Art Games

Art Puzzle is like other art games because each level depicts a different piece of art. The levels highlight all sorts of various artistic styles. Honestly, all the art is spectacular—top-quality art pieces with many different styles. My favorite are tableaus with unique perspectives that look in at a scene in a way that makes the viewer think. Every art puzzle I’ve completed could be on the wall in a museum somewhere. But I think the company works with artists who submit their artwork for the game.

Puzzle Games

Art Puzzle is similar to other puzzle games because the player is piecing together a puzzle. It’s not a jigsaw puzzle, though. Instead, each piece makes up part of the tableau. Maybe it’s the ocean in the background or tiny islands dotted with farmland and sheep. Maybe the picture depicts a castle’s spire or a stairway winding down a crowded urban street. Each little piece of the puzzle has its place.

As the level starts, all a player sees are tiny hints of where the shapes go. In the example image below, the player starts the level tasked with finding the parts of the staircase. Sometimes the parts are obvious, but other times it can be an obscure part of the puzzle or just a subtle hint of the shape of the piece. For example, in the picture below, there is also a plant behind the staircase, with only a hint of the leaf being shown.

A puzzle is divided into stages. As players find the different pieces for each stage, the progress bar fills until all the pieces for that stage are placed. After the stage is completed, a new part of the puzzle is revealed. Occasionally, an ad is played after a stage of the puzzle. The ads are usually skippable after just a few seconds. Players progress through the stages until they complete the puzzle in its entirety.

Challenge

If it seems like Art Puzzle would be a breeze to play, don’t be fooled. This mobile puzzle app can be super challenging sometimes, too! Most of the time, a player can pick their way through. However, some levels will put their minds to the test.

Some levels have lots of pieces. Pieces of the puzzle can be tiny or fit in their spot in an obscure way. Sometimes, the perspective of the art piece makes visualizing how the pieces will go together challenging.

Be prepared for a challenge is all I am saying. You can watch a short advertisement for a hint. I definitely needed hints on several levels!

Advertisements

Speaking of mobile game ads, I’ll pause here to take a moment to laude Easybrain, the company behind Art Puzzle. Watching ads is how free players “pay” to play a game. Companies are trying to generate revenue, after all.

Other games: Advertisement HELL

But if I were to ask you to name a game whose heavy-handed advertisements kill all the enjoyment, I bet you could name a lot of games. I’ve uninstalled numerous mobile games because they had too many obtrusive ads. If the mobile game itself is enjoyable, but the number of advertisements simply makes the game unplayable or not fun, you’re doing it wrong.

Art Puzzle: Ideal Advertisement Placement

Art Puzzle is NOT like that. Advertisements in Art Puzzle are unobtrusive and well-integrated into the gameplay. Ads will play after some stages within a level. After every few levels, another ad will show. But ads are not shown after every stage or level at all. Sometimes, five stages will go in between ads. You are not forced to watch the entire ad, either. Ads are generally skippable after a very short time. But there isn’t an ad after every single level, something I appreciate so, so much. You can also watch a full advert to gain a much-needed hint if you get stuck!

Storyline

The initial levels of Art Puzzle follow a storyline. According to company feedback on Art Puzzle’s Google Play page, the game does this to introduce players to the gameplay and how levels progress.

Easybrain says:

Hi! The initial storylines you mentioned are designed to introduce players to the game, but the full narrative may not always be presented in a continuous way. After a certain point, the game shifts to more random levels.

While I appreciated the introduction and enjoyed the storyline levels, I prefer random puzzles with various art pieces to a continuous storyline. Once I finished the storyline levels, I started enjoying the game more. Random is better because there is such a wide variety in the art styles that staying with one limits the game’s potential too much.

As it is now, the introductory storyline levels in Art Puzzle end abruptly, with no clear message that lets players know they’ve reached the end of the story. I think a bit of fanfare would help clarify things for players. The developers could eliminate confusion by including something that marks “The End” of the storyline levels.

Delineation

Some sort of announcement would clarify things for players who were unclear about how the game is structured. It wouldn’t have to be much; it could be something as simple as a message congratulating players for completing the introductory levels. Then, the developers could clearly communicate to players that they have completed the storyline section of the game, and from now on, the levels they’ll play will feature random art puzzles.

Beautiful Art

Art Puzzle is full of breathtaking art that players get to put together as puzzles. I especially love levels where the background of the piece is completed first. Then, as the player completes the puzzle, the foreground covers the background. It helps me envision the piece as a fully 3D landscape, like it’s real instead of a 2D tableau. I like imagining things just around the corner of a building in the foreground as if they exist and are not just in a painting.

Events and Daily Challenges

Art Puzzle features daily challenges and events. Each day of the month, there are daily challenge levels. Completing all of these levels for the month nets players a trophy. The game features regular events, where players complete themed and special levels to fill up a punch card type thing. The art for these special levels are themed for whatever the holiday is: St. Patrick’s Day had lots of green and leprechauns, the Easter event has Easter related things, and so on.

Secret Levels

Each level that players complete contributes to an overall daily goal. Completing all the daily goals unlocks secret levels. The goals vary: Some days, one goal is to use a hint to complete a level. On other days, the goal is to not use a hint. Some days require a certain number of puzzle pieces or completing a certain number of levels. Secret levels can be challenging to access; there are many days I don’t complete all the required things before time runs out.

Where to Download Art Puzzle

Art Puzzle is available on iOS and Android. Download the app from the marketplace for those respective operating systems.

Other Art Games Like Art Puzzle

From the video promo on the Google Play store the mobile game Art Story by Hyper Cats Studio seems like a clone of Art Puzzle. But reading the reviews makes me think it’s not exactly like Art Puzzle. This mobile game seems to be focused on stories, and you put together tableaus that depict scenes from various classical stories. Reviews are mixed on this game, and I have not played it, so I may update this section once I check it out.

Art of Puzzles by ZiMad combines art, hidden pictures, and sticker book games to create a unique puzzle experience. This game seems interesting. The art style appears more computer graphics-focused and cartoony than Art Puzzle. But this game has some of the same elements as Art Puzzle.

Other Puzzle Games like Art Puzzle

If you seek a more traditional jigsaw puzzle mobile gaming experience, perhaps a game like Jigsawscapes might appeal. This game boasts over 30k jigsaw puzzles to solve.

You might also like a nonogram-type puzzle mobile game. The art style in the nonogram puzzle game Two Eyes is so pretty.

Other Gaming Posts

I’m fae and I write about games that I enjoy playing. I play video games on PS5, Switch, and I also enjoy playing mobile games. Check out my other posts and stick around for a while!

The post Art Puzzle by Easybrain: A Positive Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Officially Annoyed

I downloaded the Bus Out game after I saw it advertised on one of my other mobile games. It sounded like a fun, time-wasting sort of game. I like puzzles like this. But I’m officially annoyed with it.

Why Annoyed, You Ask?

The game is made so users are forced to watch videos to beat levels.

What Happens?

The passenger queue will be moving and buses will be filling up. The player has to be strategic to free the buses when they are needed. Then, a single passenger of a new color will be in the queue. And in order to proceed, the game prompts the player to watch a video to unlock an extra parking space for that color bus. I’ve tried levels repeatedly to avoid having to watch a long, annoying advertisement, but continuously encounter a place where it’s necessary. I’m convinced that the levels are designed specifically so the player has to watch the ads or spend real money in order to beat them.

So, it’s not really a game.

Question: Game developer, is the Bus Out game an advertising platform or a mobile game? Hmmm?

So while Bus Out’s gameplay is entertaining, it is an advertising platform disguised as a game.

Annoying Ads

What’s worse, the ads run on Bus Out are the quintessential annoying mobile app ads that show gameplay from a game that is completely different when you actually download the game, the game is nothing like the ad.

Gossip Harbor and Seaside Escape = Same Game?

Two different games ads currently run on Bus Out’s ad rotation that are clones of each other. The games are blatantly running the same ads for differently named games. This is so annoying!

How do I know the game is nothing like the ads? I played one of the games, Seaside Escape, for a while before I got bored with it.

And there’s nothing in Seaside Escape like the ads where the players rescue some lady from an abusive boyfriend and fix up her shack saving her and her homeless kid from the freezing streets. Seaside Escape has a tropical setting for Pete’s sake, where’s all that snow supposed to be coming from?

Gossip Harbor DOES feature the characters from the game ads, but both Seaside Escape ads and Gossip Harbor ads run with the same game characters and misleading gameplay.

Both Games are Merge Games, BTW

Can’t Skip Ads After 10 Seconds

Many other mobile games I play allow users to bypass ads after watching the ad for a certain number of seconds. I don’t mind that sort of situation as much. I understand that mobile game companies need to make revenue to stay afloat. But ugh, people, let us skip the ads after a shorter amount of time.

When You Press the X…

Another gripe I have with mobile games is how when you finally get the >> or X button to get back to your game, it often starts a cycle where you press the button but the game download screen comes up repeatedly. Do they really think that annoying people with their ads is the way to get people to download them? Spoiler alert: It’s not!

Bus Out Gives No Rewards

Another thing Bus Out does not do is award the power-ups that allow players to shuffle the board. I’m actually not sure how to buy them because nothing happens when I click on them. It takes me to the page where you can purchase coins but I don’t see an interface where you can exchange coins with the tools. So again, the game is funneling users into watching the ads in order to get past points in levels where they will otherwise fail the level.

Update!! Critical Security Issue

Update as of February 2025. I’ve kept playing this game, even though many of the issues I mentioned in this post stand. But a new and more troubling issue has popped up, literally, in the last few days.

What happens is that while playing a level, a popup will force-open and navigate to a highly suspicious-looking website that seems like a malware scan but it’s not. This highly suspect site tells you to buy their software because your phone is infected with a virus. But my phone is not infected. It’s an iPhone. So this knocks Bus Out way, way down in my books. Like, off the page down.

I’m officially not playing it until they fix this issue. This pop-up to a scam website is a critical security issue. Even if it’s happening through their advertising network integration, the popup advert is a deal-breaker.

I cannot continue to play this game with this current issue. It is too suspicious. And I cannot recommend you play it either.

So.. Bus Out is a FAIL

That’s just shady business, as far as I am concerned. So as much as I enjoy playing a game like Bus Out, I love the puzzle aspect of Bus Out, I cannot recommend this game. If they were to address some of these issues and make the game less of an obvious marketing platform/money grab I might reconsider.

You can download Bus Out on the Apple App Store and on Google Play Store. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Gaming

I write about gaming frequently here at Fae’s Journal. You might be interested in some related posts.

The post Bus Out Game appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

What is the Bronze Age Collapse?

Archaeologists and Anthropologists will tell you that the Bronze Age Collapse is one of the greatest periods in history that no one knows about. But plenty of people do. A quick YouTube search will pull up hundreds of videos detailing this time period. I am fascinated with it.

So what is it?

The Bronze Age Collapse, occurring from about 1200 BCE to 1150 BCE, was a culmination of events that caused the demise of many historic and once mighty societies. Multiple forces played into the collapse: environmental changes that caused drought and famine, invasions and/or migrations of people namely the Sea Peoples, the destruction of major population centers and historic cities, and disruptions to historic trade routes that caused bronze production to plummet.

Whole civilizations disappeared, written languages were forgotten, and after, the world was thrown into a dark age while whoever was left tried to pick up the pieces of their world and put it back together. It’s wild stuff.

Who are the players here?

The Hittites, Greeks, Babylonians, Egyptians, Assyrians, and all the other interconnected kingdoms of the day were all involved. Some of them survived, in some form. Others completely collapsed.

Why Did the Bronze Age Collapse Happen?

People far more educated than I have so many resources available that I am not qualified to explain the details. I am not a historian, just someone who loves history.

Warfare Changed

Armies emerged that fought with swords instead of spears so they could take on chariots, the tanks of that time.

Sea Peoples

The Sea Peoples were groups of people appearing from mysterious places across the sea. They arrived to burn cities, invade, and cause mass destruction all over the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Historians now think these people might have been running from drought and famine of their own.

Climate Change

Drought peppered the landscape, and once flourishing farms dried up to dust. This could have been happening for centuries before it was collapse time, but all of a sudden within a few generations the lands that were once fertile and lush were no longer productive.

Fascinating

The fall of civilizations is a fascinating topic that people devote their entire careers studying. And this particular societal collapse doesn’t just encompass the fall of one society, but an entire network of great civilizations that had been around for centuries, all terminating in this one cataclysmic time period. It’s a super interesting point in history to set a story.

Enter Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s Creed is an incredible IP that can be a launching point for someone to get really into history. I’m talking about myself. I have always found history to be interesting but Assassin’s Creed does something really compelling: It immerses you into the history as part of the gameplay. This makes you feel like you’re a part of the history. You’re surrounded by it. You’re listening to the sounds of the people around you, you’re looking at the markets, the landscapes, the outfits, the people. To me, Assassin’s Creed makes history come alive in a way that just telling a story cannot. And through that immersion, deeply impactful stories can be lived, not just listened to.

And this time period? The Bronze Age Collapse? Legit thousands of stories could be told.

Would this be too similar to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey? Origins?

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey takes place during the Peloponnesian War from 431-422 BCE. Origins takes place in Ptolemaic Egypt from 49 to 38 BCE. The Bronze Age Collapse occurred from 1200 BCE to 1150 BCE, more than 600 years before the time explored in AC Odyssey and a millennia before Origins.

Why Go Back to the Mediterranean?

This region of the world was the birthplace of great civilizations, and there’s so much incredible history to be spun here.

Assassin’s Creed is Alternative History, Remember?

Sure, sure. I get that the people at Ubisoft take real history, and weave some fiction through it to tell their own stories. That’s part of why the IP is a game and not a history software. But what they can do is bigger than that. I have learned an incredible amount of actual history from each AC game that I have played, from the Borgia Italy with the Ezio Trilogy to the French Revolution (bonus: I played the game in French so it was incredible, let me tell you), to the Peloponnesian War. I have immersed myself in both the fiction of the Assassin’s Creed world AND the real history through each game. And I think they could do so, so much with the Bronze Age Collapse.

Ubisoft Knows the Potential

Ubisoft knows how much potential their games have to get people to learn real history. I loved the part in Origins that let you walk around and learn about Alexandria, etc from a purely historical standpoint, with no violence or hidden blading people (though I love that part of the game too!)

In 2023 Ubisoft partnered with the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford England to explore Odyssey’s depiction of Knossos and the Labyrinth of King Minos and the myth of the Minotaur:

Visit the island of Crete in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and you’ll encounter the ancient (even by Kassandra’s standards) Knossos, one of the oldest documented Greek settlements. Excavated by Sir Arthur Evans in the early 20th century, Knossos was home to the Minoans, a civilization of Greeks that came and went more than 1,000 years before the events of Odyssey. Venture underneath the ancient palace as Kassandra or Alexios, and you’ll uncover the fabled Labyrinth of King Minos, where he hid the mythical Minotaur. While this might be where Odyssey begins to divert from history, the Labyrinth and Minotaur, like most myths, is rooted in reality. In fact, the myth is the subject of the current exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, Labyrinth: Knossos, Myth & Reality.

The museum featured an area with Ubisoft’s depiction of the Minoan palace projected on a screen and an interactive display to explore the area. This wasn’t the first time Ubisoft has hammered into the historical elements in their stories and partnered with museums, they also had a partnership with the British Library for an Alexander the Great exhibition.

A Plea to Ubisoft

So there you have it. Ubisoft people, Assassin’s Creed development teams, please! Think about this idea, it’d be so freaking cool!

Also, one more thing. Is Ubisoft Quebec really where most of the AC games are made? C’est pas juste, ça! Je parle français, je voudrais travailler avec eux!!!

The post Bronze Age Collapse: Assassin’s Creed Idea appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Since childhood I have been into city building games, strategy games and Songs of Syx is like a good melange of those two things. Perfect.

City Builder / Base Building Heaven

This game has everything that makes me hyper-fixate on a game. It’s a genre of game that makes me spend countless hours obsessing over the small details of my city. What is this game, you ask?

Blurb from songsofsyx.com

Songs of Syx is a retro base/city builder inspired by “Pharaoh”, “Dungeon Keeper”, and “Rome Total War”. It aims at fusing those genres, while also adding to the experience. Its uniqueness comes from having huge populations, while still simulating each individual in great detail and providing big maps with 1:1 scale buildings. It’s set in a low-fantasy universe and the gameplay is mostly automated where you let the AI do the mundane tasks, while you focus on greater, more kingly things.

The game can be downloaded and played for free. You’ll find the free version on itch.io or on steam (demo). It’s not limited in any way other than being 3-6 months behind the payed version in terms of development. If you like it and have the means, consider purchasing it to support development. In any case, don’t forget to join the a community to follow development and bombard us with suggestions.

Inspired by

While Pharoah and Dungeon Keeper are named as inspiration, to me this game is most like Dwarf Fortress or Rimworld in its ability to micromanage large populations to make a working city.

Start off Small

Early-game can be a struggle. You start off small and have to build up to everything. There are research trees that have to be unlocked so you can build all the types of buildings you need to build the various components your citizens need to be safe, comfortable, and content in life. And boy, do they end up needing a bunch of stuff! You can grow your empire on the world map and have shipments of goods heading to your capital while you build your army up and besiege your enemies. Or you can focus on making a functional society that produces a lot of its own goods in-house.

Game-play in Songs of Syx

Food

You have several options for food production for your citizens. Each species of citizen has a food preference so if you want a society with people from all species in your city you should have a variety of foods available. For example, the Cretonians are vegetarians and don’t want meat. The Amevias like fish, the Garthimis like meat.

In-game, you get food from farming, animal husbandry, fishing, hunting, or from refining raw materials into food or drink.

Farming

You can farm a variety of crops for food, fiber, and medicine for your citizens. Fruit, vegetables, grain, cotton, opiates, and herbs are available to farm in-game. To farm opiates you have to unlock that skill in the research tree. Fruit and veg can be consumed fresh from the field, but grain is refined into bread or brewed into alcohol. Fruit can also be made into alcohol. Cotton is woven into fabric for clothing. Herbs are used to preserve food for rations.

Animal Husbandry

Animals are domesticated and kept as livestock. Aurochs look like cattle and produce meat, leather along with the livestock resource that is used to make more fields of livestock (I sort of think of this resource like baby animals in a box). Entelodont are like hogs and produce meat. Globdiens look like lizards and produce eggs and meat. Onx look like sheep or goats and produce cotton and meat. Balticrawlers are the strangest of all the animals that can be farmed. They look like maggots and Garthimis farm them (or Argonosh).

Mining

Mines are important to source raw materials. Many things can be mined for resources. It is possible to mine stone, clay, coal, (iron) ore, gems and sithilon. Use stone to make buildings and as a construction resource. Fancier goods require cute stone. Use clay to make pottery. Weaponry requires coal and ore made into metal bars. Ore is a component for a ton of things. Make jewelry with gems. Sithilon is a rare resource that is useful for trading and some species are really obsessed with it. Looking at you, Dondorians.

Refining

Raw materials often need to be refined into usable components for other things. Grain is refined into bread, cotton is refined into cloth, grain and fruit are refined into alcohol, and ore is refined into metal. You can also refine wood into charcoal if you do not have coal deposits handy.

Crafting

One you have raw materials and refined materials, it’s time to craft more specialized goods that your citizens need to live comfortably and succeed in the geo-political sphere that you find yourself in. In the Bowyer you produce bows, Carpenters produce furniture and at some level you can make warhammers and shields, jewelry is produced at the Jeweler, cut stone is produced at the Masonry shop. Mechanics make machinery, paper is made at the Papermaker, rations at the Rationmaker. Smithys produce your weapons, tools, and Tailors make clothes.

Logistics

You also have to move all these goods around and store them. This can be one of the most challenging parts of the game to balance. Warehouses have to collect goods around them. Version 66 which I am currently running has managed this better than previous versions with each warehouse able to set a radius to manage how far away its goods should be collected from. You also need to ensure that buildings have the supplies they need to make goods. If workers have to go long distances to procure supplies the efficiency at which you produce supplies is diminished. So it’s important to also employ haulers to keep a steady supply of goods on hand.

Health

Your citizens need to be taken care of so they won’t get sick. Once you unlock the skills you can build hospitals and physicians, but even before that they can get sick. You also need to give them access to wells for water, and hearths to keep warm in the cold winters.

Homes

Obviously, your little guys need a place to live. You can build longhouses for them, or houses or apartments. They can each hold different numbers of citizens. Most of the time, species like to live with other members of their species around them. You can set permissions on dwellings so only certain species can move in. If you allow mixed species units the citizens get into brawls and unnecessary deaths can occur. So it’s best to keep buildings of separate species so they will live more harmoniously. Low happiness can still lead to brawls, though.

Religion

There are four religions in the world and your citizens will want to be able to worship freely at an establishment of their choosing.

Entertainment

All this production and worship and work gets tedious so citizens need to be entertained. There are speakers to spread the news, stages for actors, and fight pits. A Grand Arena can be built for en masse entertainment, but it’s later in the game because it requires an inordinate amount of cut stone and weapons. It has to be a big building.

Other types of buildings

There are water pumps, military buildings, schools, laboratories, breeding facilities and more. But those are the basics.

Races

In Songs of Syx, eight species inhabit your cities as citizens. They are:

•  Cantors –
  • Cantors are impossible to keep happy, and hard to get to come to your city. In all my play time (nearly 400 hours) I have only gotten one Cantor in my city as a war captive and when I emancipated him he immediately left. I was bereft. They are nearly immortal, living 8000 years. They’re very strong, making them good to have around if you are a military power. They do a massive amount of blunt-force damage. But as they are hard to attract to your city I have no experience with them.
•  Cretonians
  • Cretonians are peaceful citizens who like to farm, prefer a vegetarian diet, and are pretty submissive. They’re generally easy to have as a majority because they don’t get whiny and complain about everything.
•  Dondorians
  • These guys are like dwarves, I guess. They like to mine and work in skilled labor. They don’t like to farm.
•  Garthimis
  • Little bug-man hybrids. These guys are sort of cool but they also are easy to exploit as miners.
•  Humans
  • Smart species, humans like to do science, and skilled labor.
•  Amevias
  • These are lizard-man hybrids who are good at fishing and like the water.
•  Tilapis
  • These guys are like elves and enjoy nature, herding, and circular/organic buildings.
•  Argonosh
  • Like the Cantors these guys are hard to attract to your city. I’ve never had one come to my city. They can also do massive blunt force damage.

One of my goals is to figure out how to get the Cantors and Argonosh species to naturally want to come to my city. But I don’t like to look up walkthroughs or guides because I like to learn the way the game works organically.

Small Following

Songs of Syx is one of the best city-builders, and very much in the same spirit as games like Dwarf Fortress and Rimworld. Despite that, it has a much smaller following than other games like it. As of publishing, its highest player count on Steam was 2956, so many fewer than Rimworld’s nearly 62k peak player count.

Songs of Syx did get a lot of attention earlier this year when a gaming content creator made a video playing it, but I still marvel at the fact that it’s got such a small following. In my opinion it’s one of the most engaging games I’ve played in recent memory.

Songs of Syx Guides?

There is a really good wiki on the Songs of Syx website if that’s your thing. If you like city building games, or strategy games you should get this game and check it out. It’s very worth it!

I post about games I like on my blog. I enjoy No Man’s Sky, Fallout, Assassin’s Creed and games like that.

The post Songs of Syx appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

How do you find a good site for a base?

The first thing to consider for your No Man’s Sky base location is if the system you are in has a good economy. If the system has a one-star economy I don’t even consider building there unless a planet within the system has an interesting ecosystem with unique features or is anomalous.

Build bases in three-star systems whenever possible. Those stars indicate the economic strength of the system. There are three levels. The adjectives used to describe them in the system description can vary.

My System is Strong, What Next?

If the system you’re in is relatively strong, it’s time to set out and find the best spot to establish your base. There are a few ways I decide where to plop down that base computer and set up shop.

No Man’s Sky Base Location Scenario 1: Trading Post / Minor Settlements

Sometimes I set up bases next to trading posts or by a minor settlement so I can pop over and access a galactic trading terminal. Of course, you can build one yourself once you have the blueprint unlocked. However, having early access to a trading terminal has several benefits. Each galactic trading terminal tends to have slightly different goods, so if you’re stocking up on materials it’s good to hit as many as possible. When I build bases I run out of ferrite dust and pure ferrite all the time, and it’s a cheap enough resource that I buy it up when trading terminals have it in stock.

Trading posts are also beneficial when doing trading runs. Each star system has an economy type. Each economy type has certain trade goods for sale, and other galaxies will buy those goods at good prices. Lots of profit! So when I am doing trading runs I buy as much product as possible before warping to a system that will pay well for those supplies.

Minor settlements also sometimes give you a mission to complete. For those reasons, it’s a good option to choose to establish your base near one of those, or at the minimum set a save beacon down at the trading post so you can get back to it without using a map to plot your course.

No Man’s Sky Base Location Scenario 2: Scanning for the Perfect Spot

Another option that is probably more beneficial in the long run is to find the best sites for your No Man’s Sky base by scanning for Electromagnetic, Deep Mineral, or Gas hotspots. So, follow those scanners and find the ideal spot. When you have found what you’re looking for, set your base up within that region. That way your bases can have extractors and supply depots working nonstop to gather the materials that become so important to keep up a supply of later in the game.

Mineral, Gas, and Electromagnetic deposits are also graded on a system, with C being the worst and S being the best. So you might want to search for a while to find better deposits and set up your base near those.

Common Scenario:

“Help! I set up a base and then later found a deposit pretty far from my base computer. What can I do now besides set up another base? “

So, if you need to extend the boundary of your existing No Man’s Sky base there is a hack you can do to make your base much, much bigger so you can set up extractors farther away. Travel to just before the boundary, where you can still open the base-building menu. Make sure you’re close to the edge though, you will maximize the effectiveness of this trick if you are right on the edge.

Then, place a solid cube. I recommend using solid cubes for this because they only use 20 ferrite dust, which is probably the smallest investment for a building there is. Using this method you can extend your base-building capabilities for a while. Once you reach the boundary again, do the same thing again and place a solid cube. You can repeat this process until you reach your hotspot. Then place down the extractors you want and run the supply pipe back to your base and Supply Depots.

Please note that the further your extractor is from your base the less it will produce. So if your hotspot is pretty far away it’s probably a good idea to just set up a new base just for extracting purposes.

Once You’ve Decided

Once you have your computer down, your base set up, and extractors going, it’s time to profit! Your base location is very important to your success in the game, and following this guide can help you immensely in choosing the best location possible for your base on a planet.

Gaming Posts

When I feel like it I post about the games I enjoy playing. I enjoy playing games like No Man’s Sky, Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption II and Fallout.

The post No Man’s Sky: Base Location Guide appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Sandbox Game: A Typical Session

At first, I didn’t know if I was playing No Man’s Sky “right”, or if I was just bumbling along. The same is true of almost every sandbox game I have ever played. You start out and have no clue what you’re doing and learn as you go how to craft things, how to explore, what means what and so on.

After a while of playing, I realized there is no wrong way to play No Man’s Sky and it’s much like Minecraft in that the game is what you make of it. Sandbox games are like that. In fact, I like to describe No Man’s Sky as a sort of ‘Minecraft in space’ game.

A typical session of gameplay starts out by remembering what I was doing the last time I played. Am I on a planet that I need to continue exploring? When I logged off last had I been in the middle of searching for a good site for a base?

“Minecraft in X”?

I love ‘Minecraft in X’ games. What I mean by that is there are elements that are present in Minecraft: mainly I’m talking about material acquisition, exploration, mining, crafting, farming, survival elements, and combat. If a game has that in a certain combination, I describe it as “sort of like Minecraft in space, or underwater, or in the countryside.” Several games meet these criteria.

Subnautica

For example, Subnautica has been one of my favorite game series in the past few years, and it’s definitely a sort of Minecraft in water. Gathering materials and making increasingly complex things out of said materials is the theme in these games.

Astroneer

Another game that has a similar feel is Astroneer. I played Astroneer for a few hours and found it a little like Minecraft in space, but nowhere near as expansive and immersive as No Man’s Sky. I didn’t get very far in that game. Maybe it would have fleshed itself out a bit more had I stayed with it, but I have a short attention span for games, and if it doesn’t snag me in the first few hours, I’m not likely to spend a lot of time on it.

My Time at Portia

My Time at Portia has a bit of that feel, and it’s like a nice blend of genres. There’s combat, mining exploring, farming, and crafting. It’s a nice melding of activities that appealed to the part of my brain that gets super immersed in this type of game. I think I finished that game, but I’m not certain. It’s been a few years since I played it.

Summer in Mara

Summer in Mara was similar but different. Is it a sandbox game? It is to some extent, even though it is heavily quest based. There is enough exploration and crafting that make it sandbox-like. This game was fun, if not a bit tedious. I liked the exploration of Summer in Mara but I didn’t like that the game felt like fetch quest after fetch quest.

Minecraft

Of course, Minecraft is the ultimate sandbox game. Nothing compares to the versatility to be found in Minecraft. It is what you make of it. But if you want a sandbox game in space, No Man’s Sky is the best game for you.

It’s such a beautiful game, if you haven’t played it yet, what is stopping you?

Gaming Posts

I post about the games I play, when I feel like it. I enjoy playing the games I talked about here as well as other types of games.

The post The Ultimate Sandbox Game: No Man’s Sky appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

I’ve been playing No Man’s Sky a lot lately, and I just got notice of an update that was ready to install. Patch 5.05 is out today on Steam and other consoles and it fixes a bunch of stuff that has been sort of buggy since Worlds Part I launched back in early July.

No Man’s Sky Worlds Part I

Worlds Part I is a huge, huge update to No Man’s Sky. Oceans have waves and reflections, and planets have wind patterns. On the surface of the planet, there is weather and storms. Everything interacts so it makes it more immersive than ever before.

Worlds Part I has been massively fun to play since it launched. I am glad to see some of the bugs being worked through. Over the weekend, for example, my game crashed every time there was a storm on a planet, which is fairly often on some planets, so it frustrated me to no end to have to reload so often. oit did not stop me from playing, though.

I can’t wait to see what they have in store for Worlds Part II!

Hello Games is INCREDIBLE

I have played No Man’s Sky since launch and this game is so incredible, I hope Hello Games knows how loved they are for their stellar track record for updating their game with endlessly fun things for FREE. It’s truly amazing.

I have posted about No Man’s Sky before, and I might do it again. Keep these amazing updates coming and I’ll make another post about how much I love this game. Okay, off to my 600+ hour save to explore the universe, bye.

The post No Man’s Sky Update: Worlds Part 1 5.05 appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Because I both game and crochet (and knit, and cross-stitch), I am always happy when I find the intersection between geek fandoms and crafty creativity. And the Assassin’s Creed IP has tons of ways to smash the two facets of my interests together. Today, I’ve gathered patterns from various crafts themed for Assassin’s Creed in this post, just for you! OK, OK I know you’re impatient.

Assassin’s Creed Inspires Your Imagination

If you are a fan of the Assassin’s Creed games, like I am, then you’ve almost definitely imagined yourself scaling buildings wearing one of the game’s most recognizable features: The hooded cowls that the player characters wear that cover their head and come down into a point over the face, partially masking the Assassin wearing it.

When I first got into Assassin’s Creed, I imagined Altaïr or Ezio scaling every cool building I saw. Any cool building, I would say to myself, hey self, that building would be cool as hell to climb up, as if I personally have any ability to climb anything more than a ladder. And I get vertigo on ladders!

I’ve played Assassin’s Creed since the very first game, and at the time the mechanics in the game were so limitless. Climbing up buildings by clinging to their facades was just incredibly cool.

I mean, it still is. While game engines have expanded in capabilities so more and more games include climbing functions, the ability to climb almost everything is such a game changer for how one plays a game. Even with the glitches that came with Assassin’s Creed Unity, I had so much fun scaling up the sides of Paris’ limestone buildings.

Ok, ok I know you’re impatient. Here’s the Assassin’s Creed Crochet and Cross-stitch Content you’ve been waiting for!

Crafts Galore: Assassin’s Creed Crochet, Knit, Cross-Stitch and More!

Assassin’s Creed Crochet Patterns

Cowl

The ubiquitous Assassin’s Cowl is probably the most beginner-friendly and popular Assassin’s Creed crochet project. There are several patterns out there for free, along with some you have to pay for.

The Assassins Creed Inspired Scoodie is a free Ravelry download. The pattern designer, Kristen’s Kords mentions a few other patterns she was inspired by, one of which is a discontinued AC scarf with the hood. This crochet pattern is written for an adult sized head, while a few other ones I looked at might be more for a child’s head.

There is another pattern with the same name also available on Ravelry as a free download. I am not sure which would be better as they look similar, but both are free so I am linking them here.

You do need a Ravelry account to be able to download those patterns, but it’s free and if you are a fiber crafter you likely already have an account so no worries there.

If you venture onto Etsy you’ll find several patterns available for download. I don’t know what the deal is with Etsy these days though, is it still a place where people can actually get handmade things from? Etsy’s quality has dipped, and it seems like drop-shippers reign supreme. I am not sure if they are the online destination to shop for handcrafted goods anymore. It all comes down to whether they actively keep non-handcrafted goods off their site, and uphold their their policies fidelity.

Assassin’s Creed Amigurumi

If you’re more proficient in crochet you might want to make an Assassin’s Creed Amigurumi. Amigurumi are the little stuffies that people crochet, and the possibilities are really limitless

Ezio Sackboy

The Ezio Sackboy doll is so, so cute. Stuffies are amazing. Sadly, I am not great at making stuffies with crochet. One of my goals is to get better at this part of crochet. This doll is great. It’s a bit bigger than a lot of the tiny amigurumi that you see online. I have a hard time with the smaller-scale stuffie patterns, maybe I’m just not dextrous enough but I feel like I am fumbling whenever I try to make a tiny stuffie.

You can watch the YouTube tutorial here:

Assassin’s Creed Cross Stitch Pattern

Back in 2018, I went through a cross-stitch phase. Obsessed, I sought out tons of patterns on Etsy and bought lots of pdfs. I was going to become a factory of cross-stitch projects. That’s a bit of self-deprecation in my tone, yes. I quickly realized I have very, very little patience for counted cross-stitch. I love the finished look of a cross-stitch pattern. My mother used to cross-stitch incredibly intricate designs. And my auntie is an amazing cross-stitcher. However, I have ADHD and, well, when I don’t see results I lose interest. It’s a bit embarrassing how many abandoned cross-stitch projects I have nestled away in totes.

One of the cross-stitch patterns I purchased was an Assassin’s Creed cross-stitch pattern. I made it fairly far into the pattern before I got tired of it and left it to collect dust.

I looked on Etsy for this pattern and unfortunately, it is not available on Etsy anymore. However, worry not, there are more out there similar to it. Etsy’s search SUCKS though, I was having trouble making it display anything on topic so I suggest you search Google first.

Other Crochet and Knitting Patterns

There are a few crochet and knitting patterns here on my site, but none for Assassin’s Creed. That’s why I rounded these up just for you!

The post Assassin’s Creed Crochet Patterns appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

I’ve finally been playing Fallout 4 over the break. I never could get into it when it first came out, even though I tried and I had played and enjoyed both Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Just wasn’t in the right mindset. But I am now, and I’ve been playing a ton.

My ps4 even died so I had to buy a ps5!

I am loving it.

Fallout franchise blurb

If you aren’t familiar with the game, not sure why you’re here but here is the blurb about what it’s all about from Wikipedia.

The series is set during the first half of the 3rd millennium, and its atompunk retrofuturistic setting and artwork are influenced by the post-war culture of the 1950s United States, with its combination of hope for the promises of technology and the lurking fear of nuclear annihilation.

Deeply Complex World

The world of Fallout 4 is deeply immersive and complex. It’s sometimes surprising to me the little details I find in random spots, meaning the level designer put it there just on the chance someone stumbles upon it. These details are what make a game immersive, in my opinion. And Fallout 4 is teeming with details like this.

Tragic Stories Around Every Corner

At its core, Fallout is a tragic story. The world propelled toward nuclear apocalypse and unable to change trajectory, and what happens after the bombs go off and everything goes dark. The utter breakdown of society is dark enough but what is more tragic are the small stories, the details that just hint at a story, that all have a similar end: whatever person you’re reading about, whosever house you’re exploring, they all died the day the bombs went off. It’s again these small details that make the game compelling and one you’re able to play for hours on end.

Difficult Moral Decisions

I’m just getting to the point in the game I have to choose to work with the Institute and I’m not sure how I feel about that. They’ve been portrayed as the villains this whole time and now what? I just say ok let me do missions for you now? I have having a hard time making that decision.

Settlement Building

I might be in the minority but I enjoy making settlements. I love looking at what other people are able to do because my skills are still in progress, but I really like making a settlement and coming back to see it filled with people working together to survive. I wish it weren’t as janky and fiddly as it is but overall I enjoy making all the settlements a little more cozy.

The post Fallout 4 appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

The post Assassin’s Creed Valhalla appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Assassin’s Creed 2

Assassin’s Creed 2 is the beginning of the Ezio trilogy and took such great leaps from the first game, expanded the understanding of the story line and really became the AC franchise that we now know and love. It’s one of my favorites in the whole franchise and playing it is still a good time. I love Ezio so much and spent so much time on this game. One of the best in the whole series. It’s free only for PC players from the Ubisoft launcher. You only have until April 17th to snag this gem for free.

Journey

Journey is a unique adventure game that I loved so much. It is moving in a way I can’t really explain adequately. It makes me tear up to think of this game and how the story is told. There is no language in the game, it’s told through visuals and music. You are on a journey in this game and have to figure out how to get to the next place by interacting with your environment in unique ways. It’s free until May 5 on PS4. Get it, it’s so incredible.

Uncharted: the Nathan Drake Collection

These games I have played the least of even though I already own the collection. They are games that I have on my list TO PLAY I just haven’t yet.. because they’re not totally my style of game but I’ve liked what I have played. Adventure with Nathan Drake on his many quests! For free now!

The post Snag some free games… appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

With a universe that is seemingly endless, and planets that are gratifyingly large, No Man’s Sky makes me really feel like I am exploring in space. I am playing through the Artemis questline right now and woah the writing. Let me just say the writing in No Man’s Sky continues to blow me away with its complexity and depth.

I’ve been exploring a wild planet that is glitched or something and it has a ton of lore terminals. It is BOSS. The writing in NMS is really well done. Hours and hours and it is still surprising me with things. This person on Reddit found a similar planet full of lore terminals while playing No Man’s Sky.

What I love the most…

What I love most about No Man’s Sky is finding a new group of planets and landing on them for the first time. When I found the planet full of lore terminals my mind was genuinely blown. What was this and what is going on? The terminals spit out some amazing details, all 21 of them. They have something to do with the Artemis story. Not entirely sure what yet, but it’s really freaking cool!

What about you? Did you play NMS at launch only to be disappointed by it? I have played since launch and have been there for all the bumps and turbulence but they have REALLY turned it around and it’s such a cool game now. I strongly encourage anyone who likes exploration games like Minecraft or Subnautica or things like that to check it out.

The post No Man’s Sky appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

The post GaiaOnline appeared first on Fae’s Journal.