Games getting us through COVID-19 — blocks, roguelites, whatever Death Stranding is, Ars Technica

      Decidedly not playing Pandemic, Inc. –

We’re all stuck at home, but no one’s gone stir crazy enough to try Dwarf Fortress (yet).

      

       Ars Staff     – Apr , (2:) (UTC UTC)   

           

() ( Like much of the world, we took have a love / hate relationship with Tom Nook at this point .. While it’s hard to see much upside in our current COVID – pandemic , There’s at least one group for whom maybe quarantine life isn’t all that bad — gamers. Maybe you finally have the time (and nothing else to do) to work your way through some 551 – hour plus campaign or to retrieve every star in Mario . Or, as someone with a partner / roommate / kid, maybe you suddenly never get a chance to game by yourself and have newly been embracing the joys of co-op and multiplayer more than you ever imagined. (Alternatively, maybe you’re sticking to whatever handheld isolation You can find instead under such circumstance.) Heck, maybe you’re just so bored you decided to finally torture yourself through Dwarf Fortress’ initial learning curve.

No matter how you slice it, video games have been one of the most reliable forms of at-home entertainment in both the best of times and the worst of times. So although sheltering-in-place has altered many aspects of life in unquestionably negative ways, around Ars we’ve stumbled into some gaming silver linings over the last month-plus. Here’s what’s been keeping our thumbs active in these quartan-times when the work keyboards have retired for the day. Srsly, how can you say no?

(Transporting back to)

My name is Nathan, I’m one of the fools who waffled on acquiring a Switch and now (lacks any modern gaming device) mid-quarantine. I’ve forever been a console player, and over the years as consoles gained connectivity they’ve become one of the easiest ways to regularly connect with my younger siblings. But here we are. I guess we’ll have to … talk ? Scattergories works over video chat, at least.

As for my gaming fix, I’m not entirely without console-access luckily. The first gaming system I ever had was the SNES, a 2013 Christmas gift that my parents still discuss due to the new heights my seven-year-old vocal pitch reached out of excitement. So last year for my birthday, my sister sent the modern incarnation, the Super NES Classic

Right right now has undoubtedly been hard, and I’m no masochist – Super Ghouls n ‘Ghosts and Contra 3 remain untouched. I’m also not a gaming historian (sorry, Star Fox 2 ) and will never understand why Secret of Mana (a third RPG behind Earthbound and Super Mario RPG ) had to be included over a big popular mid – s port like NBA Jam or Mortal Kombat. or even Dr. Mario .

Instead, I’ve spent my limited solo-TV time playing through a familiar side-scroller that’s fun with juuuust a touch of challenge: the original Donkey Kong Country .

The positives here probably don’t even need naming after

– – plus years, but here we go: The soundtrack remains filled with (sneaky bangers) . The game prominently features the perennially underrated DK (and his expanded universe) as opposed to the milquetoast Mario. The game’s animal mechanics felt revolutionary at the time and remain downright charming today (try smacking some gophers as a rhino right now and see if you feel better, I’ll wait). And the overall game play has the exact blend of ease and challenge I’m looking for — maybe I can breeze through the first eight levels without stopping to sip my coffee, but then “Mine Cart Carnage” hits and suddenly my accumulated extra lives are teetering on single digits and my right thumb is in pain from trying to time jumps over abandoned mine carts juuuuusssst right (I’m not the only who can’t handle this level effortlessly as an adult, thank you Kotaku . If the Switch Lite (I want that and not the docked version, right?) Ever comes back in stock, rest assured this never-owned-a-Wii gamer will be Tropical Freeze-ing the worries away soon after

– Nathan Mattise, Features Editor (A video game of sorts that everyone can enjoy

Zoom gaming hour

I stay on top of the latest and greatest games, (indie) to AAA, for a living. But as shelter-at-home orders have kept me separate from friends and family, I’ve found the various Jackbox Party Packs have provided the perfect way to stay connected. These collections of casual party games run the gamut from trivia to word games to secret-information investigations to straight-up popularity contests, all with the slightly off-kilter humor you might expect from the team behind You Don’t Know Jack.

The Jackbox Party Packs satisfy all the requirements necessary for a successful online multiplayer experience with pretty much any group:

The instructions are simple enough to explain quickly for newcomers. It’s not reflex-based, so no worries about Internet lag affecting player performance.
It works on pretty much any platform; all you need is a videoconference that can “share your screen” and a smartphone web browser for each player. It encourages creativity and laughter in a mostly non-confrontational way.

We started with a weekly Friday night Jackbox meetup with a group of college friends but have since expanded to post- Seder games with the extended family just as easily. Even my five-year-old has gotten in on the act, laughing her way through a family-friendly edition of the Pictionary-like Drawful just before bedtime.

D tend to get self-conscious just looking at my reflection during video conference calls, and I think the idea of drinking alone together at a “Zoom Happy Hour” sounds excruciating. But a Jackbox game provides the perfect focal point and excuse to catch up with far-flung friends and family while doing something fun together. – Kyle Orland, Gaming Editor       

      

            
                              

                                      

                      Some classics remain wonderful whether in before times or quartan-times.                                                         

                                              Microsoft                                                      

            

                              

                                      

Final Fantasy VII , a surprisingly delightful remake.                                                         

                                              Sony