What we played: castles and ultra-cool action

October 4

Hello! Welcome back to our regular article where we write about some of the games we’ve played over the last few days. This week we’re dealing with castles, it seems. We visit one in real life and then we make a few in fantasyland. We also show our appreciation for the sheer coolness of a brand new, ultra-violent action game.

What have you played?

View older editions of this column in our archive What we played.

New Rules of Dungeons & Dragons, Tabletop

My obsession with Dungeons & Dragons continues, and there’s been a lot going on in that world lately. Number one: I went to a castle to play it. My partner and I drove all the way to a place called Brackenhill Tower, near Carlisle, pretty much on the Scottish border, to play two days of fairly heavy D&D, with our new Chaotic Questers group (shameless plug: we stream). It was nice to meet them in person and it was lovely to play in person rather than online – there is definitely a difference. However, the trip was somewhat tarnished by our car breaking down on the way back, leaving us stranded in Preston and having to be scrapped shortly afterwards. We rolled a natural roll.

The other big thing going on is that Dungeons & Dragons has evolved and a new version of the game has been released. Well, sort of. A new Player’s Handbook has come out, which is one of the core rules of the game, and tells you how to play, but without the new Dungeon Master’s Guide, which is coming out this month, and the new Monster Manual coming out early next year, I think, the The entire set of core rules is not complete. Nevertheless, we are in new territory, and I recently read through the 2024 Player’s Handbook with great enthusiasm. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed.

I think I was expecting a capital B: Big Change, even though I knew this was an iterative release and not a large-scale incremental change. People colloquially call it 5.5 edition D&D because it is not much different from 5th edition, which was launched 10 years ago. Nevertheless, I expected something: a moment. I think in retrospect I was looking for something akin to what we feel when a new video game comes out and everyone rushes in to find the answers, whatever they may be. That – that wave of discoveries: that’s what I wanted, but it wasn’t there. The new rules suddenly became normal.

I wonder if this will change with the release of the new DM guide. I know our group is holding off until then, because it’s kind of an incomplete transition without them, and because there are some bold new features in the DM Guide like Bastions – individual home bases – that can mix things up considerably. Maybe then I’ll feel a more noticeable difference. Or maybe I’m just expecting too much.

It’s still an exciting year, just maybe not as exciting as I thought.

-Bertie

I’m your beast, PC

I Am Your Beast is such a cool game, and I hate that description, but I honestly can’t think of a better game for it. I Am Your Beast is really damn cool.

It’s a fast-paced first-person slaughterfest with a comic book art style, and it’s seriously addictive. Let’s be clear: I’m not good at the game, and despite seeing that it can be completed in a few hours, I have yet to do so. I am also not ashamed to say that I have died a lot of. But you know what? I enjoy doing it so much that I actually have no problem with it.

In the game you play as a former special agent named Alphonse Harding, who, despite being retired, has been called in for one last job. He doesn’t take too kindly to this, but soon starts punching, shooting, kicking and blasting his way through throngs of soldiers in bite-sized speedrun levels set in a wintry wilderness.

It’s all so incredibly smooth. Harding can climb trees effortlessly, with gravity and endurance clearly not being an issue for him, before leaping down to land with a very pleasant squish on the head of a nearby enemy. Firing guns gives a sense of power, as Harding loses round after round in the advancing troops, and then when he’s done with the gun, he can hurl it at an enemy with equally impressive force. Then there’s that kicking thing I mentioned: I realize I sound sadistic when I say this, but it’s satisfying to see the damage a quick punch can do.

Like I said, I Am Your Beast is really cool.

-Victoria

Little Glade, PC

How could I not play this after Digital Foundry’s mesmerizing video featuring it? Not only that, but I don’t think I’ve ever been seen like this by a game – a relaxing game about building a castle in a clearing in the forest, in a clearing. Maybe I can play D&D there next time, wistful sigh.

Tiny Glade follows in the footsteps of games like Townscaper and Summerhouse, meaning it’s a gentle game about building things for the sake of building things, and making them look fun. There are no points or rules or threats or anything like that, just the allure and inherent satisfaction of making something, and then taking hundreds of photos of it so you can show it off; it’s not entirely healthy.

Because you can’t do much – your options are limited – a lot of emphasis is placed on making sure that the things you can do count. For example, placing a path is the first thing the game asks you to do. This should be a pleasure, and not awkward or annoying, because it is part of the overall toy. And it’s a joy, I mean. If you paint through a wall, a small arch will magically appear in it, and maybe some flowers will appear around it too. Open a window there and some vines will grow over it after it’s installed. Change the shape of a tower and bags of potatoes may appear at its base. The game lives in its building blocks and started the moment you did. It doesn’t wait for you to finish something. It is a toy that is all about the fun you get from it.

It’s beautifully intuitive. It’s beautiful.

-Bertie