You use "avoid." It fails miserably.
The great Steam Winter Sale has been lurking inside my computer! Oh no!
And because I'm terrible and evidently like having three million unplayed games in my Steam Library, I decided that I would allow myself just one little splurge. I would be allowed to buy one game. Just one. It's holiday time! Treat yo'self.
What was that game?
Why, Just Die Already, of course! For a measly $10.
While the game idea was amusing -- you play one of four selectable elderly people and get them kicked out of a retirement home, then you roam the streets and cause chaos. Lots of blood, gore, ways to die, ways to kill others, haha -- but yes, while the game idea is amusing, in actuality... eh.
The controls seemed pretty standard but were actually terrible, practically unplayable, and... it just wasn't as FUN as I thought it would be? I was looking forward to causing disaster with my little old lady, but... eh. I killed her, turned it off, then requested a refund.
Now I was going to have to find something else, with a price limit of $10.
So, while I awaited the email telling me that my refund had been processed, I browsed the Under $10 sale listings and found... sex sims, very low-effort indie games, and many games that I already owned. Yay. Haha.
If anyone's interested!!! You can get the entire Dragon Age trilogy at the moment for under $15. That's Origins, #2, and Inquisition. Woo. ⚔️🐲
Anyway... so after much scouring of the Under $10 category, I came across...
Cat Goes Fishing, Cat Quest 1 and 2, Plague Inc, some pixel Zombie game where you're the zombie infecting everyone... then finally, I chose Pixel Shopkeeper.
I wasn't entirely sure I would like this. For the past couple of years I've been trying to get into the shopkeeper or tavernkeeper style of games, and I just haven't really found one I could get into.
Recettear came very highly recommended... but I guess I'm just daft because I couldn't work out how to even play the silly thing. This was yeeeeears ago when I was more impatient and wanting instant gratification, but it seemed too complicated. Maybe I'll try again.
Anyway, Pixel Shopkeeper looked okaaaay enough in the Store screenshots. The reviews were mostly positive. The game's Discussions page was fairly active with a developer who actually responded and helped in almost thread. Looked like a good game to support!
The game doesn't take itself too seriously. It's just a fun little thing with amusing dialogue and a simple premise.
Dungeon delve, loot things, sell the things, and pay off your student loans before they kill you in 16 weeks? 😱
Your character will automatically run through these little dungeon things while you, the player, get the job of picking up loot and fitting them into your bag Tetris-style.
Of course you must remember to heal your character too with herbs that drop. I didn't know that until later on in the game and got knocked out a couple of times in the dungeons. Now you know straight away!
After you're finished in the dungeon and haul home all the loot, you can display it in your shop to sell to all the other heroes in the land!
You can click on them to "poke" them to encourage them buy your wares. You can also click on tumbleweeds and birds that fly past to get a few extra golds. Sometimes people will walk past and offer you advice, gold, and quests.
As you progress you can unlock crafting, a shop which sells decor and recipes, a park in which you can socialise with other heroes, higher level armour and weapons... and more!
It's a little grindy, but it's a good grindy!
Once I win or fail this campaign, I'm tempted to jump straight into Sandbox mode. In Sandbox, there is no loan you need to pay back -- just however-long-you-want of dungeoning, looting, and selling.
And can I just say, the music in this game is great! Reminds me of old-school games, but, less jarring. 😁 I don't normally care about the music in games, it's just there, some background noise, but this is really good.
I like it. It's definitely a nice little Christmas gift I got for myself, it's just terrible that my first choice was... terrible. 😅
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 
