Games for Consideration 2011

This has honestly been a topic of debate for myself on and off over the last couple months as of recently the games in which I want on steam has greatly depleted and also realizing that if I actually completely half the list of steam games I currently own I'll be running dry sometime early next year. Which to say there might be more title for me to accumulate by then. However for now time to go over a list of games which tempt me thus far this year.

*****Video Games*****

Portal 2:

Usually I tend to hold off on steam games when purchasing upon them being initially released however Portal 2 is starting to seem more of an exception to the rule. Kind of like Killing Floor and Sol Survivor (the only two indie games I've purchased on release day). On one hand the lowest I can get it for is $40 bucks which for steam (and myself) is a fairly large lump sum to drop on a game. I know that given a month or two the price would drop significantly or a deal would become avaliable (i.e: Dead Space 2 released for $60 about a month and half ago and now its $40). However lets be honest its Portal 2, which Portal gave me a good bit of fun trying to speed run it (latest version) in sub one hour and the madness that ensued as a result of step challenges. Equally I feel I'll be 'missing out' for once which usually I tend to shrug it off but in this case don't feel like I can. I'll have to wait and see how things go.

Dungeon Defenders:

This title was actually pointed out to me by a friend who gave the basic description of 'think of a tower defense game, now add a first person shooter element, a leveling system and thus you have Dungeon Defenders). To be honest this was more than enough to tempt me / consider picking up the game. However its kind on that similar level of Recetear for me. Part of me wants to pick it up because it sounds like such a great title and it would do a great job of consuming my life. Though on that same pretense it makes me want to run away and never touch it until its on sale. Equally I'll need to see if there's any bugs/glitches after release. One title that comes to mind that has been quite sucessful so far is 'Magicka'. While I played the demo and enjoy the concept of the game, it honest felt very rushed and the patch notes speak for themselves there but that's a rant for another day. Not much information on this game either except for screenshots and vague descriptions of classes. A wait and see.

Age of Wonder:

An RTS I've kept my eye on for a while saw it on sale and missed the opportunity and thus endlessly plaguing me. It has a great deal of classes and heroes to play as and well can't say much more unfortunately. Do want though but not high priority.

*****Board Games*****

I must make this note that there's a great deal more board games I want than video games as I find that each day I'm slowly starting to grow tired of them or don't have much time to play them anymore. Though the video games are nice to play when its not possible to amass a group of people for a board game session. I would like to have more board game sessions in the future though which would encourage me to pick up more, but for the time being there more of a 'I want but no practical use for them yet' situation.

Agricola:

I saw this game at Magfest this year and have to admit its tempted me quite a bit. The basic objective of the game is to raise a family on your farm and you have a choice of one action each turn in how you wish to progress it (kind of like Race For The Galaxy or Puerto Rico). I downloaded the rules for it as well and its something I would definitely be interested in playing with a group. Have to admit that after Catan I have a soft spot for agriculture based games which revolve around building up things from scratch.

Puerto Rico:

Similar note to Agricola not sure much else to say from here. Another game in which you have to pick phases you wish to execute while the opponents can't take the opportunity to take those choices.

Yomi:

Its a card game/board game that tempts me that utilizes a 'read the opponent system'. The basic choices in a turn are throw, attack, block that work in a paper rock scissors fashion (block -> attack -> throw -> block etc). After you land an attack you can combo those into additional cards from your hand based on a number system. The benefit of blocking allows you to net more cards in your hand. The main setback that keeps me from purchasing this is the price model. You can purchase 2 decks for $20 or the full set of 10 decks for $80 dollars. I would like to at least sample the game for cheaper however I feel I'm getting ripped off if I only by the first two sets and then discover after playing that I thoroughly enjoy the game. That dilemma is currently keeping me away.

Dominion *insert expansion here*:

Dominion is essentially the card game that revolves around the whole german style of winning of purchasing or obtaining victory points. Right not 'Intrigue' is the set I'm currently considering and don't really have any quarls picking it up. Equally Prosperity and Cornucopia (came out this year) looks interesting too. Though its one of those things were I don't want to drop $30-$50 per set and find that I play it on a very rare bases (kind of how I play it now). None the less this is probably going to be one of my initially board game purchases.

Thunder Stone:

Similar to Dominion and would like to compare the two. Only reason I would consider getting it.

*****List of other games*****

Below are a list of other games I've been thinking about getting but aren't super high on the priority list due to:

a) Just not interested in it and don't feel its warranted the money yet.
b) Would want to play it with a group first prior to obtaining my own copy.
c) I really want a copy of it however I would probably be the only one interested in playing it.

Dead Space 2
Power Grid
Small World
Lego Harry Potter (for PC)
Multiwini
Warcraft TCG (mainly to build class decks to let friends raid with)
Race for the Galaxy
Mahjong
Shogi

Hmm think that's about it. Not really continuing this as my freelance session its something I've had documented in list form and just wanted to get it posted to maybe get some feedback or to just look back on it to recall the specific reasons why i was thinking about 'x' over 'y' or 'z' instead of 'c'.

Getting a bit late so off to bed nite all!