Mother Gamer Plays Verdant Skies

A friend of mine gifted me Verdant Skies on Steam and I was intrigued when I was told it had Stardew Valley vibes, but in space. In Verdant Skies you are a new colonist on a planet called Viridis Primus. The first thing is to create your character and you can play as a male or female. The character design is great, offering a variety of options with outfits, hair color, body types, and skin tone. I spent a bit of time trying to decide, but eventually I came up with a character that I really liked.

Creating my character. 

You do get to meet with a few of the colonists who are already there like your boss Jade. I do like the fact that you get a quick biography of the person when you meet them for the first time because it gives you a general idea of who they are, what they like, and what they don't like. I also appreciated the fact that if you play as a male or female character you have 12 romance options in the game and if you wish you can romance more than one of them. Some characters will want a one on one relationship with your character while others are accepting of you dating more than one person. Having conversations with the other colonists and getting to know them gives you a better idea of what they're like and the hearts under their name will increase or decrease depending on how you choose to respond. I genuinely loved the diversity of the characters in Verdant Skies and finding out that one of the main characters is a trans woman absolutely made my day because representation matters. Not only that, she was in a position where she was in charge, everyone treated her with kindness and respect, and the more I got to know her, I saw the wonderful person she was and how she had gotten to where she was by being her true self. It was a beautiful thing that happened organically in the story and made me love Verdant Skies just a little more. It doesn't just stop there however, there are characters that are non binary as well. It showed how much thought and care went into making this game. 

Getting to know about Jade in her quick biography.

Of course there is farming in the game. You are trying to build a colony on this planet after all and you will need food for all those colonists. This is where your character comes in. If you have played Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon, you know what that entails. You start out with practically nothing. You are given some seeds to plant in the fields and you have to water them and tend them every day. When you get your first harvest you get a small reward for it, but you must keep farming to get that food for everyone. 

Tending the crops and doing my part to help the colony. 

Speaking of food, you do have to eat to keep your energy up. If you are low on energy your character will start to move lethargically and things will get blurry. You can eat food that you forage or you can make food in the kitchen of your house with the food you have found from foraging. When you eat, this boosts your energy so you can continue working and exploring the planet. 

Make food in your kitchen and eat to keep your energy up. 

There is fishing in the game and yes, you can cook and eat the fish. Fishing takes a little bit of finesse because you are spear fishing and you have to line up the throw just right in order to get a fish. Once you get the hang of it though, fishing is pretty easy and there are some mini quests you have to do for one of the colonists who is studying the different types of fish. There is one for studying plants also. 

Doing a little fishing. 

You have to make money of course in Verdant Skies and that is where the shipping bin comes in. Items you have foraged, crops you have harvested, and building materials can be put in the shipping bin and you get money. You are essentially building your home and your colony around you. The nice thing about Verdant Skies is that while it is a very relaxing game, it also encourages you to keep going with a myriad of tasks to do. Which colonist will come to the planet next? Can you build a town square for everyone? Can you splice some seeds together to make a better potato? These are just some of the tasks and I found I wanted to keep playing because I was enjoying the game and I wanted to see what I could do next. 

Shipping things and making that money!

There is also a ton of technology in Verdant Skies. You have colonists who are engineers that can help you build these things. There are even ways to clone animals like space cows. That's right, there are space cows. They are bright pink, fluffy, and adorable. There are so many possibilities with the technology in the game and it was fun trying to see what I could come up with. Overall, Verdant Skies has been incredibly enjoyable for me. It has the chill vibes that I love while being a creative and thoughtful experience with the diversity of the characters and a world that is fun to explore. It is a great game and I haven't stopped playing because it is that good. Thanks for reading, see you at the next adventure!

Living my best space colonist life. 

*Verdant Skies is available on Steam

*Join our community as we play games and have open and honest conversations about mental health on Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer 

The Adventures Of Pirotess: Valentione's Day 2020

The Valentione's Day event in Eorzea is here! The event started January 29 and it is ongoing until February 29 so you have plenty of time to participate and get all the rewards from it. The first thing to remember is your adventurer must have a melee or mage class that is at least level 15 and that you have to have completed the quest It's Probably Pirates. If you've done all that, you can join in the festivities. Head over to Old Gridania where you can see the town decorated just for Valentione's Day.

Pirotess in Gridania for Valentione's Day.

You need to talk to the NPC Lisette to start the quest, Of Ardor And Argument. Basically for the quest you get to vote for one of Lisette's three proteges to be the emissary of love for this year's festival. You can only vote once during this quest and your vote will be counted in the world where you completed it. 

Pirotess with the three proteges, helping a villager.

When you have decided which protege you wish to vote for, walk up and talk to them. Whoever you vote for, you will be rewarded with a Valentione's Day outfit in a color that matches theirs. Your choices and colors are, Astrid for red, Rodrigault for blue, and Bert for yellow. 

Pirotess chooses Rodrigault. 

There is another thing you can do to celebrate Valentione's Day and that is the Valentione's Affinity event. You and a friend can participate by speaking to the Valentione's festival servant. If you are solo you will be matched up via the party finder. 

Talk to this NPC to start the affinity event. 

The affinity event consists of two trials. The first is a Moogle filled maze. You and your partner are linked by a bright orange chain and you need to stay close together, communicate with each other, and use teamwork in order to navigate the maze and not break your affinity. If you lose all your affinity and the chain breaks, you fail the trial. If you fail, don't worry. This is a repeatable quest and you can try again. The second trial is a card matching memory game. Again, you need to work with your partner and communicate what the cards are. When you match all the cards the trial is complete. The Moogle in charge will tell you and your partner what your affinity is and you are rewarded with Valentione's Day chocolates. 

Pirotess and a friend ready to run the maze.

You can trade your Valentione's Day chocolates to the NPC vendor for various items ranging from furniture for your house to Valentione's Day themed fireworks as well as the Valentione's Day outfit.

Trade your Valentione's Day chocolates for these items.

The Valentione's Day event doesn't take too much effort and it's a fun break from the usual level grinding and adventuring. You can hang out with your friends while celebrating it and the rewards you get for it are pretty nice. Thanks for reading. See you at the next adventure! 

Pirotess in her Valentione's Day outfit. See you at the next adventure!

*Final Fantasy XIV is available to play on the following platforms: PC and Playstation 4

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and talk about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mother Gamer Plays Untitled Goose Game

I had seen some of the gameplay for Untitled Goose Game and I thought it looked like a lot of fun and wanted to play it myself. I got the game and I was ready to play as a goose and wreak havoc on the town. The controls for the game are easy to follow. The game starts with the goose coming from its nest and wandering the town. The goose can honk, flap its wings, and grab items with its beak. Honestly, just walking around and honking was a lot of fun for me.

The goose is on the loose. 

The village is split up into different area each with its own list of things you can do such as tripping a boy in a puddle or locking someone out of their garden. As you complete each item on the list, it gets crossed off. You can check the list to see what other things you can do to bother the villagers. The great thing about this is there are several different ways you can do each thing and the game gives you a lot of freedom to explore and figure it out on your own. 

List of things you can do as a goose. 

I had so much fun playing as the goose and being terrible to the villagers. It was awful and funny at the same time chasing a boy into a phone booth honking away and flapping my wings. Sneaking into a villager's yard and stealing his hat and pipe and honking at him on the other side of the fence was hilarious. Stealing darts from a man at the pub had me giggling. There were so many different ways for the goose to bother the villagers and be a general nuisance and I tried all of them, laughing at all the amusing interactions with the villagers. 

Honk! The goose with a stolen pipe and hat. 

One of the things I loved about the game was the fact that the villagers do their best not to hurt the goose. They shoo the goose away or chase it out of the area, but they are always kind even though the bird acts like a giant jerk. The game isn't very long about three hours, but it is funny and charming with a lovely musical soundtrack which made it so much fun to play. I had such a great time honking, flapping my wings, and causing mischief all over the village. 

The goose plots its next move. 

*Untitled Goose Game is available to play on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One

Join our community as we play games and talk about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Death Stranding More Than Just A Delivery Game

I love Kojima's work so I was intrigued when I first started hearing and then seeing things about Death Stranding. When I got the game I was ready to dive in and play it. Yes, the entire game is Norman Reedus as Sam delivering packages, but the game is also much more than that. The first ten hours of the game showing most of America is gone because of ghosts that killed people and when the people they killed died, the bodies went into necrosis and blew up. The explosions were big enough to wipe out whole cities and this series of events came to be known as the Death Stranding. After all of this, there's a need for porters, people who literally risk their lives to deliver packages across the American wasteland. This is where Sam comes in because he has a reputation as being a fantastic porter and this is where the story of Death Stranding really dives in. The president who is also his mother wants his help to travel all over and bring the isolated cities together by connecting them to a network system known as the chiral network. There is also another aspect of the story introducing bridge babies known as BBs who can sense the ghosts which are known as BTs (beached things) and Sam with his BB sets off on his adventure.

Sam is off to make deliveries in the wasteland. 

Porters have to walk all over the world. The terrain can be tricky which is why I found myself scanning often in order to see where it was safe to walk. You can have vehicles too of course, but be aware that some areas are rough and sometimes it's just easier to walk. Sam has an arsenal of tools that help him get across areas ranging from ladders to zip lines. This is where an aspect of the game comes in that I absolutely loved. One of the big themes in the game is how we come together and connect with each other with tools like the internet and how those bonds bring us together. There is a multiplayer aspect to Death Stranding in an indirect way. Once you are connected to the chiral network, this is where it comes in. You can build bridges, roads, or leave climbing ropes and ladders in hard to reach places that other players can use and vice versa. There is also a shared locker so you can gift tools or items that will help on the journey. You can also leave signs that are helpful telling other players about deep water or steep cliffs. You can give likes to each other for these things too. It's a great communal experience helping each other out without ever seeing each other in the game. It shows what people left behind to lend a helping hand and that is one of my favorite mechanics in the game. 

Leaving a helpful sign for other players. 

Of course there are dangers while making deliveries across the wastelands. The biggest one being the BTs which terrified me. Having my BB with me helped as they can sense the BTs and a scary rain known as Timefall could help be aware of them, but this still made for scary situations with black tar suddenly popping up around me and worse getting dragged under by a BT and my packages spilling everywhere. Luckily, there are weapons that can combat them and of course investing in building roads can help to avoid them too. In the areas that didn't have roads built, I learned how to sneak by and avoid as many BTs as possible and I did my best to help my fellow players along the way. During your journey you can stop and take a rest which is important so you can resupply on materials, items, and get more delivery orders. You can also build safehouses in the game for others to use. I was always so grateful to find a safehouse along the trip left by fellow players. 

Sam takes a break in a safehouse. 

The other fantastic thing about Death Stranding for me was the story. There is a myriad of characters that Sam meets along the way and it was always interesting to see their stories and how they came to be. This is especially true for the people he made deliveries to. There was a love story, a story about hope, and a story about loss. I was invested in all of it because the cast made me care about all of it because of their incredible performances. I was always excited for every delivery I made successfully and I was hooked into the story. Then there's our main characters. I loved Norman Reedus as Sam. He did an amazing job. Then there's Mads Mikkelsen in his role as Clifford Unger and his story was heartbreaking, yet there was a ray of hope and closure in his storytelling that was incredible to see. Then there was one of the most beautiful, raw emotional performances in a scene with Tommie Earl Jenkins as Die-Hardman and for me he stole the show. It moved me to tears. I'm talking tears rolling down my cheeks, my heart was breaking right there with him, and it was intense. For a scene to do that speaks volumes about the talent and skill of the actor. The story in Death Stranding had me caring about each and every one of these people and I kept playing because I wanted to see where the story took me. I was ready to go on that journey with Sam every step of the way. 

Sam makes a delivery and a connection. 

I understand that many people didn't know what to make of Death Stranding, but once I dove in I came to understand the bigger picture of what Kojima was trying to say about how each connection we make with each other may seem small, but in the long run they are important and those bonds matter. I loved the story, exploring, and I loved seeing how those connections came to be and how they grew into something that mattered and became important to Sam and to everyone. I was thrilled that after the main story was finished I could still explore, make deliveries, and keep building while making more connections. Death Stranding is a beautiful thing that I enjoyed with every step and every communal connection. 

Sam drives off into the sunset and to deliver more packages. 

*Death Stranding is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 4

*Join our community as we play games and talk about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

The Adventures Of Pirotess: A Musical Starlight Celebration

The holidays are here in Final Fantasy XIV and that means it's time for the annual Starlight Celebration. Starlight is a fun Christmas event and I always look forward to it because the rewards you get for the event are quite nice and they vary each year. The event started on December 18 and will be running until December 31. To start the festivities, head to Old Gridania where everything is decorated for the Christmas holiday and is quite pretty. Remember, your adventurer must be at least level 15 to participate.

Pirotess in Old Gridania. 

Talk to the NPC Amh Garanjy to start the first quest, All I Want For Starlight. This sends you to Bentbranch Meadows to look for a young boy's father who is a singer and helping to fulfill his wish of seeing his father for Starlight. Once you talk to the father, you head back to Old Gridania to turn the quest in.

Pirotess starts the first Starlight quest. 

When you turn in the quest, you can now start the next quest, A Chocobo Carol by again talking to Amh Garanjy. She tells you that all you have to do is talk to one of the two NPCs to start the Starlight Celebration concert that you are to conduct.

Pirotess starts the next Starlight quest. 

When you talk to one of the NPCs they will ask you if you are ready to start the concert. This gives you a brief instruction on how the musical mini game for the event works and what the controls for it are. There are two songs to choose from, Starlight de Chocobo which is easy and Starlight Star Bright which is harder. 

Brief instructions for the mini game. 

The musical mini game takes a bit of getting used to as you have to time when you hit the prompts as they appear. You have a meter that you need to keep full as you play this mini game and if the meter empties, you fail the quest. Don't worry if you fail, you can try again until you get it. It took me a couple of tries before I got it right. 

Pirotess plays the music mini game. 

When you do complete the concert successfully, a cutscene will play showing your character finishing conducting and everyone takes a bow while the audience cheers and applauds. I felt pretty good when I was able to complete the quest and the songs for the mini game are cheerful and catchy. 

Pirotess conducts the concert. 

The music mini game is repeatable and when you complete it you receive certificates of good cheer. You use these certificates to trade in to the NPC vendor for items commemorating the Starlight event ranging from furniture items to barding for your chocobo. 

Items you can get from the event. 

I love the chocobo barding you get because it is very festive and cute. The holiday wreath you get for your house is also adorable. The orhestration scroll you get is great because you can learn the Starlight de Chocobo song and play it on the jukebox in your house. 

Pirotess and her chocobo Mouse who is dressed in full Starlight barding.

This year's Starlight Celebration was a lot of fun and the rewards for it are great. It shows off the joy and magic of the season. It's a nice break from adventuring and allows you to enjoy yourself and celebrate with everyone. Thanks for reading seeing you at the next adventure! I will be back in the new year. Happy holidays and happy new year everyone!

See you at the next adventure! Happy holidays and happy new year!

*Final Fantasy XIV is available to play on the following platforms: PC and Playstation 4

*Join our community as we enjoy gaming and talk about mental health on twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mother Gamer Plays Dreaming Sarah

A friend of mine gifted me Dreaming Sarah on Steam telling me that they thought I would like it as it seemed to be my kind of game. I was curious as I read the description of the game explaining that it is a platformer where you play as Sarah, a girl in a coma and you are to explore and help her wake up. I started playing the game and was drawn in by the image of Sarah lying on a grassy hill and the gentle music. It is obvious Sarah is in a dream world with the whimsical things you find and the people you talk to.

Sarah meets a person fishing.

Dreaming Sarah is a side scroller platform game and you can see the nods to old school 16 bit gaming and the homage to the game Yume Nikki. There's no combat, but the game encourages you exploring each area on the map and sometimes the map loops on itself guiding you to new discoveries and experiences. There are different tools you find in this dreamworld that help Sarah navigate through different obstacles on her journey. 

Items in your inventory help on your journey. 

If you get lost in the game, you can always loop back to a previous map and see if there's anything you missed. The various tools help you with these things such as using the umbrella to jump across large gaps and gently float to the ground or wear glasses that help you see invisible things in the area. 

Sarah gently floats to her destination. 

The game doesn't really hold your hand and you have to figure out things with a lot of trial and error. I admit a couple of times I had to look up what I was supposed to do because I got really stuck and had been several places at once with no clue what I had to do to move forward. Other times, the people Sarah meets in her dream will give hints about specific items that are needed in order to move ahead. It was a bit frustrating getting stuck, but I did find myself enjoying the relaxed vibe of the game. 

Sarah gets a hint from the bartender. 

There are some areas in the game that are a little creepy such as the room with giant eyes watching you and some that are beautifully serene. The musical score aptly fits each area and is very well done. It fits the calm, relaxing vibe of Dreaming Sarah really well. 

Sarah in one of the unsettling dream world areas.

The game is not that long; I finished it in a couple of hours. Dreaming Sarah is an interesting and thoughtful game that shows it's all about the journey. Beautiful music, great pixel art, well designed levels, and insightful moments in the story made the game quite enjoyable for me. If you are into games that inspire old school gaming nostalgia you will like Dreaming Sarah. 

This is a beautiful game. 

*Dreaming Sarah is available for PC on Steam

*Join our community on Twitch as we stream games and talk about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

The Adventures Of Pirotess: All Saints Wake 2019

Halloween is my favorite time of year and one of the things I love about Final Fantasy XIV is all the seasonal events that they have every year. The Halloween event for Final Fantasy XIV is All Saints Wake and it is a fun and nice break from the level grinding and adventuring. In order to participate in the event you must be at least level 15 and must have completed the quest It's Probably Pirates. To start the event you need to go to Old Gridania to start the festivities. The first quest of All Saints Wake is Fear and Delight.

The first quest in the All Saints Wake event. 

You will want to talk to the Impresario who will instruct you on what you need to do. You will need to go to Jadeite Thick in Central Shroud and go to the location marked on your map. After that, you will do your quest event and complete it. Once that is finished, you return to the Impresario in Old Gridania. 

Pirotess talks to the Impresario to start the event quest. 

The reward for completing the first event quest is the Circus Ahriman mount. The fun doesn't stop there however, because there are two more event quests that you can do. The next quest A Glamorous Guise has you talking to the Impresario again for an invitation to the haunted mansion. 

Starting the second event quest. 

This is a simple fun quest that allows you to change your form. Just talk to the imp in the manor and you can pick from a selection of choices from the story chapters in Final Fantasy XIV. For mine I chose to take the form of Hien from Stormblood. You can run around the mansion enjoying your new Halloween costume. You can remove the glamour when you are ready to leave the area. 

Pirotess in a Hien costume. All hail the king!

There is one last quest and this one is repeatable. Speak to the Impresario to start Haunting Grounds. For this quest you will need a party of four and you will need to work together as a team. 

Starting the last event quest. 

Your team of adventurers will be transported to the haunted mansion and there are a few tests that you will need to do for this challenge. You need to work as a team to complete each task. There are monsters all over the mansion that you need to sneak around. If you are seen, you get turned into a pumpkin and your party's group sanity meter drops. There are charms throughout the mansion that help with this, turning you invisible for a few minutes. Once you have successfully completed the challenges in the haunted mansion you are rewarded with five pumpkin cookies. 

Work together to complete the haunted mansion challenges.

The pumpkin cookies can be traded to the event vendor for items which are furnishings for your house in the game. There is a poster and an adorable pumpkin carriage. There are also magicked prisms which make fireworks in the shape of pumpkins. 

Trade your pumpkin cookies for these great items. 

All Saints Wake is one of my favorite events because Halloween is my favorite time of year. This year's event was a lot of fun and the items are great. The pumpkin carriage is fantastic, but make sure you have plenty of room in your yard outside your house because it is rather large. The event is ongoing until November 1, 2019 7:59 a.m. PDT. Get out there, celebrate, and have fun! Happy Halloween!  See you at the next adventure! 

Happy Halloween! See you at the next adventure! 

*Final Fantasy XIV is available on the following platforms: Windows, OS X, and Playstation 4

*Join our community as we enjoy gaming and mental health discussions on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer