Tag: Backlog Roulette

Backlog Roulette: XTHRUST

On September 12, 2023

This is Backlog Roulette, a series in which I randomly pick an unplayed game from my backlog and play it. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

On the last Backlog Roulette, about She Remembered Caterpillars, I was wrestling with how to handle random games picked from my terrifying spreadsheet of games I own, versus those acquired more recently in gigantic bundles from itch.io. I decided to weight the spreadsheet games more heavily, because I’d owned them longer, and playing them was the original intention of this series. I’ve thought about it more since, and decided not to bother including the giant itch.io bundles at all. The spreadsheet games are the ones I want, why pretend otherwise?

And so, the digital dice selected XTHRUST, by eipaw ltd, martinez, and njb design llc. I have no memory of acquiring it. It’s just in my Steam library. I suspect it was a giveaway at some point.

Backlog Roulette: She Remembered Caterpillars

By Waltorious

On August 29, 2023

In Uncategorized

This is Backlog Roulette, a series in which I randomly pick an unplayed game from my backlog and play it. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Last time on Backlog Roulette, I debated how to handle my “regular” backlog of games, which I have organized in a terrifying spreadsheet, versus the massive bundles I’ve acquired in recent years. My Scratching That Itch series is handling games from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, but I have several more bundles from itch.io that are nearly as gigantic. If I focus solely on my spreadsheet games for Backlog Roulette, I run the risk of never checking out these other bundles at all. But including them risks turning this series into something too similar to Scratching That Itch. My last Backlog Roulette entry, about Tomato Clinic from the Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid, sure felt a lot like a Scratching That Itch post, but the original intention of the Backlog Roulette series was to highlight games I’d acquired with a bit more intention. Interesting indies I’d picked up but then never got around to playing, or selections from much smaller, more curated bundles. These also tend to be games I’ve owned for longer, since the giant itch.io bundles only appeared in recent years.

So, this time I went for an 80% spreadsheet, 20% bundle weighting before picking the next random game. I also quickly decided that if I wasn’t enjoying the pick, I’d discard it in favor of another one. It took mere minutes to realize that the open-ended slasher film puzzle boxes of Lakeview Cabin Collection (acquired in a Humble Bundle) were not for me. Similarly, the gamified police raids of Door Kickers (also from a Humble Bundle) failed to entice. That’s OK; those are two games I can cross off of my spreadsheet. The third random pick was She Remembered Caterpillars by jumpsuit entertainment UG, a very pretty puzzle game I remember reading about. It’s not from a Humble Bundle, but I’m not sure when I got it. It’s just in my Steam library.

Backlog Roulette: Tomato Clinic

By Waltorious

On January 17, 2023

In Uncategorized

This is Backlog Roulette, a series in which I randomly pick an unplayed game from my backlog and play it. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

I’m still making up the rules for Backlog Roulette. When I started it, I wrote about my terrifying spreadsheet containing all the games I own. Except, it doesn’t actually contain all the games I own, because I also bought some gigantic bundles from itch.io. I’m covering the massive Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality in my Scratching That Itch series, but there are others too. The Queer Games Bundle 2021 isn’t too daunting, with a mere 236 things in it, but the Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid has 1272 things in it, making it almost as huge as the Racial Justice bundle. Add in 998 more things from the Bundle for Ukraine, and these bundles are bigger than my whole spreadsheet, even without counting the Racial Justice bundle. Given that the Scratching That Itch series could easily take the rest of my life to complete, I worried that I’d never even look at the games in these other bundles.

So, this time I decided to add them in to my spreadsheet games when picking something random for Backlog Roulette. The danger of this approach, of course, is that it might make Backlog Roulette feel too much like Scratching That Itch, what with all the itch.io games showing up. So I’m not sure if I’ll keep doing this. Or maybe I’ll adjust the weighting of the bundles so my “regular” backlog has a higher chance of showing up. Those are all questions for the next entry, however. For now, the digital dice have selected Tomato Clinic, by npckc, from the Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid. It’s a short visual novel about visiting a clinic to learn about vampires and their culture, and maybe donate some blood. In other words, a very Scratching That Itch kind of game.

Backlog Roulette: Feather

By Waltorious

On December 22, 2022

In Uncategorized

This is Backlog Roulette, a series in which I randomly pick an unplayed game from my backlog and play it. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Once again, I’ve rolled some digital dice to randomly select an unplayed game from the horrifyingly organized spreadsheet containing all the games I own. The dice came up with Feather, by Samurai Punk. I have no recollection of acquiring Feather, but since my spreadsheet says I got it as a Steam key from the Humble store, my guess is it was included in a Humble Bundle at some point. A pleasant surprise, then, to find a lovely game about being a bird, soaring over a beautiful island.

Backlog Roulette: Bezier

By Waltorious

On September 9, 2022

In Uncategorized

This is Backlog Roulette, a series in which I randomly pick an unplayed game from my backlog and play it. This particular entry is also part of the Keeping Score series about games and their soundtracks. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

In a surprise move, as soon as I’d finished playing (and writing about) The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, which I had selected at random from my huge backlog of games, I decided to pick another random game from my backlog and play it. Maybe Backlog Roulette is actually becoming a real series? This time, the digital dice picked Bezier, credited to Philip Bak and NiineGames, although google suggests it was basically a Philip Bak solo production. I had no recollection of acquiring Bezier, nor any idea what it was. I suspect I got it as part of a Humble Bundle, because while my terrifyingly organized spreadsheet of games I own indicated that I had Bezier on Steam (it’s also available from itch.io), it also said I had the soundtrack from Humble. So it was probably a Steam key plus digital soundtrack combo. Curious, I installed Bezier and gave it a spin.

A Backlog Roulette And History Lessons Double Whammy: The Secret Of Monkey Island: Special Edition

By Waltorious

On August 15, 2022

In Uncategorized

This is Backlog Roulette, a series in which I randomly pick an unplayed game from my backlog and play it. This particular entry is also part of the History Lessons series. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

About a year ago, I picked an unplayed game at random from my terrifyingly organized spreadsheet containing all the games I own. The random number generators selected Wild Metal Country, an oddity from 1999 that I found surprisingly calming for a game about tank battles. Now, I decided to roll the digital dice again, officially making Backlog Roulette a series of sorts. But this time the dice popped up a far more recognizable game: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. I acquired this some time ago, intending to write a History Lessons post about it eventually, so… here it is.

Backlog Roulette: Wild Metal Country

By Waltorious

On July 28, 2021

In Uncategorized

This is Backlog Roulette, a series in which I randomly pick an unplayed game from my backlog and play it. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Reader, brace yourself for a chilling glimpse into my psyche. Like many people, I have a huge backlog of games, acquired from various digital sales, bundles, and the like. Unlike most people, I’ve organized mine in a giant spreadsheet, tracking where I got the games from (Steam, GOG, Humble, etc.) and including other useful notes, like whether I’ve played the game already, or whether a game comes with a bundled soundtrack or other extras. This helps me organize all my games — well, not all of them, the gigantic itch.io bundle is a whole other can of worms — but even so, I often forget what some games are. A little while back, inspired by my Scratching That Itch series, I decided to pick one of the unplayed games from my backlog at random and try it out.

The virtual dice picked a game called Wild Metal Country. Not only did I have no memory of what this game is or when I acquired it, I saw that I’d listed the source as a “Digital Installer”. This means I didn’t get it from any of the major digital storefronts, but rather had downloaded an installer from an unknown location at some point and stored it on a backup drive. The mystery deepened. It was time to discover just what the hell Wild Metal Country is.