# Recommend me a PC game please



## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

I've barely played a computer game in years (apart from the odd game of pool and worms)... games look really great these days, i quite fancy a go at something, but ive no idea what's out there 

Id like something that fits these criteria
I have no joystick so it has to be keyboard & mouse operatable
No first person shooters or war simulator type things
No building a world, sim city type thing
2d is fine by me
Quite up for something arty/unusual/quirky...or not
anything from the last 10 years, but newer would be better 
Thanks a lot 

ETA: my mate has recommended Braid


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## yield (Mar 12, 2013)

Osmos and FTL are the best games I've played for the last few years.


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## Fez909 (Mar 12, 2013)

Braid is perfect for your criteria.

I have liked World of Goo and Eufloria and fl0w (free) in recent years. All quite 'arty'.


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## FridgeMagnet (Mar 12, 2013)

Braid is pretty good, yes. The last game I played to completion was Limbo, which is another slightly quirky platformer. Mostly nowadays I play Dwarf Fortress or Dungeon Crawl or write my own shit.

Nobody uses a joystick any more btw.


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## Fez909 (Mar 12, 2013)

Oh, and AudioSurf. You load an MP3 from your collection and it scans it to detect beats and intensity, and creates a track for you to ride. It's then a bit like Tetris and Wipeout 2097 had a baby. Pretty odd, but good fun, and your score gets added to the global leader board so you can compete against mates on music you both like. Costs about £4 from Steam.







I started a thread recently but got no replies, which surprised me. I thought it would be popular here.


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## Ax^ (Mar 12, 2013)




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## Fez909 (Mar 12, 2013)

Portal's ace, but I'd guess that ska's PC isn't up to it seeing as he hasn't played games in years. Unless it's a brand spanker with i3/i5, ska invita?


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## Ax^ (Mar 12, 2013)

i had portal running on an old p4 3.0


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## FridgeMagnet (Mar 12, 2013)

Portal is a relatively old game nowadays - it's worth a go. Good call. It is ace.


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## Fez909 (Mar 12, 2013)

It's the GFX card that's the issue. I know it runs on i3s and i5s without a dedicated GFX card, but anything else is not gonna work.


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## Ax^ (Mar 12, 2013)

can i suggest play portal with a big bag of kind...


blew my mind the first time i came across it whilst stoned


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Portal's ace, but I'd guess that ska's PC isn't up to it seeing as he hasn't played games in years. Unless it's a brand spanker with i3/i5, ska invita?


nope its got xp on it 
ive got a big screen though!
AMD Athlon 64X2Dual Core Processor 4600+
2,41ghz 3GB RAM
I dont know how that relates to games tbh...i use it for music making...youi need special grpahics cards for top games is that right?


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

im not sure how to look up graphics specs...very likely not up to the job though

i remember charlie booker going on about portal


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Nobody uses a joystick any more btw.


would quite like one so i could play sensible soccer  or any footie/tennis game really. i like tennis games


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## Ax^ (Mar 12, 2013)

ska invita said:


> im not sure how to look up graphics specs...very likely not up to the job though
> 
> i remember charlie booker going on about portal


 
how old is your pc ska


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## Firky (Mar 12, 2013)

As others have said, Braid. Lovely little game.


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

also cinematic games....i remember watching a good review for an LA private eye type game


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

Ax^ said:


> how old is your pc ska


10 years old? Some specs in the post above


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## Ax^ (Mar 12, 2013)

la noire... but depends on how old you pc is boyo


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## Firky (Mar 12, 2013)

I know you said you didn't like FPS but Half Life 1 and 2 are really good games and quite different to your FPS shoot-every-fucking-thing in sight. Thet should run fine on your PC 

Do you have a Steam account?


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## Ax^ (Mar 12, 2013)

ah should run portal fine not sure about la noire


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

Firky said:


> I know you said you didn't like FPS but Half Life 1 and 2 are really good games and quite different to your FPS shoot-every-fucking-thing in sight. Thet should run fine on your PC
> 
> Do you have a Steam account?


a couple of friends have a game server (they give me some free space on it - in fact urban radio runs on it) - they tried to get me into some of those Steam games...i forget which ones now, some other team shooter ones - a little too hectic for me - i ended up uninstalling it. Its not hard to set up again though i guess


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

im off to bed but thanks a lot and have a think back as old to you is still new to me


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## Firky (Mar 12, 2013)

NN fella


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## Shippou-Sensei (Mar 12, 2013)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Nobody uses a joystick any more btw.


 


Admittedly i only use it for a few space sims


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## tommers (Mar 12, 2013)

I've been playing Tales of Maj'Eyal which is a decent little rogue-like.  Can second the recommendations for FTL and portal though. Both great games.

What about jade empire?  Bioware Chinese RPG thing, quite fun.

Or talk to Crispy about dwarf fortress


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## Boudicca (Mar 12, 2013)

Very useful thread, thanks, been thinking of asking the same question.

Stupid question time - do I need to be online to play once I have bought games through Steam?  One of my main reasons for having games is to have something to occupy myself when travelling abroad without an internet connection.


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

tommers said:


> I've been playing Tales of Maj'Eyal which is a decent little rogue-like. Can second the recommendations for FTL and portal though. Both great games.
> 
> What about jade empire? Bioware Chinese RPG thing, quite fun.


Just had a look at Jade Empire...out of interest is all the fighting done with the mouse and keyboard?
Id be quite up for an RPG type thing, but Im really not in the mood for endless fighting/killing games. Are there any RPGs really low on fighting?


> Or talk to Crispy about dwarf fortress


i did see the dwarf fortress thread (been skulking in this forum recently)....looks a bit too much like a full time job! I liked Jelly no Puzzle though 


Shippou-Sensei said:


> Admittedly i only use it for a few space sims


 what is that! What does the second bit do?


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## Sunray (Mar 12, 2013)

Miami Hot.


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## tommers (Mar 12, 2013)

ska invita said:


> Just had a look at Jade Empire...out of interest is all the fighting done with the mouse and keyboard?
> Id be quite up for an RPG type thing, but Im really not in the mood for endless fighting/killing games. Are there any RPGs really low on fighting?



Yeah - all done with mouse and keyboard.  The fighting in it is quite cool,  probably the best bit - along with the setting.

RPGs low on fighting? Let me think.


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

Sunray said:


> Miami Hot.


despite all the killing this looks pretty good


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## golightly (Mar 12, 2013)

If you fancy something a bit scary but with no killing try Amnesia or Penumbra from Frictional Games.


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

golightly said:


> If you fancy something a bit scary but with no killing try Amnesia or Penumbra from Frictional Games.


these look great, thanks


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## tommers (Mar 12, 2013)

walking dead?


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## Citizen66 (Mar 12, 2013)

Boudicca said:
			
		

> Stupid question time - do I need to be online to play once I have bought games through Steam?  One of my main reasons for having games is to have something to occupy myself when travelling abroad without an internet connection.



No. Steam has an offline mode.

What about earlier Bethesda stuff like fallout 3 or oblivion? kind of fps but not overly.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Mar 12, 2013)

ska invita said:


> what is that! What does the second bit do?


 
A joystick of course.  one is movement the other is thrust.


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## tommers (Mar 12, 2013)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> A joystick of course. one is movement the other is thrust.


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## Pingu (Mar 12, 2013)

guild wars.. like world of warcraft but no monthly fee


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## Citizen66 (Mar 12, 2013)

Flight Simulator X.


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## ska invita (Mar 12, 2013)

golightly said:


> If you fancy something a bit scary but with no killing try Amnesia or Penumbra from Frictional Games.


well i got my mits on a copy of one of the Amnesia games...it crashed...so updated the drivers in by Nvidia 6600 graphics card...it works...but barely...even with reduced quality its veerrrry sluggish. I think the most hungry games are beyond my setup.

Whats the standard of graphics card required these days (cheapest one please). I might get one one day (bit broke at the mo)
BTW how do you walk in Amnesia?  I could look around but no button or mouseclick made me move...


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## tommers (Mar 12, 2013)

Isn't it just W, A, S, D?

Oh and Proteus.


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## Crispy (Mar 12, 2013)

Sounds like his machine is pretty low-spec. Despite its basic looks, proteus is actually quite demanding. Runs like shit on my laptop anyway.


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## tommers (Mar 12, 2013)

Crispy said:


> Sounds like his machine is pretty low-spec. Despite its basic looks, proteus is actually quite demanding. Runs like shit on my laptop anyway.



Really?  I find that surprising but you're probably right. There's a load of stuff going on in the background I would imagine.  It was just the 'non-killing' thing.  Oh, and cos I love it.


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## Kaka Tim (Mar 13, 2013)

_Grand Theft Auto -  Vice City_ - old but utterly gold. 

_Sid Meirs Pirate_s - another old one, but just really fun.


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## ska invita (Mar 13, 2013)

i love all things piratey! going to look at that. I think its going to have to be older games for me anyhow


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## tommers (Mar 13, 2013)

oh yeah, pirates is a great game.

Only problem I had was that the dancing and duelling minigames are difficult without a number keypad, which I didn't have on my laptop.


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## yield (Mar 13, 2013)

Faster Than Light is only £2.70 at the moment direct from the makers.


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## ska invita (Mar 14, 2013)

Is FTL really that good? looks a lot like running around trying put out fires and generally dealing with crises. Not sure where the fun comes in. Sounds stressful

Got Portal to work though...so far so good


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## Shippou-Sensei (Mar 14, 2013)

FTL  is an intresting game.   it's more tactical than anything else  as you can pause any time. it's all about pausing. working out what the optimal set of options are. setting them up  then unpausing to execute them.  rinse and repeat.


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## ska invita (Mar 14, 2013)

Shippou-Sensei said:


> FTL is an intresting game. it's more tactical than anything else as you can pause any time. it's all about pausing. working out what the optimal set of options are. setting them up then unpausing to execute them. rinse and repeat.


but are the tactics to do with how to deal with the fact your spaceship has been shot to shit?


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## Shippou-Sensei (Mar 14, 2013)

yes and no.   that is part of it   but  more  it's to do with balancing power to different systems  and  timing  shots with weapons.  then  how  you upgrade the systems.


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## ska invita (Mar 14, 2013)

ah okay. i watched a game play video and it was one big panic!


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## Shippou-Sensei (Mar 14, 2013)

judicious pausing is the key


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## Shippou-Sensei (Mar 14, 2013)

although unlike this guy i always gio fior weapons systems first.  it stops em shooting back  and also generally  they prefer  lasers over missiles  so   my shield heavy tactics work better


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## tommers (Mar 14, 2013)

http://thebaneofqueequeg.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/faster-than-light.html

If it's 2.70 then what do you have to lose? (2.70, I suppose.)


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## golightly (Mar 15, 2013)

ska invita said:


> well i got my mits on a copy of one of the Amnesia games...it crashed...so updated the drivers in by Nvidia 6600 graphics card...it works...but barely...even with reduced quality its veerrrry sluggish. I think the most hungry games are beyond my setup.
> 
> Whats the standard of graphics card required these days (cheapest one please). I might get one one day (bit broke at the mo)
> BTW how do you walk in Amnesia?  I could look around but no button or mouseclick made me move...


 

Dang! Sorry to hear that.  There should be info on controls in the game. Have a look at settings.  

e2a:  I just checked.  It's WASD.


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## Epona (Mar 16, 2013)

I'd recommend Limbo - a modern and dark platform game. I enjoyed it, my OH enjoyed it (and our gaming tastes are galaxies apart, but this game we agree on). The spec needed to play it is not high.

In answer to your question about graphics cards, there is no standard as such, because there is major competition between 2 companies, but typically integrated graphics chips like intel are not supported by games developers, you need a dedicated nVidia or AMD/ATI graphics card. If you don't know what is in your machine, then typing dxdiag and hitting return in the 'run' box at the bottom of the menu when you click on the windows button (on windows machines, where it says 'search programs and files' if you are running Win7) will tell you what graphics card you have.

For most modern games, you need either nVidia or ATI graphics card, pci-e, at least 1Gb.


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## Lord Camomile (Apr 1, 2013)

Just watched Indie Game, served as a very good ad for all three games, including Braid 


Crispy said:


> Sounds like his machine is pretty low-spec. Despite its basic looks, proteus is actually quite demanding. Runs like shit on my laptop anyway.


Also heard about Proteus on One Life Left, but fear my laptop isn't up to the task. Can't even run Adobe CS ffs


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## grit (Apr 2, 2013)

ska invita said:


> Is FTL really that good? looks a lot like running around trying put out fires and generally


 
Its fucking awesome.


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