I'm on a partial space game kick right now. I tend to go through these phases after watching certain TV shows or movies. Like I'll watch “The Godfather” and then want to play a mob-based game, or see a western and want to play “Red Dead Redemption.”
I finally decided to watch “Firefly” as it is now on Netflix. I've seen its praise over the years and was aware that it was a good show, but I just never had a chance to sit and watch it. I'm in a few episodes and it is really good. But, that has also spurred me into a space game phase.
Fortunately, I did pick up some space games during “The Great Steam Fiasco of 2012,” namely Endless Space, Galactic Civilizations, and Evochron Mercenary. Evochron Mercenary feels more like “Firefly” since you're, well, a mercenary doing odd jobs for whoever you want. I played it a bit, but it has a somewhat steep learning curve, so I'm still on my training wheels.
During..you guessed it..another one of Steam's sales, this time a Linux-related one, I picked up FTL: Faster Than Light for $5. I read about it and watched some reviews on it, but was not completely sold on it. I tend to shy away from Real-Time Strategy-ish games as I don't enjoy the massive stress related to chaos. I like to think out my moves. But, since it was $5 I picked it up. I played one game last night and I really did enjoy it. It's easy to pick up and play, not a massive learning curve. It's not really an RTS, only during battles, but you can argue that any FPS or MMO is the same way. It also does allow you to pause the action to decide on your next move, even though during the heat of the moment, I never ended up doing that.
I did receive an email from EvE Online this month, asking me to come back into New Eden with a decent deal for 3 months. During this space game kick, I just may take advantage of it, but I need to do it within the next week. I usually end up enjoying my EvE time, but then getting bored because, honestly, what I like to do in the game can be boring. I'll admit it. Maybe this time I'll go in a different direction. Maybe I'll actually get blown up once, something I've never done.
Do you go through any phases in your game play?