You decide what gear to bring with you, get dropped into a map in some fashion, find loot, and try to make it to an extraction point alive. If you die, you lose what you brought with you and anything you found. Add in some AI enemies and PvP, and it can be fun. I feel that the most challenging part of making these types of games is finding that sweet spot between risk and reward. If it’s too punishing, you’ll feel frustrated, like you’re wasting your time. Too easy and it’s boring. ARC found the sweet spot. Very responsive ai enemies, working proximity chat for pvp to call a truce, very well designed maps, just enough help to keep you going back for more, great audio design, and extraction mechanics that result in some tense moments. I’ve played 4 or 5 raids on only one map and so far each time was been unique, tense, and fun. This is my first time playing an extraction shooter and I picked a great one. I’m usually pretty bad at pvp but this one just feels good.
I spent months modding Skyrim to be as realistic as possible. Nutrition, calories, temperature, disease, frostbite, starvation, injuries, infection, no level scaling, dangerous combat, one life. Took a week to gather and prepare for a dungeon dive.
Frost Troll greeted me when I entered the dungeon. One swipe killed me.
That’s when I learned that the modding was the part I had the most fun with.
I once modded Skyrim to make hunger, thirst, sleep, wounds, infections, and weather as realistic as possible. Then, from nothing, set out to go dungeon diving. My guy had heard there were untold riches, and being dirt poor, it was going to be his ticket out of squalor. The amount of preperation that was needed took days. I had to build a small camp outside the entrance, catch kill and prepare foods that wouldn’t spoil. Make water skins to store enough water. I may be down there for weeks! Finally ready to go in, I have no idea what to expect, only rumors. It’s very dark (mod), but I made torches. Surprise Frost Troll. Dead. Bethesda update corrupted my modded save, but that’s ok, just another death of no one special in the frozen lands.
Enshrpuded is a great suggestion. You can ignore quests unless you want to expand your plot. Just pick a plot of land and start farming. Go out into the wild to find new stuff to plant. Unfortunately there’s not much to do with your harvest except to make provisions to go play the rest of the game, but that’s how you find more things to plant. I had a great time designing the layout of my crops.
Still in early access, and not very pleasant to looking at first glance, but Ostronauts is a start from scratch go anywhere and solve problems space game. On my first play I was pulled over but the cops for salvaging without a license only for the cop to write me a ticket and then start flirting with me. I got his number. Make sure you can cover the cost of the ticket and docking fees before you dock or they won’t let you undock. Flight mechanics are very real and you quickly feel like your piloting a space jalopy. RPG system is great too. You unlock skills that level as you use them and need to repair components as they can break down. Slow development by I think one guy, but a work of love for sure.
The first game I ever completed and the first time I left a review for a game. The music, the atmosphere, the design, everything blew away. It was freeware from back in 2006. Made by a guy called Nifflas. It’s a sidescrolling platformer where you are an intelligent bouncing ball. I still think about it to this day.
Baldurs Gate 3 with two other buddies. So many memories. Looking forward to another play through so I can see all of the things the we didn’t get to. And then go again but evil.
Play a few turns off Age of Wonders 4 while working.
And when I’m in the mood and have the patience, Pathfinder wrath of the righteous and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader