I enjoy Dwarf Fortress. But I felt disconnected with my dwarves. Honestly, 80 dwarves in one fort, and I'm supposed to care about how my Baron feels?

Then I tried RimWorld. I got it October 20th of 2016. And. I pretty much played it for near 20 hour stretches. Until that Sunday night when I realized, "I have work on Monday."

My first colony was thrown together in something of a huff as I didn't know what I was really doing, but the game is very straightforward so once I figured things out (and the ingame helper is a nice touch, Devs. Kudos), I was grooving.

My two main colonists were a fighter and doctor, plus a crafter. They got along. All was well. Between the mining, expanding, animal taming, it all felt very easily managable. There were a few mistakes, but the colony thrived.

Until he came along. The pyromaniac. He would occassionally start fires, usually after being rebuffed by the good female doctor who had her eyes on someone else. Often this would lead to him being arrested and thrown into a cell. If the fires were set away from the compound, then that was fine.

It kept getting to the point everyone was tired of his abrasive attitude and having to put out his fires. Literally. His mood would always tank after the tribal and pirate raids, yet he seemed ecstatic when it came to lobbing his molotov cocktails at the would be attackers.

Then IT landed. An AI Core. The crafter had gone out to retrieve something, and that triggered the core. Out slothed a slow moving, minigun armed slug. Everyone went on alert and was ready to fight, armed with the pistol, rifle, and knife that remained. The fighter died in a hail of bullets. He died. Blown literally into pieces infront of the good doctor. She went berserk, broken at the sight of her lover ripped to pieces. For all of the 5 seconds of rage the slug allowed before she was mowed down as well.

The crafter turned tail and ran. Fear had overtaken him. He dashed into the recesses of the compound. The pyro had long since lost his mind, laughing and setting fires, about the colony, then in the compound. The first to burn up were the dearly dismembered lovers. The crafter tried to fight back the impending flames by was consumed.

As the slug advanced, our moronic miscreant looked to the slug, then back to the flames... It was a simple choice in his mind. The loving, warm embrace of a firey death. The single thing he loved more than anything else in his life. A deep laugh emanting from the depth of his core as he leapt into the raging inferno.




.... Meanwhile I'm sitting here watching this all unfold sipping a red bull like, "... THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME." Rolled another colony and was up till 5:30am the next day still playing. This repeated ad nasuem all weekend in a variety of scenarios, now enabled by some mods, because hey, themed plays are fun. Especially the Cannibal Run. Oh man. That was... That was really bad.

Then monday morning I show up to work looking like I'd been partying all weekend: "Dude are you okay? You sound like ♥♥♥♥. How much did you drink?" "... Rimworld." "Huh?" "... I was playing RimWorld. All weekend." "Oh. Is that a game?" "Yeah." "S'it any good?" "... Yes. Yes it is very good."

So that's my review of RimWorld. The first game I have played in the last 10 years that has managed to keep me up past 2am (when I usually pass out), through consecutive days without any pings of boredom or tedium. That hasn't happened in a very long time.

Now if you'll excuse me? I have to plan out my Squirrel God playthrough. A mad human colonist with a bomb in his head, and ascetic tastes for squirrels. To raise them, to eat them, to create and command an army of them. And DEATH. DEATH TO ALL WHO OPPOSE US!! .... Maybe he'll let in the occassional boom rat. We'll see. Either way we're gonna have a lot of fun, am I right? :D

I enjoy Dwarf Fortress. But I felt disconnected with my dwarves. Honestly, 80 dwarves in one fort, and I'm supposed to care about how my Baron feels? Then I tried RimWorld. I got it October 20th of 2016. And. I pretty much played it for near 20 hour stretches. Until that Sunday night when I realized, "I have work on Monday." My first colony was thrown together in something of a huff as I didn't know what I was really doing, but the game is very straightforward so once I figured things out (and the ingame helper is a nice touch, Devs. Kudos), I was grooving. My two main colonists were a fighter and doctor, plus a crafter. They got along. All was well. Between the mining, expanding, animal taming, it all felt very easily managable. There were a few mistakes, but the colony thrived. Until he came along. The pyromaniac. He would occassionally start fires, usually after being rebuffed by the good female doctor who had her eyes on someone else. Often this would lead to him being arrested and thrown into a cell. If the fires were set away from the compound, then that was fine. It kept getting to the point everyone was tired of his abrasive attitude and having to put out his fires. Literally. His mood would always tank after the tribal and pirate raids, yet he seemed ecstatic when it came to lobbing his molotov cocktails at the would be attackers. Then IT landed. An AI Core. The crafter had gone out to retrieve something, and that triggered the core. Out slothed a slow moving, minigun armed slug. Everyone went on alert and was ready to fight, armed with the pistol, rifle, and knife that remained. The fighter died in a hail of bullets. He died. Blown literally into pieces infront of the good doctor. She went berserk, broken at the sight of her lover ripped to pieces. For all of the 5 seconds of rage the slug allowed before she was mowed down as well. The crafter turned tail and ran. Fear had overtaken him. He dashed into the recesses of the compound. The pyro had long since lost his mind, laughing and setting fires, about the colony, then in the compound. The first to burn up were the dearly dismembered lovers. The crafter tried to fight back the impending flames by was consumed. As the slug advanced, our moronic miscreant looked to the slug, then back to the flames... It was a simple choice in his mind. The loving, warm embrace of a firey death. The single thing he loved more than anything else in his life. A deep laugh emanting from the depth of his core as he leapt into the raging inferno. .... Meanwhile I'm sitting here watching this all unfold sipping a red bull like, "... THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME." Rolled another colony and was up till 5:30am the next day still playing. This repeated ad nasuem all weekend in a variety of scenarios, now enabled by some mods, because hey, themed plays are fun. Especially the Cannibal Run. Oh man. That was... That was really bad. Then monday morning I show up to work looking like I'd been partying all weekend: "Dude are you okay? You sound like shit. How much did you drink?" "... Rimworld." "Huh?" "... I was playing RimWorld. All weekend." "Oh. Is that a game?" "Yeah." "S'it any good?" "... Yes. Yes it is very good." So that's my review of RimWorld. The first game I have played in the last 10 years that has managed to keep me up past 2am (when I usually pass out), through consecutive days without any pings of boredom or tedium. That hasn't happened in a very long time. Now if you'll excuse me? I have to plan out my Squirrel God playthrough. A mad human colonist with a bomb in his head, and ascetic tastes for squirrels. To raise them, to eat them, to create and command an army of them. And DEATH. DEATH TO ALL WHO OPPOSE US!! .... Maybe he'll let in the occassional boom rat. We'll see. Either way we're gonna have a lot of fun, am I right? :D