Recent reviews by Yap

I haven't died once, but that's only because I run out of the house as soon as activity hits 6.

I don't know if it's exactly what I was expecting or if it necessarily hits the "I want to spread an eldritch religion across the globe" itch, but it's a solid game nonetheless. I like the base-building aspect where you're making different buildings in your holy city which do different things, and the religion-development aspect is really smooth and gives a bit of direction to your religion, though I think it perhaps needs to give some more flavour or visual changes to help show this progression.

Speaking of progression, at the moment it's somewhat linear which I'm not a huge fan of. You have these islands which you pretty much need to complete in a specific order to progress, and there isn't a real sense of "I'm spreading this religion to other places" so much as a total conquest. I think if it were more dynamic or procedural, with many available branches so you could choose where you want to spread, target weaker religions and try to convert their followers and have some form of cohesive world map, it could feel tighter.

I'm not sure I get the sense that I'm founding and building a religion in this so much as I'm going on a conquering rampage, so there's perhaps some economy tweaks in there. Not sold on the 'crystal skulls' mechanic but that could be alleviated by having some more dynamic branches instead of set linear progression which is more akin to a dungeon crawler than a sim game.

That said, I do like the game and am interested to see where it goes, particularly if there's a bit of focus on economy and more intricate tenets than just battles all the time.

Edit: With some of the more recent updates, the crystal skulls mechanic was removed, which is nice.

Like Stronghold, I played this on CD shortly after it came out, and I must have played it for hundreds of hours, so it's an instant childhood classic and I look forward to the sequel coming this year.

The gameplay is a little dated I admit, I'm looking through 1960's spy-fi chrome-tinted glasses here -- but it still holds up to this day and the aesthetic is primo. There aren't really any other games that scratch that "I want to be an evil genius and take over the world" itch, that aren't in a fantasy setting a-la Dungeon Keeper or War for the Overworld. I suppose Spinn/mortality (I forget), but it's not a base-builder which is the key focus of this game.

I recommend getting the community patch of the Nexus which tightens up the gameplay and reduces some of the grind for a more modern audience. Remember back in the day when 2000's games were very grindy? This is one of those, but the patch changes that.

But yeah. Pure nostalgia-fuel for me in this gem.

Finally should get around to reviewing this. Er, yeah, it's pretty solid, if you can't tell by my hours.

Rimworld is...wow. It's one of those games that has evolved in a consistently positive direction since its inception. Over the years that I've been playing it, I've liked it more and more. Enough people have mentioned the gameplay that it's well-trodden ground at this point so I'll try something else.

Modding. Oh boy. It's a huge, huge component of the game. I'd recommend for your first couple games to go in vanilla, and then start browsing for mods. There are endless amounts of mods available which range from gameplay tweaks to full conversions and everything in between.

As for making mods, there are two main languages you need to know: XML and C#, and the latter isn't even required unless you're making a complex mod that requires scripting or non-vanilla funcitonality. There are tonnes of XML-only mods that you can make. As a modder myself, it continually amazes me just how crazy Rimworld will let you go, and despite its screams of protests when you reaaaallllyyyy press modding to new limits, if you start using something like Harmony to patch core game mechanics then...you can do ANYTHING. So, this review is essentially for modders -- y'all are going to love the things you can come up with for Rimworld.

Edit: Ideology is a fantastic DLC.

Edit 2022: Rimworld is a real Labour of Love. :)

Disclaimer, I've played this on the CD version for many, many, many hours in my childhood but not a lot of Steam.

They need to make a new game like this. No other Stronghold game (exception Crusader) comes close to this one. I love the cosy photo-like graphics with the isometric style, it's just beautiful. None of the 3D games are anywhere near the aesthetic that this game embodies. It's just ART.

If they were to make a *true* successor to this masterwork of a game, keep the art exactly the same, keep it isometric -- rework the GUI a little more, have bigger maps, more production chains, more units, more resources and some variety to residential buildings (think Anno, perhaps). Also, moddable. Keep the map editor, I spent many, many hours in it.

It's just....this is a great game. This is probably my favourite Stronghold game ever. Make one exactly like this, but with more content and bigger maps, and I will buy it. They don't make games like this anymore.

Tentative recommendation. If you're willing to overlook the exceedingly long dev time, Stonehearth is a decent builder game with some light action.

You start off with very little as either a desert-peoples or a feudal-peoples,and can pick a location to match. I've always liked city builder games and Stonehearth really scratches that complete control over the process. Well, sorta. You draw up blueprints that you can make from templates or design completely yourself (my favourite part) and then give your workers orders to build them. The AI is a lot better than it was, and now will only never finish a building 1/15th of the time.

Occasionally you'll be distracted by goblins and kobold attacks, which you'll fight with an archer, footman and cleric and go back to building. The content noticeably peters out as you play and you're left with very little to do apart from expand and beautify your city. That said, watching things get built is like a drug, it's very easy to just watch and watch and watch. I do like this game, I really do - there's just not enough content for a 4yr old game with a sizeable dev team.

If you like building games and your favourite part of Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom was building wonders, you should get this game. If you're looking for Dwarf Fortress, probably not for you.

Yeah, I guess you could say it's pretty good.

This game does have a number of flaws but is extremely enjoyable if you can look past them.

Sectors, basically vassals, have pretty dumb AI even after multiple revisions in an attempt to make them better. There's also no real reason to make any more than one.

The society management is pretty solid though, offering a decent amount of ways to play. Be Space France and let your people eat cake, be Space Hitler and kill all the xenos with forced labour, or be Space Theresa May and hunt Space Foxes and eat them. (no, don't)

Overall, Stellaris is a good game with some annoying setbacks. I haven't described all of them since enough people complain about them already, but I like it all the same. And mods. Mods really make this fantastic.

Pros:
Solid Gameplay
Good Art Style
Great Mechanics

Cons:
Some levels are a little overwhelming

I bought it really cheap so I could get 'verified'. It was worth it, I think.
It's a fun little puzzle game, it is.

And these are the guys who went on to make Goat Simulator.
You've come a long way!
The game is cool too.

Just get it already and stop weighing up the costs. You can live without food for three weeks. You can't live without Garry's Mod for three days.