Steam Deck’s Killer App (Game)

I’ve owned a Steam Deck since April – a birthday gift I deeply desired.

In the first few months, I fired up the old favorite of Counter Strike and figured out what else out of my 100 game Steam collection is playable on the Deck. But I couldn’t figure out one thing – what’s the killer game for this device?

What’s the one thing that will make me keep coming back and wanting to keep coming back when I can’t?

I couldn’t find it. I spent some money here and there, played some demos here and there. But nothing stuck.

100 games – that’s a big collection. Though, out of that, only about 40 or so seem to have exceptional support on the Deck. Of those, only 20 or so interested me in terms of graphics and what I’m doing with the game.

Of those, basically none captured my imagination.

Then, about a month ago, I came across Skyrim on a bargain bin site. I remember happy hours playing this game. Not too challenging, adequately open world, a storyline that catches you every once in a while because a random dragon will plop down and force you to kill it. With the Skyrim Special Edition I have on Steam now, I get a lot more missions, artifacts, strange tales. I also get to explore the idea of mods. I’ve never modded any games. With Skyrim, I can dip my toes into that space and see how it works. Folks online swear by running Skyrim as an NPC, or in Cozy mode, or adding skins and missions and areas, all of which is very interesting to me.

But most importantly – it beckons me. I want to go back to it at the end of every day, to unwind as I roam the terrain in search of one mission or one cave or one challenge to conquer. I can’t get to it every day. But when I do, I come out satisfied by the experience.

I don’t know how long Skyrim will hold my interest. Last time, once I’d finished the main quest, I dropped the game. But this time, I want to revisit it and play as some other character, and see if I can install mods to make it a wild ride. With Skyrim, it’s possible, simply because even 17 or so years later, this game still compels people.

It’s a proper killer game for the Steam Deck.

To the Team behind Threes

Today, I read one of the most awesome blog posts I’ve ever read about the creation of something. The post was by the team behind the popular mobile game Threes (yes, the one that spawned the even more popular 2048 series of games) detailing the 570 emails and 45,000+ words exchanged between them over a period of one and a half years to make a game that has broken away from the entire mobile gaming market and shown us what wonders can be done on a four by four game board.

I must confess, I did not read the whole thing. I read about a quarter into the page before skipping down to look at the artwork and reading the conclusion. I found the developers talking about how Threes has turned out to be a lot more famous than they had imagined and how amazed they are at the growing community around it. They are also highly critical of the fakes, the ‘inspired’ games and the outright rip-offs that are flooding the markets.

But here’s the thing – 2048 became famous because it’s gimmicky. The clones are famous because of the original, not on their own merit. But Threes? Threes is unique. There’s no match for the excellent game, the wonderful team behind it and the level of innovation that’s gone into the making of the game.

Along the way, in the article, you can download early prototypes that can be played on both Mac and Windows and are excellent games in themselves. They are different from the gameplay of the final game, yet are impressive in their own right. Here’s one such game that I downloaded and played and was instantly addicted. It’s a brilliant take on Threes, twisting the game with a new angle of gameplay.

So this is what I have to say to the team behind Threes –

Do not lose heart. Scammers will come and go, but your hard work is what stands before the public today. They will approve.

But do not stand on your laurels either. I believe it was the CEO of Rovio (behind Angry Birds) who said, “Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day.” He’s not wrong. You called out 2048 as a game that’s inherently flawed as it can be finished too easily. That’s true. But it’s popular and it’s a derivative of your work. So go ahead, steal what is already yours and add it as a fun mode to your game.

Do not hide your excellence. You are a runaway success. You may need more money, but get more people, finish those games you have showcased in the blog post and show them to the world. The one I played is nothing short of amazing. It made me fall in love with Threes all over again. It’ll bring people back to you. You are at a similar stage which Angry Birds was at with their games. They innovated only a bit every time but every game they released was an instant hit. Your ideas are already a hit. Bring them forth.

Finally, yes, pursue the Mobile App Stores. Tell them to remove the fakes and the rip-offs. But don’t wait for them to do anything. The thieves don’t have the one thing you do – an original idea. They’ll disappear into ignominy soon, but Threes will live on.

 

For all Threes lovers, I leave you with this artwork that I hope will inspire you to keep playing Threes and keep aiming for the Lion. Cheers!

The Threes Monsters.

The Threes Monsters. Source – http://asherv.com/threes/threemails/

And some other Threes Artwork –

Stacking the Cards

The Pirate

Threes is infinite. No, really.

Thief: How Square Enix stole my money…

I recently finished playing Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition on the XBox One. It’s one of the best games I’ve played recently and certainly one of the best Tomb Raiders in the series. The game kept me on the edge, made me think, laugh, weep and go through the whole spectrum of emotions as I killed thugs and blew up half the island. One of the high points was the origin story of the dual pistols that I just knew was going to be a part of the game and indeed, it was. After I finished the game, my brother suggested another Square Enix title that seemed very interesting – Thief. I instantly bought the game, spending no time in downloading a digital copy. Big mistake. Continue reading

Awesome iPhone Game Now on Java!

My favorite iPhone game, the brilliant Doodle Jump, an addictive and amazingly engrossing game is now available for all you Java-based mobile gamers out there! Yes, I’m talking to you, you Sony Ericsson and few-Nokia-models owners(not to mention HTC, Spice etc), who hoped at some time to own a piece of the iPhone Lifestyle one day. You’ve got some awesome stuff headed your way…

Doodle Jump Game

http://gallery.mobile9.com/f/1357032/

Get to this site and download this game for your Java phone and install it

(Simple instructions for Sony Ericsson phones – Use Bluetooth on your Laptops or use My Phone Explorer to put the game which is a .jar file into your phones and access it from there to install)

and after you’ve installed this super-awesome game, you’ll forget everything else for sure!!!

This concludes my tutorial of how to get one of the Best iPhone games on your Java phone

p.s. the view that “Doodle Jump” is one the Best games for the iPhone is held by the author and you can’t do much to change it 🙂 🙂 🙂