The Calm of Creation: Why City-Building Games Are Perfect for Gamer Dads

 

As a gamer dad, life can get a little chaotic, right? Between work (or trying to find my next role), family, and the general madness of daily life (soccer practices and games, lifts to here and there, the dog, etc.), finding the time to sit down and really immerse yourself in a game can feel like a luxury. 

That's where city-building games come in, and let me tell you, they've been a game-changer (pun totally intended).

The Magic of the Pause Button

First off, let’s talk about one of the biggest perks of city-building games: the ability to pause or stop the game whenever you need to. Whether you're deep into a session of Cities: Skylines meticulously planning the perfect road network or trying to ensure your colonists survive another day in Surviving Mars, you can hit pause and step away without missing a beat. No need to worry about respawning in an FPS firefight or letting your team down in the middle of a MOBA match (I could write a whole posts on all the insults I've taken from World of Tanks players). 

These game wait for you, not the other way around.

Arc Raiders Reveal Trailer | Game Awards 2021

This looks like a blast. As I tweeted earlier, I'm definitely loving the 1980's vibe.

 

Blog Banter #3 : Games you should play to get to know me

Already a month has gone by since the last Blog Banter. How time flies when you're having fun!

This month's banter is on the topic of "What game(s) would you suggest someone play if they wanted to get to know you better?"

In my case, we're definitely talking about multiple games even though one takes most of my time these days - EVE having the honour.

Now let's see. What games help you understand who I am? What have been the games which have brought me the most pleasure over the years? Would that help me pick games that can define me? Let's make a list and see.

Games that I've particularly liked over the last, say 10 years:

• Diablo II (RPG)
• Neverwinter Nights (RPG)
• Dungeon Siege (RPG)
• Battle Realms (RTS)
• Homeworld (RTS)
• Halo (FPS)
• 1701 A.D. (RTS)
• Gears of War (FPS)
• Mass Effect (RPG)
• EVE Online (MMORPG)
  
• Starcraft (RTS)

As I mentioned in the last Banter, I've spent a lot of time in EVE over the last 2 or 3 years. But I still give these games a few hours once in a while. There's something about these games, even replaying them for the nth time, that does something to me. Brings me joy and a sense of accomplishment many other games don't achieve.

I've purchased and played many more games since I started gaming back in the late nineties; as one can see from my collection. But the games above hold a special place in my heart. And I guess if you want to know who I am, you're going to have to go through these.

Which reminds me that it's been a long time since I last played Homeworld. Now if you'll excuse me...

Blog Banter is a group of bloggers passionate about anything and everything video games. On a monthly basis we get together and write-up a series of articles on a specific subject and then link to each other. The brainchild behind this idea is fellow blogger Hawty McBloggy (aka bs angel). I just love her quirky articles, always uncovering interesting and fun stuff. A must read!

If you're interested in participating, just contact bs angel for more information. Enjoy our stories!

Blog Banter #3 participants : Silvercublogger, The Average Gamer, Game Couch, thoughts and rants, Delayed Responsibility, Boom Stick Brigade, Boom Stick Brigade 2, CrazyKinux's Musing, Gamer Unit, Draining Souls.net, 8-Bit Brigade, Zath Games Tech, Arm the Flag, Lou Lantos, Hawty McBloggy

Is a virtual world a game, and vice versa?

There's a great post discussion over at Cuppytalk on what exactly defines a game and what makes some a virtual world and others not.

Cuppycake says:

"All games are virtual worlds, but not all virtual worlds are online games."

Not sure that I agree with that quote though. To me a game, whether PC or console, has a start and an end, whereas virtual worlds have neither. In that sense, most games ARE NOT virtual worlds. What's your take on it?

EVE Online Alliances links

• Aegis Militia
• Against All Authorities
  
• Atrocitas Alliance
  
• Band of Brothers
  
• Coalition of Independent Nations
  
• Confederation of Independent Corporations
  
• Curse Alliance
  
• Daikoju Trade Syndicate
  
• Dusk and Dawn
  
• Electus Matari
  
• Expeto Libertas Foedus
  
• Fatal Alliance
  
• Firmus Ixion [FIX]
  
• Galactic Shipyards Inc. [GSY]
  
• Glamour Syndicate
  
• Hydra Alliance
• Intrepid Crossing Alliance
  
• IVY League
  
• ICSC
  
• Imperial Republis of the North
  
• ISS MegaCorp
  
• Libertas Fidelitas Alliance <-- Just added
• Lotka Volterra
  
• Mercenary Coalition [MC]
  
• MetaForge
  
• Oxide Alliance
• Pandemic Legion
  
• Pure Alliance
  
• RaodKill Alliance
  
• Sylph Alliance
  
• Tau Ceti Federation (French Site)
  
• The Confederation
  
• United Corporation of EVE [UCE]
• Ushra'Khan

[Last Update: April 5th, 2010]

Can you still consider yourself a gamer...

Can you still consider yourself a gamer when you're only playing "one" game? I mean let's be serious, I used to play lots of different games: Dungeon Siege, Warcraft III, Homeworld (I & II), Diablo, Starcraft, War of the Rings, Prince of Persia, etc. I've amassed a decent collection of games (44), both for the PC and my Xbox.

Speaking of which, I haven't used my Xbox to play for about a year now, but I still keep my Xbox Live account. I even haven't played the games I got last Xmas: Prince of Persia 2, War of the Rings, Battle for Middle-Earth, Warcraft III: Frozen Throne and Temple of Elemental Evil. Kind of pathetic n'est-ce pas?

Yes and no. I do consider myself a gamer still, just one with different priorities. Playing games takes time, playing MMORPG takes more, and playing EVE takes even more. Just ask any capsuleer. And once you've pushed beyond the initial barrier, EVE becomes so addictive, that you can't consider playing anything else. Anyways I can't.

Not that I haven't tried. I did. I bought Guild Wars a few months back - a couple of weeks after it came out, and I enjoyed playing it. For awhile that is. Then EVE sucked me back in and there was no going back. I can't really explain it. It goes beyond the game factor. I mean you can't really call it a game, it's much more then that. It really is a virtual world. One where you can be a buccaneer, a Tradesman, a Diplomat, a CEO, a Production Director, an Industrial Ore Miner, a Space Pilot, a Fleet Commander, and anything you can think of pretty much. You can travel the galaxy, or stay put in your own space station and command your corporate empire.

And that's the beauty of EVE - it's openness. You're never confined to one profession, one career path. What ever you wan to be you can.

Am I still a gamer? I still believe I am. But in EVE, I'm much more then that.

So can you!

Just like Rock n' Roll

The Economist.com has a great article on the whole "video games are bad for our youths" debate. And for once we have an article which treats this political issue in a statistical and social science fashion.

In the end, it becomes a generational gap between the 'have played games' camp, and the 'haven't played games so they must be bad for you' camp.

A must read for anyone interested in this debate.

I myself, can't wait to sit down with my kids (when I have some) and play a good game, be it video, board, rpg or tag football. Knowing your kids is knowing what they enjoy. And that includes video games.