What Video Game Did I Play Yesterday?

Puzzles & Survival (Android)

April 6th, 2023

I had to work late again last night, and went to bed so tired that when I got up, I'd forgotten to plug all of my devices in to charge and had left a half cup of tea sitting by my desk. Today, I have a very major stress point, but since I have tomorrow off, hopefully I won't mess up quite that badly again.

Even sleepy, I did play Puzzles & Survival again, clearing the 5th chapter of the campaign and doing a weirdly anti-climactic rally against a zombie den. It counted down for 15 minutes, but then I ran to the bathroom and missed the whole thing! All the little moving parts designed to get microtransactions got a little overwhelming, but, again, I was exhausted last night, so it might not be as much as I'd felt like it was. Plus, the weird dissonance of fighting swimsuit zombies in a quiet Asian village raised more questions than answers in an amusing way.

I'm trying to do Duolingo again, but I don't really think it'll come up much here.

April 5th, 2023

I'm somewhat down this morning, and missing my exercise goal for the morning due to a stomachache and general distaste for being awake. I haven't been able to sleep well for a while now, and I think it's getting to me. That is ok, though, and I think I will feel better soon!

I was able to finish Gokuto Jihen last night, since I only had a little bit left. I thought I was only able to get the standard ending and would have to start over to find more items, but my friend told me I was actually good and had to backtrack to talk to someone in order to get the true ending. It felt a little obscure, but I was satisfied with the "real" ending. It was an interesting spooky game, more exploration based than skill based with some very strange and interesting character moments, and I'm glad I played it.

On the other end of the monetization spectrum, I started playing Puzzles & Survival, a mobile game that's currently sponsoring Gummy over at The Gumball Machine. My being gobsmacked that it's precisely the same setup as Cookie Run Kingdom aside, just with match-3 levels jammed where the runner levels are in its cookie themed cousin, I don't mind it. The legally-distinct-from-The-Walking-Dead soundtrack and somehow simultaneously polished and grungy aesthetic are not unappealing, and the constant stream of numbers going up is an ok distraction while I am feeling incredibly stressed. The vibe is different enough from Disney Tsum Tsum that this might stick on my phone for a bit.