Games

I turned in the page proofs for Capture the Sun on Friday, so I got to spend the weekend having fun. On Saturday, we had a lovely dinner with friends we hadn’t seen since before the pandemic, then on Sunday, I built my new gaming PC.

We’ve been meaning to upgrade our computers forever it seems like, but thanks to the aforementioned pandemic, parts have been in short supply and expensive. We built our existing computers in 2013, then upgraded the video cards in 2018, so I’d say we got our money’s worth. Fingers crossed the new systems last as long.

Behold, my new precious!

Yes, I forgot to take a picture once it was all together until after I’d already put it under my desk and hooked up all the cables. Pretend you see no mess.

We did a mini-ITX build, so the case is adorably tiny, and it has a pop-up handle on top. A handle! Do I need a handle? Yes, absolutely, obviously. 😂

That glorious rectangle of black mesh started out like this:

It may have been ten years since I built a computer, but the process has only gotten easier. All of the cables had nice labels, and the front IO was in one solid block instead of trying to put each connector on the pins individually. There were only two tricky bits. First, an ITX build is tiny, and there’s not a lot of room to work. Getting the cable routing right took some fiddling. The second was the force required to clamp in the CPU: it seemed like A LOT, but it was fine.

Mr. M’s motherboard arrives on Wednesday, so next weekend will be computer building part two. For those of you interested in specs, prepare to be whelmed: we generally build middle of the road PCs with whatever the newest tech at the time is, then run them forever.

The build is in a HYTE Revolt 3 case. The CPU is an Intel 13600k with an ASRock Z790M-ITX motherboard, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 2TB M.2 drive, and a giant Noctura air cooler, plus another Noctura 140mm fan that didn’t make the first picture. We’re keeping our existing ancient video cards for a bit until the sting of all these new parts wears off, lol.

But considering my previous computer was too old to run Windows 11 and only had 8GB of ram (a lot at the time!), this is a massive upgrade.

We’ve started playing Satisfactory again, and Mr. M was off today, so we spent the whole day testing out the new system. It works! And the CPU temperature stayed reasonable, which is always a concern with these tiny cases.

We’ll probably have to upgrade our video cards when Diablo IV comes out, or maybe Starfield, if it’s first, but for now, it’s perfect.

And so cute! 😍

So with the worldwide pandemic, a lot of people are finding themselves at home more than usual (if you can, please stay home and help flatten the curve). In addition to my book recs, I thought I’d recommend some video games. A lot of these can be played co-op, since that’s what Mr. M and I usually play. So find a friend and play together!

Phone/Tablet Games

All of the following are available on iOS, but I’m not sure about other platforms. Links are to the iOS App Store.

A couple of the phone games I play are digital copies of boardgames we like: Ticket to Ride and Pandemic. Ticket to Ride is nice because the game keeps score for you, so you don’t even have to do math. And while Pandemic might be a bit too on the nose right now, it certainly is satisfying when you wipe out the in-game viruses.

When I just need something to fidget with, I play Threes, 2048, or Spider Solitaire. I’ll often play these while Mr. M is watching TV because I can listen to the show and play a game at the same time.

We both also played a lot of Game Dev Story, Grand Prix Story, and Dungeon Village. These single-player games have an interesting interface because I think they were originally for phones with number pads instead of touch screens, but they are super cute if you like building and managing type games.

And if you like Harvest Moon-type games (virtual farming, romancing villagers, exploration), then check out Stardew Valley (also available on PC and game consoles).

PC Games

If you play PC games, these won’t be new, but these are my comfort games.

Stardew Valley is available on PC as well as tablets, but with co-op so you can build your farm with friends. And as far as building/exploring games go, Mr. M and I have spent literally hundreds of hours playing Terraria and Starbound. Both are co-op, so play together! Build yourselves a 2D palace of wonder.

We’ve also been playing a lot of Borderlands 3, which just recently came to Steam if you were waiting out the Epic Store exclusive. I don’t play too many shooters, because I generally prefer swords and sorcery, but BL3 is more of an action-RPG than a straight shooter. Plus the writing is terrific.

Our favorite oldie but goodie is Diablo 3, and we just started playing again for Season 20. We play in Adventure mode now because we’ve played the story so many times. It’s basically click monsters, get loot, and I find it very soothing. Especially because this season I’m playing as a Wizard—not my usual style because I prefer melee builds—but destroying huge swaths of enemies with spells is fun.

Switch Games

We also each have a Nintendo Switch and I’m currently obsessed with Rune Factory 4. It’s not co-op, but Mr. M and I are playing at the same time. It’s like Stardew or Harvest Moon in that you can virtual farm and romance the townsfolk, but you can also go slay monsters and build weapons and armor. It’s super cute and I want to play it all day instead of working. Alas, so far no one wants to pay me to play games.

We also own Stardew Valley on Switch (because of course we do) and the Switch build supports co-op. Yes, we have farms on every system, lol. :)

Need to get in some exercise but don’t want to go to the gym? Try Ring Fit Adventure. It’s not going to replace a heavy lifting routine, but it gets your heart rate up and has a little strength-building with the resistance ring. Plus it masquerades as a game, so it’s more fun than staring at a treadmill screen.

If you play games, what have you been playing lately? Stay safe, friends, and wash your hands!

My husband and I bought Stardew Valley a year and a half ago because we thought multiplayer co-op was “coming soon.” It’s still not here completely, but we spent the weekend playing the co-op beta and it’s awesome. I finally see what all the buzz eighteen months ago was about. :)

If you haven’t heard of it, Stardew Valley is a Harvest Moon-esque game where you start with a run-down farm that you have to fix up by clearing the land, planting crops, and tending animals. And fishing. So much fishing.

Because we’re playing co-op, I took over animals and fishing while my husband deals with the plants. Every day I go pat my chickens on the head and they get happier and produce better eggs. …

A Stardew WeekendRead More »