Terraforming Mars, the big box game by FryxGames, is a long-time favorite board game at our kitchen table. As the name implies, it’s a game about making Mars habitable by humans. But, what if Terraforming Mars, but a fast-paced card game? That’s Ares Expedition. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition shares a lot of elements with the board game. There’s a board representing Mars, divided into hexes. Players represent corporations building generation-long projects, which are cards in both games. Players have their own player boards, on which they track wealth and resources. What’s changed? ...

Having made our way to the town of Melmond, we were shocked to find a ruin. A vampire was draining all of their Earthpower? The High Lord’s Council is nowhere to be seen? Even Thomas Covenant has gone missing? Well, I guess maybe a few Warriors of Light could get the job done… As is often the case, even with the hints the townscritters give, I’m never quite sure where to go. I spent awhile sailing around the area, looking for a sage at a southern tip or anywhere to dock before I eventually had the bright idea to just walk down to the area, from Melmond. ...

I was just going to play Final Fantasy XIV long enough to get a picture with a dwarf to illustrate how Final Fantasy themes crop up again and again… and I did that… but then I started working on the main story quest again… and… well, maybe later. Right now, we have to deal with a certain evil critter named Astos. A witch walks into a bar. One of her eyes is shut tight, and a trickle of blood leaks from it. The other is red with rage. A broomstick follows her closely, trying to help, but she snarls at it until it puts itself into a corner. “What happened???” asks the barmaid. “Astos happened,” spits the witch. “He took my crystal eye, and now I cannot see!” The barmaid quickly mixes up a strong drink; fumes pour from the mug. The witch drinks it in one gulp and falls silent. ...

We defeated Garland and rescued Princess Sarah! Yay! A grateful king embarked on an impromptu “Infrastructure Week”, and built us a bridge because that was exactly the reward we were looking for. Sure, he could have given us gold or weapons, but instead the Cupertino Corps of Engineers lali-ho’d their way north and built a bridge. Not like he didn’t have loot to give. There were some vaults sealed with mystic keys below. We saved the king’s daughter, but we weren’t important enough for the good stuff. Garland, undefeated, now defeated by us, sure. The King of Constantine couldn’t get rid of us fast enough. ...

Welcome to Blaugust 2nd and the first day of our Final Fantasy 1 playthrough! Garland is the first boss the Warriors of Light meet in Final Fantasy 1. Once a hero, he has kidnapped Princess Sarah and taken her to the Chaos Shrine, there to do evil things. What happened to make him this way? Our Final Fantasy playthrough starts with our party meeting this fallen angel… (The featured image is Garland as he appears in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, a mobile game with its own story that nonetheless pulls in visions of heroes and villains from other Final Fantasy games.) ...

It’s the first of Blaugust! The week where a lot of game bloggers come together and… blog… to show the world just how much fun typing can be :-) So, for this month, I’ll be playing the first Final Fantasy game. I never had a NES, so I never played it when it first came out. My first Final Fantasy game was Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, which wasn’t even really a Final Fantasy game. ...

I like my main character, Teal Green, just fine. Well, most of the time. She started out as a hard light controller – a deputy of the Green Lantern corp. But I soured on all the constant comboing and didn’t feel I contributed much DPS. With wild abandon, I tried a few different DPS options, finally settling on Munitions when it came out. I later changed over to become an electricity-based healer, and that is where I am today. My DPS is … reasonable. Team Spode (the league I belong to) is usually at the tops of the DPS charts, and I’m usually third or fourth behind Lord Spode’s ice tank and Stingheal’s sorcery healer. ...

DC Universe Online has had a problem. It’s the most popular of Daybreak’s MMOs, but its spandex tights flies under the radar of most MMO players. Recent content dumps (called “episodes”) are still very crowded. Recent changes to show exactly how many players are in each zone (and across how many instances) shows that the most recent hub areas support hundreds of players at any time of the day – and this isn’t counting the Nintendo Switch players, who have their own sets of servers. ...

Amazon’s new MMO, “New World”, comes out soon. Everyone is excited – but I don’t know if I’m ready for a new MMO commitment.

Rise Eterna claims to be a modern successor to the legendary tactical rpgs of the past. Can Rise Eterna really wear Final Fantasy Tactics’ crown?