For starters, there's something called Minecraft Legends, which appears to be an RTS set in the Minecraft universe. Is there a Minecraft universe? And if there is, do people refer to it as the MCU? Because that could be confusing.
Anyway, the game is available on Prime separately for PC and XBox, which is weird. I didn't know Prime gave away console titles or if I did know, I'd forgotten. I did think about claiming it but seeing I've never even played Minecraft, it seemed like perhaps that should come first. And I have no plans to play Minecraft.
Three other titles came under consideration. There's one called PaleoPines, which has the tags RPG, Simulator and Indie attached to it. It also has a lengthy description, something that's all too often absent from games in the Prime offers.
Reading that, it seems to be an Animal Crossing/Stardew Valley clone with added dinosaurs. Graphically, it looks as if it's aimed at fairly young children although that may just be the art style, not the gameplay.
I really don't like
farming games, I'm not a big dinosaur fan and I have
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp for all my imaginary socializing needs so
although this looks like something I conceivably might play, I'm passing.
I was initially a little more interested in Let's Build A Zoo. As a concept it sounded like it might be a pleasant diversion, especially with the sci-fi element of gene-splicing thrown in:
"Try your hand at DNA splicing, and stitch together over 300,000 different types of animals, ranging from the majestic Giraffephant to the peaceful PandOwl."
Then I looked at the screenshots. It's done in that top-down, pixel-art style I can't stand. Hard pass on that, then.
Finally, I thought about Deus Ex: Invisible War. It's an RPG/Shooter set in the DeusEx world. I'm discovering somewhat late in life that I quite like shooters and I already know I like RPGs so that seemed promising. As with Minecraft Legends, though, I've never played DeusEx. It seems a bit premature, not to say presumptuous, to start with a spin-off.
Come to think of it, I might own DeusEx from a previous Prime giveaway. Maybe I should play that instead.
So, what did I take?
I took Gamedec and Mutazione, neither of which I'd heard of but both of which sounded right in my wheelhouse. (Where does that expression come from? What is a "wheelhouse" and why would something that was in it feel comfortable?)
Gamedec is "a single-player cyberpunk isometric RPG" Better yet "You are a game detective, who solves crimes inside virtual worlds." Now that's an intriguing set-up, although I'm not sure it's an original one.
Best of all "The game continually adapts to your decisions and never judges." I do so hate a judgy game, don't you?
That one may well get played at some point. I have a good record with cyberpunk adventure games - I've played a few now and enjoyed most of them. Even finished some...
Mutazione is an indie point&click adventure and my record with those is even better. This one sounds quite intriguing:
"A mutant soap opera where small-town gossip meets the supernatural. Mutazione is an adventure game where the juicy personal drama is just as important as the high-stakes adventure part of the story. Explore the Mutazione community as Kai as she cares for her ailing grandfather. Discover magical gardens, new friends, and old secrets. They can survive an apocalyptic meteor strike, but can they survive their small-town drama?"
I do like a bit of small-town drama. The graphics are stylized but charming and it's rated Pegi7 so I was a bit surprised by how eerie and disturbing the trailer made it look. Not that those are necessarily bad things in the context of an adventure game. It has an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating on Steam so I'm optimistic.
Anyway, those are my picks for April.
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The wheelhouse is the little cabin that a ship's wheel is in, to keep the pilot out of the weather. But that doesn't really shed any light on the expression, does it?
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