I like puzzles. I like strategy. I don’t like Sims.
I’ve worn out all incarnations of CivIII. I don’t want another strategy game like that. I like games were I have to solve puzzles, but Myst IV was too much. Metroid was a great combination of action, mystery and puzzles. HL2 was ok, but a bit too linear.
I don’t want to play games online, I don’t like no brain shoot-em-ups, I don’t like simulator games, I don’t like games were the main object is being able to jump just like so by pushing a button at the exact right spot and time, to be able to continue, I don’t like games were I’m under pressure for time.
It’s a shooter, but you might want to give Resident Evil 4 a try. It’s without a doubt one of the best video games that I have ever played.
For something non-violent, you could try the Harvest Moon series of games. It’s a farming game. Yeah. I know, but Alias is hooked on it and she’s a real snot when it comes to video games.
I’ve never played it, but Pikmin is supposed to be good. Might be worth a shot.
You might try Skies of Arcadia for the Gamecube. It’s an RPG that was originally released on the Dreamcast, then re-released a few years later on the Gamecube.
I generally don’t like Japanese RPGs, but Skies of Arcadia is wonderful. It has a nice mix of strategy and puzzles without too many random battles. The characters and story are really engaging, even touching at times. And the music is first-rate.
It’s one of the few Japanese RPG’s that I’ve played through from start to finish. I liked it so much I played through it twice again just for the story.
If you had a Gameboy I’d suggest Advance Wars 2, Final Fantasy Tactics or, believe it or not, one of the Pokemon games. All provide a nice mix of non-puzzle strategy.
For the PC you could try out Rome Total War…always a good pick. Its a combination turned based strategy/real time combat simulation game. Don’t let the real time aspect through you though…its extremely fun to fight your tactical battles with in this game and it has a pretty easy learning curve. If you like ancient warfare its definitely the game for you. In addition there are two other Total War games you can pick up pretty cheap these days set in Japan and Medeival Europe which are also pretty fun (RTW is better but more expensive as its newer).
I’m currently playing Imperial Glory, a game similar to RTW though not as good IMHO. If you don’t mind some of the nagging little problems though it is also a fun game, set during the Napoleonic wars.
If you are a fan of adventure games I heard the new Bards Tale game is pretty fun (if you played the original ones). I haven’t personally played it yet but a friend of mine is raving about it.
Best puzzle game I know of. A vintage 80s game, and now free to boot: The Fool’s Errand. If you can get past the 1989 graphics (It was designed for the mac where the graphics were much better, but you can download the pc port) you’ll have a lot of fun.
(emphasis mine)
What?!?!?!?! You must not have been playing the same game that I did. That game had waaaaaaaaay too many random battles. Then again, I hate random battles anyway.
Seconded. I actually quit playing it mostly because it just got too frustrating to explore the world when I had to deal with battles every few feet. It’s a gorgeous and wonderful game, but jeez.
It’s possible the Gamecube version toned down the frequency of battles. I wouldn’t know one way or another, I’ve only played the DC version.
If you like puzzles you might want to try a Sierra game called Shivers. It’s probably a good 8-9 years old, but I’m sure you could find it on eBay. It was one of my favorite games, and while some of it was hard, it wasn’t so hard I couldn’t finish it.
Do you liek adventure games? If so, then try The Longest Journey or Syberia. Both have unusual and intersting takes on the adventure genre and aren’t nearly as arbitrary with puzzle-solving as older games.
You needn’t spend all your puzzle solving time playing a game. How about reading a murder mystery — and solving it?
In many whodunits, there are lots and lots of characters who might have committed the murder. Pick out the most unlikely one and you have a very good chance of being right.
But in her Foreward to Cards on the Table, Agatha Christie says you can’t do that in this book. She tells you there are only four possible suspects here, each of whom has committed murder before — and gotten away with it!
Your task, as the reader, is to solve the crime.
I’ve just started the book, so I can’t comment on the quality of the work. But, for what it’s worth one of the blurbs reads:
“The best Agatha Christie has ever devised.” —Spectator
And it gets high praise in the Customer Reviews as well at amazon. Go to…