The holidays are a time for giving, but they're also a time for gaming. You've eaten all the food, you've talked to as many relatives as you can handle, and the downloads for all your new games have finally finished. OK there might be the odd update to do, but for the most part you're ready to play. You're sat down in your favorite chair, mouse and keyboard or controller in hand, and you're ready to play.
But what to pick? There are a tonne of great games out there this holiday season, both new and old. So what will you be playing over the coming days? Here's what we're digging into.
We Need to go Deeper
After recently reintroducing one of my brothers to PC gaming, I've been on the lookout for good, quirky cooperative experiences that will run reasonably well on his older laptop and this game looks set to be a hit. The off-beat, submarine survival game has you and up to three friends piloting various submersibles with different weapons, upgrades, tools, and outfits, with tens of items and options to unlock through repeat play. It's entirely randomly generated so there's a tonne of possibilities for just one more dive into the murky blue.
We had a quick go of it last week and with more time on our hands for the next few days, this should be a lot of fun.
Beat Saber
Having recently rekindled by love for virtual reality with a wireless upgrade for my Vive headset, I'm diving back into all the new VR experiences out there. While Beat Saber isn't fresh out the developer's hands, it is new to me and it's a hell of a lot of fun. Easily one of the best rhythm games I've ever played. It looks, sounds, and feels fantastic to slice through those blocks as they make their way towards you. The song library could use some expansion, so I may delve into the Imagine Dragons DLC, but for the most part there seems to be lots for me to play through with tonnes of difficulty options.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
I'm a little late to the party on this one, although I did enjoy the clever messaging the developers put out there when the game first debuted in 2017. I don't know a whole lot about it, but the attractive visuals, the idea of a story about mental health has me intrigued. With a new graphics card to bring to bear and one of the last few Steam Links in existence, I'm looking forward to give this game a go on my living room TV. Once the kids have gone to sleep, of course.
Raft
Having begun exploring this cooperative survival title at a recent LAN party, I'm hoping to get some friends together over the holidays to continue our building adventure. We made it to a large island last time having built most of the basic equipment, a receiver and all the fun exploration that comes with that. Maybe we'll start again though. Once you've got a few of you together, normal difficulty isn't too difficult. Perhaps hard will give us more of a challenge.
Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
This is one I've been excited for for some time. It's been out of print for years, so getting a copy was expensive, but it's in good condition and I've sleeved all the cards. The mixture of space combat, resource management and the famous traitor mechanic are so reminiscent of the show. I'm excited by both the mechanics of the game and the thematics, so I look forward to playing as some of my favorite characters, whilst trying to space some frakking toasters.
What are you guys looking forward to playing this holiday season?
