Digging into Steamworld Dig!

When first glancing at this game it might not seem that special. But don’t be fooled! Steamworld Dig is a fun addicting game that you should really give a try!

Do you enjoy the mining aspect in Minecraft? Well Steamworld Dig is all about that. The main idea is that you go down into a mine and carve down your own path. The goal is to find as much “ore” as possible. Here, just like in Minecraft, some ores are more common and others are more rare. Then when you feel like coming up for some fresh air, you go and sell the minerals you found. This also raises your “level” which allows you to buy more items like torches, ladders, teleporters from  a shop. This seems pretty simple, but the deeper you go down the more complex the game gets.

In the game there are also “power ups” these powers ups are not necessary, but I do definitely recommend that you pick them up. These powers help you with certain things like the speed boots make you faster or the steam jump which makes you jump higher with water. Another great element of the game are the monsters. These small little critters may seem annoying, but it’s completely optional to fight them. These bugs also drop resources, like light, water, or even Health. Another great thing about this game is “wall jumping” where when you press B close to a wall you jump up it. Unlike Minecraft in this game you can actually trace yourself back up, without using blocks.  This is one of my favorite elements of the game. Being able to jump up walls, definitely changes the mechanics of how the game is played.

Some things I found a bit annoying when you sometimes try to get to a certain ore. If you make one mistake with your mining pattern, it could mean losing a certain piece of precious mineral, which you may find to be frustrating and annoying especially if you are OCD in video games. Another thing that was a bit frustrating was when a monster finished you of. This means you are back on the surface with none your items and half of your gold. I think this mechanic is fine, because it teaches you not to get into to much trouble but sometimes when I have a lot of valuable material with me I just get frustrated. Now I have to run down my enormous mine trying to find the spot of the monster. And then I still have to finish slaying the monster.

But in general Steamworld Dig is an amazing mesmerizing indie game that has a lot of potential. If you are on need to play something new on your 3ds then I would say that you should start digging!

The Fabulous Writing Contest!

Hello once again! Awhile back my school was hosting a “writing contest.” If you know me, then you would also know that I of course entered with a quick one paged fiction story. This was my second contest I joined for the school, and like last time, I won. But this time I didn’t just win in my grade level, but the whole overall prize! When I heard this I was bursting with pride. Here it is:

“I don’t want to go”, I say quietly . My mother hugs me with a calm, sad look on her face. “Don’t worry, everything will be alright with your father.” More tears flow down my cheek. Since my parents separated a few years ago, I always had been with my mother. I could never imagine leaving her. But now had come the moment to say goodbye. My mother said that all this had to do with a court decision and legal matters I was too young to understand. Now as we are waiting for the train she stares at me with affection. “Here you go, my love, this will make your trip more entertaining”, and she handed me a book. I stared at her blankly, out of all the things, a book? I was leaving her and she was giving me a book? She must have read my mind because she quickly said, “don’t worry, it’s really great, just give it a chance.” We kissed and hugged for a final time and then the train pulled up. We parted.

I looked out of the window. I had nothing to do but think, which was the one thing I didn’t want. I looked down at my book, flipped through the first pages and started reading. I read and I read and didn’t stop. It turned out to be one of the most gripping tales I had ever read. The story deals about a boy like me, who also had to move. For the next hours I was so fixated that I didn’t notice when the waitress came along and asked what I want to drink.

The more I read the more my thoughts changed positively to moving to my father. In the book, the main protagonist who was becoming my new hero had to move to a new and completely unknown city. I connected with this fictional character, and all his fears and anxieties. The story was so great I forgot I was on a train moving away from the town I was born and grew up in.

Before I knew I heard the conductor call out my station. Good thing, I had just finished the last page in time. But I was left with a puzzle. I couldn’t understand the conclusion. “Why do all good things have to come to an end?” I thought and then I noticed my mother’s handwriting on the back cover. Her message said:

Don’t worry , my boy. This book has a sequel! And your time living with me also does! Enjoy being with your father! You’ll have fun being with him! All my love, Mom

All of a sudden living with my father didn’t seem that frightening anymore. Who knows, maybe I would have even more fun. I smiled and got off the train to embrace my dad.
The End

Hopefully you enjoyed the story!

PS

Sorry that I have not been posting in a while. Recently school has been keeping me busy, don’t worry though, I’ll try to get back into the swing of things!

A Computer Game Museum is the Best Type of Museum

Hello! For the last few days I was in Berlin (I was there for the first time). Here we did all the things you normally do in Berlin, but today we went to a Computer Game Museum! But even something that cool has it’s Tops and Flops.

While the Museum had 1 or 2 Newer gamest the Museum really focused on a more retro type of games, like Pong, Pacman, Space Invaders, Mario, etc. I found it very interesting to play these games and learn all about them. The great thing about the museum were that these games were playable. But there was one tiny problem to that. There weren’t that many games to play. The museum focused a lot on the evolution of games which is much more interesting then it sounds.  I was also a bit mad that some of the games didn’t really work. Some games were also a bit bugged. Though I really liked how the museum also put test games in it. Like for instance there was a racing game where you  had to peddle to gain speed. I was sweating like crazy after playing 2 races. There was also a shop were you could buy gaming stuff. Well, lets just say the shop wasn’t  that great. In the shop there were not very many things that people were interested in, let’s be honest, who wants Tetris Blocks as refrigerator magnets? But the worst part was that the good things they had in the shop were sold out. Bummer…

I think the museum was very nice and had some really great ideas but had a lot of room for improvements. Like maybe a bigger shop, games that work nicely and so on and so forth.

I would have to rate the museum 8.4 out of 10 because of the  fun games and the great feeling of retro.

Nuzlockes and What’s so Special About them

Hello once again! Today I wanted to talk a bit about a fun little challenge that I have been doing, and by reading the title you also already know what it’s called. The Nuzlocke challenge is a fun little challenge that you play on any Pokemon game that you have. This challenge makes Pokemon a bigger challenge to complete and makes the game a lot more emotional.

So your probably thinking what this whole Challenge thing is so here are the rules:

The first and probably the most important rule is that if a Pokemon in your team faints it must be released or boxed permanently. This is probably the most important and essential rule to the whole challenge. This makes you really think harder about your choices and who you want to fight with.

The second rule is that you are only allowed to capture the first Pokemon that you encounter in a route or Area. If you accidentally knock that Pokemon out you can not capture anything else on that route anymore. This makes it that you can’t handpick the Pokemon you want and you have to get what first appears.

And those are the 2 only official rules! And believe me, this sounds easier then it actually is.

During the evolution of Nuzlockes people added more and more additional rules to make the experience more “fair.”

The first and probably the most popular non-official rule is the Nicknaming  rule. This rule makes it that you have to nickname each Pokemon you catch. This strengthens your relationship with your Pokemon. 

Another very popular rule is the Dupes Clause rule. This rule means that you can’t catch a same Pokemon 2 times (Example on Route 1 I find a Pidgey, then if I find a Pidgey again on Route 2 I get to flee and catch something else). This rule also has very many different versions. Some people count the whole evolution line as the same Pokemon (Example I have a Pidgey so if I find a Pidgeotto I can move on). Some people give themselves 3 catches to look for something new and if they don’t find anything they haven’t caught they move on to the next route.

This additional rule is probably the biggest no-brainer. It’s called the Shiny-Clause, so if you find a shiny you still are allowed to catch it.

Some of the other rules are that you have to deposit your starter, you only get a limited amount of heals at a Pokecenter and you are not allowed to use items in battles.

Some people also completely modify the challenge and make it a even harder challenge like Marriland’s Welocke challenge.

Also if you want to see the original rules by the inventor nuzlocke click here.

Thank you for reading and bye!

A Bit of my Personal Life in France

Hello! A few days ago me and my family went to france for a week for a bit of vacation. And I must say I have been liking it. It is nice to be a bit with my family and be doing things with them. While I must admit that we don’t do to much “exiting” things, I still am enjoying a bit of the more relaxed side of vacation. We are living right next to a very nice lake in a city named Gérardmer. In this city there are a bit of tourists but not so many that you can’t think straight anymore. My parents always go wandering which is nice and soothing and I get to listen to my Ipod so I’m just fine. We have been spending 3 nights in Gérardmer and tomorrow we will be leaving. Then we will be visiting another destination in France (I am not sure exactly where yet) for 2 days. Then we will spending a short time in Luxemburg on the way back.  Then we will be back in Germany.

This will be one of the last of the highlights of this summer vacation because school will be starting again in august! Its unbelievable that I will already be a 7th grader. Time really does fly.

While this Holiday was more relaxing then exiting I defiantly enjoyed it. I am happy how it was. I am actually looking forward to the   school this year though to see my friends new teachers and see how 7th grade will turn out to be, see you next post!

Fire Emblem Awakens to Me

Hello! Recently I’ve been playing Fire Emblem Awakening on the 3DS and honestly I really like it. Fire Emblem is part of the RPG (Roll Playing Game) genre. In this game you control units which you move around the map and attack other enemy units in turn based rounds. But this game has a lot more depth then that. There are different classes (Like Sage, Lord, Knight, etc.) that you can play as, different weapons like tomes, spears, swords, bows, axes. The game has some of the best 3DS graphics I have seen, with anime inspired cutscenes. But the thing I enjoy the most in this game are the characters. Each one is very unique, some amusing, some dark. Each character preserves there traits and are easy to get attached to.

This game has two gameplay mechanics. The first is Newcomer mode which when one of your character is struck down in battle they come back after the battle, making this a easy way for Newcomer to enter the world of Fire Emblem with no worries. The 2nd mode is named Classic mode. In this mode when your character is struck down that character is not playable anymore, making you think more then in Newcomer mode. Many people ask which mode is for them and I say,  both. Since there are 3 save slots in this game I recommend trying both. Then you can see which one you prefer.

Another addition to Fire Emblem Awakening is relationships. If you put two characters next to each other on the battlefield they grow a relationship which then if it continues makes the two characters marry. Additionally once  those 2 characters marry there child from the future comes. This aspect of the game also really makes you think about which characters you should pair up with another.

This game also has a lot  of DLC (Downloadable Content). Some levels allow you to obtain new characters, some allow you to grind and some are just to get more story.

This game for me personally is probably the best game on the 3DS market right now. I highly recommend checking the game out.

Pokémon Revival

Lately I have been falling back to Pokémon. I’m not sure how I even came to start playing the games again (maybe a manga or the cards) but that doesn’t really matter. When I look back I just see all these things I was missing when I was playing, like EV training, Nuzlockes, ROM Hacks, and all sorts of stuff.

I am happy that this “Revival” happened because I really enjoy playing the game and learning new things about. I also like the revival because it brings people closer to me. We can really connect about the same thing which tightens our bonds (If that makes any sense).

I really do enjoy playing and I really don’t care if people make fun of me for it. That’s part of life, be yourself…

I am happy that I wrote this and tolled the whole internet, so there.

Istanbul and it’s ups and downs

Hello, the title says it all. I was in Istanbul! I enjoyed it and I really wanted to write a little about it so, here you go!

In Istanbul we did all the typical tourist stuff, we visited the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, went over the river flowing between Europe and Asia. We also went onto a enormous road with what seemed a million people on it. After that I was satisfied with my social relations and needed a little alone time.

The things that I didn’t like about Istanbul also exist. The traffic was horrible, you would often have to wait for half a hour to get to the place you wanted to go. Also the airport was filled with people. The waiting que was just, I don’t even want to talk about it.

We were in Istanbul because of my dad’s job, so I also got to see employees that work with my dad, just in a different country. They were very nice and polite to me. They even gave me cookies!

My favorite part of the trip was when we when on a boat ride. It really showed the beauty of Istanbul, and I just like boat rides.

From a 1 to 10 scale I would give the trip a 7.6 it had some downsides but it was a enjoyable trip.

Earth Day is Coming Up!

Hello! Guess what? Earth day’s coming up!

In my school we celebrate earth day every year. And this year 6th grade is doing something special.

In science class we learned about the carbon cycle and global warming. To help the global warming issue from getting bigger we all wrote down a “carbon pledge.” The carbon pledge is basically us pledging to do something to stop the number of carbon floating around in the air.

In the earth day assembly 6th grade is going to talk about the carbon cycle and challenge everybody to write there own carbon pledge.

And you also can do a carbon pledge! All you have to do is vow to take shorter showers, eat less meat, not to take straws when drinking drinks, etc. This will defiantly help the earth become a nicer place! And it will also help you become a better person.

Can’t wait to hear your carbon pledge. Bye!

Brother Band

After blogging about the Ranger’s Apprentice series, have you read it? Have you finished it? If yes then I’m impressed. Anyways a great book to pick up after Ranger’s Apprentice series is defiantly Brother Band chronicles. Brother Band Chronicles is in the world of Ranger’s Apprentice but in a different view of perspective. 

Do you still remember those skandians? Well if you do then you should know what the idea is about. The story is about how a boy  named Hal grows up in Skanida, always being treated liked an outcast because his mother used to be a Aralauan slave. When a boy in Skandia turns 16 they enter a Brother Band training were these teenagers have to train with weaponry, sailing, etc. When Hal  is left out with a group of outcasts he creates his own team. If this sounds interesting to you then you should check it out. Believe me, you won’t regret it.

I love this book because I love the way the characters are crafted. All have a very good strength but a flaw big enough to outweigh the strength. Ingvar is a good example. He is a very very powerful warrior and he would be a very worthy opponent, if he would be able to see more than a foot.

The book really have some surprises that you won’t see coming. The book makes you tremble, because it is anything but predictable.

I hope that you actually check out this book, because it is a really great series that a fantasy lover can’t miss.