Year 2015 Lists: Games Played in 2015 Half-Year Edition

Lili Child of Geos--You play a grad student who is researching for her dissertation on an obscure island.  What this actually involves is chasing down living mounds of dirt and violently ripping flowers out of their backs.  You can use flowers to purchase upgrades or keep them to...write your dissertation.

MASSIVE CHALICE--Careful turn-based combat over a backdrop of a centuries-long battle with a Cloud of Evil which is slowly covering the entire world.  By the time your battle is over, many generations will have come and gone.  This game is currently riding First Class on the Internet Hate Train.  *eyeroll*

Sine Rider--This game attempts to teach the young'uns about function transformation via letting them adjust constants so that the people on a sled on the function ride through certain dots.  It uses some non-standard terminology, though.

Fearless Fantasy--This game is a series of combats with a painfully thin story.  To do combat moves you have to swish your mouse around in specific patterns, which is fun!  The art is REALLY WEIRD

100% Orange Juice--I can't figure out whether this game is in English.  Is it English with the consonants removed?  Or am I grasping for meaning from a language I can't understand?  A very luck-based board game.  Real title:  "Ah-unna pa-sen oh-ah-szu"

Grim Fandango--I had never finished this game before the new remastered version came out.  This is often called the best Point-and-Click of all time, but I prefer the Monkey Island series.

Morphopolis--The advantage of this game is that it is sometimes $0.10.  The disadvantage is that it would be about 5 minutes long if your bug moved at a normal speed.  Instead...30.  Very pretty, though.

Brothers, a Tale of Two Sons--Two brothers climb and jump their way across a big fantasy world to collect medicine for their father.  If you actually play this with your brother, and he keeps killing his character accidentally, emotions may result.

Her Story--Interesting non-linear storytelling.  You attempt to piece together your mother's story by searching a database for clips from her arrest interviews.

XCOM Enemy Unknown--I liked the fact that the female scientist was a weird staring hunchback with protruding eyeballs, but then I realized that was just the art "style."  Fun, but the big budget was used for endless nagging cut-scenes (and not improving the art).

Saints Row 2--A painfully bad game.  You can watch my SLOW playthrough progress on my blog (here).

Dwarf Fortress--Latest bug:  many chickens think one-night stands are beneath them, but chickens can't get married, so eggs are rare.  This year's release will include Dwarven Poetry.

Divinity Original Sin--a 2-player game that's great for connecting with a distant friend

TIS-100 and Untrusted--two games which are just coding.  The second uses JAVA.  The first is VERY DIFFICULT.  I am on puzzle 16, and we are to the point that actual paper and pencils are involved.