Author: blackcatwhimsy

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Sneak Peek into What’s Upcoming – January

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And Time Marches On! 

I am back on track – mostly. The holidays were busy and I’m feeling that letdown with coming off the holidays. 

I am working on a couple videos and plan to release The Phantom Unboxing this month. I also have planned out some time to record another video game playthrough but have yet to decide what that video game will be. 

I’ll be posting about what I’ve gotten up to the past couple of months which hasn’t been much channel wise or game wise. I will continue to work on more unboxing videos and already have a good start on the next two videos after The Phantom. 

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash 

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Sneak Peek into What’s Upcoming – December 2022

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With the holidays coming up soon, I will not be doing a lot of stuff related to my channel but the new year will be here soon. The main channel work I will be doing is publishing my 2nd playthrough of Tainted Grail. I will be working on editing a couple of videos, but I don’t know if they will be finished before the end of the month. I will also be posting soon what I got up to in November.

It’s been more difficult than expected to get back into my channel work after having to backburner it for September and October. I have many videos that I have started and need to buckle down and get going on them!

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Stray Video Game
Recap

Sept and Oct’s Whimsical Adventures – 2022

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 September and October were busy! It was all on the personal front though and unfortunately, my channel work had to be sidelined. We went on vacation and then I was away on a work trip for longer than expected.

On the channel front, I recorded a few unboxings before I left. I just need to buckle down and start getting the scripts and videos edited. In August, I released 3 videos. Gloomhaven and Stray are video game playthroughs. I’ve been waiting a long time to play Stray and it did not disappoint! You play as a cat in a future world, trying to find your way back to your family. I also did an unboxing video of The Hero’s Journal. This journal has you solving a personal quest and is a fun way to track a situation happening in your real life.

I got a few playthroughs of physical games in – Tiny Ninjas, Unsurmountable, and Herbaceous: Pocket Edition. Learning games for Herbaceous but what a great little game and beautiful artwork. I played a couple rules wrong so I will need to get a few more playthroughs in soon. Keep an eye out for a future unboxing video for Herbaceous.

I played in a group tournament for The Castles of Burgundy in September. I didn’t win the tournament or even advance to the final round of games, but it was my first time playing online with people and my first tournament. It was a step outside of my comfort zone and I had fun and will definitely play online more. I came 2nd, 3rd and 1st in my games so I nice range of places 🙂 I ended on a high note though which was nice!

I also played a couple games of Galaxy Trucker in the app. I’ve not played the game before and it was fun. I lost both games but I am not giving up.

For android apps it was mostly the same as I’ve been playing. My Mini Mart (yes even with the annoying ads) and Color Sort Puz which is similar to SortPuz. Color Sort Puz has little peeps you are sorting who have some snazzy dance moves when you win the level. I also pulled out a couple old favorites, myVEGAS and Pop! Slots which are slot machine games. Both of these you can earn points which can be exchanged for actual savings at Las Vegas hotels and attractions and select places worldwide. I also downloaded a couple games from Microsoft, Wordament and Mahjong. Both are fine and are basic games, they get the job done.

That’s about it for me. Time is moving ever onwards so I will get this posted. Thanks for reading!

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Sneak Peek Into What’s Upcoming – November 2022

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It’s already mid-November so this will be a quick upcoming post.

I will finally be releasing my Three Sisters unboxing video! It’s actually been ready for over a month so it’s about time to get it uploaded. I also have a 2nd playthrough of Tainted Grail filmed and just about ready to publish. It requires a few small tweaks and it should be done.

I will be working on a blog post about what has been happening the past couple of months which was a lot in my regular life – not so much with games or my channel.

Since there are only a couple weeks left, I’ll leave this post short and sweet, but hopefully will get back into my regular schedule now.

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

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Sneak Peek Into What’s Upcoming – September 2022

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September is here and the weather is changing. The days are still warm, but the nights are getting cooler. I’m definitely feeling the urge to stay inside, drink some hot chocolate, and play lots of games. First up for the channel is an unboxing video of MicroMacro: Crime City. I need to do a final review of the video, but it should be uploaded in a couple of days. I’ll also be getting a video game playthrough uploaded this month.

I’m close to finishing up Three Sisters and am starting the editing process for Ausonia. We’ll be going on vacation later this month so I’m trying to get as much done before we leave as I can. There may also be a small travel video (or two) upcoming! We’ll be going to the Southwest and will be visiting many of the National Parks down there. It will be our first out-of-state vacation since the pandemic started so we are looking forward to getting away and relaxing.

I’ll also be getting a couple more blog posts done for the month including what happened last month. I’ve been kicking around an idea to update my website slightly so I will be looking into that a little more.

Thanks for reading and I hope you are excited about what’s upcoming! Don’t forget to join the newsletter if you want to receive my news in your inbox.

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Recap

July’s Whimsical Adventures – 2022

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Welcome to almost the end of August! I’m a little late with this blog post. July was a busy month for me personally so I didn’t get a lot done with my channel.

I did get 2 videos uploaded. I was able to get my Tainted Grail: Conquest video game playthrough edited and uploaded at the beginning of July. It was a fun playthrough and I was surprised by how well I did in the game. It was my first playthrough and I thought it went pretty well. It was a little tricky getting my audio set up correctly as my laptop has a fairly well-hidden gaming microphone volume control which is different from the regular microphone volume control. Once I got that straightened out, it was pretty easy to get it recorded. I look forward to getting some more done.

I also finished editing and uploaded an unboxing video for Tiny Ninjas by 2niverse Games. This is a cute game pitting ninjas against each other. It also comes with a solo mode which I have tested out a couple of times. I won my first game and lost my second. As promised, the game does play in about 10-15 mins, and while a light game, it does have some nice thinky parts to it. You have to decide whether you want to use your cards for attacking or defending. Do you let the 2 hits land so that you can use the card for a powerful attack instead? Each card matters and if you’re not careful, your opponent can sneak a strong attack in, taking you out which is how I lost my game.

To round out the channel items, I continued working on the script for The Phantom: The Card Game unboxing, and I also recorded unboxing videos for 4 board games.

For Android apps, I got in some plays of SortPuz which is a sorting game. You have different bottles filled with multiple-colored liquids and you need to sort them so that each color is in its own bottle. I also found a couple of new apps – My Mini Mart and Hungry Hearts. Hungry Hearts is set in Japan and you play a grandma who runs a café. It is very story heavy and I wished it was easier to click through the conversations. You do get to a point though where the stories start to run out and you are basically just feeding people. I had fun unlocking the various recipes and it’s a pretty calming game to play. My Mini Mart is definitely a time suck. The absolute worst part about the app is the ads. Just about every 30 seconds an ad pops up and takes multiple clicks to get through it. On a positive note, once I sit through enough of the ads I shut the app off and I can get back to my regular life. Even with the annoying ads, it’s quite a fun game. You are basically running a grocery store and are cashier, stocker, chef, and farmer until you can hire help. There are currently 8 different marts and each one has a different vibe to it. In the first one, you are raising tomatoes, collecting chicken eggs, gathering milk, making bread, etc. In one of the later marts, you are harvesting rice plants, making bowls of rice, catching fish, making sushi, and making sake. Spoiler alert, even with the constant ads (yes, I’m currently too cheap to pay for ad-free), I am still playing it.

On the personal front, we went to a wedding and a family reunion. Even though they were still within the state, they were our first trips since the pandemic started. It was nice to get away and stretch our legs for a bit.

Besides the usual tv watching and YouTube viewing, I also watched the Silverstone F1 race. It was an interesting race to watch and I was not expecting Perez or Hamilton to finish as high as they did. Ferrari left me scratching my head with their strategy. I got some reading in and finished a couple of books and got further along with a couple more. I also had a little time to play some computer games for fun – Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Star Wars Battlefront, and Gloomhaven Digital. I even played a couple of quick games of PUBG for the first time, but I think it’s better in a team as I spent most of the time randomly running around and not seeing anyone until the last couple of mins of the game.

Now that I have it written out, I actually got a lot done in July! I might need to pick it up a little this last week and a half in August so I have more to write about next time.

Thanks for reading!

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Sneak Peek Into What’s Upcoming – August 2022

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I can’t believe another month is already here.  As mentioned in my July upcoming blog, I had a busy month personally and didn’t have much time to focus on my channel work.

Because of that, August will be a continuation of many items I started working on before.

I have made progress on a couple of unboxing videos – an Unboxing video of Ausonia and an Unboxing Plus video for Three Sisters.  I filmed them in July and need to edit the videos. If all goes well, my plan is to get Three Sisters done in the next week or so.

I want to create a video game playthrough for Stray, the newest game published by Annapurna Interactive.  I adore cats so I’m excited to be playing as a cat. I first saw a preview of the game last year and I’ve been looking forward to the release. In addition to Stray, I want to post a 2nd video game playthrough in August, but I don’t know what game it will cover.

I didn’t get as many blog posts written in July as I hoped.  I will be writing a blog post about my happenings last month. I also want to post at least a couple more in the month, but I don’t have any topics planned yet. Possibly a post on the games I have received recently and I still want to write one on games that I have backed and am waiting to be fulfilled.

That’s about it for my plans. As mentioned, besides the Stray playthrough, not too many new things for August. Thanks for joining me on my journey, I appreciate your support!

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Unsurmountable being played
Recap

June’s Whimsical Adventures – 2022

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The days are flying by and I can’t believe we are already into July. June was a banner month as I finally launched my YouTube channel after talking about it for a couple of years. I really want to have fun with it and I try to not take myself too seriously. I uploaded my first video in the middle of June and it was an Unboxing Plus video of Unsurmountable by Button Shy Games. Earlier in the month, I worked on setting up my website, my Facebook page, and my Instagram account. I worked on my next Unboxing video which will be Tiny Ninjas. I also worked on some scripts for future unboxing videos that I will be filming.

As for games that I played, I played 3 games of Unsurmountable, won 2 of them and lost 1. It’s a great little game, quick to play but still makes me think. I also played a couple of games of the digital version of The Castles of Burgundy. I’m still pretty new to the game so I play against the easiest bot and won the 1st game and tied the 2nd game. I love the puzzle of having only 2 dice that dictate what you are able to do that turn. You need to think a few turns ahead to make sure you are grabbing tiles to place on your player board but also making sure you actually place those tiles.

I’m also addicted to the little computer that is my phone and I really like to play mobile apps when I have time. Some of the ones I played last month include Happy Color and Haru Slide. In Happy Color, you’re basically coloring in a picture. I love the mandala pictures. It’s a very soothing app to play when I don’t want to think. Haru Slide has cats and that drew me in. It’s a Tetris-like game where the pieces are different cat shapes and you have to completely fill in a row to get it to disappear. If the rows reach the top of the board you lose.

On the personal side of things, I listened to some gaming podcasts and watched YouTube videos. I usually listen to the podcasts while walking, I’m trying to get some exercise in 😊 I’ve been listening to board gaming podcasts and my go-to’s are Gaming Rules! and Shut Up & Sit Down. As for YouTube channels, I enjoy watching Gaming Rules!, Slickerdrips, and Watch It Played. I’m behind on my watching but I watched the Gaming Rules! monthly vlog, Septima and Ark Nova tutorial & playthroughs, Jiangnan solo playthrough, and a couple of unboxing videos. For Slickerdrips, I watched his games of the month recap. For Watch It Played, I watched some board game news videos from Matthew Jude and a couple of videos by Chaz Marler.

I also love to read and tend to be reading a few books at the same time. I finished Dim Sum of All Fears by Vivien Chien which is the 2nd book in her series. The main character acts pretty childishly so it has been a little difficult to get through the books. I’m unsure if I will continue the series. After finishing that book, I started reading Sherlock Holmes and The Three Winter Terrors by James Lovegrove. Oddly enough, I don’t think I’ve read an actual Sherlock Holmes book by Arthur Conan Doyle. I know about the character through movies and tv shows. I haven’t gotten very far into the book yet but am enjoying the story so far. I also read Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb. I love her In Death series.

Last but not least, TV shows and movies. I’ve been watching the new seasons of Josh Gates Tonight, Expedition Unknown and Expedition X. Other things I’ve watched are reruns of The Big Bang Theory, a new episode of Roadkill on MotorTrend, and the two F1 races. I’m a mega fan of Angela Lansbury’s Murder, She Wrote and listened to many an episode while I worked on my YouTube stuff. To round out the month, my hubby and I had date night at our favorite theater and watched Minions: The Rise of Gru.

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Sneak Peek Into What’s Upcoming – July 2022

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Here are some of the upcoming things I have planned. July will be a busy month as I will be attending a wedding and a family reunion. I don’t want to lose the momentum I have, but we will see how much I will be able to accomplish this month.

I’ll be writing a blog post in the next couple of days about the happenings in the past month. This will include the games I played but also some of the other stuff that went on in my life. I also want to write a blog post (or two) about games that are being crowdfunded. And maybe I’ll get a blog post in about a game I already backed and am waiting to be delivered.

As for YouTube videos I am currently working on an Unboxing video for Tiny Ninjas. I started to work on an Unboxing video for Ausonia and an Unboxing Plus video for Three Sisters. Looking further out, I am starting the script for The Phantom: The Card Game Unboxing video. The Tiny Ninjas video is close to being done and hopefully I can get one more video done this month.

I also really want to get a video game playthrough filmed and uploaded to YouTube. I haven’t decided what game I’ll be playing just yet, but I have everything set up on my laptop and ready to go.

And that’s it for July. Like I said, a busy month ahead! Throughout the month I’ll also be posting on Facebook and Instagram any updates. If you want an easy way to keep up on the monthly goings-on with Black Cat Whimsy, join my newsletter.

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Board Game, Crowdfunding, Kickstarter

Septima is an Intriguing Game of Witchcraft – Kickstarter

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One game that I’m really interested in is Septima by Mindclash Games. It is on Kickstarter now and is running until July 10th.  I first heard about Mindclash Games when I watched Paul Grogan from “Gaming Rules!” play Trickerion. In Trickerion you play as an illusionist who also has to carefully plan buying resources, learning magic tricks, and performing them to a sold-out theater. Trickerion’s theme grabbed my attention and I started keeping an eye out for more Mindclash Games.

Mindclash Games also published Anachrony (a post-apocalyptic world with time travel) and Cerebria (a fantasy land populated with spirits and emotions), both games I have but are still on my shelf of opportunity. Mindclash recently filled Perseverance (dinosaurs in a lost land!) which believe it or not, is also still on my shelf of opportunity. Big shocker I know.

Mindclash creates heavy, thinky games with unique themes. I appreciate their gameplay and am excited to see what games they come out with. Septima is their newest game.

Septima is set in a land where witches are real and the oldest and wisest witch, Septima, has decided to retire and pass the mantle on to a new witch. As the leader of a coven, you and your coven will be collecting herbs, creating a variety of potions, performing rite ceremonies and healing sick patients. While performing these actions you also need to avoid catching the eye of the witch hunters. During this game you will be proving to Septima that you are worthy enough to take over for her.

Septima is being advertised as a lighter game than people may be used to when they think of Mindclash. After watching a couple playthroughs, I believe it may be a little lighter but still has plenty of strategic decisions involved. Similar to Trickerion, Septima has a base version of the game that is lighter to play and is a good way to not only learn the game but also get familiar with the available actions and the strategy needed to win. As you become more comfortable with the game, you can increase the difficulty by adding on the rite board and the charm cards which provide a special action when played.

Dàvid Turzi is a whiz when it comes to creating solo modes and I’m excited to see how the solo mode plays in Septima. You are playing against the Black Widow whose goal is to drain your wisdom.

I love the art style of the game as it is a throwback to Trickerion. This deluxe edition will also have silkscreened wood meeples, a Gametrayz insert and the Shapeshift & Omens Expansion included.

So, let me know what you think about Septima! Leave me a comment below. Does it sound interesting to you? Will you be backing it now or maybe you’ll wait for the retail version instead?

If you’d like to learn more about the game, take a look at their Kickstarter page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mindclash/septima

Watch the Gaming Rules! Tutorial & Playthrough of Septima: https://youtu.be/SI-R4zFfgdY

Find out more about Mindclash Games on their website: https://mindclashgames.com/

If you’re interested in finding out more about Trickerion: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163068/trickerion-legends-illusion

Photo by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash