The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (PC) (2009)

Overview: You're Guybrush Threepwood, a young man who wants to be a pirate. Explore Melee Island and do what it takes to become a pirate. Then sale the seas and make your way to Monkey Island to save Governor Elaine Marley. And don't forget about the evil pirate LeChuck!

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20140108:
I played this game for the first time.

Guybrush Threepwood

Steam Game Time: 15 minutes

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20181127:
Today I revisited this game.

Setup: I mostly play the game with the new graphics (and audio), occasionally using F10 to see the old graphics. Eventually, after the game froze when I alt-tabbed, I turned off Full Screen.

Gameplay Log:
First talked to the important pirates to find there are three tasks: sword, thief, and treasure.
LOOM reference. "Ask me about LOOM"

LeChuck

Talk to prisoner (mint).
Mancomb Seepgood.
Kitchen in SCUMMBAR.
Circus in clearing (pot). (Received 478 pieces of eight)
References LOOM with Bobbin line.
Troll wants something that "attracts attention but of no real importance." Maybe it's a bell.
Bought map (100 pieces of eight).
Bought sword (100 pieces of eight).
Bought shovel (75 pieces of eight).
Managed to walk from fork to Sword Master. She says to find Captain Smirk for training.

Visiting Stan's Previously Owned Vessels. (old version)

Tried following "dance" steps on doors. But not sure which of the four doors would be considered "back" "left" and "right".
Rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle (located at voodoo house).
I went to Hook Island and one of the dialogue options references Bobbin (LOOM): "I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?" The reply is "No, your mother was a duck, now beat it." [For those who don't understand the reference, Bobbin's mother is a swan.]
Ah! Lol. I happened to get the troll's riddle right on the third try (not sure what would happen if I failed). But it's funny, because earlier, I looked at the item in my inventory and Guybrush said it's a "herring" and I thought to myself, oh, it's just a "red herring." Clever answer to the riddle.
I lost a piece of eight to the Grog Machine. I tried to give it another (because sometimes repetition is a solution) and Guybrush says, "I'm not stupid enough to do that twice."
Bought sword lesson (30 pieces of eight).

Sword training with Captain Smirk.

He says to learn some insults, which I suppose I did do over at Hook Island. | Talked to Sword Master but she says I have zero experience. | Run into pirates on the path to gain experience with insults. | Two fights isn't enough either. | Winning the third, the pirate says I'm good enough to fight the Sword Master.
I used this for some of the retorts (to not waste time with it): http://monkeyisland.wikia.com/wiki/Insult_Sword_Fighting
At safe, trying to see if that's what the dance steps mean. Confused, I asked for a hint and got an unrelated hint. First Hint Used: "You need to drug this meat with something."
Tried using meat with the barrel of grog.
[Took a break to get Win of the Day on League of Legends. 3.3 hours. In-game 2:55:40.]
[Came back to play more! I'm hooked!]
Eventually I gave up and asked for another hint. [The game first gave me the easier hint which I already asked for above] In-game 3:22:15. Second Hint Used: Flowers in the forest.

Governor Elaine Marley

Mansion cutscene. | Return to prisoner and obtained file. | Returned to the hole.
The trick to this puzzle (under the water) was a good one! Ha!
Okay... searching aimlessly for the treasure, it's time for more help. In-game 4:14:27. Third Hint Used: "You should use the map for the treasure." Fourth Hint Used: "Start looking at the fork." Hmm. Darn. I should have implemented Ockham's Razor.
The first instruction is "Back", but technically there are two choices for "Back" at the start. I wonder if it makes a difference which is chosen. I chose the more center one, on the left.
Filling a mug with grog will slowly corrode the mug.
Voodoo Lady: "It's an ancient root. Once prepared, the root can destroy a ghost with one touch."
I realized I had to pour the grog from one cup to another.
Prisoner. Sword Master. Meathook.
Tried talking to Stan at the Docks.

Guybrush looks at his crew: Meathook, Otis, and Carla.

Saved Rat in Cell.
[Finally stop playing. In-game 5:04:19. 24% Complete.]

Steam Game Time: 5.9 hours

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20181128:
Today I decided to continue playing, though I didn't play as much as before.

Gameplay Log:
Store for Credit. Look for job. I felt like I didn't procure a job, but he made it seem like I did. ::shrug::
Left Right Left Left Right
Got the ship for $4000. Asked him what he thought it was worth. Offered $2000, $3000 several times, and finally $4000.
On the ship and stuck.

Standing in the Governor's mansion. (old version)

Steam Game Time: 1.4 hours*

*I used about .1 hours of this time with the game on while cleaning up yesterday's Gameplay Log section.

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Updated graphics; a lot more detail
+ Voice over added to this special edition
+ Seamlessly switch between old and new
+ Good story paired with generally reasonable puzzles
+ Humorous

Neutral:
~ the graphics for the updated characters sometimes looks better and sometimes look worse; however, I never played the old game

[20181128]

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Summary:
Overall, while I've only completed a third of the game, I generally enjoyed the game and may one day finish it.

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The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (PC) (2009)*
*The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)

Relevant Links:
The Secret of Monkey Island (Wikipedia.org)
The Secret of Monkey Island (IMDb.com)
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (Steam Store Page)

Just Dance 2019 (Wii) (2018)

20181124:
Today I played Just Dance 2019. Technically it's my first real exposure to the Just Dance series. A couple of days ago I tried two playing songs on Just Dance Now and I might have played a song or two many years ago over at a friend's house. In any case, the game seemed to have more songs with female choreography, which I'm able to embrace at about 80% (varying from moment to moment based on my mood).

While this is fine for me, that is, I don't mind executing traditionally female movements,* I'm curious how other players approach the game in this regard.

*Remark: back when I took many social dancing lessons (e.g., argentine tango, swing, and salsa), I would occasionally dance as a follow (traditionally the female).

Wii Game Time: 2 hours 6 minutes (total game time)

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20220907 Snapshot:
I recently managed to successfully scrape my playtime history (using code) and below is the list of all the times I ran the game (without guarantee of gameplay).

Playtime History:
20181128: 1 hour 4 minutes (session game time)
20181129: 13 minutes (session game time)
20181130: 46 minutes (session game time)
20181201: 33 minutes (session game time)
20181202: 39 minutes (session game time), 36 minutes (session game time)
20181203: 57 minutes (session game time)
20181204: 1 hour 14 minutes (session game time)
20181205: 42 minutes (session game time), 41 minutes (session game time), 10 minutes (session game time)
20181209: 1 hour 6 minutes (session game time)
20181211: 51 minutes (session game time)
20181212: 1 hour 1 minute (session game time)
20181213: 1 hour 2 minutes (session game time)
20181215: 28 minutes (session game time), 4 minutes (session game time)
20181216: 5 minutes (session game time), 1 hour 4 minutes (session game time)
20181217: 1 hour 25 minutes (session game time)
20181218: 43 minutes (session game time), 10 minutes (session game time)
20181219: 40 minutes (session game time)
20181222: 33 minutes (session game time)
20181224: 11 minutes (session game time), 14 minutes (session game time)
20181225: 58 minutes (session game time)
break
20190331: 19 minutes (session game time), 12 minutes (session game time), 3 minutes (session game time)
20190401: 16 hours 17 minutes (session game time) [probably left the Wii running]
break
20190722: 1 hour 4 minutes (session game time)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Dance_2019

Osmos (PC) (2009)

Overview: Propel yourself around the map and absorb organisms ("motes") smaller in size to grow in this casual, physics-based puzzle game.

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Gameplay:
Movement is achieved by ejecting mass. However, the game observes the basic laws of physics so speeding up, slowing down, and changing direction would also require ejecting mass. As such, it's also necessary to absorb mass, but motes, the name for organisms in the game, can only be absorbed if it is smaller than the player character (color-coded blue) as opposed to larger (color-coded red).

At the current size the player character (light blue mote) can absorb the two smaller (blue) motes would be absorbed by the larger (red) mote.

The player is also given the ability to speed up or slow down time, for large scale actions or fine-tune actions, respectively.

Different levels have different goals. In many, the goal is to become the biggest mote. In some, the goal is to absorb a particular mote, usually one that's governed by some property (e.g., speed, repulsion).

The nature of each level changes as well. For example, all the motes in a level may be stationary, but so packed, that the player must be precise and form a strategy.* Another level may contain anti-matter motes, motes which cancel out with matter motes.

*Tip: Absorbing motes isn't the only way to proceed. Figure out how you can apply the laws of physics to get other stationary objects to move!

Attack the Biophobe!

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Steam Game Time: 76 minutes

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20181121:
I loaded up an old save file (Game Save Manager) dated 20140717 but the date of the first Steam Achievement (20120902 2233), that of the save files (20120902 2326) suggests, and the logged Steam Game Time (76 minutes) suggests I only ever played on September 2, 2012.

I played two sessions today (approximately 1 hour 34 minutes and 1 hr 46 minutes).

Steam Game Time: 4.7 hours (cumulative game time) / 3.4 hours (session game time)

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Relaxing music

The world can seem overwhelming if you look at the big picture...

+ Good visuals; it's particularly fun to zoom in and out.
+ Excellent physics (conservation of momentum); educational
+ Tutorial

Neutral:
~ Some puzzles are good and challenging

Cons:
- Some levels feel too random
- Can require patience

It can help to zoom in.

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Summary:
The mechanics of the game are simple, but mastering the controls and pacing is a key to the game. Sometimes the player will have to quickly eject mass to catch up to a much needed food source, while other times the player will have to simply eject a tiny mass and patiently wait.

Quickly touching on the educational aspect, Osmos can be used to gain an interactive understanding of momentum. First, there's the momentum involved with movement of the player character. Speeding up, slowing down, losing mass while remaining roughly stationary, and bouncing off walls are actions that occur with physics-based principals. Second, there's the interaction with other organisms. Shoot a piece of mass at another organism, and depending on it's mass, it'll move accordingly (with a velocity* that conserves momentum).

Overall, fans of action puzzle games may enjoy playing Osmos and science teachers may enjoy it as a teaching tool.

As a remark, I did momentarily spend some time reflecting on the multiple sizes of life as I played the game. As an example, as the player character grows and the player zooms out to find larger organisms, it can be easy forget that there may still be small organisms floating around. But simply zoom back in and there they are!

*As one learns in physics, velocity consists speed (scalar) and direction (vector).

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20240322 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 4.7 hours (cumulative game time)
Last Played: 20181121

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20240322:
I recently played Flight Control HD and as far as casual games go, I find Flight Control to be more casual than Osmos.

Steam Game Time: 5.0 hours (cumulative game time) / 0.3 hours (session game time)

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20240323:
Yesterday and at the start of today I tried to play Zen Attractors (one of the Force levels), but I switched to playing the Ambient levels. The ambient levels felt easier and more relaxing to play. In any case, I would give this game a rating below Flight Control: 3.6 out of 5.

Steam Game Time: hours (cumulative game time) / hours (session game time)

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Osmos (PC) (2009)

Relevant Links:
Osmos Website
Osmos (Wikipedia.org)
Osmos (Steam Store Page)

The 7th Guest (PC) (1993)

Overview: A horror point-and-click whose story and gameplay is primarily delivered via live action video clips. Broadly speaking, you (the player character) find yourself in a mansion, seeing ghostly spirits, and as you explore the mansion you must solve puzzles to progress the story.