The 2017 Steam Awards

If you're asking yourself, "What the heck are the Steam Awards?" then there's a good chance you shouldn't be reading this blog. If you want to know what they are anyway, then please read on! I know you gamers out there are probably familiar with them, but if you're anti-Steam it's okay -- I'm going to go over the basics either way.

Last year was the first round of The Steam Awards, letting any Steam account holder vote for any game in the store for a variety of categories. The next month, the winners were announced and (if my memory is correct) were placed on sale alongside the winter sale games. Do I think Valve already has games selected? Sure do. But it's fun to nominate games anyway, and it gives me a great reason to blog.

If you didn't vote already, I'm afraid you're out of luck -- voting ended this morning, which is why I'm sharing my nominations now. I secured my participation badge and I won't feel like I'm telling people to go vote. (Must have more badges... more!)

You won't find any real descriptions of the games I've nominated, but I'd be happy to do so in future blog entries if you let me know in the comments!

🙞 Categories & Snarkqueen's Nominations 🙜

The “The World Is Grim Enough Let's Just All Get Along” Award
Games delight and entertain us, giving us much needed breaks from the sorrows and low points of our lives… and let’s be honest, for a lot of people it’s been a rough 2017. That is why the SASC has chosen to celebrate a game that doesn’t involve combat or conflict.

My Nominee: KAMI
Reason for Nomination: A relaxing game that is easy to become addicted to as you strive to solve the paper-folding puzzles in the number of moves allowed. Despite how hard this game makes you think as you progress through the levels, the music and paper-strewn graphics make it easy to spend hours playing.

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The “Choices Matter” Award

Games are about agency, and this award is for the game that has it in spades. Maybe it’s because there are 31 ways you can breach into a villains lair. Perhaps there are dozens of potential partners for you to build a romantic future with. Or maybe you find yourself constantly saying “Where oh where should I plant those turnips”? In all three scenarios there is a common bond: the choice was always yours.

My Nominee: Monster Loves You!

Reason for Nomination: Every step of this game is a choice, and your combination of choices create a different experience every time you play. You might think that sounds tedious, but there's a lot of mischief and fun to be had as you try different things and explore your options. (Anyone who's managed to end the game as an Undercover Neurosurgeon knows exactly what I'm talking about. Flaunt that achievement, my brethren!)

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The “Haunts My Dreams” Award

This award is slightly a misnomer, because this game doesn’t just haunt your dreams. It consumes your thoughts every waking moment of the day. This game doesn’t demand your time. You give it willingly.

My Nominee: The Lord of the Rings Online

Reason for Nomination: If I don't give it to the game that's happily consumed 3,148 hours of my life in the last five years, what game would I give it to? They're promising Elk Mounts and further adventuring into Northern Mirkwood next year. Why would I not give this game the majority of my attention? "Look, Thranduil -- I have an Elk, too!" ...is what I hope to say next year sometime. (I had a dream about it. It will happen. I'm sure of it.)

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The “Mom’s Spaghetti” Award

There are games that make you excited. There are games that make you happy. Then there are games so intense that they elicit a physical reaction. We’re talking weak knees. We’re talking sweaty palms. We’re talking fear-induced accidents. We’re talking your friends reminding you to breathe. We’re talking about mom’s spaghetti.

My Nominee: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Reason for Nomination: You've got one chance to get the jump on that orc over there before he alerts the huge mob around the corner -- blow it and, well, you end up Googling what the heck this award name means in the first place. (Yeah, I'm one of those uncool people who doesn't know an Eminem reference when I see one.) Seriously, though -- this game was STRESSFUL to play. One wrong move and BAM, you're back at a spawn point and there's one more guy you have to go exact your revenge on. But hey, at least it's a game where that happens because you're already half-wraith and can't really die! Even so, I waited for this game for over a year, preordered it and got all the extra goodies, and still haven't made much of a dent in it.

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The “No Apologies” Award

This award is for the game that you love unconditionally. Does it have some faults? Maybe. Do other people not understand your love for it? Sure. But make no mistake. There is no guilt here. Only pleasure.

My Nominee: Secret of the Magic Crystals

Reason for Nomination: It's all about the racing (which is, admittedly, DLC you have to get separately). Horses with funny get-ups and different power-ups along the track make this one of my go-to games when I want to do something silly and disconnect from reality. Don't knock it til you've tried it.

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The “Cry Havoc And Let Slip The Dogs Of War” Award

The Bard said it best. This game doesn't necessarily offer the biggest explosions... it offers something better. Potential. Potential to be a rampaging force of nature. Or not. Who knows. You're an agent of chaos and no one is going to tell you what to do.

My Nominee: Primal Carnage: Extinction

Reason for Nomination: When you say "rampaging force of nature," how can you choose anything but a game where you play dinosaurs and humans trying to kill each other? I have many fond memories of dive-bombing unsuspecting humans as a pteranodon -- and either carting them to the heights for a fun drop or ratting out their hiding places to the other dinosaurs. Good times, good times...

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The “Suspension of Disbelief” Award

Let’s be honest: games can have some pretty ridiculous elements in them… from the stories that drive the action, to the items required to conquer obstacles, to even the protagonists themselves. This award is for the game that has a key component, which when described out of context, seems totally insane, but while playing the game doesn’t even make you bat an eye, because in the moment it makes total sense.

My Nominee: Crypt of the NecroDancer

Reason for Nomination: You have to move to the rhythm of the music to fight and survive the dungeon. When the music teacher in school says it's important to stay on the beat, they probably never anticipated it meaning your survival in a dungeon crawler, but there you go. (And may I just add that the OST is superb.)

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The “Soul Of Vitruvius” Award

The Vitruvian Man was Leonardo’s celebration of the ideal form. And in that spirit the SASC looks to celebrate the game with the most lovingly rendered character… be it human, alien, anthropomorphic cat people, or even a piece of produce.

My Nominee: Remember Me

Reason for Nomination: It's all about Nilin. She is probably the only character in any story ever to remain functional and personable despite having forced amnesia. Seriously -- think about all of those cliche plots where someone has amnesia. They're a useless lump that some other protagonist has to drag around and babysit and they somehow don't have any inherent value until they get their memories back. Not Nilin. She is a determined, thoughtful, strong protagonist who faces the challenges of living in the present with no memory of her past. DONTNOD Entertainment clearly thought very highly of this character they created -- and many other aspects of this fantastic game.

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The “Defies Description” Award

This game is like... well actually it's more similar to...picture a combination of... ya know what, I can't describe it, just play it.

My Nominee: The Beginner's Guide

Reason for Nomination: Not so much a game as a dialogue about the meaning behind a creator's choices in making games and what they are trying to say to the players. There really is no adequate description for The Beginner's Guide. Created by the guy who brought us The Stanley Parable, you'll enjoy this exploration if you enjoyed the unraveling story of Stanley.

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The “Labor of Love” Award

This game has been out for a while. The team is well past the first unveiling of their creative baby, but being the good parents they are, these devs continue to nurture and support their creation. This game, to this day, is still getting new content after all these years.

My Nominee: This War of Mine

Reason for Nomination: 3 years after the game's release on PC and it's still getting new DLC! I've not had the opportunity to play the game myself yet, only watch others play -- it's clear from the characters and their stories that there's some good dev parenting going on here.

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The “Whoooaaaaaaa, Dude! 2.0” Award

The Academy wasn't clear enough in the awards description last year. Let's try this again. This award is for the “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” of video games.

My Nominee: Jazzpunk

Reason for Nomination: Look, I could say any number of things about the game, but nothing I'd say compares to the Key Features listed on the Steam store page. It's practically a game parody of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, only much funnier and more ridiculous. If that deters you, don't let it -- there's a reason this game has Overwhelmingly Positive reviews.

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The “Even Better Than I Expected” Award

We’ve all been there. You get super excited for a game, you pre-order it, and you anxiously wait as it downloads. Then you finally play it. How do you feel now? If the answer is “Elated beyond words because even I, a conductor aboard the hype train, was blown away with how good this thing was” then you have found the perfect candidate for this award.

My Nominee: Transistor

Reason for Nomination: After the joy that was Bastion, and Bastion's OST, I was elated for Transistor and its OST... and I was all over it when it came out. My first playing of it was during my Extra Life marathon that year, and it blew me away. I was reluctant to move on to the next game in my schedule. I STILL listen to the OST. If you haven't played it, you should. Everyone should.

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The “Write-In” Award

You are a member of the Steam Award Selection Committee and your voice needs to be heard! What additional category needs to be added for the 2017 steam awards? Best Use Of A Lighthouse? Best Game To Play While Listening To The Hamilton Soundtrack? The only limit is your imagination (and a vague sense of decency)!

My Nominee: Aviary Attorney

Reason for Nomination: Best Use of Classical Music. The entire OST is music by Camille Saint-Saëns. Need I say more, truly?

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I'd love to know what you may have nominated for the Steam Awards this year -- so please leave comments! Want to know more about any of the games I nominated? Their titles are helpfully linked to their Steam store page where you can find videos, pictures and reviews. If you want to know more about them from me, please say so in the comments and I'll see about whipping up a proper blog entry!

As an added note: Today is Giving Tuesday. After so much rampant commercialism and consumerism of this past weekend, I'd like to remind all of my readers -- no matter how few you are -- that this is a season of giving, not receiving. I am still raising funds for Extra Life through the end of December because the kids at Children's National need us. If you haven't blown all your money on deals this past weekend, please consider a donation for the kids to help them have a healthier holiday season.

The Marathon Day Recap

This is going to be a long entry by necessity. If you somehow missed the posts and notifications everywhere, November 4th was the official Extra Life Marathon Day. A lot of participants do a 24-hour gaming marathon on this day, but it isn't obligatory. I skipped out on it last year because I felt it wouldn't be worthwhile without being able to stream -- and I hadn't yet started this blog. This year, I wanted to go back to the marathon. It's a unique experience even if you feel like a microwaved, reconstituted zombie with jet lag the next day. (You're welcome for the visual.)

You may notice there aren't screenshots for every game, and that's because my focus was on playing the games and interacting with the people in my Steam group chat. Want to know more about any of the games, or see more from me about them? Make a donation and then we'll talk. *wink*

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8:00 AM - Indie Adventure
From the creator of The Stanley Parable, the first game was not really much of a game at all, and as I played it I felt like it shouldn't have been the first game on my schedule. The Beginner's Guide was very thought-provoking and most of the time was spent listening to the creator comment about the visuals which were various small games that his friend had created but never done anything with. They weren't really games so much as statements and experiences, and the narrative leaves you wondering a great deal of things. I will be going back to finish playing through this one because I want to know where the commentary leads. I took a lot of pictures in this one because the visuals themselves were the crux.

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9:00 AM - Action RPG
I had given Grim Dawn a go just once before, but stopped right after my character reached level 2. I was intimidated by the mobs that swarmed me and panicked that I wasn't going to live long enough to enjoy the game. Styled after games like Diablo and The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, I wasn't feeling strong enough to wade into mobs to mow them down -- nor did I have a ghostly companion to assist me.

This time, however, I was determined to do my best. Maybe it was the Vanilla Doubleshot talking -- I'm not sure. My character made it to level 8 by the time I had to move on, and she not only had some decent gear and a lightning-based sword, she had a whole pile of quests to tackle. The problem was that the game doesn't make it very easy to know where you have to go to complete the quests. I was lost more than once, and another time I had already looted boxes and sold the junk in it when an NPC told me to go loot those boxes for the junk in them because he wanted it. It was very frustrating. Despite that, I will probably return to the game to see how far I can go before true frustration sets in!

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11:00 AM - Platformer
I had always skipped over JumpJet Rex in my Steam library because I could tell from the title alone that it was a platformer. Platformers are the bane of my gaming existence. I am notoriously awful at them and will, when given the opportunity, ply a friend to get me past a particularly awful part just so I can continue playing the game.

The plus for this game was that I played a cute T-rex with rocket boots. The minus for the game was that it was, in fact, a tricky platformer. I immediately felt like I was playing the terrible Mega Man game I had on my Sega Game Gear back in the day -- the game I couldn't beat to save my life. Some people like platformers, seeing it as a challenge. When you're as terrible as I am at them, you just walk away to play something else. Fortunately, I ran out of time to keep playing the game before I became too frustrated.

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12:00 PM - RPG (Nintendo 3DS)
Taking a break from my PC, the next game on the schedule was for the 3DS. I let my husband choose which 3DS game I played, and he said I needed to play this old school game he had on his 3DS. From the trailer I watched in the Nintendo eShop, EarthBound seemed like just an old RPG where a group of four takes on an enemy menacing earth. I thought that was something I could handle.

BOYO, was I wrong. And no, that isn't a typo. The first thing the game asks you to do is name several things -- the four main characters, your dog, your favorite homecooked food, and the coolest thing ever. The cap-wearing main character was named BOYO. I named the girl GIRLY, the glasses-wearing kid DUDE, the ponytailed guy PUNK, and the dog was FIDO. They didn't give me enough characters for the food, so my answer was RAVIOL, and I never saw the last one in use (GAMES).

You definitely need to be in the mood for an old school RPG when you play this game. Under different circumstances, I probably would have kept playing and snorting at the cliches and 90's humor. But I had a whole gaming marathon on my mind, so it simply didn't captivate me. I felt lost and perplexed for most of the game time.

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1:00 PM - Music Runner
I have written about Melody's Escape before, and it has always been a go-to game of mine for fundraising. In the past, I would randomly start streaming on Twitch and tell viewers I'd take song requests for a donation. It worked very well as a flash fundraiser tactic and I enjoyed it. Not only is it a challenge when I play an unfamiliar song, but it allows me to share my eclectic library of music with others as well.

Not being able to stream because of my internet connection, I temporarily enabled Broadcasting via Steam. I had to be smart about it, though, because I didn't want to burn up too much data. I used the 480p video settings, 2000 kbit/s maximum bitrate, coding optimized for best performance, and then no recording or viewer chat. It worked pretty well from what my friends told me, reminding them of the Steam feature and enlightening others. I went through a full GB of data in 45 minutes, though, so I won't be doing that again anytime soon!

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This is when I took my first real break to get up, stretch, have a Cherry Coke and pizza rolls, and check in on all the social media feeds. I was doing my best throughout the day to update Twitter, my personal Facebook, my blog's Facebook page, and my public Steam group. It was a lot of work and I don't think many people realize just how much!

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3:00 PM - Metroidvania
Next up was a game from a popular series, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight. This, too, was a platformer, but it has some solid controller use without being too frustrating. What WAS frustrating about this game was how HARD it was. Even on Easy Mode I was having some struggles. Being a sidescroller, there isn't a lot of room to mess up. Especially since you can't flee from boss fights -- the screen locks you in. Still, the game was lovely and the characters intriguing. As frustrating as it was, I will likely go back to play some more -- when I'm feeling masochistic!

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4:00 PM - Bullet Hell
The previous game was a walk in the park compared to Furi. My controller in hand again, this game's graphics reminded me distinctly of Killer is Dead. The initial fight is a tutorial for the game, and I'm not ashamed to say that I couldn't finish it. The main aspect of the fights in the game is bullet hell oriented. It's possible that the particular phase of the fight I reached had bugged out somehow, but I can't be sure. I had reached the phase where I had to dodge two repeating waves of attack from my enemy -- one a solid wall, the other glowing orbs. These rings of damaging attack pulsed outward from him, and I had ample time to dodge them -- and I did so successfully more often than not -- but the fight never progressed further. Despite this, the music was awesome to listen to and I'd wager the rest of the game is a blast. If I can catch on to fighting skills using a controller, I think anyone can!

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My hands were hurting after the last two games, so I took a short break here, too -- my husband pretty much insisted on it!

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5:00 PM - Action RPG (Playstation 4)
9 hours into my marathon, I shifted gears to go play a game on the PS4: Dragon's Dogma. This game, also, was my husband's choice -- and it's currently his go-to game (though he's played it many times before). He'll do crazy things like go so far as to get his Pawn companion and then immediately go to Bitter Black Isle and die repeatly, just to challenge himself. Crazy, right?

Well, Thursday night he assisted me in playing far enough to set up my character and acquire my own Pawn. I fashioned my character after an elf hunter I play in another game, Harweth, and gave her green hair and pointed ears. Unfortunately, the game is set up using the male model in most things... so the opening scene sort of made me feel uncomfortable with my character's shirt wiiiiiiide open... at least I was able to change it pretty quickly!

I let my husband name my pawn, and he chose Viktor (as in Viktor Frankenstein). I ruined it by making a hulking, samurai-looking brute with pink hair, goatee and long ponytail. I'm told that my husband and friends in the Steam group chat decided to nickname my pawn Pepto. See, while I played, my husband gave my friends in the public Steam group chat the play-by-play. So they knew I was swallowed by the hydra twice before successfully lopping off a head in my third attempt to fight it.

After getting past that fight, my husband left me to my own devices to do some basic questing until my allotted time was up. It didn't go too badly, but it is by no means an easy game. It is also a very pretty game with a lot of flexibility in play style. If you've never played it before, I recommend it -- but be sure to use a controller. You'll thank me later.

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7:00 PM - Indie Adventure
The next game, Shelter, was probably the most disappointing game in my lineup. I'd seen it around for a long while, as well as the DLCs and sequels and offshoots. The graphics style was intriguing, and I'd had friends say they enjoyed it. Well, sorry to disappoint -- but I found this game tedious and boring. It felt more heavily like an indie survival game instead of adventure, as tagged: trying to keep your five offspring from dying of hunger, or being picked up by a bird of prey, and then not having a clue where to go... Nah, not my kind of game. I was happy to stop early and take a break before moving on.

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8:00 PM - Indie Puzzle
The game I had the MOST fun playing during the marathon was Please, Don't Touch Anything. You have to think outside the box to accomplish anything in the game, but once you get the ball rolling it's a lot of fun. I won't tell you HOW I did anything here because that would honestly spoil the game for anyone reading. The game goes pretty quickly once you figure out a couple of things. I highly recommend this one! 

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9:00 PM - RPG
That's right. I ventured back into Skyrim after a 10-month hiatus. The last time I tried to play the game was at the end of December 2016. I created an Argonian and made it to the first little settlement, then through the first little dungeon. Then... I didn't know what to do and just quit. I moved on to other tried and true games in my library and didn't look back.

It had been a lot of work to get the Nexus mods set up, though, so I never uninstalled it. I picked back up with my Argonian and tried to remember how to do things -- any things. One aspect of the game I always hated was the clarity of controls and the UI. They were very poorly done and not intuitive in the slightest. I had a mod to help a little with that, but it still didn't do much to aid me.

Case in point: I died a few times and was very bored. Sorry, Skyrim fans. I don't understand your mania or obsession. There are better games to play.

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11:00 PM - Indie Comedy Simulation
There are endless things to do in Goat Simulator, so I felt it would be a good game to add to the mix. Always fun, and a good way to lighten things up after Skyrim. This time, the first thing I did was load up the Jouster mutation and enter the MMO DLC. It is literally a goat, riding a horse, and holding a lance. You can't impale anything with it, but your cursor controls where the lance's tip points and you can do some epic ragdoll collisions! The best part about the MMO DLC is watching the fake world chat scroll by. It's everything an actual MMO world chat has, including that one poor sap asking how to get a girl.

The other thing I did was load up the Payday DLC -- because wreaking havoc with FOUR is inherently four times more fun, especially when one of them can fly. My favorite one is the flamingo because you can see things more easily from the air. Also, if anyone knows how to break out whats-her-face from the Casino without setting off any of the security, let me know. *finger pistol and wink*

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So this is the part where I tell you my feet and legs started to hurt. I've had an ongoing health issue with them (peripheral neuropathy symptoms) for months now, so I knew I had to take a decent sort of break. Nobody had made a donation in the 17 hours I'd been gaming, and my husband was advising me to rest. So I did. I laid down and I slept for a bit. I skipped some games because nobody was awake in my Steam group chat and donations were unlikely since I wasn't streaming.

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6:00 AM - MMORPG
I returned to my mission early in the morning, and to my favorite game: The Lord of the Rings Online. I could have easily not done so, but I had told my kinship on the Landroval server that I'd be there and I didn't want anyone getting up early on my account only to discover I'd lied.

Nobody was on when I logged in, so I set myself to running the Fall Festival one last time (for the sweet, sweet XP). By then, a few people had logged on, and Silver Dragon had woken up in the Steam group chat. I gave him the choice of where I should quest and he sent me to pick up my questing in Wildermore, the frozen region of Rohan. I made a decent dent there until my time was up.

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During the marathon itself, I raised $80. I have received a few donations since then -- and I'm grateful for them. I haven't yet reached my goal (which I lowered from my initial goal). I am planning to do some blog entries about the few games I skipped. The fundraising continues right up through December 31st, so if you meant to donate and forgot -- you can do so now!

11 Hours

Yep, I'm 11 hours into my 24-hour marathon!

I've given away some games to the wonderful friends who showed up in my public Steam group chat and have been supportively cheering me on.

But wouldn't you know it... I haven't had a single donation yet. If you're reading this and you haven't made a donation yet, please consider making a donation of a few dollars. It makes a big difference for the kids at Children's National whom I'm playing for -- and it also helps me feel like I'm doing this for a reason!

Please don't let me ruin my health unnecessarily. Donate today! Please and thank you. ❤

I'm Giving Away Games

All you have to do is show up and chat in the public Steam group: SnarkqueenFTK. Yeah, it's that easy. And it gives me something else to do besides play games all day! Who knows, maybe you gamers will make some new gamer friends in the process?