For video games, Ostranauts. It’s the perfect space survival sim IMO. You wake up on an industrial salvage station and get a ship. Then you fly to derelict ships and scrap them for money and parts. Build up your own ship and travel farther and farther out. It’s jank as fuck to learn but once you get it down it’s the type of game where you put on music then just go for hours and hours. It’s early access and a lot is changing but the core gameplay loop is so addicting already.
For tabletop games, Infinity. It’s the best miniatures skirmish game I’ve ever played. The rules are deep but tight. The number of minis you put on the table is just right to me. List building is the best of any game I ever played. The rules are free. The app is free. The miniatures are the best out of any wargame I’ve ever played. It’s just a shame that people are so locked into Games Workshop that they don’t see other games as an option. Like I had a couple friends get hardcore into it but never more than that. And at the height of it’s popularity at our store we had one of the best players on the East coast play in a tournament. That was a sight to behold. Like I’m not a tourney player at all for any game. Watching the number 1 east coast player do his thing was the most inspired I ever was to become a tournament player.
Ostranauts still needs time to cook but there’s nothing quite like getting your first torch lit, nearly starving during the trip to Venus and then spending days stuck in a crash couch while your earther pilot supervises the burn that nearly kills you. Definitely room to grow.
Laser tag.
It’s really dropped off as a sport over the last thirty years. I think kids get the same rush from video games these days.
omg my dad used to take me to laser tag so much when I was a teenager lol. it was fun
I played laser tag once and it was so incredibly underwhelming. I thought you’d see the laser in the air and I didn’t see that. I much prefer airsoft. You’d probably have more fun playing airsoft with tracer rounds in the dark
Uh… every laser tag I’ve ever been to (even the cheap ones) had a visible beam as you shot.
I probably went to one of the only ones where you couldn’t
Iirc, the beams need to have smoke machines or foggers or something running in the arena to be visible. The machines where you went might have just been off.
Yeah there weren’t smoke machines that was probably it.
It’s still big for kids. At least one kid per class did a laser tag birthday every year throughout elementary school.
Blazertag in Austin, Texas has been open for ever.
last time I played neither my gun nor vest was working right, major bummer
I think it was the cost. We would go do it but it was a bit pricier than seeing a movie or bowling or hanging at an arcade. Was great though. Super fun and great exercise. Our photon had coin operated guns above the arena so you could not just try and sit and snipe. I remember this guy who was so rediculously good at the game he beat my friends and I and his team was a bunch of kids.
I think it was the cost.
It was this. In fact, it was awkward all around. The dollar cost was high, you were stuck with the arena’s schedule and openings, you had to add in time for travel to the site and waiting to get in, going through the suit up… or you could just log onto Call of HaloField Tournament 3 and get a similar hit but with more animated explosions and stuff.
I remember towards the end a few companies sold consumer lasertag kits for home use. I think one of them even had a “rocket launcher” with a little radio thing in the “rocket” to register hits? But they were also super expensive, never cross-compatible so good luck making a big team, and if one broke you were SOL because they only came in big packs.
I actually had the consumer ones. both the original and an updated one. Both on clearances (and pretty cheap). Played with my friends but it was not the same as playing together against another group of friends or random people that got grouped together.
Airsoft has grown massively. While it is more of a whole day event, it fills that same niche but better in many ways.
Most lazertag places I remember seeing were inside or connected to arcades, and those really aren’t a thing for kids these days either so it makes sense the lazertag places aren’t as widespread as they used to be. If you’re specifically going to travel to just do lazertag, you’ll probably just travel to do airsoft or paintball.
I really wish there was a good airsoft group nearby me, but it seems like the only ones who are close by don’t play on a schedule that works for me. It’s really frustrating.
There is outdoor laser tag now. I also haven’t tried this, but apparently with a couple of Quest headsets you can play laser tag in VR in a large enough space.
For video games, Full Spectrum Warrior.
It’s got a unique third person-ish view where the player swaps between different fire teams or special units, and orders them. It looks like a third person shooter but is just a real time ground level tactical game. It’s demanding but fun. It’s the kind of game that Brothers In Arms, old school Ghost Recon, or Doorkickers players would love. I don’t know why nobody really remembers it or why somebody hasn’t made a spiritual successor.
Like, from 20 years ago? I mean I loved that game too, and playing it in Iraq made it all kinda silly surreal in a fun sort of way. OK, yes, I second this!
The Legend of Alan D’ar, it was for me the first co-op rpg I’d ever played. My brother and I couldn’t out our controllers down. Sadly all you ever hear about it IF anything is how much people hated it.
I could name so many tabletop RPGs for this. Unfortunately, since Hasbro has dominated the space like a generational pile of elephant dung for over 2 decades now, and TSR actually did manage to make a few smart marketing decisions before Dragon Dice and the bankruptcy, I guess I can’t be too shocked.
So I guess I’ll go with a board game. Tsuro - The Game of the Path. It’s super-simple to learn and play, can be interesting for kids and adults alike, and it’s just a really solid, fun, game. There’s even an iOS version. I don’t understand why it’s a niche game instead of being front-and-center ahead of Monopoly or Clue(do). It’s not even prohibitively expensive, honestly - the wholly valid argument against Carcassonne and other niche games. There’s no good reason I can think of why Ticket to Ride is more popular than Tsuro.
I could name so many tabletop RPGs for this.
GURPS has been my obsession for a few years now. It’s both the simplest, in terms of base mechanics, and most complex, in terms of optional rules, TTRPG I can imagine. It can handle literally any setting, play style, or crunch level with ease.
Yes, but are you surprised at SJG not being the top RPG? The media push after GURPS Cyberpunk has faded fully. If they’d stuck with Fallout, maybe it could change.
The top RPG? That’s a bit ambitious. But I’m surprised it isn’t more popular.
I love GURPS, but have since moved to the Cypher System, which is mechanically beautiful and rewarding like nothing I’ve ever seen.
Yeah I looked at Cypher when I was looking for a new home after abandoning D&D5e, but the crunch of GURPS appealed to me. I like having optional play tested mechanics for everything, so my power gamers get consistent rulings but my casual players don’t feel too much pressure.
Wow! I still have my Dragon Dice in a box somewhere. A few of my friends had it and we played about 4 games before we got bored. Still something nostalgic about it for me though.
I also agree about Tsuro. Great fun!
Simon the Sorcerer
It always seems to be overshadowed by Monkey Island. Personally I think it’s actually better in many ways.
I looooved Simon The Sorcerer so much as a child! One of my favourite point and click adventures.
Would chess count?
I mean chess is not not popular by any stretch of the mind, a lot of people around the world are playing it every single day and that won’t go away anytime soon, but I’m always surprised to see so much more excitement going on around a new version of This or That video game that people will play for a little while before switching to a newer version than for chess. Despite its apparent simplicity (and lack of visual effects), chess has remained a challenge for the smartest among us, and will keep on being so no matter how much better computers can be playing it.
Have you tried the demo for Passant?
I’m the furthest away as anyone can be from a pro chess player, but this game really revived my passion for chess. Somehow all people want to play is blitz or tournaments. There’s little interest in variations. It’s like amongst the chess scene having fun became taboo. It’s a serious game for serious people who only want to defeat others. And it is so tiring. Oh look, another London system game, how titillating.
It’s a board game, I know why people enjoy competition and all, but I find competition drains games from anything interesting to me. I just want it to be fun and intellectually stimulating. Bring variations and quirky rules back, make it interesting to lose. Level the playing field so we can all participate and have fun instead of everyone just trying to play optimally like little machines.
Have you seen The Rookery? It’s a well-made chess roguelite that has become my comfort game lately. It was made by the same devs who made https://www.drawbackchess.com/.
Also thanks for the heads up. I’m off to play the demo right away.
Yeah but it doesn’t have tech trees or fog of war
tech tree:
pawn -> queen
pawn -> rook
pawn -> knight
pawn -> bishop
Someone should inform the devs there is no reason to pick anything but queen and knight.
google en passant
I mean when promoting.
Yeah, ‘google en passant’ is an r/AnarchyChess joke.
Unless you are in on it, in which case damn, you’re stone cold.
In theory, you can always promote to a rook just to show off. I have no idea if it’s considered a bad mannered move.
Ah I see. Thanks for explaining. I wasn’t in on it heh.
Chess has taken over a significant portion of my gaming time since getting into it a couple of years ago.
It’s a beautifully deep game, and it’s refreshing to be able to pour time into something with staying power that people of every age play all over the world.
It’s a beautifully deep game, and it’s refreshing to be able to pour time into something with staying power that people of every age play all over the world.
So much this :)
Plasma - a wildly programmable physics game where you can build just about anything in a fairly accessible manner. The devs eventually just made it free because it wasn’t getting much notice.
BPM: Bullets Per Minute - at some point everyone thinks ‘what if you combined an FPS with a rhythm game so you had to shoot on the beat?’ BPM is that, nailed. Others have tried but BPM got it right.
Crypt of the Necrodancer is probably my favorite weird rhythm game; I may have to give BPM a try, sounds right up my alley!
DotAge. It’s a rogue-like turn-based strategy game where you try to build a village on cursed land, where you have visions of upcoming doom events and the eventual apocalypse. You have to balance stacking resources for growth and basic survival against efforts that will improve your chances of surviving doom events.
The board obviously is different every time. The factors you have to weigh and plan for are just complex enough, and just enough of the future is beyond your sight and control. The gameplay mechanics also change just a bit every time, due to a new mix of buildings and resource gathering methods, as well as new random events that can sometimes have a huge effect on your strategy. You’re not just accounting for randomness in your strategy–you have to adjust how you play the game all the time.
Just when you think the game is getting easy, the next chapter drops, you start doing the math, and realize you have overlooked something that may doom your village, depending on whether the RNG punishes you sufficiently. There’s definitely a big luck factor, as there is in real life. But you can make your own luck if you see far enough into the future and play well.
It’s a very well-made game that can run on a potato, and I’m a little obsessed with it.
Never heard of this and now I wanna give it a try!
Bought this game and forgot about it. Going to try it tonight thanks bro
Aotenjo Infinite Hands is like Balatro for mahjong. Strongly recommend it
I have just no capacity to judge what’s popular anymore, not sure i ever did.
There isn’t really a natural ‘popular,’ and almost never has been. It’s mostly just what’s marketed.
Not sure if this fits (because it had its moment and its assets are likely popular) but Jump Ultimate Stars for sure.
It is basically the dream of any Otaku materialized and sadly Shounen Jump hasn’t been able to top it yet, the more time it passes the more time I appreciate it 😁
For example I have played with Gon and Killua characters since 2009… But just until now I got to see the 2011 Hunter x Hunter adaptation and oh boy, knowing the characters just improve the experience!
An indie 3D platformer game from a couple years ago called Hell Pie. You’re a low-level demon who gets an angel chained to him, and you can use it to do things like spin him to launch yourself and swing on stuff. If you like classic 3D platformers and toilet humor, it’s really very good, and pretty novel.
I just looked at pictures and I fell in love with that artstyle I’ll add that too my list thx
For video games, The Touhou series.
Outside of the games They have alot of fangames/Fan Content ,a massive community and a popular Fan Song (Bad Apple).
Also Undertale/Deltarune has some inspiration from Touhou.RS isnt really popular outside millennials groups, although it’s declining a lot last few years
Runescape?
Ah, yes, Republika Srbska. The most dangerous game.
Wait…
