This is my entry for the Game You Played Over The Weekend contest run by Hive account@enjar and Hive account@archdruid.

Being a complete tech nerd and a pretty hardcore gamer from ages back, I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to platforms and games to choose from. In fact, often I find that my biggest problem is having a giant stack of computer games that haven't been touched yet, or have been half started and never finished. It's a habit that I'm really trying to kick these days, avoiding buying things at launch whilst making a concerted effort to complete games (or ditching them, if they just don't click with me...).

Anyway, for this weekend I had was playing either on my desktop gaming rig when I was at home... or my laptop when I was travelling (or later in the weekend, in the bed when I was suffering from a near-death case of MAN-FLU). As these are different gaming situations (also on different powered hardware), I tend to play different games depending on the hardware that I have to play on. The laptop can handle FPS games and such things, but it tends not to be fun to me doing that on a train with limited mouse space... and if I am playing FPS in bed, my wife tends to get cranky at me!

Gaming on the Desktop Rig

My home gaming desktop was an experiment in a Small Form Factor build, in a case that is the size of an A4 ream of paper, it was possible to pack some pretty serious gaming hardware into it! It is really unbelievable how far component miniturisation has come over the years! However, that said, the next time I upgrade, I'm going back to a full tower build... these Small Form Factor PC's are really nifty and look great, but they are right pain in the arse to build in!

For my desktop gaming this weekend, I returned back to Fallout 4. It's a game universe that I just love, having been there for the original Fallout series and having enjoyed the transition to the FPS modernisation that Fallout 3 brought about. However, I'm not sure that I will give Fallout 76 a chance, multiplayer games are not a good fit with me....

Anyway, this is a bit of an old game, so it might seem strange to be playing it in this day and age! However, I never finished Fallout 4 because I got so annoyed with the Settlement mechanic of the game. The need to micromanage the settlements was not something that I found to be enjoyable. However, PC gaming is the home of serious modders, and so when I found out that someone had made a mod called SimSettlements to alleviate the micromanaging of the settlers, I decided to give it another go.

So, far so good. I'm loving the narrative universe still and the settlement feature seems to be well handled by the mod. Although, that said, it is only a little way into the game, but I am so far finding it to be a much better experience than before! Plus, I missed the Diamond City radio so much, the songs are just the best, and fit so well with the setting!

I'm expecting to lose many hours over the next half year into this game! I'm thankful for the ability to save anywhere, that is such a godsend for parents who can only steal a quick ten minutes here or there in the day!

Laptop Gaming (Travelling)

Invisible Inc is a great game for travelling. Turn based stealth action with an overworld strategic layer in the style of X-COM. It's a tough game that requires a severe calculation of risk/reward in the tactical missions as you are completely outclassed and can only rely on stealth and speed to get you through your corporate enemies. It is a game that I've started a few times, but this time I'm determined to grit onwards and accept that I will be crushed before succeeding.

Other than a limited rewind mechanic, it is a perma-death game. Actions and failures have serious and lasting consequences, which is a part of the game for you to try and overcome. It's a great mechanic, but it really needs the player to be in the right mood to try and surmount the most difficult of obstacles... Perhaps this time!

On my XPS 15, it runs easily and the art and narrative style is just a pure pleasure to experience. This is a game that has been crafted by masters with love!

Laptop Gaming (Sick in bed)

Well, later in the weekend, I fell sick with the dreaded man-flu. This meant I was bed-ridden with nothing to do but rest and relax! Actually, it doesn't sound too bad... maybe I should get sick more often!

So, my brain wasn't really working in a state that wanted to play against the viscous difficulty of Invisible Inc, and I couldn't be bothered streaming Fallout 4 to my laptop... so I thought I would give Stellaris a first try.

Paradox is a company most famed for the huge grand strategy historical games... full of bugs at launch but evolving over time to become gigantic masterpieces! Stellaris has been out for a while now, and it is their take on the 4X genre in space. Like all Paradox games, it starts off with a "what the hell is going on?"... as you are literally swamped with information and game systems that are hugely intricate and subtle. I'm muddling through the tutorial at the moment, and so far have only a basic surface understanding of what is going on... but I can feel the basis of a great game here!

These are games where the savegame will last for months if not years! Slowly, guiding your nation/space empire though history... I know this one is going to find a permanent place on my hard-drive! I love it already! I'm already checking out the DLC!