Kath's Journey | Going one step at a time: games

Browser Games for Good Mind Stimulation

April 15, 2023

There have been a number of studies already published with regards to benefits of playing games for the mind. It's really fascinating to know that you can do something good for your brain while having fun! This is why instead of mindlessly scrolling the endless feed of social media sites, I'm working the habit of just playing games from time to time (and getting addicted occasionally also LOL).

There are tons of games available out there to choose from, but for me the most accessible one is those that I can play online, those that I can play on the browser.

Here are the reasons why I choose playing browser games:

Very accessible. Just bookmark the URL of the game and with just one click, you are ready to play!
No memory consumed. Since the games are not installed in your machine (i.e. phone or computer), they do not occupy space on your storage. Once you're satisfied with your game, you can just exit the browser. That's just one click!
No commitment because you are in control. Most games now are designed with many dopamine boosts that make the player hooked and spend more time playing the game through upgrades and more missions, which can lead to game addiction. I actually end up feeling more drained after playing those kinds of games, and I feel a bit anxious after because I wanted to go back and play some more to complete those quests and clear those levels.
Well for these browser games, we're back to basics -- no rewards or stars or complicated game play -- it's just the right level of mind stimulation and entertainment.
It's free. This is my favorite among all the reasons. You don't have to pay anything to have the full experience of the game. Plus, the games being free doesn't have to mean that there would be ads all around the game. Yes, there are free games out there that don't have those annoying pop-up ads. 🥰

Having laid out these reasons, you might think -- are there really existing games like that? Well, I'm listing down here some of my favorite discoveries for these types of browser games that I leisurely play during my free time.

Grocery Cashier - https://www.mortgagecalculator.org/money-games/grocery-cashier/

When I was young, I daydreamed of being a cashier so that I could experience tapping those items on the scanner and operating the cash machine (and go ka-ching! ka-ching! 💵🪙 ✨). Well, this game fulfilled my fantasies! The game is so satisfying with its sound effects and animation. There's an element of time pressure (which of course happens in the real-life-cashier-scenario) which adds to the fun.

Merge Blocks - https://www.mortgagecalculator.org/money-games/merge-blocks/

I have this habit of jumping headfirst into a game without really reading the instructions. This is why on my initial landing into this game, I was clueless and didn't know what to do. 😵‍💫Well within just a few seconds of reviewing the instructions, I got hooked! I think kids will be able to play this game, too. It's a fun way to pass the time. It was so satisfying to see the buildings merge and transform into a bigger one.

Mahjong Solitaire - https://www.mortgagecalculator.org/money-games/mahjong-solitaire/

I had some experience of playing this type of game in my Game Boy (what a dated reference, I'm old. 😆) so it was intuitive enough for me to straightaway play the game. The illustrations are so cute! It would have been better if there was background music though. Nevertheless, I had fun, and it actually felt nostalgic playing this game.

Tap Supermarket - https://www.mortgagecalculator.org/money-games/tap-supermarket/

This is another grocery simulation game and I really found this even more satisfying than the earlier one, because you don't just become a cashier -- you operate the whole grocery store! 🥰 It was so enjoyable clicking through the different parts of the store, especially when replenishing the isles and upgrading sections with new items for sale. The animations are adorable, the environment are so colorful, and the sound effect of the coins going ka-ching ka-ching again at the cash register is so satisfying.

Code Panda - https://www.mortgagecalculator.org/money-games/code-panda/

I gotta say -- if you can only play one game out of these five listed here, play this one. As a software developer myself, it is beyond delightful to know there is a free game like this out there! As the game's description says, this is an introduction to programming, which is magnificently done in a fun and easy way. You'll be introduced to laying out instructions for the panda to follow to get to the bamboo! You will learn about loops and jumps, which are foundational concepts in programming.

I'll go back to playing these games whenever I can. There are tons of games like these on this website so you have a wide selection of games to choose from. These three are those that highly resonated with me. I'm thrilled knowing there's lots more to discover out there. So I would say -- swap those addicting (and with in-app purchases) games with these ones. Your brain will thank you later. 🧠💖

0 Comments

fangirling

My First 24 Hours on Hogwarts Legacy

March 12, 2023

For decades, we dreamed about this, and now it has become a reality -- Hogwarts Legacy, an open-world game based on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, was launched in February of this year, and it's everything I hoped for for the first ever open world game of this fictional universe. ✨

As a child who has grown up reading the Harry Potter books and watching the films, I have daydreamed more than a hundred times of being a student myself at Hogwarts. I imagined receiving my letter by owl post, being sorted to a house, and participating in classes by learning potions and spells. And now, finally (after a few years of delay from the original launch date), Hogwarts Legacy is finally here to play! Is it worth all the hype? Well, it's a solid YES for me. ✨✨✨

To say that I am hooked on this game is an understatement. 🫥 I'm not proud of this, but I'm borderline being a games addict at this point. 🥲 I would spend hours and hours in front of my computer just playing away. And I suffered some unfortunate consequences, physically and mentally (don't worry, as of this writing, I am already recovering 😉).

As a long-time Potterhead, I'm just so happy that this game finally came out, and that it was actually accessible to me. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical with the game at first. I loved the game trailers, but I took them with a grain of salt because we can't really judge a game based on a few minutes of footage from the trailer, right? Also, there was so much hype about the game, because it is the first of its kind for the franchise. However, I prepared myself to be disappointed. But, oh boy oh boy, I was too quick to judge everything. Where did my faith in humanity go? 😅 As the title says, I have played a full 24 hours on the game (I think even more as of this writing), and I was very much enjoying every moment of the game. I was physically, mentally, and emotionally invested in this game. Well thankfully, I can say now that the honeymoon phase for me for this game is over, and I can get back to being a more responsible adult. 😂 But before that, I want to reminisce how awesome that journey was. Hold onto your brooms, or hippogriffs (or thestrals!), as this is gonna be a hella kind of ride. 😎

A Month Before the Launch

Like most peeps, I was looking forward to the game's release. As a Potterhead, this game sure did capture my attention, but I was still undecided if I would purchase the game. I'm not really much of a gamer (I have a handful on my Steam library) and I think Hogwarts Legacy is the most expensive one that I will buy, in case. Well, I don't know what came to me, but at a whim, I checked Steam a few weeks before release date and saw that the game was already available for pre-order. I felt the urge, thought about it (for a few minutes? LOL) and went ahead and bought the Deluxe Edition. 😉After this point, the game became "real" to me, and that was the time that I realized what was about to happen.

The Potterhead in me came alive and I slowly went into fangirl mode. I bought HP-themed highlighters, switched my phone wallpaper to the Hogwarts Legacy promotional poster, and bought a Hufflepuff house poster, thinking I would choose that house for my character in the game (plot twist: I did not get sorted to the badger house). I coincidentally also dug up some of my college stuff and found out that I actually had an HP folder before. I legit forgot about that, and discovering that was just so timely.

My college folder binder + the Hufflepuff tapestry -> signs that I'm up to no good. 🤣

I couldn't resist not getting these. They're just... highlighters, I know. But these are special and they spark joy in me every time I use them on my planner. ✨

Few Days Before the Early Access

Part of the perks of buying the Deluxe edition is the 72-hour early access, which just meant that we Deluxe players would be able to access the game earlier than the general public release date. This didn't really mean much for me (but I bet this is a huge deal for content creators who want to feature the game). For me, I just didn't want to read spoilers online and yeah I admit it... couldn't wait for 3 more days for the release date. 😅

This was also the time that I joined the Hogwarts Legacy subreddit, and that's where I experienced all the buzz and excitement of all the fans all over the world who were highly anticipating the game. Expectedly, I got into their energy flow and just bounced back with the hype, all of us now passionately looking forward to the game.

Lurking on that subreddit, I learned that PC users won't have the pre-download option, so I saw several comments that expressed their frustration on this. I also got a bit disappointed because I knew this would be a huge game, so downloading the game would take some time. Well, we were in for a surprise. A day before the launch, guess what we found out on the Steam page of the game -- the pre-download button! ✨ Immediately after discovering it on Steam, I went straight to the subreddit and as expected, everyone was in a frenzy about it. 😁PC users were so happy about it. Of course, I went ahead and triggered the pre-download, which completed after a few hours.

I knew it wouldn't work, but I still tried to press that PLAY button repeatedly. Yep, nothing happened. It's all grayed out and unclickable. 🤣

Launch Day

And so the day finally came. I wasn't sure what hour the game exactly unlocked for my timezone. I just got up earlier than usual to check if the game was already playable. Well, yes, it finally was. 😍

Still groggy (and I wasn't even wearing my glasses LOL), I went through the first few minutes of the game. It's so surprising how quickly time passed by. Next thing I knew, my work shift was already starting. Yeah, I made the mistake of not taking a vacation leave on this day. 😅 What was my point of having early game access? Oh well, so I reluctantly dropped my controller and went on my day to work. I stayed off Reddit for that time because I didn't want to read spoilers or be distracted from my tasks.

Finally, the end of my work shift came, and I immediately shifted to gamer mode. I continued where I left off, and... ladies and gentlemen, this was the moment I fell in love with the game. 💖

Seeing this title page sent strong tremors down my body. I was already close to tears of joy. 🥲

The Game Play

Let's get into the meat of the matter, shall we? 🍖

⚠️ Spoilers alert! You've been warned. 😉

First and foremost, that intro was AMAZING. It was like I was in a movie. There was already a major battle scene, I loved how it played out as the tutorial of the game controls. This was such a creative move from the makers of the game. We are so used to having Harry Potter games that start with receiving your letter (well this game did start on this one) and then going to Diagon Alley to get your wand and other supplies, jumping the Hogwarts train, yada yada yada, we all know the drill, right? But for this one, our main character got to encounter dragons (and see death just a few minutes into the game, that's why we immediately get to see Thestrals), goblins, and huge sentinels of a treasure in Gringotts Bank. The game has such amazing storytelling, I could already tell at this point.

I did not get a "normal" sorting ceremony because I linked my Wizarding World profile and I was automatically sorted to Ravenclaw house. That's when I remembered that Ravenclaw was the latest house I got sorted into. I thought I was in Hufflepuff. Hmm well yes I was under the badger house in my Pottermore account. However that platform was already defunct, and so I just chose to stay under Ravenclaw. One factor that made me stay also is the fact that my Patronus is a black-and-white cat, which I think perfectly suited my current "spirit animal" preferences.

After the sorting scene, things began to feel wacky on the game, because apparently my PC only meets the minimum specs requirements of the game. I cracked up laughing when the characters began looking like the infamous Hagrid meme.

I found the cutscenes that followed so funny. But hey, at least the game is still playable for me.

It took me some time to get the perfect settings to have the smoothest gameplay possible. There were times that I needed to sacrifice performance versus quality of the images rendered to have the best gaming experience. Whenever I was not in battle and was just leisurely strolling around Hogwarts, I will put Texture Settings to Ultra level and I just appreciate how Hogwarts Legacy is such a visually-striking game, and you will be able to appreciate the game as it is, even if you are a newcomer to the Harry Potter Universe.

Aww yes, the devs are my people. 🐈‍⬛

Exploring Hogwarts Castle

And this is where the fan in me felt so ecstatic -- going through every corner of the Hogwarts castle felt like I'm a kid and it's my first time in Disneyland. My heart leapt with joy whenever I discovered familiar areas that I saw in the movies. Avalanche Software, the team behind the game, did a fantastic job recreating every detail of the castle. 🏰

The Great Hall is so breathtaking. I visited it for the first time during night time, and it felt eerie but still grandiose.

I'm not in Gryffindor so all I could do was hang out around this portrait.😜

And ladies and gents, this is where that legendary punch was thrown.

This was my first time seeing the Quidditch field in the game. As soon as I saw it in view, I ignored all quests and immediately ran towards it. I heard the news, even before diving into the game, that there's no Quidditch, so I felt bittersweet during this time.

Riding the Broom

Yes, you read that right, we have the feature to fly on a broom (and more ✨). It's very useful especially in traveling to far places in the map beyond Hogwarts castle. First time riding the broom around Hogwarts was magical 🥰, and the music during that part tugged at my heartstrings. As someone who had this unrealistic dream of learning how to fly, discovering this open-world on a broomstick is already a dream come true.

Flying into the sunrise is so enchanting.

Room of Requirement

Our beloved room is present in Hogwarts, and this will play a huge part in the game. The RoR will feel like your headquarters, and you will be spending more time here than sleeping in your room (well our character doesn't sleep anyway). Here, you'll brew potions, grow plants, and take care of magical creatures inside vivariums.

This scene is inside the Room of Requirement. Can you believe that? 😮

If you've reached this part, and have thoroughly read this post through, you already know at this point how much I'm in love with this game. However, there's something else I discovered that made this game just super special in my heart. My "safe place", the scenery that I have envisioned during my meditation moments, came to life in this game. One of the vivariums was very strikingly similar to the environment that I created in my mind, so I really admired this little coincidence in the game. ✨

24 Hours And Beyond

Who was I kidding? My playtime as of this writing is already beyond 24 hours. 😅 The latest progression I have was acquiring a hippogriff, and my overall progress still less than 50%. This means I still have a lot of stuff to do. This game gave me a lot of emotions -- from feeling giddy and in love with the magical creatures to having sweaty palms as I battled with a huge tarantula. I thought it's physically impossible for me to pull an all-nighter, but this game broke all the rules. The mental energy that I had while playing this game smoothless kept me awake until I realized it was too late for me to get any sleep (well my body got back to me for days 🥹).

I have read a lot of feedback online that the potential for this game is huge, and DLCs that they will release for this game will sell like hotcakes, easily. Hogwarts Legacy is everything I imagined (and more) but what if I can still ask for more, well here's my wishlist:

Quidditch, of course!
Multiplayer game for wand battles and mini games like Summoner's Court
More magical creatures to breed
Other places in the wizarding world, like Azkaban, and the Ministry, or maybe an underwater quest wherein the character goes down the lake to meet all the merpeople

I'm giving Hogwarts Legacy it a shining and shimmering five stars review. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It's an amazing game, truly a love letter for all Potterheads out there. 👓⚡

0 Comments

games

Solitaire.org: Card Games & More

October 06, 2021

As we continue to stay at home because of the still ongoing pandemic, we really need to have creative ways to entertain ourselves. For me, this is a form of self-care.

There are lots of ways to destress, and for me one of the easiest ones is playing games. There's a sense of fulfillment when I get to complete a level or finish the game altogether. One of the recent discoveries I made is this one website named Solitaire.org. I mean, who doesn't know Solitaire? This is the staple Windows PC game in the 2000s (you now have an idea how old I am 😆). I like playing Solitaire even on physical playing cards. Because it's a one-player game, this was my go-to game during the slow afternoons of my summer vacation.

Rediscovering Solitaire

When I visited the site, I was welcomed with this very aesthetic UI of the game that I am very familiar with. Because it has been a while since I last played Solitaire, I had to work out the rules for a bit. But 'lo and behold, after a few minutes, my core memory of the game reemerged and I started playing the game with ease. One discovery I had was that Solitaire had rules for points! If you notice at the upper right side of the screen, points earned through playing the game are displayed. I didn't want to fret much with the scoring system though (😅) so I just focused with playing the game.

Another revelation that came upon me is the realization that there are so many variations of Solitaire, and they are all here on this website! 🤯 Some of these that I got to explore through Solitaire.org are:

Klondike - version of Solitaire that is popular in US and Canada

Spider Solitaire - this is a bit different because it uses 2 decks of cards

Lots and Lots of Card Games

Solitaire.org also has a vast number of collections of card games, some of which I have never encountered before (maybe because I have always been loyal with my Solitaire? 😅) and I had the pleasure of trying them all out.

Pyramid - This is one of the memorable ones I got to play, because it involves Math! The basic rule is select a card that when added to either one of the two cards at the bottom, the resulting value is 13.

If you don't know how to play any of these games, you don't need to worry. Solitaire.org has the instructions also for each of them. 😉

Beyond Card Games

But wait, there's more! To my delight, the site doesn't only showcase games based on cards. There are more of them available to be played for free! Here are some of my favorites:

Mahjong - I used to play this on my Gameboy Light (kids do you know what that is? 🤣) not knowing that it was actually mahjong. The text was in Chinese, but through trial and error, I figured out how the game actually worked (but not after several rounds of me being confused wondering why it was game over already). So it was really a joy to find this game here on the site. It was like reconnecting with a childhood friend again. 🥰

Pacman (but make it Cookie Monster 🍪) - Of course, Pacman will always be a classic arcade game. But Solitaire.org gave it an interesting twist! In lieu of our yellow pacman is this blue blob with googly eyes that is our beloved Cookie Monster from Sesame Street! What entertained me the most is the ghosts turn into cookies when Cookie Monster gets to eat a power pellet. 😂

Here's Cookie Monster running after a ghost
that has turned into a cookie. 🍪
(shown in one of the stage transitions, just like in the original game)

Word Search - This is another blast from the past! One of my core memories as a child was solving these word searches! I have several workbooks of this, each page with different themes on the words to look out for. I missed doing this on pen and paper, with me proudly encircling the word that I have found. For now, dragging the mouse pointer across the letters would still work. 😜

Proud finisher of the 16x16 grid!

The set of words differ each day (just like on the newspaper 📰) which is great because it means I can go back to the site everyday with fresh words to encounter each time! By the way, there's still the option to navigate to the puzzles on specific dates, so really, there's a wide array of puzzles that are available.

Tennis - Again, this is another walk down memory lane. I also have this Tennis game on my Gameboy, which I really enjoyed. I love how this game really tests my hand-eye coordination. This game would really come in handy when I want to wake myself up during after-lunch hours of my work-from-home week days. 😴

These are my top favorite games from Solitaire.org. But aside from these, there are still a lot of games in there, like hidden object games and connect 3 games (think zuma and candy crush).

Since most of the games here reminded me of my childhood days, one of the games I miss playing is Minesweeper. I hope they make it available on their site too. Another kind of game that I can use to wake me up is any car racing game. That would definitely shoot up my adrenaline, making me alert and energetic for the rest of the day.

Solitaire.org is such a nice discovery. I have already added it in my bookmarks so that I can quickly access the games that I love, as my pick-me-up method for those low-energy days. This sure sparks me joy! ✨

0 Comments

games

Game Review: What Remains of Edith Finch

May 17, 2021

It's been a while since I played a game on PC, of which the main reason was because my 8-year-old machine won't able to handle the heavy processing a game demands. But I fret not now, because I finally upgraded to a new laptop! 🥳

I did not purchase a gaming laptop, which was my original plan. Instead, I went with a unit that will enable me to decently process moderately heavy activities like video processing and some light music production. And so when I finally got the new and shiny machine on my hands, I decided to test its power by playing a game that I aborted playing before, and that is this game called What Remains of Edith Finch.

I saw the game on Steam and found out that this game won a number of awards, notably The Game Award for Best Narrative in 2017. I got curious and so I went and downloaded the game.

The opening scene was in a forest, and the character I am playing is about to enter an abandoned house. Okay, with just that opening scene, I felt creeped out (I know, I'm a scaredy-cat 🙀). And then the game went on with exploring the different parts of the house and knowing more about the different members of the Finch lineage and how they died (up to the player how to interpret the scenes, if they were literally how it happened or just the person's imagination or dreams). When I initially played this some years ago, I chickened out after reaching the third or fourth family member, I think. I found myself feeling a bit stressed while playing the game because I had the feeling that I'm being watched while exploring around the house (yes I was that immersed with the game) and also I felt like there's always a jump scare on the next scene of the game. And so I opted out of the game, twice. What made me go back to trying out the game again was the mindset of facing something out of my comfort zone. I needed to get past the fear of this simulation so that I would become more resilient, in some ways, in real life. And so I logged in again and continued with the game.

The immersion experience of the game was effective for me because the setup of the Finch house was very detailed and realistic. The things were all over the place inside the house, but it still felt home-y at the same time. It just shows that the game developers really placed a lot of thoughts on how to design the house for an effective story-telling experience. With just that alone, I already understood why they received and deserved that Best Narrative Award.

*game spoilers ahead*

Some of the highlights of the game for me were:

Molly's dream. I love how my point-of-view as the player changed with each stage of her narration. I was surprised and confused each time. The one that I liked the most was when I was the snake. I enjoyed hunting those people on the boat. 🐍

The uncle who lived underground. The setup was strikingly reminiscent of the one in the Korean movie, Parasite . He was in a very depressing situation down there, but he found comfort and sanity with routines. That is one of the lessons that I got from this game actually. It is essential that we have our everyday routines so that we follow some kind of structure, even if we are just inside of our homes especially during this ongoing pandemic.

The baby in the bathtub. It was a tragic story but I found it entertaining to control the toy frog to jump around the shower. It reminded me of my childhood wherein I have my own universe with my paper dolls and I just play all day making them talk and play together.

The camping trip to hunt deer. The player gets to control a camera to take photos during that camp. I suddenly missed taking photos on the DSLR in manual mode. It was already a given that something would happen to the father, but I still got affected when it actually happened, especially given that his last words to his daughter were those telling her how he's so proud of her. It kind of touched the daddy's girl in me.

The boy in the swing. It was pretty obvious what the player had to do. The clue was in the monologue in that scene. I reluctantly made it happen, and again I was emotionally affected when events took a turn, pun intended.

Barbara's storyline. Unsurprisingly, this was my least favorite part. I tensely made it through, but I hated every second of it. The comic-strip setup of that scene was indeed very creative, but I still wished the ending was not like that. 😅

The brother who worked in a fishing factory. This was my most favorite Finch member narration. I specifically liked that scene wherein he was working his usual routine handling the fish in the factory, and then slowly at the same time daydreaming of being this hero received by the king in a palace. Mind you, it was a bit of a challenge for me to multi-task. Essentially that part perfectly embodied the character's state of mind. There were moments wherein I couldn't focus on the fish tasks because I was busy navigating the brother in the daydream setting. For me, it was a very creative and excellent way to really immerse the player into the character's mind. I super duper loved it.

The ending was a bit of a surprise for me honestly, but it's a nice (but sad) twist altogether. I was really glad I had the courage to play this game again. I was able to meet all of the Finch characters and learn a lesson or two from each of their stories.

Although one thing's for sure, it's just a one-time gameplay for me. 😅