundation: A New Kind of City-Building Simulation Game.
Nov 12, 2019Feature
So far I’m enjoying the improvements of Planet Zoo that Frontier Developments have made since Zoo Tycoon on Steam. However, I wanted to show people playing or currently watching videos not to get too discouraged by the vast amount of building choices and pre-made parks that are all so intimidating. Don’t worry, you’re not alone! I too could not believe how beautiful the parks were and was eager to build some of my own and thought, “this won’t be that hard because I’ve played tycoon games before.” Until I was told to make a fence while playing Career Mode for the first time. I’m still getting the hang of the controls for Planet Zoo, because it’s beautiful and worth it. Although, for now, I’ve added a video below which is a compilation of all of my first attempts and failures for your viewing pleasure.
At first, Nancy started me off with some pre-builds for my facilities and such. Looking at the amount of choices and possible shapes to utilize to make one building, made me nervous. I was hoping Nancy wouldn’t leave my side any time soon. However, when it comes to fences, you can’t just plop a cage down, you have panels you need to connect. The height also needs to be adjusted according to the specific animals you will be placing inside that habitat. Zoopedia has all of the information, always read Zoopedia. I did eventually learn how to paint the fences different colors but that didn’t really help me at that moment, although it’s a very nice new addition to the game that I’m going to enjoy later.
When I struggled to do the simplest of tasks, everything else seemed so daunting. If I can’t get these controls down, how would I be able to create an entire zoo? Poor Nancy was trying hard to explain things to me and I just wasn’t getting it. This could either mean two things: I’m horribly uncoordinated and terrible at this game, or there’s a very steep learning curve and the controls could have been simplified a lot more. I haven’t ruled either of them out yet since I haven’t gotten very far. It’s probably just me.
Jokes aside, there were some amazing moments of looking at my animals via Camera mode. They’re so majestic and they deserve everything I can afford to buy them. There are a lot of options for items, research, and more, which I’m looking forward to familiarizing myself with!
You can buy the basic Planet Zoo game and/or the Deluxe Edition on Steam right here.
Nov 10, 2019Reviews
What I’ve seen from the developers of Planet Zoo, Frontier Developments, leading up to the Best Simulation Game‘s release, has been very impressive! From the very specific needs and behaviors of all animals to the challenging new modes, you can tell they really put a lot of love into this game! There’s so much more emphasis on animal care and education, including conservation efforts, that has me so excited to be a zoo keeper. I’d like to thank the developers for supplying me with a Steam Key so that I could put my tycoon skills to the test and show you all what you can expect before playing.
I’ve been a huge fan of creating habitats and taking care of my animals, all while making sure the guests are happy, for quite some time. I’ve put several hours into Zoo Tycoon back in 2001, which was developed by Blue Fang Games and published by Microsoft. They also went on to make a sequel and several amazing expansion packs. There was just the perfect balance of making the zoo your own and having some guidance with several tools at your disposal.
In 2013, Microsoft, along with Frontier Developments, released a Zoo Tycoon game for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I found that game to be hugely disappointing with the lack of animal variety, and almost no layout and design choices for habitats or facilities. For example, you had to place food and water bowls in pre-selected zones. It scaled way too far back on the creative freedom that it became real boring, real fast. However, I could already tell by the Developer Journals that Planet Zoo was going to be a huge improvement and was excited to try my hand at another zoo management game.
When I started to play Planet Zoo, I was already excited at the fact that I could customize my own avatar. Then, I decided to go for Career Mode first as I know I should get some tips before I go off on my own and start from scratch in Sandbox Mode. I could not believe how beautiful the parks were and was eager to build some of my own. It was a little intimidating in fact because there was so much to work with, more than I have ever seen.
Now, not only can you place whatever you want, wherever you want in your habitats, but you can also make everything from scratch. This might make the game harder to get used to at first, if you’ve watched my Planet Zoo Gameplay Bloopers you’ll know what I’m talking about, but it becomes very addictive if you stick with it. Sure the paths and fences are harder to use then they have to be but little changes, such as adding digital boards and speakers for your guests to learn about your animals, makes it worth it.
It is worth mentioning that I lightly touched on the fact that you have to have available power for all of your facilities during my first couple of levels of gameplay, which is also a new feature. Meaning, there’s a bit more to do this time around, similar to Sim City. I’ll be continuing to play Planet Zoo and will write updated articles when I find out how it all goes together! If this already sounds like fun to you, you can buy the basic Planet Zoo game and/or the Deluxe Edition on Steam right here.
Nov 9, 2019Indie Highlight
Little Big Workshop is an adorable simulation and strategy game developed by Mirage Game Studios and Published by HandyGames (THQ Nordic division). The game released on October 17th, 2019 on Steam which you can purchase here, for PC or Mac, for only $19.99! Manage your workers, stations, machines, and create awesome toys and items to expand your factory. Moreover, it’s almost as if you get to manage little workshop elves, Santa’s helpers, which makes this the perfect game to play this holiday season!
Imagine a magical factory, appearing right in your living room. A carefully planned masterpiece, where diligent workers throw together anything customers want. Rubber ducks and dressers, drones and electric guitars, scooters and other wonderful goods can be created from many different materials and sold for hard cash – cash you invest right back into your factory to get more machines, more workers and grow your business. In Little Big Workshop you become a factory tycoon!
You are the Big Boss and it’s time to take charge of your very own tabletop factory. Organize the factory floor, manage your workers, purchase machinery, and design efficient production lines – all within the time-limit and to your client’s satisfaction!
Take it easy, it’s a sandbox-experience where you think, ponder and poke at things until you get it to work the way you’d like. Supply products to clients and an ever-changing market, as you produce over 50 unique product types, built from multiple parts and pieces – all of which can be created with different materials and production methods. No two factories should ever look the same.
Start out with just a small workshop and expand to a desk-filling factory. Unlock ever fancier machines, add even more production methods, and most of all, more room. Soon enough you’ll be running multiple production lines, producing hundreds of advanced products each day, and watching with joy as your cute workers do the actual work.
In the mood for more holiday shopping? Check out my article here: Nintendo Switch Perfect Gift Guide.