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[Iduno]

Epic brings us a free game every week (sometimes there are repeats), but posting about them seems to fill up other threads. Hopefully someone else has played them and can tell us why they did or didn't like them, so we can figure out if we'd like them or not.


This week's game is Unrailed: a multiplayer game about trying to get resources to build more train tracks to prevent a train from becoming derailed, and has both co-op and competitive modes.

[Iduno]

It's a new free game starting in less than 2 hours. Cook, Serve, Delicious 3?!

I've not played any of the CSD games, so I don't really know how they work.

[AlStar]

CSD games are basically a combination of time management, memorization, and typing skills.

You have a menu, which, in CSD3 is based on your location. Different meals have different complexities, with more complex items generally bringing in more money and/or the possibility of tips for perfectly-made food. Recipes can be 'complex' in several different ways - either because the item itself is complex (like lasagna; which requires many alternating key presses to put down the layers of meat, cheese, and noodles), or because the customer gets a lot of customization options (like a salad).

Items can be as simple as fries (I don't have the game available to double check, but from memory it's dunk fries into oil, let them simmer for about 30 seconds, pull them out, then hit them with salt) to something like a hamburger, which requires you to select the type of bun the customer wants, fry up the meat, then add on any requested toppings.

Now, if it was just one recipe at a time, that'd be easy. But you're dealing with multiple customers - especially during the lunch and dinner rush. If they wait too long, they'll get unhappy and eventually leave; so you need have have multiple things all going on at the same time; making sure nothing burns while you're busy prepping a different meal.

It's fun, in a "oh my god, everything's burning down at once and what do you mean we've just entered dinner rush and the toilet needs to be unclogged?!" way.

[Robsoie]

Checking a video it feels a lot like a flash game (that name is escaping my memories but i guess some other people may recognize it) i played years ago, not in visual but in gameplay.
While it was fun for a dozen of minutes, it was not really much after that, but i guess it was just not the kind of game i enjoy.

And looking at next week "freebie" that is not a game but a dlc for one of the hundred of "online multiplayer fornite/battleroyale/ffa"  clones, it looks like epic is running out of their Fortnite money, could it mean their strategy of giving away a great (most of the time) title every week that went on for a couple of years failed to bring them more customers ?
The kind of games that they're now giving away since a couple of months seems to indicate just that.

[Iduno]

And looking at next week "freebie" that is not a game but a dlc for one of the hundred of "online multiplayer fornite/battleroyale/ffa"  clones, it looks like epic is running out of their Fortnite money, could it mean their strategy of giving away a great (most of the time) title every week that went on for a couple of years failed to bring them more customers ?
The kind of games that they're now giving away since a couple of months seems to indicate just that.

It seems to be a few small games, then a big one (usually as a way of advertising a sequel). Borderlands 3 wasn't that long ago.

[Tilla]

Checking a video it feels a lot like a flash game (that name is escaping my memories but i guess some other people may recognize it) i played years ago, not in visual but in gameplay.
While it was fun for a dozen of minutes, it was not really much after that, but i guess it was just not the kind of game i enjoy.

And looking at next week "freebie" that is not a game but a dlc for one of the hundred of "online multiplayer fornite/battleroyale/ffa"  clones, it looks like epic is running out of their Fortnite money, could it mean their strategy of giving away a great (most of the time) title every week that went on for a couple of years failed to bring them more customers ?
The kind of games that they're now giving away since a couple of months seems to indicate just that.

They're at over 200 million accounts theres only so many users to acquire would not be surprised if it slows down. By all accounts the strategy worked very well. And the Fortnite money certainly doesn't seem to be slowing, hey're easily hitting 3 million concurrent pretty regularly. Rumbleverse is Epic's own published game that doesn't have a battlepass active yet so it is not a surprise they're promoting that with some loot.

Heres a look back at what they're spending (from 2019 cause I don't have more recent numbers) but given the general price range and number of people using it it seems to work. And the company is making in the billions of dollars.

[Robsoie]

Surprising that they're getting more customers (as 1 guy making an account to epic to grab a free game does not equal 1 customer) especially with all the controversy they had been going through with their launcher (that fortunately has open source "clean" and legal alternatives).

But if the Fortnite money does not slow down, they'll probably continue for a long long while.

Anyways, looks like the "this week instead of a free game we'll offering a free DLC for a multiplayer fortnite/battleroyal clone that is mostly dead online" was probably not going to work well for them, so they added a free game, Doom64

And from what i understand this Doom64 is the "legal" and commercial update (engine is updated too) of the version of Doom64 you probably already played as it had been freely downloadable (but probably more "legal challenged" ) for years that was named Doom64EX

Regardless of it being on epic, to me that Nintendo64 version despite its new features (like the lightning and smoke effect) was the less enjoyable version of Doom of them all, the pacing was very different from Doom1 and Doom2 as there were a lot less enemies and the levels were more puzzle-filled than before without "flowing" very well with a more claustrophobic atmosphere (that some people may like, but i prefered the slightly more open levels of doom1 and 2).

edit : here are the difference between this Doom64 and Doom64EX
https://doom64ex.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/differences-between-doom-64-ex-2-5-versus-the-official-remaster/
And the biggest gameplay one is :

Up/down look and jumping removed. The goal was to keep this release of Doom 64 as ‘Vanilla’ as possible, plus it saves the issues when having to deal with the sky and player getting stuck in levels.

One of the best thing for gameplay to me when people started to make new engines to run Doom1&2 was this true mouselook like in any other FPS, it improved the "feel" of the game a lot to me (that along being able to finally disable the overdone "view bob" that was giving so many headache on long old Doom1/2 sessions), sad to see it goes away for this commercial update of Doom64ex.

Anyways, you can also give a look to Brutal Doom64 and Doom64 Retribution for alternative but less faithfull Doom64 recreation (Brutal is much more action and Retribution should have more GZDoom effects included)

[Folly]

I've been playing Unrailed the last few days.

The fundamentals of gameplay: you mine rocks and chop trees to clear a path, haul the rocks and lumber to your train where the cars convert those materials into tracks, then lay down the tracks ahead of the slow-moving train until you reach the next station. Each station affords you an opportunity to spend resources either buying new cars which grant your train various new abilities to help with clearing paths, or advance to the next biome. The general goal is to progress through as many biomes as possible.

There are a pretty good variety of train cars to choose from, offering different experiences each run as you experiment with different configurations. Each biome also has unique challenges, and it's always interesting to reach a new one and see what changes. And of course it's fun to meet new people and see how they might approach the game differently than you have been; I definitely recommend getting on the Discord and joining a group for voice chat, as coordination plays a big part in success of this game.

My one major complaint is how long games can take. Starting from the beginning with a good group, you can easily end up escorting one train for around 4 hours! Gotta carve out a generous block of my day before loading up this game.

[Iduno]

I've been playing Unrailed the last few days.

The fundamentals of gameplay: you mine rocks and chop trees to clear a path, haul the rocks and lumber to your train where the cars convert those materials into tracks, then lay down the tracks ahead of the slow-moving train until you reach the next station. Each station affords you an opportunity to spend resources either buying new cars which grant your train various new abilities to help with clearing paths, or advance to the next biome. The general goal is to progress through as many biomes as possible.

There are a pretty good variety of train cars to choose from, offering different experiences each run as you experiment with different configurations. Each biome also has unique challenges, and it's always interesting to reach a new one and see what changes. And of course it's fun to meet new people and see how they might approach the game differently than you have been; I definitely recommend getting on the Discord and joining a group for voice chat, as coordination plays a big part in success of this game.

My one major complaint is how long games can take. Starting from the beginning with a good group, you can easily end up escorting one train for around 4 hours! Gotta carve out a generous block of my day before loading up this game.

It sounded good, up until you mentioned Discord. How is the matchmaking in-game? I haven't managed to find even a second person to play with, and co-op games are more...co-op with people.

[Folly]

It sounded good, up until you mentioned Discord. How is the matchmaking in-game? I haven't managed to find even a second person to play with, and co-op games are more...co-op with people.

You can play alone, and the difficulty will scale down for you. Though I can't comment on how that experience plays out as I've always played with other people.
There is a matchmaking button which I've used a couple of times, with mixed results. More often than not it seems to just throw me into a new game as the host.
There is also a session browser, where you can see a list of open games, the number of people and difficulty level and how far they've gone already, and join up. This list is generally well populated as the game still seems to be fairly active right now. And if you're playing without voice, you can use your mouse to draw paths on the landscape, and use a wheel-UI to flash emoticons indicating what you want your team to do.

[Iduno]

Looks like they added Destiny 2 to the list for the week, because it's the 20th anniversary.

It sounded good, up until you mentioned Discord. How is the matchmaking in-game? I haven't managed to find even a second person to play with, and co-op games are more...co-op with people.

You can play alone, and the difficulty will scale down for you. Though I can't comment on how that experience plays out as I've always played with other people.
There is a matchmaking button which I've used a couple of times, with mixed results. More often than not it seems to just throw me into a new game as the host.
There is also a session browser, where you can see a list of open games, the number of people and difficulty level and how far they've gone already, and join up. This list is generally well populated as the game still seems to be fairly active right now. And if you're playing without voice, you can use your mouse to draw paths on the landscape, and use a wheel-UI to flash emoticons indicating what you want your team to do.

I'll have to give it a shot. It looks good.

[Robsoie]

Looks like they added Destiny 2 to the list for the week, because it's the 20th anniversary.

From the looks of it, it's only a dlc for that Destiny2 thingy that has been added for the week , as that "free to play mmo" game itself is permanently free on all platforms that have it.

[Robsoie]

I gave a try to Ring of Pain, this week freebie and found its concept interesting.
Not really seeing the "roguelite" element in this one, but that's a nice card game (with some deck building elements) in which you build up your character stats/abilities/etc... with some cards (that's basically your deck) and try to kill whatever random enemy card a "path" will put on your way, though i'm not fan of the visuals, but their style is consistent and they're sligthly animated.

On a "path" it's not only enemies, you may find item cards, ability card , stats cards to add/replace/upgrade/heal your character, sometime you may find an exit (there are several type of exit) that will put you into a new "path", i guess the different type of exit may correspond to specifically themed paths but i have not played enough to make the difference.

It's not complicated to play and is rather simple to understand, but each run will be rather different considering there are lot of randomness in the treasure cards and items you meet on a path, allowing a lot of replay value i guess.
There are several variables to take in account : enemy speed vs yours, risk in attacking vs how much damage the enemy can deal, you can see the cards coming behind the ones that you run in so you can think also ahead in what to do (get to another path now or try to kill that enemy to see if the treasure card will be good), all of this adding some depth to how you need to deal with a path.

Each paths also get harder than the previous one, and a path has a limited amount of card you will encounter, so if you stay on one but kill/get everything, you'll have to choose a new path card at some point.

All in all it feels like a good card game, not sure how long it can keep you hooked or if it will get repetitive after several playthrough

Spoiler: some survival tips from the devs (click to show/hide)

 
Don't expect to kill everything.
Especially not exploders unless you don't have ways to mitigate the damage. These are like our 'red barrels', but they can be positioned strategically if played right. There's nothing random about creature behaviours (more on this later).

Scrolls are like a 'get out of jail free' card.
Be strategic with which you keep, and save them for when absolutely needed unless you have the opportunity to replace one. We also want to expand on this mechanic in the future, to give scrolls more utility.

Not all exits are made equal - and the importance of farming
The game consists of a core path (black exits) which progresses through all numbered levels needed to complete to finish the ring.

Special paths (coloured exits) are like secondary rooms, which add an extra room on your main path. You can also chain these together with Create Exit or Crossroads.

Skull exits are like elite encounters in other roguelikes. They're harder than your current core depth, but have better treasure. You'll need to visit some of these rooms to help your build snowball, but you also need to learn when you're equipped for each different type.
This usually means learning by dying, it's part of the learning process and discovery. In the future we want to better clarify how these paths work with more UI and tooltips.

Rerolling items is important
In item comparisons (chests and corpses) there's a Reroll button at the top.
Next patch will add a tutorial for this as we've noticed some people miss it.
Rerolls start cheap and are a great way to find items which better suit your situation.

Stealth is important for survival
Stealth is another mechanic which sometimes gets under-utilised by new players.
Don't hesitate because it displays a low number, pain is the name of the game!

It's important to assess each dungeon and plan first as opposed to just focussing on the front cards. Our game is like an order of actions puzzle... with permadeath.

Take your time and read tooltips, especially on creatures.
Creatures have actions displayed above the card and a death behaviour.
If playing with controller these can be viewed by pressing UP to enter Observe mode, and left/right will look at cards in the ring. With mouse, hover over the icons to see tooltips.

Learning how creatures behave is critical to survival, and each creature type always behaves consistently so you can plan ahead.

As you learn how creatures behave, you'll be able to better predict what will happen x turns ahead, and even as you're learning we always show the immediate next turn.

The game is dynamic and very responsive, which may make it seem like a fast paced game (and it can be!), but as you get deeper you'll need to plan multiple turns ahead to survive. Especially when entering a new dungeon! Even difficult dungeons are designed to be fair, and once you get a feel for which dungeons do what you'll better understand what types of things can spawn there and how to tackle it.

Observe the ring and strategize.
Learn, adapt, or face demise.

Hopefully this is helpful while we work on ways to make this more intuitive within the game.
Thanks everyone for playing and appreciate all your feedback!

If anyone has more tips, feel free to add them below.

[Iduno]

I'm also trying Ring of Pain.

It's not complicated, but you'll die a lot. Also, you always have the choice of going left or right, and can see what both of them are. You fight if it's an enemy, leave if it's an exit (different, depending on the type of exit), use a potion (some are gambling, which either curse you for non-lethal damage or heal you), or gain an item.

Edit: although you never really feel like you could win if you were just better at the game. All of your choices are left or right.

[Aoi]

I'm also trying Ring of Pain.

It's not complicated, but you'll die a lot. Also, you always have the choice of going left or right, and can see what both of them are. You fight if it's an enemy, leave if it's an exit (different, depending on the type of exit), use a potion (some are gambling, which either curse you for non-lethal damage or heal you), or gain an item.

Edit: although you never really feel like you could win if you were just better at the game. All of your choices are left or right.

I kind of disagree; I have about a 60% win rate with Inverted-or-Double/Hard/Dark nowadays, assuming I'm not grouchily trying to pick up one of the ten or so achievements I haven't pulled off yet. There's definitely a lot of skill/judgement calls involved, though it's mostly in reading the board properly and knowing how to piece together an endgame viable set.

Tip: Don't overlook blue chests. They have the most flexible and build-enabling gear of any chest; gold chests are too expensive and late to rely on, purple has too much junk.