It’s been awhile since I did a good ol’ Rad Listed! For the uninitiated, Rad listed is a nice short write up, where I write up a quick few sentences about every game I’ve been playing lately with some quick anecdotes. This time, we have quite a lineup, and I even wanted to touch on a couple board games I’ve been really into lately, too!

Without further ado, here are the games I’ve been playing lately:

God of War

Wow… just… wow! The new iteration to the long dormant God of War series is such a masterpiece! I’ve been having a blast, and the story has me completely sucked in. Kratos isn’t the same man as you remember him, and has cast the ‘chains’ of his previous egomaniacal, chauvinistic self. He now has a son– a son he isn’t sure how to raise properly. If you have a PS4 and you haven’t picked up this game yet, you really should– you won’t be disappointed! Check out my woot post from last week here: https://www.chatswithrad.com/2018/04/19/woot-wednesday-god-of-war/

World of Warcraft

This is the longest stint I’ve managed to continually play a World of Warcraft expansion without quitting halfway through. Usually, I just find myself getting burned out, and then it takes the allure of a new expansion to pull me in. The Legion expansion has been pretty solid, and my dedication to this expansion is mostly because we have built up a fun community of players, which drives me to stick around. I am getting a bit burned out, though, and I’m looking forward to the new expansion: Battle for Azeroth! If you want to get hyped watch the trailer for it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSJr3dXZfcg

Stardew Valley

‘Time Vampire’ only begins to describe Stardew Valley, a game where you always tell yourself ‘just one more day’ and then find yourself playing far too late into the night! Stardew Valley is a fun and relaxing game that’s about getting to know the new town you’re living in and building your farm from the ground up. As seasons come and go, you grow different crops and produce different types of products, my favorite being the beer I make out of the wheat I plant and gather. To break up the calm nature, there’s dungeon crawling in the form of a mine, that offers old-school Zelda combat. Stardew Valley is a great game, and you can find it on just about everything nowadays. Here’s a gameplay video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A7A1X1TVNc

Vermintide 2

Vermintide 2 wasn’t even on my radar until a friend of mine told me about it. Remember Left 4 Dead? Think that, but instead of zombies, you’ve got giant murderous rats and barbarians by the hundreds. The difference between this and Left 4 Dead is that there’s some gear and leveling progression, along with a sword and sorcery vibe. We’ve been having a blast with it and just started becoming successful on the second hardest difficulty (Champion). If you’re curious, here’s a good gameplay video showing it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXGAYTNcSTw

Kenshi

I don’t have too much to say about Kenshi just yet, since I’ve only dabbled with it for about an hour or so. The game is very, very unique, and I look forward to diving deeper into it. It’s an RPG mixed with strategy and building elements; however, the difficulty is pretty dang brutal.  But, you can become a leader of a pretty formidable force if you play your cards right. I’ll have an update on this game once I get in more time. Here’s a trailer on it that explains it pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTCW10GGGZo

Sheriff of Nottingham

Sometimes, I like to shake it up a bit and get into talking about board games! I was recently introduced to Sheriff of Nottingham, which is a fantastic game that encourages bluffing, lying, and deceptive role-playing. In this game, everyone is a merchant attempting to bring as much to market as possible, be it legitimately or by means of smuggling illegal goods. The object is to bring in the most money; however, the twist is, each turn, someone gets a chance to be the sheriff, who may or may not search your pouch for contraband. It’s a fun game of deception and trickery. Here’s a fun video explaining the game and a play session of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG0zfMslfQs

Zombicide: Green Horde

I kickstarted Zombicide: Green Horde a little over a year ago and finally received it a couple months ago. Of all the big board games I’ve purchased, this has been played the most, despite only having it a little while.  I’ve played it several times already– no one can get enough of it! The game is basically an RPG, loot-driven, zombie survival game, where your survivors will find gear and gain experience. But, as your survivors level up, so does the intensity of the ensuing zombie horde! The object of the game varies from quest to quest, but tends to involve finding objectives somewhere on the game board and taking it back to another objective. Oh, and did I mention there’s a trebuchet? If this sounds interesting, you can find a good video of it being explained and played here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dFrTgYgkbQ

What are the games you’ve been playing recently?