=== PC Game Review -- Human-Powered Spacecraft - Story Clicker - 8 / 10 ===

Human-Powered Spacecraft is a game I got on sale on Steam for $0.59. In my never-ending quest to play through all the games I've acquired over the years (or at least try), I sometimes find new ones that are on such a good Steam Sale, that I just can't refuse them.

I'm honestly really not usually a fan of clicker games. I've wasted so much time trying to kill time on my phone with clicker and other idle games that it's really hard to come up with good reasons to get new ones; especially ones you have to pay for. While browsing through Steam, I came across this little game on sale and thought I'd go ahead and give it a try because I really liked the art-style and it looked like something a little bit different than what I had experienced before.

There are multiple different "levels" in this game where more and more upgrade options are unlocked at each stage with a different "goal" of progressing to the next stage. It isn't really anything huge to talk about; click, make money, upgrade, click, make money, purchase whatever the game wants you to purchase to start the next stage.

You end up having a couple ship problems including a fire, asteroids, and aliens sucking energy from the ship, finally concluding with a rogue computer trying to enslave you into forever powering the ship by peddling to generate electricity. The only real challenge to the game comes at the end when you have to figure out how to use the electricity-sucking alien to help you fight back against the rogue computer system.

That's... really the whole game. I have nothing else to tell about it. It's not an endless clicker where the game keeps on going forever and ever, there's a bit of a story to it. It's just a nice and short experience. I would love to be able to say this game is a good value, and at a sale of $0.59, it's very hard for me to say that it isn't, but when I seriously think about how much this game cost vs how long it entertained me, the $:hour ratio actually isn't that great. The total gameplay time for me was maybe an hour at most.

Verdict

Gameplay: As you may expect from a clicker game... you click and upgrade.

Sound: The music and sound design is very nice, I don't have any complaints about it at all. Right from the get-go I was sucked in by the great music rather than being driven away by annoying sounds and awful music.

Art: I like pixel art as a graphic style. I imagine pixel art must take quite a bit of time to design and draw and I think it has a lot of character that's simple, yet pleasing.

Replayability: You can't. Really... once you've beaten the game once (which took maybe an hour of gameplay at most), I don't know why anybody would want to subject themselves to that sort of pain and tedium again. It was fun to play once, but I have absolutely no desire to do so again.

SCORE: I really wanted to give this game 5/5 because I did find it more enjoyable than all the other FREE clicker games out there, but unfortunately it was too short for me to be happy with the end result. 8 / 10 will be my final score for Human-Powered Spacecraft.

~ DaemonVirus

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=== Mobile Game Review - Pocket Trains - Business Simulation - 6.5/10 ===

I've always had a strange like for trains; I don't mean something weird where I have pictures of trains up on my walls everywhere and I can't think about anything else other than trains... but I would gladly live in the time when trains were the big new thing. So here's Pocket Trains, a game where you start as a train company in Europe trying to get big enough to expand all over the world.

You start with three basic trains in the middle of Europe. The gameplay is simple enough: pick a train, load it up with materials or products at one station which gives you destinations for the items, and send the train on its way to the other cities on its route. Only one train can own each section of track between each city, so you have to plan your routes to allow other trains to connect up and transfer train carts if necessary. If we're just talking about money, it's not so big of a deal, but things get a little more complicated when there's secondary resources in question.

Everybody loves having money to work with, but that only goes so far when you need Bux to open crates and get better trains. Bux can be earned in a couple different ways: Sometimes there are ads available which can be watched for a couple Bux, but that tends to be a little hit or miss. If you select a train in motion, you'll get a nice view of it going along the track and sometimes coins and Bux and even crates fly past; if you click on the flying item you'll get it. The most reliable method to getting Bux and crates would be to transport them to a destination via train which can mean you're sending it through multiple different trains just to get the cart a few cities over.

There's an energy mechanic to this game where each train has its own supply of fuel which regenerates while sitting idle at a train station which usually means the train has arrived at its destination and you're probably not currently playing because you have a live to live. This is great for getting people to stop playing... I would know... if not for this mechanic, I'd absolutely keep playing all the time. The tough part about this is that some trains have a larger supply of fuel than others and some sections of track are quite long. So long that you may only be able to send a basic train across this track once. As you progress further into the game, you acquire more train pieces from the crates which are opened by spending Bux. The train pieces are completely rancon (though you may have a better chance of getting better train parts as you level up). Better trains travel faster, have more fuel, and are able to carry more carts at one time.

So the gameplay of Pocket Trains is fun and easy, but it does get repetitive after a while and once you start reaching points where you have to spend a lot of money to continue, the game really starts to slow down quite a bit. I haven't yet decided for sure whether I like this slowdown or not because I haven't managed to expand into all the different continents yet... but at this point, it's not my favourite part of the game.

Sound design isn't the largest factor in mobile games; here we're pretty much asking whether or not there's sound, if that sound fits the game, and whether we like listening to it. Yes, there are train sounds, and yes, there are sounds when you press buttons and do things that sound nice and pleasing. What I don't like is the music; it gets really repetitive and can be a bit overpowering. It also sounds a little bit western to me, which FITS... but isn't great to listen to on repeat in my opinion.

I'm going to start breaking down my scores a little more from this review onwards to give more clairity to my thoughts and to better explain why I'm giving the scores that I'm giving. Now on to the scores!

Gameplay = 7/10
+ Easy to learn
+ Great for putting a little bit of time into every hour
- Progression can be really slow if you don't have time to check on your game every hour

Sound = 5/10
Music is a highly important component of a great game. Without good music, a great game can fall flat.
+ Train and station sounds are nice to listen to
- Music is repetitive and can be overpowering if not turned off

Replayability = 7/10This isn't the kind of game you'd be finishing and then starting over again, so this is really a score of whether or not you'd pick the game back up after playing it for a day.
+ Addictive if you have time to put into the game
+ Easy to lose track of time with more to do as you get more trains
- Progression is too slow if you don't have time to put into the game

Overall Score = 6.5/10Pocket Trains is a solid game which I would happily play given enough time to progress through it. The unfortunate thing is that the same track of music over and over and over gets really annoying really quickly. As slow as the game can be at some points, it is rewarding once you finally break past that money barrier and move into new lands. I would recommend this game and say that if you don't mind the lack of music, it'll feel much better than the score makes it look.

~ Kyle Welykholowa


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=== Camping For Nerds ===

     This is the story of camping for nerds. Last weekend we went on our first trip of the year out to our favourite spot at Lake Diefenbaker where we did a trial night of camping. Surprisingly, this went very well and I would like to go out again for a longer period of time.

     We could have gone for longer, but we had no idea what Autumn was going to be like as this was the first time she's been out on that type of trip with us. Furgle had a wonderful time which I think was even better than last time because he had someone of his own energy level to run around with instead of just following us the entire time. We also weren't really sure how Isabelle was going to handle sleeping over at my parents' house considering she hadn't stayed there for the night before (though I wasn't terribly concerned about that because she HAS stayed for the night away from us before).

     So what is this craziness all about? I know, I know... I'm a NERD! What is someone like me doing OUTSIDE in the FRESH AIR??? As it turns out, even though I really like being inside in a dark hole playing games and doing whatever with technology, I also really enjoy being outside in the calm fresh air. Do I like walking down the street with a bunch of cars racing past? It's alright, but not my favourite. What I REALLY like... is going outside somewhere nice and quiet and enjoying the peace. There's something about the lack of man-made sound that really gets to me for some reason; really makes me feel at peace to have that every once in a while. I would gladly spend an entire day wandering around in a place like that. This is why we need to go back again (even if the water still isn't warm enough to swim in) for a longer period of time. Like... maybe four days next time would be perfect.

     Sometimes I forget that there's always things going on at home. Unless I'm relaxing and reading a book while everybody else is sleeping, there's probably something going on. I almost always have music or a show playing in the background or off to the side of whatever I'm doing. So sometimes I find myself driving down the street without the radio on and the window down just because it's nice to have some kind of getaway from the constant noise. Maybe that's why I like hiking so much, because there's just the peace and quiet of wandering around in the nice weather... unless I feel like listening to music.

     We had a fantastic time out at the beach; our special beach. The first thing we did was set up a 10-man tent which was a little bit confusing at first, but once we realized what was going on, it was a pretty easy system to figure out. We had time to wander up and down the beach looking for interesting things and to gather "firewood". Everything was rather damp, but that didn't stop us from getting a fire started anyways. It wasn't any sort of large blazing conflagration, but we did get something self-sustaining and it felt like a nice accomplishment... and the marshmallows tasted great.

     I'm already looking forward to the next time we get to go out, though that unfortunately probably won't be until late July. I guess we'll just have to get out for some nearby hiking and picnics to hold us over until then.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Future Plans ===

     I've been thinking about what's coming up for me for my future plans. There are some things I would like to be doing coming up and I think they're reasonable things to plan for. In the past I've never really made any plans to stick to or real goals to follow, but now I find myself wanting to have some goals with which I can give myself a measure of success.

     First on my list is that I have a lot of games started, but few that I've actually ever finished. I would like to make it a goal to finish some of my games so that I can retire them. Of course there are some games which are really fun and I'll probably play them for a really long time even after I've beaten them tons of times. Other games I've only started playing and haven't found the time to finish or I've gotten distracted by other games and activities. This leads me into my next goal.

     My next goal is to use these games that I want to play through, whether that's finishing them or replaying them or whatever else I decide to do with them to create more content. I've been slacking lately on the content production and that's absolutely something I really enjoy doing which I would like to continue having as something strong and important in my life. I've managed to hit a large number of views with one of my game reviews I posted on my blog and that makes me feel awesome and want to continue doing more game-related content and other content production in general. So this will have me continuing to make blog posts and making more of an effort to spread that content creation into my YouTube channel for recorded episodes and Twitch for live streaming depending on the type of game being played.

     Outside of playing games I have a couple goals a well. The first is getting my garden ready for planting for next year. I didn't manage to do so this year, but with the heat wave going on I guess that means we're saving money as a result right now. I'm really wanting to have everything ready so I can grow a successful garden next year.

     The next offline goal I have is practicing my drawing. I really enjoy drawing things but I'm usually too busy to do so because it usually takes me a long time to make anything due to being such a perfectionist when it comes to making artwork. I have a set of pencils to draw with and ink wells and dip pens to use but I just haven't had a chance to use them since I got them. I'm going to make it a plan to take some time out of some of my days to use these things to grow my skills at things I enjoy doing.

     Another goal I have is to practice music. I have a violin which has been sitting recently and desperately needs to be used. I have also gotten a recorder from the dollar store which I can use for simple flute sort of music. If you haven't noticed... I also enjoy singing and using that for some of my content. I'm going to make a plan to at least practice some of this so I'm more comfortable with it in the future and then perhaps I'll have an easier time creating more in the future.

     The last goal I have at this time is to start reading more again. This has been something I've been planning to do for quite some time where I pick a book and read it for a YouTube video. If there are other people in the world like me, then they have lots of time to listen to things, but not so much to actually do things. Hence, I figure some people would like to listen to the reading of books and things. This gives me two reasons to read books; so that I can read something I'm interested in reading, and so I can share it with the rest of the world.

     I hope you've enjoyed reading my ideas and that perhaps you're looking forward to something in this list coming from me in the future. Feel free to let me know! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Figgy Duff - Woman of Labrador {Cover - Kyle Welykholowa}

     So I decided to sing a song a couple nights ago and here it is, uploaded for you all to see. I hope you enjoy what I've done and would love to hear your honest feedback on it. It takes a lot of nerves to upload myself singing for the world to see, but it is something I enjoy doing and would like to do more of whenever I get the chance. Please take a watch and tell me what you think.

     Should I upload more songs? I'm personally quite proud of this and I have another one to upload pretty soon as well. Go ahead and share this if you enjoy it. I would like to know what the world thinks of me and my entertainment.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

The Girl Upstairs Listens To Some Loud Music

     Some people might find it annoying to hear the music of their neighbor going on really loudly... but as it turns out, she actually listens to good music. If not for her, I wouldn't have just found the artist Kygo. Apparently a Norwegian DJ who has made some really good remixes and things including a remix of I See Fire by Ed Sheeran which I REALLY like.

     So now I have some new music to listen to all because of my upstairs neighbor who plays her music way too loudly for any reasonable person to ever do. And oddly... I don't mind at all. Music has been pretty important to me recently. Without it, I don't know if I would have made it to where I am right now. It motivates me to get things done; to post on my blog for all you wonderful readers out there, and to make videos for anyone who likes those.

     Things feel good right now. This feels the start of a new chapter in my life story. I feel like I have something meaningful to do for the world, even if it's only for a small number of people. But it still makes me happy to have had an effect on even just one life out there. Some people might think it's silly, but I have a want, a need, a goal... to make other people happy. If this is how I can do so, then this is what I want.

     By this time next year, if I had one hundred people who enjoyed reading my words, listening to me talk or sing, watching my videos I think I would be happy. That would be one hundred people who's lives I'd have changed and made just a little bit better than before. Maybe I'll reach that goal, maybe I won't. In time, I'll see where life takes me. I have an ever-changing story that may be foreshadowing one thing, but may turn out as something completely different. The only way to find out... is to keep reading what will be written.

~ Kyle

=== PC Game Review -- Hero of the Kingdom - Point and Click Puzzle - 10/10 ===

     Hero of the Kingdom is a casual point and click indie game for $7 on Steam. For a dollar per hour value, it lasted a little over seven hours which is right where I think a game should be priced. I don't play a lot of point and click games, so I took a chance on this one and was pleasantly surprised.

     This is one of my favourite types of art-styles to look at, so I thought this game was absolutely beautiful the whole way through. The music was enjoyable to listen to all throughout. The gameplay was simple and crisp. You get energy by resting, then use that energy as a resource to complete other tasks.

     One of my favourite parts of this game was as it introduced new things to you through tasks, you would be able to go back through previous areas and find things such as mushrooms or boxes hidden in the scenes. It was really quite fun to look through everything and complete the achievements, read the story, and play through this sweet little game.

     To anybody who enjoys a nice casual game, or a rest from their competitive games for a while, I definitely recommend this game. As usual, if you can get this on sale, it's even more worth the price.

     For me, this point and click game is a 10/10.

~ Kyle