4x4 Archipelago

I found this game very addicting. I had a hard time putting it down, even though there were things about it that frustrated me.

First, this is an RPG. It kind of reminds me of a solo module, or a gaming paperback, like the Fighting Fantasy books. Except 4x4 is randomized, so even though some of the content is similar, enough changed that I found playing again to be just as much fun.

I have played two 5-hour session, each one with a different character. The first character I chose was a trickster, whose skills were magic and charisma. I think my mistake was that I tried to increase her fighting ability, when I probably should have concentrated on learning more spells. Even after hours of exploring, the character still was not effective against difficult opponents. I have not finished the story with this character yet.

So I picked a mercenary for the second try. This character didn't have the charisma to get me certain advantages, but was it was a lot easier to get strong enough to actually finish some of the quests.

This is a really big game with a lot of content. I think the author balanced everything out very well. There are a lot of other things to do besides fight, and a good amount of stats to track.

I played this game so I could score it for IFComp 2021. I am very lucky that I got to this game last. If I had gotten into it earlier on, I might have been so absorbed with it, I might not have had time to give some of the other games a chance.