Sunshine Revival time. I’ll go back to challenge 5 when my brain is better and not… whatever it has been these past days.

Challenge #6

Journaling prompt: What games do you play, if any? Are you a solo-gamer or do you view games as a social activity?
Creative prompt: Write a story/fic around the theme "game night".

Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

It’s been forever since I’ve played a board game, though I did get a few I backed on kickstarter that can be played alone so I might have to play one of them at some point, though the heat and my brain has defeated my intent to try them.

So mostly I play video games instead.

Daily I usually play these
*Magic Arena - which is the app version of Magic The Gathering which is pretty good and I have fun with, though some of the daily quests can be frustrating. (The current pass is Final Fantasy so if you’re into that there’s lots of stuff to do with it). I just wish it had more deck slots
*Marvel Snap - another app card game this with Marvel which is fun and has nice art, though again deck slots are an issue. Currently there’s a Fantastic Four pass for it, and I just got the new Human Torch based on the new film
*Fortnite - which I go on to do dailies and current am trying to finish the battle pass (again, superhero themed)
*A Little To The Left - this has a mode called a daily tidy where each day there’s a new puzzle. I’ve been doing them for over a year now even though I’ve not finished the actual main game’s puzzles

I’ve also done a few games lately, namely Star Wras Outlaws dlc, Still Wakes The Deep dlc and Dredge (and some of its dlc). (I’ve talked about all these recently, just check out the game thoughts tag)

However the main thing I’ve been playing the past few days is the new Donkey Kong Bananza game. So I figure I’d focus my response on that.

So when it got announced on the switch 2 trailer I was a little uncertain about it. Sure it looked really good but DK running around smashing things didn’t feel too interesting. The direct on it did convince me though so I decided to pick it up when it came out.

Honestly? It’s really fun. It’s bright and colourful and it does look really great. And the running around smashing things is actually really fun! You can dig underground and make tunnels, plus you can find fossils which you use on cosmetics. (Currently I have Donkey Kong with purple fur!)

The basic premise of the game is you’re going underground and each layer is a different ‘world’. (I dunno why each layer does have a sky despite being underground, mayeb that’ll get explained later I dunno). The first layer was a lagoon, the second hills and the third (which I’m currently on) is a canyon. Your goal is to keep going down, chasing after a bunch of bad guys before they get to the planet core (and whenever it gets mentioned I thought of Episode I).

I really like the games npcs, at first there’s monkeys in scavenger outfits, but there’s also cute lil eel things and fractones which are these strange rock people. There’s also some fractones that are like giraffes which is fun. I’m looking forward to seeing what other npcs will be. (Because honestly a big thing for me and games like this is npcs)

Each layer so far has a main ‘goal’ but you can also run around hunting for collectibles such as the aforementioned fossils and also banana gems. Plus there’s these short levels which are a bit like shrines from Zelda in that they are self contained things you do for bananas. (And at least one is styled after the old school side scrolling donkey Kong).

There’s a lot to do and I feel I’ve not even scratched the surface (I’ve no idea how many layers there are and I kinda don’t wanna look it up to find out).

If I have one criticism it’s. Cause of the direct itself. In the first trailer you’re shown to find a strnage talking stone that becomes your companion. It’s a cute thing that follows you around, but at the end of the first layer it’s revealed to actually be a person, Pauline. This is revealed in the direct and I kinda wish it wasn’t cause it would’ve made the reveal more impactful (but I scan understand why cause you couldn’t exactly show much of the game without it).

And damn I will rambled there. But yeah it’s a great game so far and I am really enjoying it. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next layer is gonna be cause it feels like I’ll be close soon. (Though that might be tomorrow)

I leave with a lil eel guy