Great Cheap Game: Culdcept

Renting games to check them out works great. However, you can find many used games for cheap. Most rental places, Hastings, and Gamestop sell used games. You can find great games this way without dropping $60. I've found many for $10.

Sometimes, I find a gem. A cheap game with great replay ability. Culdcept Saga definitely fits this build. It's somewhat a cross between the Magic the Gathering card game and Monopoly. The single player teaches the game really well. The game has hours of replay with different decks to build and cards to collect.

You have a deck. This deck includes creatures, spells, and items (like swords and armor). In the versus mode, you may play with or against friends (online or offline) as well as characters from the storyline. You may play in allied teams.

Each Turn

The game determines player order randomly. You start with 5 cards.

1. You draw a card from your deck.
   
2. You may cast a spell.
3. You roll the dice to travel around the board.
4. You land on a square and may cast a creature card.

Creatures

If you land on an empty square, you may cast a creature card. If the square has an enemy creature, you may invade it. All creatures have strength (ST) and life called Hit Points (HP). Many also have special abilities.

Most creatures also have elements associated with them. Creatures may be associated with Wind: yellow, Fire: red, Water: blue, and Earth: green. Some creatures are colorless.



ex. The red Chimera creature has 30 strength (ST) and 50 Hit Points (HP). It Attacks First and gains 10 ST every time the user makes a lap.

Spells

You can also damage creatures, steal gold, draw cards, and do many other things with spell cards.
These cards can also add effects to you, your enemy, or creatures. The effect may be positive - like adding ST points. Or negative - like reducing HP points.


ex. The spell Brave Song adds 20 strength to all your creatures for four rounds.

Items

You can use these when you attack with creatures, or are being attacked. They include things that give ST like swords. Some items add to HP like armor. Other items have special abilities and may reflect damage, steal items, or neutralize damage.



ex. This sword item gives the Seismodon creature extra strength in battle.

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Resident Evil 5 Interactive

Resident Evil 5 reaches a new level of interactivity on the XBox 360 and PS3. As Chris or Sheva you attempt to save the world from the dangerous Uroboros virus.

Although a slower play style than I described in my Left 4 Dead post, RE5 still delivers zombie action. Slower, but deadly. You are in Africa. You superman search for answers about your partner and about Uroboros. You search in villages, marshlands, and underground labs. Some nice large bosses (like Irving) enter into the action. Heads explode...and then slimy tentacles pop out of the bodies.

Great Co-op
Most impressive, however, is one of my favorite things - a GREAT co-op play. You need your partner - be it online, offline, or AI. Doors require teamwork. You can save your partner from being Zombie Lunch. You can resuscitate your partner. You may quibble a bit over ammo, but you split the money and jewels equally. The game even separates you at times to progress.

Interactive Movies
You also need your partner in the movies. Yes, the interactive cutscenes require frantic smacking of the A-button, undivided attention, and frequent cussing. I couldn't help it. When I see a movie start, I immediately get up to pee and get a drink. With RE5 I got up, cussed, and ran back to the couch. Damn, dead.

Mix-It-Up Gameplay
But, oh how fun. And you don't just shoot your gun. There are a myriad of situations.You can drive the boat, or shoot. You shoot the turret gun from the back of a moving vehicle. Don't forget to hang on in the cutscenes. They mixed up the gameplay a bit which - although straying a bit from the sequence - gave it variety.



What I learned...

• If it pops out of someone, or something.... shoot it!
  
• If it glows, or bleeds... shoot it!
  
• If it attacks, or doesn't... shoot it!

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Rummy 5000: How to Play

I've focused on video games lately. So, as some commenters' requested, here is some tabletop fun. How to play my favorite card game: Rummy 5000. The next post will explain Rummies, some special situations, and my "house rules" to handle them.

You Need

• Basic 52 card deck
• 2 or more people
• pen and paper for scoring
  

Main Objective

Reach 5000 points

Before Playing

Cut the cards to see who deals first. Aces are high.

Dealing

The dealer, wild card, and amount of cards dealt changes each hand.

• Deal the first person to the left one card face up.
  
• Deal the amount of cards (face down) shown on the face up card. For cards 2-10 deal the number on the card. Deal 10 for face cards; 15 for Aces.
  
• Repeat for each person.
• After the dealer has his cards, the dealer gives himself one more card, face up.
• This face up card determines the wild card for this round.
• Set the remaining cards in a face down stack.
  
• Flip over the top card (face up) beside the stack. This begins the discard pile.
  

Each Turn

• The first person to dealer's left goes first.
• Each turn, you may either draw a card from the stack or pick up a card (or cards) from the discard pile. *You may pick up the top card from the discard pile and add it to your hand. If you pick up cards farther down the pile, you must play the first card you pick up immediately.
• Lay down your runs or sets. Runs have 3 or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order. Sets are 3 or more cards of the same number (or rank)
  
• Play on other player's runs or sets. *You play these in your area, and count them as your points.
• Discard one card to the discard pile.
  

Ending the Hand

• Play until a person is out of cards at the end of their turn. *This includes the discard phase. If a person runs out of cards, but has not discarded, the hand continues. This person is now floating.
• The first person to go out gets all the cards left in the other players' hands.
  

Scoring

Count all the cards you played during the hand. If you "went out," also count the cards given to you by other players.

• Wild card = 200pts
• Ace = 100pts
• 2-7 = 5pts
• 8-K = 10pts
  

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Printer Jam Animation

I came across this awesome video on Geeks Are Sexy. Tinspider Studio uses the music from Mistabishi to create a fabulously interesting, and entertaining animation.

The song Printer Jam explores the "noise" Sam has been exploring on his Inconsistent Beauty blog. Am I right on this Sam? Listen to the various printer sounds. They become the music. Have you heard similar music to this before? I think it's wonderfully geeky :)

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Offline Co-op not Left 4 Dead

The game Left 4 Dead is available on Xbox 360 and the PC. This game features 4 characters that shoot their way free through the "infected" zombies.

Offline Co-op
The offline co-op (or cooperative play) in this game makes it ideal for the thirtysomething gamer. Through a split-screen, you can shoot zombies with your husband, sister, or friends. Hell, it has friendly fire (you can shoot your teammates).

Although you need their help, shooting your husband by "accident" yields some sick giggles. The ultimate passive-aggressive fun. Read this Left 4 Dead co-op review for more game specifics.

The real enjoyment with offline co-op is you don't ignore the people around you. You both fight through the zombie hordes. You can set on the couch, munch, pause when you need to. And of course, the cries we all make when under attack. "Hunter has me! Help, help!" and "Sorry, that was me." This often follows your hubby shooting you in the head. *accident?*

You challenge each other. Can you get more headshots? *Yes, the heads explode. Zombie blood apparently has part napalm* Who does more damage? Who takes more damage?

Scary
And oh yes, Left 4 Dead is scary. The intro movie drops you into the horror immediately. Old Bill grumbles the great line, "Son, we just crossed the street." You're introduced to the pathetic crying of the witch, and what happens when you startle her. What does happen? Watch it below.

Left 4 Dead Intro

The whole game has the creepy feeling of a horror movie. The dark and seedy graphics transport you to an inflected world. You creep around in darkness, with only your flashlight to guide you.

Of course, more things scare. When many, many, MANY infected come running at you - adrenaline rushes through your body. If a boomer vomits on you, you shoot through the thick, putrid fog. You wildly shoot everything that moves. *sometimes this includes your teammates, as mentioned before.*

And the sound... The witch may cry, but the infected scream. The background noises feel like a haunted house. You hear the hunter, before he strangles anyone. You frantically search around for him. And the witches cries force you to turn off your flashlight and search through the dark.

Oh, the sound. It makes you want to turn off the lights.
You should.
I hear the witch's cries.

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