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what is your favorite game and why?

Apr 10, 2012#1

zPlude

My most favorite game of all time has got to be tf2, I have almost 800 hours put into that game lol
another one of my favorites is command and conquer. I love most of the series,if played all of them.Whatever you do, do not play the fourth one, thats is the most terrible game you will ever play.

Apr 10, 2012#2

General Specific

Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars, awesome game, got me into RPGs which subsequently lead to me playing DnD and then making a whole bunch of new friends which in turn has taken me from a depressed, sad sack of a guy to someone who's fun to hang around with.

Apr 10, 2012#3

zPlude

dang nice job! :thumbsup:

Apr 10, 2012#4

Yoshimickster

Ooh, this is a tough one. I would have to say Psychonauts. A good combination of fun platforming, humor, and awesome plot. Man I wish I still had that game.

Apr 10, 2012#5

LittleKagsin

Easy. God of War, hands down. And up for that matter. II and III are pretty near perfect, I think I have more fun with III though. Anyway, so III and II, then I. Then Ghost of Sparta and Chains of Olympus is my least favorite of the series.

But I know there are a lot of glaring holes in my gamer history...hopefully I can fill those up in time. =^^=

Oh sorry, I forgot my why. Because Kratos is a bada**.

Ha, but really. For me it works perfectly, has a wonderful balance of fighting techniques, platforming, completely awesome villian/creature design. I like that you can button mash, but learning combos is so much more fulfilling. The environments are fun and just when I think I'm getting bored with a place it changes.

Apr 10, 2012#6

HCGLNS

Backgammon, because it combines strategy, skill with an element of risk and chance.

Apr 10, 2012#7

CynicismKills

This is difficult. All in all I'd have to go with Earthbound, as I can replay it once or twice a year and still love every second. Lufia 2 is a close second, and I'd put Tales of Symphonia at third. I don't play a whole lot of current-gen, as you might guess.

Apr 10, 2012#8

zPlude

CynicismKills said:
This is difficult. All in all I'd have to go with Earthbound, as I can replay it once or twice a year and still love every second. Lufia 2 is a close second, and I'd put Tales of Symphonia at third. I don't play a whole lot of current-gen, as you might guess.

tbh, i have never tried earthbound. the only way i know about it is that i have played Super Smash Bros.

Apr 10, 2012#9

Gusto

Earthbound or Mass Effect 2.

Apr 10, 2012#10

Shegokigo

TF2 - only game I've ever played as much as an MMO. Amazing class balance, tons of new additions to the game that are never 'game breaking' and always fun. This game never disappoints.
Ultima Online - first MMO I ever played and play for years. This game was amazing till Origin killed it. The sheer adrenaline I used to get for murdering innocents and gaining a bounty on my name was amazing.
Everquest - my first truly "addicted" MMO. This game was called Evercrack for a reason. Literally days into nights spent playing this amazing social experiment.
World of Warcraft - 7yrs and I've maybe not played it a total of 5 months. Nuff said.
Fallout 3 and NV - close second to TF2 to being the only game series to envelope my days and nights so utterly. The best post apocolypic series ever made. Hands down.
Skyrim/Oblivion - Almost as good as the Fallout series but for me just a step behind because of some serious flaws and the fact that it's an a saturated genre (Fantasy)

Final Fantasy series - I love them all, faults and all. A few of them I've played through multiple times some I haven't, FFT being my hands down favorite of them all.
Lunar 1&2 - Easily my all time favorite RPG series. First played on the Sega CD it was a marvel playing a game with anime cutscenes and full voice acting in the scenes. I fell in love with Jessica the first time I laid eyes on that kitty-girl goddess.
Xenogears - Yet another one of Square's masterpieces that will live in my heart always. Such an amazing storyline with great gameplay. Consider that I'm NOT a fan of ANYTHING mecha, for me to love this game is a testament.
Suikoden Series - very close second to FF to being my all time favorite RPG series, these games had something to come back to time and again. I bought the entire Suikoden 3 manga and played the game so many times. Collecting hidden characters was never boring in this game.

*This is just a list off the top of my head, I'm sure there are hundreds more that would fight for my top favorite games.

Apr 10, 2012#11

CynicismKills

Gusto said:
Earthbound or Mass Effect 2.

Apr 10, 2012#12

CynicismKills

FFIV is glorious and I love it. I was trying to be concise, but yeah pretty much all FF games in the numerical series minus MMO's and VIII.

Apr 10, 2012#13

Shegokigo

FFIV would definitely be my second favorite easily.

Apr 10, 2012#14

Yoshimickster

If it's okay to have more than one favorite then:

Spyro 1-3: This was my friggin' childhood right here. The apex of Sony platforming.

The secret of Monkey Island: Probably my favorite point and click game of all time.

Super Mario Bros: Because it's Super FUCKIN Mario bros. Nuff said.

Apr 10, 2012#15

zPlude

Gusto said:
Earthbound or Mass Effect 2.

earthbound

Apr 10, 2012#16

zPlude

Yoshimickster said:
If it's okay to have more than one favorite then:

Spyro 1-3: This was my friggin' childhood right here. The apex of Sony platforming.

The secret of Monkey Island: Probably my favorite point and click game of all time.

Super Mario Bros: Because it's Super FUCKIN Mario bros. Nuff said.

I love all of those games! they were what i would play if i was not playing command and conquer.

Apr 10, 2012#17

zPlude

CynicismKills said:

i know, ill buy it and try it this weekend!

Apr 10, 2012#18

Yoshimickster

Your all-right guy.

Apr 10, 2012#19

Ravenpoe

This is really, really tough. Someone already said KOTOR, but I'd ammend that to KOTOR II. Same awesome game, but with an awesomer (though unfinished) story.

But I'm going to have to go with Chrono Trigger. It was my first epic jrpg, and still my favorite. It's the game I've bought more than any other game, and any time I install an emulator onto any sort of electronic device, it's always the first game to go on.

Apr 10, 2012#20

zPlude

Yoshimickster said:
Your all-right guy.

thanks

Apr 10, 2012#21

Gusto

I also really liked FFX and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater but those are difficult to go back to.

Apr 10, 2012#22

Yoshimickster

Ravenpoe said:
This is really, really tough. Someone already said KOTOR, but I'd ammend that to KOTOR II. Same awesome game, but with an awesomer (though unfinished) story.

But I'm going to have to go with Chrono Trigger. It was my first epic jrpg, and still my favorite. It's the game I've bought more than any other game, and any time I install an emulator onto any sort of electronic device, it's always the first game to go on.

My god, Chrono Trigger! I still haven't beaten that game. Hey I'm at the Sand boss right now, what level do my guys have to be to beat him? Also, what's the best line-up?

Apr 10, 2012#23

Dave

Skyrim. I have logged 400+ hours on that game.

After that I'd have to say either Wizardry or Empire. Both are so damned old they are the beginnings of their respective genres, but they hold a very special place in my heart.

Apr 10, 2012#24

Ravenpoe

Yoshimickster said:
Also, what's the best line-up?

Frog and Magus. Back to back. With an awesome guitar solo wailing in the background.

Apr 10, 2012#25

CynicismKills

I assume sand boss is Retinite? Under the area Fiona wants to plant a forest? If so I used Crono/Frog/Ayla. 3D Attack his core, kill it. Then Water 2 him to lower his defense, 3D Attack, repeat. I killed the legs first, I think, the sand vortex is nasty. Also if you let Ayla or Frog get low on health, you can Dino Tail/Frog Stomp for super-high damage.

Apr 10, 2012#26

Yoshimickster

Ravenpoe said:
Frog and Magus. Back to back. With an awesome guitar solo whailing in the background.

Thank you! And I assume level is unimportant due to the techs I would have to all-ready get that far?

Apr 10, 2012#27

CynicismKills

Also, Magus is a magic powerhouse but has no 3-attack with Crono in the party. You have to have him and two others, plus the corresponding Stone accessory to allow the 3-attack. Generally you can do just as well without him in the party, using Lucca or Crono's endgame magic for stupid damage (though Crono with a Rainbow hits like a truck, so there's that too).

Apr 10, 2012#28

Ravenpoe

Yoshimickster said:
Thank you! And I assume level is unimportant due to the techs I would have to all-ready get that far?

Purely from game mechanics, this is not the best party. Especially since there's only two of them, and it's a three party system.

But in terms of sheer awesome? Yeah, that wins.

Apr 10, 2012#29

Yoshimickster

Okay I think I know what to do now. Thank youse guys!

Apr 10, 2012#30

Hailey Knight

Final Fantasy Tactics: Great characters, engaging story of politics and hatred, and I never get tired of the gameplay. Love those grid battles, the job system, monsters, bosses, secrets, all of it. Such a wonderfully deep game, both to play and experience.

Shadow of the Colossus: This game gives me a sense of peace as well as melancholy, wrapped up in a bundle of awe. I feel so tiny approaching the giants of the earth, but the world itself dwarfs your character, and the ambiguous narrative gives me much to think on. It's not just one of my favorite games, but also one of my favorite little stories.

Apr 10, 2012#31

Gusto

Crono Marle and Ayla was always my crew.

Apr 10, 2012#32

Gusto

Quotemander Prime said:
Shadow of the Colossus: This game gives me a sense of peace as well as melancholy, wrapped up in a bundle of awe. I feel so tiny approaching the giants of the earth, but the world itself dwarfs your character, and the ambiguous narrative gives me much to think on. It's not just one of my favorite games, but also one of my favorite little stories.

I wish I could replay this game just to take down the flying desert colossus again.

Apr 10, 2012#33

Jay

Romance of the 3 Kingdoms (2 and 3 a tie).

Apr 10, 2012#34

ThatNickGuy

For me, it's a toss up between Final Fantasy IV and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father.

Apr 10, 2012#35

Allen who is Quiet

Superman 64 is the game of kings and the king of games.

Apr 10, 2012#36

Hailey Knight

Gusto said:
I wish I could replay this game just to take down the flying desert colossus again.

No PS2 or PS3?

I'm gonna buy the HD version soon; either with Ico or just by itself from PSN.

Apr 10, 2012#37

sixpackshaker

Like I've said a million times before, MicroProse. They made many of the greatest games of all time.

Pirates!
Civilization
Sword of the Samurai
Gunship
F-19 Stealth Fighter
F-15 Strike Eagle
Masters of Orion ][

Leisure Suit Larry 7 Love for Sail - man what an awesome game. Too bad Sierra fired Al Lowe.

Then I loved the Sim City games. I wish they would do another Sim Copter, best non-combat Flight Sim.

Baldur's Gate - easily the best D&D game ever. But the SSI Gold and Silver Box games were amazing for the time.

Then I got into Everquest then World of Warcraft

I've been playing the dog crap out of Skyrim since November.

Apr 10, 2012#38

Bowielee

The Legacy of Kain series.

If I had to pick my very favorite of the series, it would be Soul Reaver 2.

Apr 10, 2012#39

Bumble the Boy Wonder

Double Dribble

Mostly because of the memories I have playing it allllll day, every day.

Apr 10, 2012#40

Shegokigo

Bumble the Boy Wonder said:
Double Dribble

Mostly because of the memories I have playing it allllll day, every day.

Don't leave us in suspense man, which version!?

Apr 10, 2012#41

Bumble the Boy Wonder

Shegokigo said:
Don't leave us in suspense man, which version!?

The one with the sweet-ass graphics.

double-dribble-virtual-console-20071212093458896_640w.jpg

Aw shit, I might have to change mine to the greatest fighting game of all time..

BLADES OF STEEL

Apr 10, 2012#42

Shegokigo

Not gonna lie, I played the shit out of both those games... however they're inferior to.....

and

Apr 10, 2012#43

Bowielee

I generally hate sports games, but I loved the hell out of Blades of Steel.

Apr 10, 2012#44

bhamv3

This is a hard question to answer...

I adore the Half-Life series, but my favorite of the bunch would probably be Half-Life 2. With Episode 2 a close second. And Opposing Force a close third.

I played and modded the hell out of Fallout 3 and I still fire it up every now and then.

Bioware's last great creations, Mass Effect 1 and 2, and Dragon Age: Origins are also high on my list. I've been playing the hell out of Mass Effect 2 lately, picked up the DLC and loved them.

Going further back, I have very fond memories of Might and Magic: World of Xeen and Quest for Glory 2: Trial by Fire, though I'll admit these memories might be tinged with nostalgia.

Finally, I really love Final Fantasy 8. *prepares his tar and feather resistant outfit*

Apr 11, 2012#45

TommiR

Grand strategy games are my favorite genre, and Hearts of Iron II was, in my opinion, a jewel of the kind. As such games tend to be quite complex, making one that actually works passably without abstracting things too much can be difficult, but I think they did a fine job. It had it's flaws, but nothing so glaring as to threaten suspension of disbelief.

I haven't tried the third game of the HoI series, but I might pick it up and give it a go.

Apr 11, 2012#46

Yoshimickster

Shegokigo said:
Not gonna lie, I played the shit out of both those games... however they're inferior to.....

and

Playing sports in a world that hates and fears them! Dododododoooooooooododo.Dododododoooooooooooooooooododo.DOO-DOON!

Galaga. A simple arcade game that has captured my heart since the first time I've played it on the Cape May pier.

Apr 11, 2012#47

Allen who is Quiet

Raven, I see you disagree with my assessment that Superman 64 is the best and every other game by comparison is some sort of cesspool that is also on fire and smells bad.

Consider how true the game is to Superman's abilities. I have no doubt that if Lex Luthor were to set up a bunch of rings throughout Metropolis, Superman would easily be able to fly through all of them in less than two minutes.

Also, you get to relive some of Superman's greatest moments from the comic book. Like when he picks up an emblem that blends into the environment which allows him to use his ice breath for a limited amount of time. Then he uses his ice breath to stop tornadoes that have appeared inside a reservoir and are heading towards pedestrians who are walking around the reservoir.

Apr 11, 2012#48

Jay

/thread

Apr 11, 2012#49

BananaHands

Favorite Game:

Why:

Apr 11, 2012#50

Ravenpoe

BananaHands said:
Favorite Game:

Why:

Geno needs to make a comeback.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

Apr 11, 2012#51

Adammon

Seen a couple of my favourites grace the page already. Blades of Steel, NHL 94, Chrono Trigger, Mass Effect.

Back to the Nintendo:

Super Nintendo:

PC:

Wii:

Apr 11, 2012#52

BananaHands

Guys, I forgot.

And the best drinking game of all time:

Apr 11, 2012#53

Shegokigo

Alot of people are writing the "favorite game" but leaving out the "why".

Apr 11, 2012#54

Adammon

Why Base Wars?
Fighting Robots playing baseball. But mostly a lot of time spent at my grandparents house playing it on an old Nintendo they had lying around. It was easy enough to pick up, fun to play, and combined a pretty good management system with fighting robots in baseball! How could you go wrong?

Why Link to the Past?
Aside from the gameplay and graphics which were the pinnacle of SNES development, it had the right difficulty level, the music was fantastic and introduced me to the whole Zelda franchise.

Why Civilization 2?
The best and longest played game in the Civ series, it set the ground work for what subsequent sequels could only emulate. It was the perfect balance of complexity and control.

Why Smash Bros Brawl?
The only game I've actually turned the Wii on to play for the past year or so.

Apr 11, 2012#55

Yoshimickster

Super Smash Bros orginal. The other two are still great games, but this one holds the cake. It took the idea of the crossover fighting game and made one of the most original fighting games out there.

Donkey Kong 64: Fun multiplayer, fun single player, all around fun! Also the DK rap, that's my shit.

Apr 11, 2012#56

Jay

Shegokigo said:
Alot of people are writing the "favorite game" but leaving out the "why".

Apr 11, 2012#57

Yoshimickster

Mario and Luigi Super Star saga. How many rpgs have you played that use button combos? Also subsequently, Paper Mario. The sequels are all-right, but not the same.

Apr 11, 2012#58

Ravenpoe

Yoshimickster said:
Mario and Luigi Super Star saga. How many rpgs have you played that use button combos? Also subsequently, Paper Mario. The sequels are all-right, but not the same.

All of the mario rpg games are awesome, fun little titles that combine fun actiony elements to it.

Apr 11, 2012#59

Yoshimickster

Indeed. While Inside Bowser's story was good, I did have some....aesthetic problems. Mostly because the bros moves might as well have been bros items. Don't get me wrong, the game was still good but it still felt weird.

Apr 11, 2012#60

BErt

I bought the original Legend of Zelda at least 6 times over the years. So...that.

Apr 11, 2012#61

Yoshimickster

Luigi's Mansion is one of my favorites too. Probably the best Ghostbusters game ever made.

Apr 11, 2012#62

Bumble the Boy Wonder

Mario Paint.

I can't remember exactly why I loved it so much, I just remember spending countless days clicking that shooting star on the title screen... swatting those flies dead on that one game.. Trying to make a song worth listening to and ALWAYS failing.

And especially coloring in Yoshi. Jesus, I can't tell you how many times I colored in that damned Yoshi picture.. And I have no idea why I loved every second of it! Just appealed to my artistic side I suppose.

It angers me that it's nearly impossible to find the mouse for that game without spending more than I would ever want to on such an item..

Apr 11, 2012#63

BErt

<--- My Dog's name is Yoshi.

I'm a sucker for Nintendo stuff apparently...somewhere in my house I have a game boy camera (and printer!), a gameboy player attached to my GameCube, an e-reader, and a virtual boy.

I need an anti-fry "stop taking my money!" picture.

Apr 12, 2012#64

Bumble the Boy Wonder

BErt said:
..somewhere in my house I have a game boy camera (and printer!), a gameboy player attached to my GameCube, an e-reader, and a virtual boy.

I've got the goddamned magnifier for my gameboy still.. why the hell did I even buy that thing?? I've got the e-reader too, solely for Animal Crossing... I get around nintendo stuff and logic goes out the fucking window, I just start thinking with my dick man, I tell ya what.

Apr 12, 2012#65

BErt

I Installed an afterburner into an orange Gameboy Advance that I imported from Japan.

:drops mic:

: cries in the corner:

Apr 12, 2012#66

Bumble the Boy Wonder

I have been bested... You sir, have earned my r~~espect i mean~~ ~~pity~~ err, respect!

Apr 12, 2012#67

Covar

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. I got the DX version of this on Christmas Day. The day after Christmas I picked up the newly released Ocarina of Time, when letting my brother play OoT I was busy playing Link's Awakening on my GBC. It seemed like only Nintendo could make gameboy games packed with enough content to hold their own against a console title.

Apr 12, 2012#68

Frank

Star Control 2.

Why? Because it's the best game ever made.

Actual reason: When I was a young man a friend of mine had a PC his brother was letting him use. On this PC was this magical game called Star Control 2. Me and him played the ever loving shit out this game for an entire weekend, me staying over 2 nights in a row at his house. Then his brother took back his PC and moved away. Later I learned that there was going to be an improved version on this weird new console called the 3DO. This 3DO was going to cost a billion dollars so again I thought I would never get to play it. Well, a local comic book store had one for a while and eventually they were looking to sell it. My mom bought it for me for my birthday (I was maybe 12 or 13). With it came Star Control 2, Wing Commander 3, Off World Interceptor, Road Rash, Return Fire, Samurai Showdown, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and a host of other games. Star Control 2 was still the best game and this time it had voice.

It's still available for free online as Ur-Quan Masters. Freeware that lets you customize the music, add in the voice work and other things. It's still the best game ever made.

Apr 12, 2012#69

Necronic

Dave said:
....Wizardry....

I met Robert Woodhead recently and will probably interact with him more in the near future. His a HUGE EvE nerd and is very involved with the meta game of it (as am I.)

Apr 12, 2012#70

Dave

Did you tell him Trebor sucks?

Apr 12, 2012#71

Gared

Might and Magic. The original, start of the franchise, game. I've been playing it since the late 1980s and I still have a (legally purchased) copy on my current computer. Aside from that, the original Final Fantasy that was released in the US for the NES. There are other games I really enjoy, such as Skyrim, Minecraft, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect, Alpha Centauri, SimCity (the original), and WoW; but the original Might and Magic and the first Final Fantasy for the NES were and are my favorite games.

Apr 12, 2012#72

Mathias

Apr 12, 2012#73

Mathias

Best games ever. Why? Because I still fondly remember getting my N64 and playing Mario and Zelda, and I spent hours on Sim City and Descent as a kid.

Descent II on Kali was the shit, and I rocked out with my cock out on my 33.6kb modem.

Apr 12, 2012#74

GasBandit

Hm, that's hard to narrow down. Easier to pick one from each genre, I think.
RTS: Supreme Commander:Forged Alliance. Close second is Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War (the first one).. or maybe Company of Heroes.
MMO: it was probably Dark Age of Camelot, till EA ruined it. After that it was Warhammer Online... till EA ruined it.
Console/platformer: NES Contra. Though for a while, I couldn't get enough of Blast Corps on N64.
RPG: Skyrim. Definitely. Before Skyrim came out it was probably it's spiritual ancestor, Ultima Underworlds 1 and 2.
Driving: Burnout:Takedown, but paradise city comes close to making up for Takedown not being on PC. A close second would be Split/Second.
FPS: ... well, damn.. this is hard. I like TF2 like the OP, but I also like Left 4 Dead, and COD:MW (the first one), and Battlefield 1942, Unreal Tournament 2k4 will NEVER leave my hard drive.
Co-op: Saints Row, tie between 2 and 3 because 2 was a more robust game but 3 was a much less shitty PC port.

But I feel I'm not doing justice if I don't mention crazy stuff that defies genres like Minecraft, or old games that I only don't play anymore because my friends I LAN partied with are scattered to the four winds, like Serious Sam or Carmageddon or Mechwarrior.

Apr 12, 2012#75

Yoshimickster

Sly 2, honor among thieves. The first one was great, but it focused more on plat-forming than thievery. This game took it to a whole new level. Sneak attacks, pick-pocketing, making the side-kicks actual playable characters. It was fun.

Apr 13, 2012#76

PatrThom

Honestly? That would be a game we call Oh Hell. We of course have our own variation of it, but this (along with Pinochle) has probably occupied more of my time than all my hours of video game time combined. We sat down weekly to an 8-10hr stretch of either Oh Hell or Pinochle (or occasionally Canasta) for decades.

If I'm going to go electronic/video, though, my history of favorite games started with Dark Castle, then Starflight, then MoO2, then Riven, then Thief, then Age of Empires II & Diablo II. Warcraft/Starcraft are in there somewhere, but since I pick 'em up and put 'em down so often, they aren't anchored to any particular time.

Right now the fight is between Minecraft and Wizard101, with W101 slightly in the lead.

--Patrick

Apr 13, 2012#77

evilmike

I was always rather fond of Jurassic President. Unfortunately, it's not playable on any machines in this timeline.

Apr 14, 2012#78

Yoshimickster

....what timeline is it playable in?

Apr 14, 2012#79

ElJuski

Ghouls n' Ghosts for the Genesis. *drops mic*

Apr 14, 2012#80

Shegokigo

ElJuski said:
Ghouls n' Ghosts for the Genesis. *drops mic*

You dropped your mic before you could finish explaining why. Might want to get that checked out Juski, could be having seizures.

Apr 14, 2012#81

ElJuski

*picks up mic*

Because that shit is ridiculously fun. Also childhood bla bla.

*drops mic again*

Apr 14, 2012#82

Shegokigo

But favorite game of all? Alot of games seem to fall into the category "ridiculously fun from your childhood".

Apr 14, 2012#83

ElJuski

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not that much of a gamer. I don't see what the problem is...?

Apr 14, 2012#84

Shegokigo

Well that explains it. Carry on.

Apr 14, 2012#85

Covar

Shegokigo said:
But favorite game of all? Alot of games seem to fall into the category "ridiculously fun from your childhood".

That tends to be what makes them "favorites" as opposed to the more objective "best."

Apr 14, 2012#86

Shegokigo

Yeah but a bit vague none the less.

Apr 14, 2012#87

Hailey Knight

I understand what Shego is saying. I've tried playing games I loved when I was younger and they just didn't hold up anymore. So they're not all time favorites. Others, however, I can jump into and love just as much now as I did when I was 12.

Apr 14, 2012#88

Shegokigo

Also, I like hearing people's deeper reasons for loving a game. Perhaps they played it during an important part of their life, maybe they shared that game with a loved one, maybe it's just amazing because the story touched them, etc etc etc.

I realize a game from your childhood that was wicked fun is a favorite, but are you saying that's the only game you played when you were younger or was it the only one that was fun?

Apr 14, 2012#89

Frank

Star Control 2 holds up and I still play through it to this day every so often. I dream of the day Toys for Bob is unshackled and allowed to continue the story they created.

Apr 14, 2012#90

ElJuski

Shegokigo said:
Also, I like hearing people's deeper reasons for loving a game. Perhaps they played it during an important part of their life, maybe they shared that game with a loved one, maybe it's just amazing because the story touched them, etc etc etc.

I realize a game from your childhood that was wicked fun is a favorite, but are you saying that's the only game you played when you were younger or was it the only one that was fun?

wicked? What are you, from Boston?

Apr 14, 2012#91

PatrThom

It's pretty easy. Some games are fun (Lemmings!). Other games are wicked fun (Dungeon Keeper).

--Patrick

Apr 14, 2012#92

Null

Favorite games:
Armored Core 3 / Silent Line, since they're one of the best mecha games out there, with decent graphics, lots of customization, and a level of action I can actually succeed at (I generally suck at most games).
Robotech: Battlecry because it's like being in the Robotech series, my favorite cartoon as a kid.
Tekken 3 & 5 - an awesome fighting game, despite the incredibly cheapass end boss (fireballs, stuns, teleports - bad enough when it's Akuma in SF, but this is TEKKEN for fuck's sake!).
Soul Calibur series, awesome fighting game that I've enjoyed since the first installment, though I need to upgrade to a new system to play 4 and 5.
Resident Evil 4 - great graphics even on the PS2, lots of fun to play (and I don't mind the 'Press X to Not Die' events) and I've replayed it several times.
Persona 3 & 4: quirky but entertaining. They're something of a guilty pleasure but honestly I enjoy them a lot more than 1 or 2, which were at times rather punishing.
Final Fantasy XII: probably my favorite Final Fantasy. I really like the gambit system, since it takes the grind out of grinding, and it doesn't force in a stupid love story. I also like that while the hero of the story is Ashe, the perspective character is Vaan. I think it adds something to it, maybe it keeps the story from being purely about vengeance, which is initially all that Ashe was after.

Apr 14, 2012#93

Shegokigo

OMG NULL! EDIT YOUR POST!

Apr 14, 2012#94

ThatNickGuy

Apr 14, 2012#95

Jay

Romance of the 3 Kingdoms - 2 and 3. Great childhood memories and I still play it when I can. Basically, it's a thinking man's game. Strategy and insight on how to plans things ahead and how your enemies will behave is very interesting as every game runs differently. Sometimes your enemies are not the same. Betrayal from allies or officers can happen. Defeats have consequences in the realm. You can hire other officers, plant them elsewhere, really Sun Tzu's Book of War stands strong. Random events strengthen and weaken nations. You can form alliances to form joint attacks on mutual enemies or get the same in return. Build armies accordingly, every troop type has weaknesses and strengths.

So good.

They just launched ROTK 12 in Japan a few months back, every game is different from one another, one you can only play as rulers, some as officers who can be anywhere from ronin to emperors. Every fate is different.

I also loved the books.

Apr 14, 2012#96

Bowielee

OK, so reasons, huh... well, I love the storyline of Legacy of Kain. That's it in a nutshell.

Apr 14, 2012#97

Frank

You could make a game where it's just Simon Templeman rambling incoherently for hours on end and I would eat it up.

Oh wait, they did. It was called Legacy of Kain 2.

(Not an indictment of the whole series, I absolutely adore the original, Soul Reavers and liked Defiance...just LoK2 was not good. So not good they struck it from canon.)

Apr 14, 2012#98

figmentPez

Grim Fandango is my favorite game, hands down. The art style is perfectly matched to the capabilities of the game engine and computers of the era. The soundtrack is catchy and integrated well with the themes of the story. The voice acting is superb with hardly a dud to be found. The characters are charming and quirky. The puzzles are mostly fun, even when they're head-scratching. The control scheme left a little to be desired (though it would make GF ripe for a modern HD remake on consoles).

Overall, Grim Fandango is a gaming masterpiece, and it is a crying shame that it can't be purchased from Steam, GOG.com or any other service.

Apr 14, 2012#99

ThatNickGuy

Pez, if I tried to agree with you more, I'd probably hurt myself.

Apr 14, 2012#100

Cajungal

I love the Lunar games and Final Fantasy Tactics. I've always enjoyed the stories and characters in those games. When it comes to games I play with other people, I enjoy Left 4 Dead and Borderlands.

My favorite non-video games are Scrabble and Balderdash, because I love words.

Apr 14, 2012#101

Bowielee

Cajungal said:
I love the Lunar games and Final Fantasy Tactics. I've always enjoyed the stories and characters in those games. When it comes to games I play with other people, I enjoy Left 4 Dead and Borderlands.

My favorite non-video games are Scrabble and Balderdash, because I love words.

I'm absolutely crazy about Words with Friends.

Apr 14, 2012#102

Cajungal

Bowielee said:
I'm absolutely crazy about Words with Friends.

Oh man let's play!! What's your name?

Apr 14, 2012#103

evilmike

Yoshimickster said:
....what timeline is it playable in?

It's an old Sega Neptune game. Unfortunately, all of the Neptune emulators here are infected with hive mind fragments, so if you get too many people playing off stream games, the internet goes all skynet on us. I like the game well enough, but you know, skynet bad.

As for the timeline, there's no singularity event to really describe it. There's just a bunch of small, odd changes. The money is the wrong shape, so you can't just swap cash between lines. And I swear there is something off about the atmosphere -- the whole darn planet smells vaguely like mustard.

Apr 14, 2012#104

Ravenpoe

Pokemon Red.

Why? Because I was 13 when pokemon came out. I had a subscription to Nintendo Power, and remember reading about it as all the news was leaked before it was released. I remember going hungry at lunch time in school, saving my lunch money to be able to buy it. And I remember me and every single one of my friends always keeping our gameboys hidden on us, to sneak away and battle between periods, or to play after school in an empty classroom. And I was a pokemaster. I caught them all, I trained the perfect team, and even Dwayne who couldn't follow the rules of "fuck no you can't use your mewtwo that's banned and we know you game genied it anyway" couldn't defeat me.

FUCK YEAH!

Apr 14, 2012#105

Bowielee

Cajungal said:
Oh man let's play!! What's your name?

I play through facebook, I'll send you a PM.

Apr 15, 2012#106

Null

Frank said:
You could make a game where it's just Simon Templeman rambling incoherently for hours on end and I would eat it up.

Oh wait, they did. It was called Legacy of Kain 2.

(Not an indictment of the whole series, I absolutely adore the original, Soul Reavers and liked Defiance...just LoK2 was not good. So not good they struck it from canon.)

How could I forget the LoK series? And yeah, Blood Omen 2 was a goddamn mess. Originally a Chakan: The Forever Man title, recycled and frankensteined into Blood Omen...

Apr 15, 2012#107

CynicismKills

CynicismKills said:
This is difficult. All in all I'd have to go with Earthbound, as I can replay it once or twice a year and still love every second. Lufia 2 is a close second, and I'd put Tales of Symphonia at third. I don't play a whole lot of current-gen, as you might guess.

To add reasons:
Earthbound: To me there aren't many RPG's from the NES/SNES/etc eras I can go back and play, and end up with a "holy shit when did it get 7 hours later" issue. Earthbound still does this to me, along with having some of the most unique and charming of settings for a traditional JRPG. In a normal fantasy setting the battles could be confused with Dragon Warrior, but the addition of a modern-ish setting that slowly becomes more and more outlandish as you progress puts this game in a class of its own.

Lufia 2: A sequel with a twist to the ending that,

in reality, makes it a prequel.

Also the only video game ending to actually make me cry the first time I cleared it. Also, a story spanning years and showing the growth of multiple characters and their lives, as opposed to being just another group of teenagers out to save the world.

Also I'd like to amend my choice of Symphonia. As much as I do love the game for it's glorious battle system and story, I'll have to put Chrono Trigger on a higher pedestal. It's probably the only game I have absolutely zero faults to find. Every JRPG should be this good. Music, characters, story, the combo skills in battle actually making your party selection something more than pick who looks the coolest.

Apr 16, 2012#108

GasBandit

GasBandit said:
Hm, that's hard to narrow down. Easier to pick one from each genre, I think.
RTS: Supreme Commander:Forged Alliance. Close second is Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War (the first one).. or maybe Company of Heroes.
MMO: it was probably Dark Age of Camelot, till EA ruined it. After that it was Warhammer Online... till EA ruined it.
Console/platformer: NES Contra. Though for a while, I couldn't get enough of Blast Corps on N64.
RPG: Skyrim. Definitely. Before Skyrim came out it was probably it's spiritual ancestor, Ultima Underworlds 1 and 2.
Driving: Burnout:Takedown, but paradise city comes close to making up for Takedown not being on PC. A close second would be Split/Second.
FPS: ... well, damn.. this is hard. I like TF2 like the OP, but I also like Left 4 Dead, and COD:MW (the first one), and Battlefield 1942, Unreal Tournament 2k4 will NEVER leave my hard drive.
Co-op: Saints Row, tie between 2 and 3 because 2 was a more robust game but 3 was a much less shitty PC port.

But I feel I'm not doing justice if I don't mention crazy stuff that defies genres like Minecraft, or old games that I only don't play anymore because my friends I LAN partied with are scattered to the four winds, like Serious Sam or Carmageddon or Mechwarrior.

Ok, so I'm supposed to add reasons:
Supreme Commander FA: The best RTS hands down. No micromanagement, all strategy and tactics. Excellent option customization and robust map community. Warhammer 40k DOW: "BY THE EMPRAH, IT WILL BE DONE." Company of Heroes: Excellent WW2 RTS, a little micromanagey and the unit limit's kind of ridiculous. Otherwise very fun and immersive.

Dark Age of Camelot: The Best PVP MMO ever devised. It hasn't aged all that well, but in its heyday, everything going on under the hood was a textbook example of how to do PVP right. Also, the only MMO to ever do a player housing system right. It literally added a year's worth of playability to the game. Warhammer Online was DAOC's spiritual successor, but it got rushed to market and then EA fired everybody and put Bioware in charge. With story and dialog already set, what was left for bioware to do, really, that is there strong suit?

Contra. Player simultaneous shoot everything and stuff. Tons of fun with a pal. I haven't played it recently, but last time I did I could still beat it on 3 lives. Not as good as I was as a kid - there I could beat it without dying. Blast corps was a lot of fun because wrecking shit is fun. Bulldozing houses, drifting dump trucks through buildings, all with a very satisfying CRUNCH as you tried to smash everything as fast as possible.

Until Skyrim came out, I would actually still periodically play Ultima Underworld. It was basically skyrim with Wolf3D graphics. I shouldn't have to explain anything else.

Burnout Takedown: The controls were spot on, the balance was awesome, and it was before they started adding in that "traffic checking" nonsense and you could still be reasonably assured that grinding a rail wouldn't guarantee you die by hitting a concrete pillar or something. Multiplayer fun. Burnout Revenge was a massive disappointment, but Paradise is almost as good as Takedown. Split/Second is in the same vein, except instead of ramming each other you cause "accidents" by remote control, causing dams to burst, buildings to explode, heavy stuff to fall from the sky. It's got an interesting strategic element on top of driving skill.

TF2. It's just amazing how much they got right. Yeah, it has some freezing/crashing problems and sometimes it doesn't want to start and joining a server seems to take years... but once you get going, it's hard to find a more fun, balanced, replayable, addictive PvP experience. Left 4 Dead (and 2, really the same game/an expansion pack IMO) is a cinematic co-op masterpiece. Not only is the gameplay excellent and enjoyable while still being simple to pick up, it's got jawdropping ambiance and visuals, great characters with witty banter that just happens "naturally," all around great stuff. And you can't say "Cinematic" without bringing up COD in the FPS field. In my opinion, the series peaked with MW1 and went downhill from there. BF1942, especially with the desert combat mod, is still king of the 64 player roost, in my opinion. I like it better fighting out in the open desert rather than the claustrophobic cities and foliage the sequels seem to be in love with. However, nothing will ever replace UT2k4 in my heart. Awesome engine, awesome gameplay, so many different game modes, so many mods and maps and characters you can get, intelligent bots, and the last game with a pixel-perfect sniper rifle.

Saints Row is just the most fun you can have with 2 people in the same room. Character customization done perfect. One drives, other shoots. Both doing the missions... plot line not bad either... everything but the graphics and controls was better in 2 though. But 3 is still fun.

Apr 16, 2012#109

fade

Hard question. I think the most fun I've ever had playing a game was Uncharted 2. It was an engaging story, but they didn't really kill the game play to advance the story. You advanced it by playing. Seems like such a novel concept.

I will always be a fan of TIE Fighter. I still have my 8 floppies (including the expansions). Not sure why. Just can't bring myself to toss them, even though I have no way to read them, much less play. One of the best flight/fighter sims I've ever played.

Another good story game was Planescape: Torment. Not exactly challenging, but fun to watch the story unfold.

RE:2 had a good blend of puzzles and suspense. Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 had a nice scary suspense. That freakin' radio static still gets me.

Apr 16, 2012#110

GasBandit

fade said:
Hard question. I think the most fun I've ever had playing a game was Uncharted 2. It was an engaging story, but they didn't really kill the game play to advance the story. You advanced it by playing. Seems like such a novel concept.

I will always be a fan of TIE Fighter. I still have my 8 floppies (including the expansions). Not sure why. Just can't bring myself to toss them, even though I have no way to read them, much less play. One of the best flight/fighter sims I've ever played.

Another good story game was Planescape: Torment. Not exactly challenging, but fun to watch the story unfold.

RE:2 had a good blend of puzzles and suspense. Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 had a nice scary suspense. That freakin' radio static still gets me.

I miss the floppy versions of X-Wing and Tie Fighter. I got the CD "windows XP compatible" version later to play it again, and without the IMUSE system dynamically altering the soundtrack to fit the events... it's just not the same. Used to be I could tell the status of the battle, who was arriving/winning just from the music. Not so with the CD version which just loops the same track over and over.

Apr 16, 2012#111

PatrThom

PatrThom said:
Honestly? That would be a game we call Oh Hell. We of course have our own variation of it, but this (along with Pinochle) has probably occupied more of my time than all my hours of video game time combined. We sat down weekly to an 8-10hr stretch of either Oh Hell or Pinochle (or occasionally Canasta) for decades.

If I'm going to go electronic/video, though, my history of favorite games started with Dark Castle, then Starflight, then MoO2, then Riven, then Thief, then Age of Empires II & Diablo II. Warcraft/Starcraft are in there somewhere, but since I pick 'em up and put 'em down so often, they aren't anchored to any particular time.

Right now the fight is between Minecraft and Wizard101, with W101 slightly in the lead.

--Patrick

Ok, so I'm supposed to explain what's up with each of these games? Let's begin.

Oh Hell/Pinochle/Etc have a loooong history. I learned to play Pinochle at 13, and discovered I had a knack for it (for a 13yr-old, at least). Sitting down to a table with my Dad and a couple other folks was an opportunity that did nothing but get better with time. 8 hours of banter, ribbing, and strategically screwing over your opponents can be very satisfying.

Dark Castle was one of the first really slick games for Mac that ignored a lot of the original Mac's limitations (no color, mono sound). It had killer sound design and was a pretty solid platformer for its day. You can find another DC player in a crowd just by making the "you've been stunned" sound and seeing who answers.

StarFlight was my first space opera game which had the biggest world I had ever seen in a game. It is still amazingly vast even today, with a huge overarching plot and a universe populated with hundreds of systems, each with their own individually explorable planetary companions.

Master of Orion 2 built on the original MoO to become the first 4x game I ever played that got it right. It has a long, satisfying tech tree, satisfying combat, and just enough of that "...just one more turn" allure to keep me playing it for a long, long time. Heck, my father has been playing it almost continuously for the last 15 years. I literally drove a couple hours during a Winter weather emergency to get the Mac version of the original MoO from a store which miraculously hadn't thrown it away when it was discontinued (I called, they had it, I went. This was in the days before Amazon).

Riven was a huge upgrade from Myst. Sure, it is linear, but it was probably the most immersive world story pre-2000, and it held up for quite a while after. It practically spawned its own mythology.

Thief. The graphics are dated, sure. But it was the first game to really make use of positional audio, and combined with the gameplay and the fantastic story (which unfolded through cutscenes and better-than-average voice acting) it would stoke my adrenaline, make my heart race, and sweat run down my face as I realized I only had 5 water arrows to last the rest of the level. If this game got an update with modern graphics, it would not look at all out of place on the shelf next to Assassin's Creed or Crysis.

Age of Empires II/StarCraft/Diablo II - Continuing my long tradition of playing multiple games at the same time, a coworker and I got really heavy into Diablo & Starcraft, but when AoEII and D2 came out, it was all over for me, for him, and for a few people in my family. I would play both games for 4-6hrs at a time on my own, and then I would load my tower and a 60lb CRT into my car and drive the whole setup over to someone else's house just because I found some new wand in D2 I wanted to trade or found some new castle-age strategy with the Goths I wanted to try. Either way it resulted in years of lost productivity, and I'm sure that once I find my second set of discs, Kati and I are going to lose another few weeks in D2 seeing as how we've already been through the lost months after I introduced her to AoEII. Sometimes, you just want to build a big army and go crush some stuff, and Kati just loves her some Viking action.

A few years ago, one of my good friends introduced me to Wizard101, which is a MMORPG of sorts aimed at a "family" audience. The game is very brightly colored and there are no guns/blood, the gameplay is turn-based (if you can believe a turn-based MMORPG) and the chat is filtered, but it is surprisingly fun for adults. They bill themselves as a game that parents can play with their children, and they're right. There are lots of in-jokes (mostly referencing pop culture, music, or movies) that the kiddies won't get, and the customizations that can be done to pets, gear, your spell load-out, classes, and complementary skills will keep even experienced min/maxers entertained. I swear when I started it that I thought it was going to be cute and I'd be done with it in a few months, but here I am still playing it 3 years later. We have often chewed Harry out for getting us hooked on it.

...But that's ok, because I got him hooked on Minecraft. It went something like this. A year after he got us hooked on W101, I told him he should try Minecraft (back while it was still in 1.1/1.2 beta) after Kati and I had played it for a month or so. We didn't hear from him again for 2 whole days, and when we finally caught up with him on Skype, his first words were, "I hate you." I replied that it was only fair after W101. He agreed. And once I finally figured out how to set up my own (vanilla) server, all three of us have been alternating between MC and W101. And since none of us have enough time/money/CPU/GPU to really dive into anything recent (Skyrim/StarCraft II/Steam), that's where we've been parked. So now we have two games that we can play co-op together, and that's what really makes it entertaining.

--Patrick

Apr 16, 2012#112

Terrik

GasBandit said:
I miss the floppy versions of X-Wing and Tie Fighter. I got the CD "windows XP compatible" version later to play it again, and without the IMUSE system dynamically altering the soundtrack to fit the events... it's just not the same. Used to be I could tell the status of the battle, who was arriving/winning just from the music. Not so with the CD version which just loops the same track over and over.

God the hours I lost playing those games. I think it was those games that made Star Wars cool to me. "6 New Assault Gunboats from Group Tau have entered the area" *cue Imperial March*

Shit.

Also I was a huge fan of LucasArts Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe.

Hell yes.

Apr 16, 2012#113

CynicismKills

Ah man, my dad played that and other early war flight sims all the time. I remember trying that one specifically and failing miserably.

Apr 16, 2012#114

Terrik

My dad was into all the early flight sims as well, including X-wing/TIE fighter..maybe had something to do with him being a pilot.

Apr 17, 2012#115

GasBandit

My favorite non-space flight sim was Chuck Yeager's Air Combat. It hasn't aged well, but I really liked it. I liked how it strove for believable realism as well as spanned 3 wars (all three wars that Yeager himself flew in, incidentally).

Plus, it had a sweet custom mission builder that sounds like a mad lib of an old war vet telling a story.

There I was in my (click click) P-51 at (click click) 10,000 feet when (click) I was jumped by (click) 5 (click) Messerschmidt ME-109s. The guys in those planes were (click)good....

And then you're in the mission. BANDIT ON YOUR TAIL, BREAK!

Apr 17, 2012#116

fade

Ah, I thought of another one I liked. It was the same gameplay as Tie Fighter. Complete missions, get rewards, and eventually get promoted through the ranks. Gunship 2000. You were a helicopter pilot. You could choose your heli just like you could choose your TIE.

Apr 17, 2012#117

Gared

PatrThom I love me a good game of Pinochle. My parents used to drag me along whenever they were headed out for a night of card games with their friends, and even though their friends usually had kids my own age, I'd often times wind up watching the card game and listening to the adults BS rather than hanging out with the kids my own age - but as an only child I was used to hanging out with adults so that was nothing new. Occasionally someone would be out for the night and they'd let me fill in as the fourth and I'd actually get to play the game instead of just watch, but that was really occasionally because while they thought I'd just been listening to their banter I'd actually been paying attention to how the game was played, and they stopped letting me play after my mom and I quite thoroughly kicked my dad and his partner's butts several times running. Unfortunately, now that I'm roughly of the same age that my parents were when they started dragging me along to play cards with their friends, if my wife and I head out to play anything with our friends, it's more than likely a tabletop RPG or a board game. Not that I necessarily mind playing Shadowrun, or World of Darkness, or Arkham Horror; but it would be nice to find a couple to play cards with once in a while. The closest we get is when my parents are visiting and we get a chance to play pinochle or (more frequently) cribbage.

Apr 17, 2012#118

PatrThom

Gared, I can tell you get it.

--Patrick

Apr 17, 2012#119

Gared

Back in the day, nothing excited me more than setting up and successfully executing "shooting the moon." Damn, I miss playing that game. It's been so long now that I don't even know if I could remember the rules, let alone all of the strategy and the gamesmanship and mind games that could go into a good game.

Apr 17, 2012#120

sixpackshaker

fade I miss the "realistic" combat flight sims too. But the genre seems to have died.

Apr 17, 2012#121

GasBandit

You guys missing "realistic" combat flight sims might want to try Wings of Prey, if you can stomach the bad engrish and voice acting. See, for me, though, it was a bit TOO realistic. As in, there are things you can do at full throttle without climbing that will immediately send you into a nigh-unrecoverable stall.

Apr 17, 2012#122

Bowielee

sixpackshaker said:
fade I miss the "realistic" combat flight sims too. But the genre seems to have died.

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-digital-combat-simulator-a-10c-warthog/17-5490/

Is this realistic enough for you?

Apr 17, 2012#123

sixpackshaker

I'll leave MSFlight Simulator for the true realistic enthusiast. I just want to fly a mission where I am not expected to shoot down 30 planes on my own. Where wingmen will stick with you. Where you are rewarded for completing your mission while avoiding fights. Where certain planes have different characteristics not just same tactics with different skins.... I could go on for a long time.

Apr 17, 2012#124

Bowielee

Terrik said:

LOL, look at that... hard disk required. Man that takes me back. The fact that we have gone in 25-30 years from not needing a hard drive at all to me currently having a 2TB hard drive makes me just marvel at what computers will be like in 20 years.

Apr 17, 2012#125

GasBandit

Bowielee said:
LOL, look at that... hard disk required. Man that takes me back. The fact that we have gone in 25-30 years from not needing a hard drive at all to me currently having a 2TB hard drive makes me just marvel at what computers will be like in 20 years.

Cranial jack wetwire required. And desired. So badly.

Apr 17, 2012#126

PatrThom

Gared said:
Back in the day, nothing excited me more than setting up and successfully executing "shooting the moon."

Pretty sure that's actually Hearts/Spades rather than Pinochle, unless you mean taking all the point card tricks (which is quite entertaining). I think my finest moment of play was getting the other team to take the bid while I was sitting on double aces around. Classic.

--Patrick

Apr 17, 2012#127

Gared

PatrThom said:
Pretty sure that's actually Hearts/Spades rather than Pinochle, unless you mean taking all the point card tricks (which is quite entertaining). I think my finest moment of play was getting the other team to take the bid while I was sitting on double aces around. Classic.

--Patrick

That's what I mean exactly. During bidding you can declare that you're going to shoot the moon, by which you mean that you're going to attempt to take all of the point card tricks. It was always satisfying to announce your intention and then actually succeed - though it was equally satisfying to underbid your opponents and then succeed at taking all the tricks without warning them beforehand.

You wouldn't happen to know a good two-player card game that employs some of the same strategies, would you? All this talk of pinochle, coupled with how boring my nights have become recently, has me wishing for some good, hardcore strategic gaming. I mean, I could go with Chess, but that tends to frustrate my wife and I both; her because she's lost her ability to think 6 moves ahead and me because even though she's lost that edge, she still kicks my ass almost every time.

Apr 17, 2012#128

GasBandit

In hearts, my family always called that "going for a run" or "trying to run them." And there wasn't any bidding... cause.. it was Hearts.

Apr 17, 2012#129

ElJuski

We always called it shooting the moon.

Apr 17, 2012#130

CynicismKills

ElJuski said:
shooting the moon.

Apr 17, 2012#131

fade

or for that matter any of these.

Apr 17, 2012#132

Gusto

I went three pages deep on TVTropes before I was like HEYWAITAMINUTE.

Apr 17, 2012#133

Allen who is Quiet

You need to go deeper.

Apr 17, 2012#134

fade

Gusto said:
I went three pages deep on TVTropes before I was like HEYWAITAMINUTE.

MwuaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Apr 17, 2012#135

PatrThom

Gared said:
That's what I mean exactly. During bidding you can declare that you're going to shoot the moon, by which you mean that you're going to attempt to take all of the point card tricks.

We usually played a variation of "cutthroat" Pinochle, wherein if your team did not take at least 20pts in tricks, not only did you not get to keep the points in the tricks, but you also forfeited all your meld for that round. It sounds dirty, but it helps offset "cheap" wins where a team will luck out with a roundhouse and a double pinochle (54pts) and not bid just to lock it in. This way that have to work to keep it.

If you're looking for a quick, no-hands game, you might try Jotto. I'm rather partial to the version I learned, where players take turns guessing 4-letter words and you only return the total number of exact matches.

There is a 2-person version of Euchre I learned a while back that I found quite entertaining, but I am not sure where I have the book that has the exact rules. It is very similar to the version described here, except that:
-The deal was 3-down, 3-up, 3-in-hand
-Scoring was 1pt for taking 4 tricks, 2pts for taking 8, and 4pts for taking all 9 ("going it alone")

I would also like to take this opportunity to pass along the single most frustrating variation of Solitaire I have ever learned.
-Take a deck of cards with no Jokers (just the standard 52)
-Shuffle it and place it in front of you face-down
-In your head, choose any denomination ("5" or "Jack" or whatever)
-Turn over the top card of the pile. If it matches your choice, you lose.
-If not, increment your choice (i.e., "6" or "Queen" or whatever) and turn over the next card. If your last denomination was "Ace," then start over at "2."
-If at any point you turn over a card which matches the one in your head, you lose.
-If you exhaust the deck without ever matching the one in your head, you win.

Sounds simple, right? Heh. Try it.

--Patrick

Apr 18, 2012#136

BErt

Never played pinochle, hearts or spades, but we'd play the hell out of some euchre at family gatherings. not so much anymore, which makes me sad.

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