I was sent The Wandering Village as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.
The Wandering Village is a cute and casual village builder with beautiful art, interesting mechanics, and a solid soundtrack. This game easily became one of my favorites due to its casual atmosphere. This game is simple enough to pick up quickly but offers enough of a challenge without becoming overwhelming. This game is the perfect entry point to the genre and a fantastic addition to any library.
The world has become toxic and uninhabitable. The few remaining survivors have found refuge on the back of a giant wandering beast, the Onbu. Together you will wander the world as you attempt to rebuild a symbiotic civilization on the back of the Onbu.
The Wandering Village is a beautiful game with many moving parts. I recommend you play a few runs without looking up guides. I believe most of the fun is trying to figure out how to grow your village properly, failing, and doing it better the next time around. I am sure there is an optimal way of running through this game, but I had as much fun failing as when everything was running smoothly. This game is casual enough that guides aren’t necessary.
The Wandering Village is one of the more casual village builders I’ve played. Worker, resource, and resource management are challenging enough to keep the game engaging without becoming overwhelming. There are settings you can tweak that makes the management mechanics more difficult, but I never felt like it lost its casual vibe. What does create a challenge is adapting to the random encounters throughout the Onbu’s journey. The types of scouting missions that become available, the types of biomes it walks through, and the Onbu’s health all affect the growth of your village. Players will often have to readjust quickly to changes. I lost a few villages because I wasn’t planning properly. You will eventually be able to have more control of the Onbu, but I enjoyed the random nature of the journey. It makes every run unique, giving the game lots of replayability.
I had a lot of fun with The Wandering Village, and recommend it to anyone in the market for a new game. The art is beautiful, and the mechanics are fun and interesting. The game just got an update that added a new biome, buildings, and encounters. You can pick up The Wandering Village on Steam and Xbox for $24.99 or play it for free if you have Game Pass.
Movie Review: Prey (2022)
I love Predator. It is one of my favorite movies. I will watch everything that features the Yautja, no matter how bad they are. I have known disappointment so many times that my hope for the series is fleeting. When I heard about Prey, there was the bittersweet sensation of cautious excitement because the trailer looked cool, but I wasn’t ready to be hurt again. This movie has restored my faith in the series and has become one of my favorites. If you are thinking about watching this film, watch it now!
This prequel focuses on Naru, a young female Comanche warrior who is constantly trying to prove herself to the men of the tribe. The Yautja has landed on earth, searching for worthy prey to hunt. The Yautja begins to hunt the Comanche warriors. Now Naru must protect her tribe against this strange and powerful hunter.
This movie is fantastic. The action is fun, the story is great, and the acting is fantastic. Watching the Yautja hunt is tense and exciting. The film does a great job of making the fights balanced and exciting. The only complaint I have about this movie is that some of the special effects are bad. Some deaths and fights are cartoonishly bad, but not bad enough to ruin the movie. This is one of the better stories set in the predator universe. It has well-built tension that builds to one of the most satisfying conclusions. The acting is phenomenal. It goes without saying, this movie has one of the best female leads in the genre. She is cool and smart, and I believed she was capable of hunting the Yautja. I can only hope there are more movies of this caliber for the genre and the predator universe.
It cannot be understated, you need to watch Prey. It is available in English and a Numunuu dubbing. I wish the whole movie was done in Numunuu, and we got an English dubbing after; but we might not be there as a society yet
The Clouds a Boat and the Ocean
A Leak by the Docks
The Clouds Roll in at Midnight
And as I watch the clouds roll in, I’m hopeful for the rain. I’m hopeful for the change they will bring and the new day ahead.
It is easy to get hung up on the small inconveniences life brings. Like rain or having a bad day. It’s even easier to waste time trying to control every aspect of life seeking perfection, but life isn’t perfect. Life is as unpredictable as a Summer storm and the truest test of character is having the ability to roll with fates unpredictable flow. Adapting and persevering is part of the human experience.
Be hopeful and keep moving forward.
Shot with an iPhone 12
Today is a Fireball
I wonder if animals ponder on this too. If in the late state of their cycle, they sit and reminise on the good times and count the days till it’s all over. They say when cats know they are about to die, they find a place to die in secret. I wonder if they do so to spare loved ones from knowing loss.
And I’ve known loss, as you probably have. I have known the pain of not having someone around and it broke me. And I think about my aging family. I think about how they can no longer run after me or toss me in the air. I watch as they go in and out of hospitals. Every surgery or diagnosis weighs on me heavily and I wonder each time if this might be the last time.
I wonder what our last memory will be. Will I get to say goodbye? Will it be recent? Will anyone be there to remember me?
A man I know once said:
Tomorrow is not garanteed. The health you have today may be gone tomorrow, so make sure you do what you have to today.
I think he may be on to something.
Today I will wake up and watch the sun rise. I will watch as the family of geese feed on grass and bugs. I will hug my family. I will watch the sunset. Tommorrow? Who knows about tomorrow, I’m just sipping my coffee and enjoying today.
Image shot with an iPhone 12
Grass in the Wind
A single blade of grass.
Watch as it flows with the morning breeze. Watch as it is wisked away by outside forces. It’s future is predetermined. Its expiration date has been set and yet it still stands tall, uncaring or unconcerned.
Today it waits for the sunrise. It enjoys it’s majesty. Tomorrow it could ffall and disappear under an emerald current. Or be carried away to make a home for a bird. Gone, leaving in it’s place an empty seat for all who remember it.
Soon a new blade of grass will come to replace it. One with new memories, ideas and dreams. And although it might share the same fate, this one will be different. But this one will stand proudly too.
Shot with a Nikon D90
Morning Routine
When I was younger I used to rise before the sun. I would hear the ringing of the alarm clock in the other room and listen to the shuffling that followed as the house filled with the sent of instant coffee. I would pretend to sleep as my mother would come and gently raise me from feigned slumber. It was time for work.
I remember as we drove through cold streets lit with sickly yellow light from old lampposts. I watched as my mother wiped the sleep from her eyes as the radio played the local Spanish station.
I liked to watch the houses. I watched as the army of those who woke before the sun sit in their cars. Watched as the smoke of the exhaust floated up and mixed with the morning mist. I wondered if they also had a sleeping child in the back seat.
I remember pretending to fall asleep as we turned the corner to my grandmothers house. I liked when my mother would carry me in. I used to watch as her headlights disappear as I drank hot chocolate that was always waiting for me as the kitchen filled with the scent of handmade tortillas.
That was years ago. Today I still rise before the sun does. But today I sip on black coffee as I watch the sunrise reminiscing on the good times had.
Gaggle by the Waterfront
Sandy Gate
Shot with an iPhone 12