I love listening to Dungeons & Dragons or TTRPG podcasts. The frustrating part about them, however, is getting lost within the story. Each podcast has so much world-building that I find if I’m not paying attention to every second, I might miss something. Some podcasts may have a recap before each episode, while others have opted out of that altogether. I wanted to share what’s been working for me to keep everything straight in the podcasts I have been listening to.

I started this with Critical Role specifically. I started keeping a Google Doc per campaign where I write down my favorite moments, key NPCs (non-playable characters created by the Dungeon Master), and memorable bits from each episode. I started this Google Doc last year and kept up with it even when Critical Role began airing campaign #3. It’s been fun keeping a record of moments I don’t want to forget, and it’s helped me get into the world that’s being created. This document is now eleven pages long! This includes moments from campaigns #1 and #3, so I may end up breaking them apart into two separate documents.

If anyone else is a fan of roleplaying podcasts, I currently have a Google Doc created for both campaigns #2 and #3 from NADDPOD and campaign #1 and campaign #3 of Critical Role. I’m happy to share them if anyone is interested.

I had my eye on LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga since the game was announced. I’m a fan of LEGO games as I think they are relaxing to play in between something more intense. I wish I had pre-ordered this game. As it turns out, it was difficult to find a copy. I lucked out because I was able to find a last-minute copy at Best Buy on the PS4. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is an extravagant rendition of a nostalgic game.

The first thing that jumped out at me was how open-world this game is! I’m on episode #2, Attack of the Clones, and I like that I can explore Coruscant in great detail. There are bricks to collect, side missions, and characters to unlock. It seems every Star Wars planet will get this same overhaul. This goes beyond being a LEGO game. My husband walked in while I was playing through this game and laughed when he realized I was simply walking around collecting bricks and not advancing the story. I love that there is so much to do.

Speaking of collectibles, there are at least 1,000+ blue bricks to collect throughout the game. I’m a completionist, which means I like collecting everything and unlocking every single trophy. It’s going to take me forever to unlock everything, but it’s a challenge that I have accepted.

I wanted to keep this post short and sweet. Once I complete the game, I will write a more in-depth review. My first impression of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is that it’s a game well worth the money and perfect for any Star Wars fan of any age.

Xbox Game Pass is so worth the money. I mentioned Xbox Game Pass before, and I will keep reiterating how much I love it. There are so many games to choose from, and I like being able to try a game to see if I like it. During the week, I like playing relaxing games such as Animal Crossing or visual novel games like Coffee Talk. I don’t want to have to concentrate on something, as work at times leaves me feeling drained. One game I decided to try was Donut Country.

Donut Country is a puzzle physics game in which players play as a sinkhole that will suck up various buildings, animals, and people in this town. The story follows Mira, who, along with her raccoon friend, BK, works at the local donut shop. BK started doing donut deliveries to save for a remote-controlled helicopter. Mira learns that instead of donut deliveries, sinkholes have been dispatched and are sinking various residents. BK realizes that something is amiss as he doesn’t want to sink the town; he only wants his helicopter. How will Mira and BK revert the town to the way it was before the sinkholes?

The gameplay in Donut Country is where the game thrives. I had a lot of fun maneuvering this sinkhole around. Since some of the objects are larger, the sinkhole has to be appropriately placed to complete a level and capture the objects. Some levels have a puzzle component where certain levers have to be pulled, and objects are catapulted out of the sinkhole to complete the level. I liked the puzzle aspect of the game as I think it added a layer of complexity to the levels. Besides the puzzle aspect, I liked the graphics. They were cute, colorful, and had their own memorable art style. The town takes inspiration from LA. The boss level is similar to the Griffith Observatory which I have been to before! I thought it was a nice touch to see where the game draws its inspiration from.

The only downside I can think of to the game is the story. The story at times felt a bit convoluted. I’m still not sure where the sinkholes came from. It’s revealed who summons the sinkholes, but I’m not following how they randomly popped up. I think the point of the game is to be unrealistic, so I think it’s worth suspending some disbelief while playing Donut Country.

Donut Country was an entertaining and relaxing game to play. I probably wouldn’t have played this game had it not been on Xbox Game Pass. Donut Country is available on Xbox Game Pass.

I haven’t played board games in such a long time! I used to play board games regularly, whether with friends or family. Thankfully, I was able to join a family board game night last weekend. As we discussed what we should play, it was decided to give Doctor Who Fluxx a shot. I have never played a Fluxx game before trying out Doctor Who Fluxx. Doctor Who Fluxx was easy to learn and quick to play.

To win a game of Fluxx, a player must meet the goal. Different goal cards can be drawn and played, and sometimes the goal changes. Besides goal cards, there are rule cards that change the rules of that particular round. This can include increasing or decreasing maximum hand size, altering the number of cards drawn per turn, and changing the number of cards that can be played on one turn. There are keeper cards that are played in front of the table, along with action cards, which allow for shenanigans to occur.

Since this was Doctor Who Fluxx, the cards are characters and themes from Doctor Who. The keeper cards could be the various doctors or companions. My personal favorite was the Ponds, as I ended up winning one round by having a Tardis and the Ponds as keepers on my board. As I was playing through Doctor Who Fluxx, it reminded me that I’m due for a Doctor Who re-watch soon.

Doctor Who Fluxx is the perfect brewery or picnic table game. It’s easy to teach someone else how to play; it’s quick, and it doesn’t take up the whole table. I’m tempted to order my copy to have on hand. Doctor Who Fluxx can be purchased at your local game store or anywhere where games are sold.

The last time I played in Adventurer’s League was before the holidays. Zehiri, my Tiefling Paladin, almost died because I kept rolling so poorly. I played Adventurer’s League at Red 6 Games in St. Paul. I like the DM who leads the sessions, and I don’t get to go to St. Paul that often, so I find playing at Red 6 is a treat. I’m happy to say that Zehiri did so much better in this session, and I didn’t die.

Our session took place in the village of Parnast. Our contact, Regnar, said thefts and other petty crimes were occurring in the town. Regnar accused a local carpenter, Gundolin Cartwright, of being the suspected culprit, as he had refused to build a watchtower to protect the town. Regnar offered our group fifty gold if we could apprehend the person responsible. As our group conversed with Gundolin, we interpreted that he was innocent and another individual, Tove, was responsible. As our group followed Tove into the forest, a battle ensued with numerous orcs and an ogre coming to greet us.

In this session, I earned my first inspiration from the DM. Inspiration is when the DM feels there’s roleplaying or character development that’s worth recognizing. Inspiration allows the character who received inspiration to re-roll a die. I received inspiration because Zehiri helped get the group together. Our group was a bit all over the place, and I cast a cantrip called Thaumaturgy, which allows for my voice to become a megaphone of sorts. I told the group to calm down and think for a second. The DM liked that I did that, hence I got inspiration.

Another cool moment for Zehiri was in the big battle. There was a female orc champion named Korgath who was targeting me. I had Zehiri taunt her a bit into attacking me. She dealt thirteen damage to Zehiri, but I was ready. As a reaction, I have Hellish Rebuke. Hellish Rebuke is a reaction spell, meaning I can cast it even if it’s not on my turn if my character is targeted. As I cast Hellish Rebuke, I rolled three D10s of damage, which was enough to kill her. Korgath attacked me, I taunted her, and I used Hellish Rebuke to turn her to ash. How cool is that?

Along with the role-playing session, one of the players brought his son. He was playing a Rogue, so he would do sneak attack damage. As he rolled the dice, his dad was helping him add up all his damage. It was the cutest thing. We all knew the answer, but we didn’t tell him until he could add it all up for himself. It goes to show that D&D can be educational, as there’s a lot of math involved, whether it be in combat situations or skill checks.

From this session, Zehiri is now level #4. I’m on the cusp of leaving the beginner’s session and moving into the advanced session for levels #5 – #9. I’m thrilled that Zehiri lived throughout the session, and I’m excited to fit another Adventurer’s League session into my schedule.

It’s March! This means spring is right around the corner. I tend to do most of my gaming in winter as there’s not a whole lot going on otherwise. I’m looking forward to writing these gaming updates to keep me on track for gaming throughout spring. I wanted to spring into my latest gaming update.

Consoles

I’m currently playing through Far Cry 5 on my PS4. Far Cry 5 takes place in Montana and focuses on the main character taking on a cult. This cult is impulsive, and I have no shame in overtaking an outpost to help the resistance. Far Cry 5 makes me want to visit Montana, as the world is so pretty.

In my last update, I mentioned playing Animal Crossing. I’m in another lull; I don’t think I played at all throughout February. I have so much to do with my island, so I do want to get back into playing regularly.

PC

I had some issues with loading Steam. Thanks to a quick Google search, I was able to fix the issue I was having. I started playing Coffee Talk. Coffee Talk is a visual novel about a coffee shop owner who sees a variety of supernatural customers coming to order coffee. This feels like D&D took place in a coffee shop; that’s what Coffee Talk reminds me of. I’m liking it so far! During the week, I tend to play more cozy games, so Coffee Talk and Animal Crossing are a perfect fit to play after work.

I still have Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy to complete. I haven’t had any desire to play the Nancy Drew PC games. If I’m feeling it, I might return to the game this month.

Board Games

For my mom’s birthday, we played a few games at my apartment. My brother and I taught my mom Exploding Kittens, and she loved it! She wanted my brother to buy a copy of the game. My mom has been getting into board games more, which is fun to see. She likes simple games, nothing too complicated. Exploding Kittens is a great game for those who like simplicity, and a game that doesn’t take long to play.

Roleplaying

Curse of Strahd is still ongoing and fun. In one of our latest sessions, our barbarian got bit by a vampire, and fortunately, I rolled high on a blood hunter check, so we were able to prevent him from being turned. Our group still has no process if we get bitten by vampires, so that’s something we have to figure out, or we won’t last through this campaign. I’m playing at Badwolf Adventure Studios, and once Curse of Strahd is complete, I plan on hopping into another campaign, as I think Badwolf does a great job at professional DMing.

Tomorrow I’m playing in Adventurer’s League with Zehiri, my Tiefling Paladin. She’s the character I reserve for Adventurer’s League sessions. I haven’t played Adventurer’s League since December, so I’m excited to play.

Miscellaneous

For gaming news, the new Pokémon starters have been released. I’m partial to Sprigatito because it’s a grass cat! As a cat person, I’m happy. However, Fuecoco is growing on me. It’s a cute fire gator. While I think Quaxly is adorable, Sprigatito and Fuecoco have grown on me. Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are set to release late this year on the Switch.

My goal for March is to get farther into Far Cry 5, complete Coffee Talk, and level up Zehiri in Adventurer’s League. Let me know in the comments what you’re playing through.

I’m currently in a Curse of Strahd campaign that meets every other Thursday. For those unfamiliar, Curse of Strahd is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure where players come to Barovia to confront Strahd, the ruler of Barovia. When I first started the campaign, I debated writing weekly posts about our sessions, but decided against it. Instead, I wanted to write an occasional post where something big happens in our campaign. In this post, I wanted to recap how our group killed our first vampire.

Our group finished defeating a few black tentacle creatures before reaching this church. As a side note, my character, Levenia, nearly got mauled to death, so I was not looking too well. Our group arrived at this church to lay to rest an NPC’s father. As we arrive, the priest is acting like a creep, and we hear screaming from the floorboards. Our group determines that there is someone underneath and through investigation checks, this screaming is from the priest’s son who was turned into a vampire.

Our group debated for a long time as to what we wanted to do. There were two options that we went back and forth on:

1. Do nothing. Let the vampire trapped underground stay there and hope he doesn’t escape.
2. Kill the vampire and put it out of its misery.

After a long conversation, it was decided to kill the vampire. One member of the party stayed above the floor, while the rest of us went downstairs to confront the vampire with our stakes. The vampire, instead of attacking us, attacked the member of our party who stayed upstairs. She was pulled underneath and bitten by the vampire, which was really bad. If our group didn’t do something, she would have become a vampire that we would have had to kill. Our clerics, fortunately, were able to remove her vampirism. It took five of us to hold on to the stake, and I used a cantrip called Eldritch Blast to magically shove the stake further into the vampire, which dealt the killing blow. Levenia got the killing blow on the vampire, which is easily one of the coolest moments I have ever had playing D&D.

This was easily one of my favorite role-playing sessions I have ever been a part of. The stakes were high (no pun intended), and my character got to do some badass stuff. I’m enjoying Curse of Strahd so far, and I hope that my character gets to live through the adventure, although it’s all up to the roll of the die.

SQUARE ENIX had a rough start with their superhero games. I reviewed Marvel’s Avengers at the end of 2020, and it was such a letdown. I was adamant that I didn’t want anything to do with SQUARE ENIX and superhero video games. Last year, SQUARE ENIX released Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and I was astonished to hear the game was getting rave reviews, with Google stating 95% liked the game. While I was apprehensive, I figured if other gamers liked the game, it can’t be that bad. It certainly couldn’t be worse than Marvel’s Avengers. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was an entertaining space saga that I would absolutely re-play.

The game opens with Star-Lord aka. Peter Quill is leading the Guardians to collect items to sell and gain credits. As the Guardians explore, Peter stumbles upon a yellow stone, and much to Peter’s immature personality, he uses the stone to accidentally release an alien into space. As the Guardians flee, they are captured by Nova Corp and forced to pay a fine for illegal contraband. Once the Guardians have the credits to pay their fine, they head back to Nova Corp, and clearly, something is wrong. Nova Corp seems corrupted, and they viciously attack the Guardians. Whatever Peter released is setting off a chain of events that could lead to the entire galaxy being mind-controlled. The Guardians of the Galaxy are ready to take on this all-encompassing alien being.

To start off, I like the look of the Guardians. Peter is sporting a buzz mohawk of sorts, which I think fits with his persona. Do I dare say that I prefer Star-Lord in the game to Chris Pratt’s film version? Star-Lord is the only playable character, yet since he’s the leader, I can use him to direct the other Guardians to attack. Another fun way this game uses the Guardians is through a huddle. A pink meter is filled as the Guardians unleash their attacks, and once the meter is filled, Star-Lord can call for a huddle. As the Guardians express their thoughts, Star-Lord can give an enticing speech. If done correctly, the Guardians are given temporary health protection. Additionally, 80s music is played once a huddle is completed. Nothing creates more energy during a tough combat sequence than 80s music playing throughout. This was a great way to incorporate the energy of the Guardians in their own video game.

Another intriguing aspect of the game was the choices. For example, in one chapter, the Guardians come up with a plan to scam Lady Hellbender by pretending to sell one of their own. The player can choose whether to pretend to sell Groot or Rocket. I chose Rocket. Since I made this choice, the plan ended up failing, and I ended up having to fight my way out. However, if I had chosen Groot, the plan would have worked; it would have eliminated the need for combat. While most of the choices are harmless, they can allow for galactic assistance throughout the chapters. I thought it was a neat idea to include something like this in a superhero game.

Throughout the chapters, there are various collectibles, gear, and character outfits to collect. As a completionist, I plan on going through the game again and collecting everything I missed. My personal favorite is the outfits because, as they are unlocked, it’s shown which comics displayed that particular character’s outfit. As someone who hasn’t read many Guardians of the Galaxy comics, I liked learning more about each outfit and the outfit that it corresponds with.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a surprisingly well-made game. I was not expecting SQUARE ENIX to do a great job, as their track record isn’t great. I’m happy to say that this game is worth playing. I’d rate Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy 9/10.