472 zelda breath of the wild - zirco mesa's korok

Dear Readers,

I hiked from Sapphia's Table to Zirco Mesa, trying my best to stay away from trouble. Unfortunately I was drawn to what might've looked like a friendly camp with tents and a cooking pot and it turned out to be a big Yiga camp! What were they doing here anyway in this cold? There were several of them but I was able to handle them. I knocked them all out cold.

I plundered some bananas and hiked the rest of the way to Zirco Mesa. There was a Korok on top under a rock.

471 zelda breath of the wild - sapphia's table north korok

Dear Readers,

I flew north from Gerudo Tower and climbed up into the cold areas again. This particular mountain range I barely explored at all. The west part has a golfing Korok puzzle but the snowball rolled down the hill on me. I'll have to come back to it later.

I hiked to the northern slope of this mountain range instead and completed a circle of stones for another Korok. The missing stone I had to be careful not to drop or fall while holding it. It was a pretty treacherous area.

470 zelda breath of the wild - karusa valley's final korok seed

Dear Readers,

From the platform with a hole in it from the previous post, I hiked west along the cliff of Karusa Valley until I came across a metal block puzzle. The block I needed was further west and on top of a big rock pillar that seemed to be bombable from below. I didn't bother bombing it though. I just used Magnesis to move it gradually back to the puzzle so I could get another Korok seed. I don't know if you can actually blow up that part of the stone pillar. I might check that out next time.

I could start hearing the hostile environment music since I was very close to Gerudo Highlands. I might just start searching for seeds there next since I was now finished with Karusa Valley...

...and that's no joke!

469 zelda breath of the wild - a nice view of karusa valley

Dear Readers,

Above upper Karusa Valley is a platform with a big hole in it. On one of the cliffs of this platform is a smaller platform with a Korok hiding under a rock. I warped to Gerudo Tower and flew northwest in order to reach it. I wasn't gonna climb all the way up here from below in the valley itself!

468 zelda breath of the wild - found the four mighty banana offering statues

Dear Readers,

I was right, it was five statues in that group of mighty banana offering statues in Karusa Valley that I found and mentioned in the previous post. That means up until now I had found groups of 1, 2, 3 and 5 but I hadn't found the 4 statue group yet. Luckily it was just a brief glide down from the 5 statue group. I went down for another Korok seed. I was beginning to lose concentration as I missed some of the offering bowls when I was dropping bananas. It all ended well though when I fixed it and I got the Korok seed.

467 zelda breath of the wild - five (or six?) offering statues in karusa valley

Dear Readers,

I found the group of six statues in Karusa Valley where you offer mighty bananas to get a Korok Seed. It's on one of the platforms on the right hand cliffsides as you go up the hill. Or was it five? I'm not sure I remember. All these Koroks are starting to blend together.

466 zelda breath of the wild - more mighty banana offering statues in karusa valley

Dear Readers,

Following on from the last post about a mighty banana offering in Karusa Valley, there were another two places where I had to make offerings. They were on platforms on cliffs directly across the valley from the first one. The second area I came across had two statues, and the third area I came across had three, so I had to make that many offerings of mighty bananas. That's another two Korok seeds collected. I don't know yet if there are any more of these offering statues in the area.

465 zelda breath of the wild - mighty banana offering in karusa valley

Dear Readers,

I scanned along the left hand cliffsides as you go up the hill in Karusa Valley. Up on a platform I found an offering statue decorated with a Yiga symbol. Usually it was apples that these things wanted, but this time it was a mighty banana it needed to get the Korok seed. Just for fun I tried using apples but they didn't work.

464 zelda breath of the wild - climb chasing up the weird karusa cliffs

Dear Readers,

The next Korok seed I found involved having to climb up the cliffs on the left side of the valley. I had to look carefully to see a Korok sprout and climb up after it as it popped up along the cliff to the top. The cliff was kind of weird shaped but I was well able for it with my full stamina wheels. Another one collected!

463 zelda breath of the wild - karusa valley intersecting stone circles

Dear Readers,

I started collecting Karusa Valley Korok seeds. The first one I found was on one of the highest parts of the area that had intersecting circles of stones. I had to place a stone in the right place for a Korok seed.

462 zelda breath of the wild - ring of stones west of gerudo tower

Dear Readers,

Further west from the balloon popping Korok was a ring of stones on a cliff near the opening to Karusa Valley. I'll be going there soon for more seeds.

For now I had to find a missing stone from this ring of stones. I used Stasis so the missing stone would show up as it was almost impossible to see otherwise. It was hiding behind a nearby wall. I picked it up and placed it for another seed.

461 zelda breath of the wild - popping korok balloons west of gerudo tower

Dear Readers,

This time I flew west from Gerudo Tower for more Korok seeds. The first of which was a shooting gallery at the edge of a cliff. I popped the first two balloons no problem but the third one was higher and I had trouble with it. I used up quite a few arrows trying to pop it.

I briefly went back to Gerudo town and bought more arrows. 20 Rupees for 5 arrows is not a good deal...

460 zelda breath of the wild - metal puzzle far away from its matching model

Dear Readers,

Also southeast of Gerudo Tower was another metal puzzle but this time the model and the destination blocks were on completely different cliff walls, but there was a long bridge between them. In the middle of the bridge was the metal block.

I took a picture of the one to copy and used that photo to see where the gap was in the destination model. I was able to figure out where the metal block had to go then.

459 zelda breath of the wild - metal puzzle southeast of gerudo tower

Dear Readers,

I warped to Gerudo Tower and paraglided southeast for the next couple of Korok seeds.

The first one was a metal puzzle. As usual, the blocks were almost completely camouflaged into the cliff wall so I had to use my Magnesis to make the movable metal piece stand out more from them. I found the right place for it and got another Korok seed.

458 zelda breath of the wild - all main gerudo desert koroks found!

Dear Readers,

I warped back to Gerudo Town and sat by a fire until morning. After that I warped to the East Gerudo Ruins and climbed the southmost structure for the Korok seed on top.

After that I hiked out west to the final giant skeleton for a sprout chasing puzzle. That was the final Korok for the main Gerudo desert area! Hooray! I still have to go after the Yiga trail Koroks but the main ones in the desert are all done! Hooray!

457 zelda breath of the wild - giant skeleton platform korok seeds

Dear Readers,

I continued northwest to the corner of the desert and snagged 4 more Korok seeds. One was another cactus puzzle. The others as far as I can recall were on top of big skeletons and some of them were very annoying to obtain because I had to stand straight on a tiny sliver of a platform to get the "examine" prompt to pop up. I got them all though! Just a few more left for the main desert area!

456 zelda breath of the wild - shortest timed korok puzzle yet on a sandy pillar

Dear Readers,

From the 3 cacti puzzle in the last post, I continued hiking along the ridge of the peninsula-like shape on the map until I reached some ruins. There were tall pillars here. On one of them was a tree stump. It set a very fast timer! The shortest one I had come across yet! It went so fast I missed even seeing where the target was on the first try. On the second try I saw that it was on the next pillar so it was just a hop over there to get the Korok seed.

455 zelda breath of the wild - 3 cacti north of skeleton near gerudo town korok

Dear Readers,

From the skeleton west of Gerudo Town, I headed directly north and hiked until I found another three cacti matching puzzle. I removed some voltfruit to make them match and got another Korok Seed. To get here I followed along a ridge that looked a bit like a peninsula on the map.

454 zelda breath of the wild - skeleton west of gerudo town korok

Dear Readers,

West of Gerudo Town is a big ol' skeleton where I had to go for my next Korok. It was one of those appear and disappearing sprout ones and I had to chase it across the ribs of the skeleton. The Lizalfos who lived in the camp below were getting upset with me but they couldn't shoot at me, so I just ignored them and got my next seed.

453 zelda breath of the wild - korok directly north of great fairy in desert

Dear Readers,

I stuck along the western edge of the desert and headed north from the Great Fairy of the desert's place. I took a sand seal through a bit of a sand storm and made a mark on my map of the Korok I was looking for.

Using my navigational skills I found the Korok puzzle, which was a cactus voltfruit matching one.

I got attacked by a Lizalfos archer as well, who was probably thinking he was so smart with his bow and arrows. Little did he know that I had two boomerangs so I was well able to beat him up from a distance, even after breaking one of them. I love throwing boomerangs in the desert.

452 zelda breath of the wild - korok at the desert great fairy fountain

Dear Readers,

I visited the Great Fairy in the corner of the desert because there was a Korok on top of the dragon skeleton above her.

I climbed up its tail and there was a bone sticking straight up in the air. At the highest point was another Korok.

451 zelda breath of the wild - molduga attack while korok hunting across arbiter's grounds

Dear Readers,

I really didn't want to bother with Moldugas, but there were two of them that kept picking on me as I went Korok hunting across the Arbiter's Grounds. I got thrown up in the air a lot around here. Many Lizalfos and Stalizalfos picked on me as well. I had enough food and boomerangs to deal with them though.

Most of the Koroks here were under stones and one was a cacti voltfruit matching puzzle. The ones under stones I made sure to bop on the head for being in such a troublesome place.

450 zelda breath of the wild - misae suma shrine korok seeds

Dear Readers,

I warped to Misae Suma Shrine and went west for the couple of Korok seeds here.

One I had found already with the stone puzzle so I just marked that off.

The other one required me to make three cacti match so I shot an arrow at the voltfruit that was the odd one out for another Korok seed.

449 zelda breath of the wild - timed dash across the east barrens for a korok seed

Dear Readers,

In this area of the Gerudo Desert were some ruins. On top of one arch was a starting point and on top of another some distance away was the finish point. I'm not sure what the intended equipment was but I had the sand boots and a maxed out stamina gauge. I dashed as much as I could without running out of stamina fully and I made it just in time to get the seed.

It was on the second attempt mind you! I failed the first try. It was ok though. I had fun boomeranging wolves on the way back to the starting point.

448 zelda breath of the wild - korok metal puzzle in lizalfos nest near champion's gate

Dear Readers,

I hiked out into the desert from the entrance to South Lomei Labyrinth. I could see there was a Korok I had yet to find on the south of three round structures.

When I got closer I found that these structures were skull lairs inhabited by Lizalfos. I bashed them all. There was only one treasure chest and nothing else except for another metal puzzle.

This puzzle was a little strange because the metal piece was high up in the room. I didn't notice it at first and thought it was maybe in one of the other skull dwellings.

Once I found it I just placed it in the other group of blocks to complete the pattern and the Korok appeared.

447 zelda breath of the wild - south lomei labyrinth mountain koroks

Dear Readers,

I warped back to the shrine in South Lomei Labyrinth and walked straight out to climb the surrounding mountains to the west for more Koroks.

It wasn't too high up and it was although it was nighttime, I never got attacked, which was nice.

One of the Koroks was a timed task to race from one mountain to another. Nice and manageable.

The other two I needed were metal puzzles. I solved the one in the wall of one mountain and the other that was near the entrance to this area. After that, I hiked out into the desert to continue my search.

446 zelda breath of the wild - north of spectacle rock koroks

Dear Readers,

Three more Koroks were north of Spectacle Rock.

The two in the watery area I had already found. I marked them off on my map.

The one I hadn't found yet was further along on top of a short, thick tree. It had a stone with a Korok underneath.

445 zelda breath of the wild - northeast of spectacle rock koroks

Dear Readers,

Northwest of Spectacle Rock were two Koroks that were close to each other but were different in how I found them.

One was under a rock on one of those wooden platforms jutting out from the slopes. Straightforward enough.

The other I had to do a timed challenge to reach a goal for another Korok. For this I had to hop and glide across several wooden platforms.

444 zelda breath of the wild - koroks south of spectacle rock

Dear Readers,

South of Spectacle Rock were some Koroks I had found already. On the slopes to the southwest were a couple I hadn't found yet.

One was on top of a spike coming out of the ground, underneath a rock on top of it. The other was northwest of here to where there was another metal puzzle for another Korok.

443 zelda breath of the wild - spectacle rock koroks

Dear Readers,

I warped to where Vah Naboris had settled and looked for Koroks arround here.

There was a handy stone bridge between here and the Wasteland Tower. Under here was a Korok balloon.

Towards the west there was a metal puzzle for a Korok, then further west was a lone stone with a Korok underneath. Big difference between them and they so close to each other.

442 zelda breath of the wild - hard to see korok at east gerudo mesa

Dear Readers,

This one was very annoying to find. I scanned the cliffs with stasis, hoping to see any stones pop out from the cliffs. Instead all I saw were rushrooms. I had to look up the solution and it said to look for some rocks to blow up on the ground. I dropped to solid ground and found the rocks to blow up. A Korok was inside hiding under a stone. Glad to get that done.

441 zelda breath of the wild - east gerudo mesa easy to see koroks

Dear Readers,

South of this marking on the map were three Korok seeds I found. I'll mention two of them in this post that were easy to find.

One was on a spit of land jutting out from the mountain and had a rock with a Korok underneath.

Another was part of a puzzle with a pattern of stones way below this area. It was in a square and had a few dots in it. I completed the pattern of dots and got the Korok here. The rocks were very difficult to see because it's in the shady part of the area.

440 zelda breath of the wild - korok south of daval peak

Dear Readers,

I warped back up to the shrine on Mount Granahj once again and ventured south towards Daval Peak. The Korok I was looking for was just south of here and its puzzle was a square arrangement of stones that was missing a corner. I found another stone that was very close by and filled the corner for another Korok. I made sure to keep wrapped up warm too.

439 zelda breath of the wild - mount granahj marking off koroks and finding one on a cliff

Dear Readers,

I warped to the shrine on Mount Granahj. There are a bunch of Koroks here, many of whom I had found already, so I just marked them off of my map. There were two in this area I hadn't found yet and one of them was to the west, on the cliff dropping down into warmer Gerudo land. The one I found here was on a shelf jutting out from the cliff under a rock that was almost the exact same colour as its surroundings. I would not be able to find this on my own!

438 zelda breath of the wild - taobab grassland and mount faloraa korok seeds

Dear Readers,

Three more Korok seeds for me at this area. On the mountain it was up on top of a tree. In the middle of the grassland it was hanging from a tree and the one to the west was a metal puzzle in the cliff. I had a fun time when I dropped the metal block and it rolled all the way down to the grassland. I searched all over before I realised it had despawned and went back to its original position. I climbed back up and did the puzzle.

437 zelda breath of the wild - korok seeds at oseira plains and grinnden plains

Dear Readers,

I continued north through Oseira Plains and found three Korok Seeds on both sides of the valley and on a tree in the middle. One of them was a balloon to pop and another was a nut to crack inside a log. They were both easy to reach and I used my weapon to slash at both of them to win their seeds. Nice to know I can do that at least.

52 51 worldwide games - 6-ball puzzle and credits

Dear Readers,

This is just like a Tetris-derivative bonus game that was in Mario Party 9. You gotta match balls of the same colour to clear them. In this version there's an opponent. I'm not sure if the Mario Party 9 one had an opponent. Anyway there are sparkly and water visuals with nice sounds and music. I played one round and won against the opponent so hooray!

That's all 51 games played! It seems the piano doesn't count as a game but I made a post about it anyway.

I also had to play Hanafuda and Riichi Mahjong again because I didn't finish a full session of them. I still don't know how to play them but I can always use the tutorial to learn. I replayed them to unlock the credits.

I don't recognise any of the voice actors in the credits. I saw a lot of localisation companies. This wasn't a collection that was thrown together. I'll come back to it now and again.

51 51 worldwide games - shooting gallery

Dear Readers,

This one was quite fun and the aiming controls worked really well! I didn't even have to adjust the grip or anything! Just tap a button to calibrate and I was all set! Very easy to recalibrate too. Gyro aiming is really nice for this little shooting gallery game.

It's presented with passing trains and a lovely landscape on a nice day. Shooting balloons and targets and UFOs is fun and satisfying and looking at the passing trains with targets on them is fun. I really enjoyed this and it's a great demonstration of the Joy-Con's aiming controls.

50 51 worldwide games - team tanks

Dear Readers,

In this mode of tanks there are three more levels and you fight with a friend against a bunch of enemies at once. In the final level there's also a huge boss to fight. So far, everything's been a breeze for me except for the boss fight which I've tried a few times and haven't beaten yet. I'll get it sometime in the future when I'll play again.

49 51 worldwide games - battle tanks

Dear Readers,

Two tank games on this collection that are really just two modes of one game. In this one you fight over three levels with infinite spawns of one opponent. Winner gets the most kills within a time limit. You can shoot over walls which is nice.

I did well in this one on the easiest setting. Tank games are generally a nice time.

48 51 worldwide games - toy curling

Dear Readers,

Nice simple version of curling where you just have to shoot. You don't have to go after the iron with a sweeping brush or anything but you have to be aware of how much of the analogue stick power you want to put into shots to make it as close to the winning circle as possible. I did okay for a while but I narrowly lost at the end. It's not bad and it's quick.

47 51 worldwide games - toy football

Dear Readers,

This isn't foosball but it's very similar to it as an idea. The figures just move differently. It's awkward and difficult to get used to, though I only tried it once. I didn't really like it very much.

46 51 worldwide games - carrom

Dear Readers,

I never heard of this one before but it feels familiar, like pool or marbles, and it uses pieces that look like draughts pieces. It's very nice and easy to play, with a similar aiming to the billiards game that's on here.

I got on very well sinking my pieces, but I forgot to sink (or is it pocket?) the queen before doing my last one so I lost. I'll do it properly next time I play it!

45 51 worldwide games - darts

Dear Readers,

I've played real darts and video game darts before. This version is very easy to get into! You have to use touch or motion controls. All I had to do was detach one Joy-Con and position, hold button and make a dart throwing motion and that was it. No hassle whatsoever! I like this a lot!

This version lights up and makes arcade sounds when you hit targets so it's quite pleasing as well. I did the counting up thing but you can do the counting down thing as well like regular darts rules. For my first game I didn't win but it wasn't by too much.

44 51 worldwide games - billiards

Dear Readers,

Here's a very nice version of billiards! You can do nine ball, eight ball and the simple rules where they're all the same colour and you just need to sink a certain amount. It doesn't have the red and yellow ball pool rules that I'm used to seeing, but eight ball is more or less the same as it.

I had a go of the simple rules and won it very quickly. Then I had a go of the eight ball rules and had a very nice time. The assist is very nice and it shows a little aiming guide which I appreciate. In real life I was never good at pool and I just went along with friends who played and they were really good. I never had much interest in the game.

43 51 worldwide games - mini shogi

Dear Readers,

For the mini version, I decided to be a bit more serious. I'm still very much a beginner but thanks to the assistance mode I know where and how to move. I had to use undo a couple of times as well.

I forgot about the mechanism of using captured pieces as your own until the computer started using it. I was winning and I won the game much faster when I realised I could do that. Even though I was winning, I was being very careful in case the computer pulled some kind of a comeback.

The smaller board still makes it a challenge but there aren't as many pieces to be worried about. I won the game this time so that was nice.

42 51 worldwide games - shogi

Dear Readers,

Never played this before and it hits like a more exotic chess with more rules. Lots of familiarity at least but I wanted to fly through it for the first go without paying too much attention to strategy so I could get a feel of the flow. It's strange how there aren't any queens.

I could get used to it but then I'm not really in the humour for chess-like games right now.

41 51 worldwide games - chess

Dear Readers,

The famous chess! I know about this but I always take it for granted. I'm also jealous that it's one of those games that's accepted everywhere. In this version there's all these kinds of aids and lessons. They're very handy because sometimes I just don't focus on every piece. I had to undo a few times. I won in the end. This game takes a bit of time, even when I was just running through it. It's a good version of the game.

40 51 worldwide games - renegade

Dear Readers,

Here's Othello! Or reversi or as it's known here, renegade. It probably has a whole bunch of other names. Also, the other names may have slightly different rules?

Anyway, I've played many computer versions of this and when I played the one session of this one... I lost. Ah well, no worries!

39 51 worldwide games - backgammon

Dear Readers,

The famous backgammon! I never heard of anyone in real life play it but from the sounds of it here it seems to be very common and very famous. This is my very first time playing it and it seems to be very strange and unfamiliar, going into different sections and doing a big U-turn to reach the goal. I absolutely needed the aid feature to show me where I was able to move. I won the game which was nice but I still feel very much like a beginner. I notice many more features and rules in the game too that I haven't even tried yet.

38 51 worldwide games - chinese checkers

Dear Readers,

Here's a game that always seemed too exotic and complicated for me to play, but in this video game form it's very helpful to learn. It's kinda weird how there are more than 2 players on the board but it's fun. It's also quite fun to do so much leapfrogging. I played just the one session and I won! On the easiest setting of course!

37 51 worldwide games - gomoku

Dear Readers,

I thought this was Othello at first, but no you have to make five in a row with your colours. I played one short game of it so far and I won, so that was good. Might be a good one to try on higher difficulty. It's easy to mix up with Othello because they look very similar to begin with.

36 51 worldwide games - hare and hounds

Dear Readers,

Here's a nice simple short game with figurines. I played a few times - as hounds and then as hare. The hare has chess queen-like movement ability so it's tricky to win against, whereas the hounds are a bit more like pawns I suppose. I won with both and it has a different feeling. I feel clever for winning as the hounds, but I feel like I've won against the big lads when I win as the hare.

35 51 worldwide games - hex

Dear Readers,

Another game where the strategy hit me pretty quickly and I lost just as quickly. I wasn't paying much attention in the start to the opponent's path making and suddenly they were blocking me and making their own path to win. I played once and might play again if I feel like it.

34 51 worldwide games - nine men's morris

Dear Readers,

My first time playing this and wow the demand for strategy hit me straight away. I got stuck in a bad way and I got defeated quickly on a loop of the opponent making mills. It was a very fast game. I might try again and actually put some thought into it.

33 51 worldwide games - yacht dice

Dear Readers,

It's Yahtzee! Or at least I think it's Yahtzee? Maybe Yahtzee is trademarked? I don't know for sure. I just remember playing a computer version of Yahtzee a long time ago and this seems like a throwback to it.

It's fun to roll dice and let the computer take care of the rules like I usually did with Yahtzee. I had one game of it and lost but it was fun trying to get matching numbers. I never did take it seriously.

32 51 worldwide games - hit and blow

Dear Readers,

I've played a version of this before on the Macintosh and I think it was called Masterguess. It had lovely sound effects. Actually I think I may be mixing it up with a game that has very similar gameplay. It took a long time for me to suss the game out.

Now that I play this version it's like I have to learn how to play this game all over again. I remember cues like something belonging but in the wrong place or something that needs to be swapped with a different thing. It's a nice throwback but of course doesn't have the same exciting sound effects. I only played one game of it so far and I didn't win.

31 51 worldwide games - dots and boxes

Dear Readers,

Here's one that it feels like everyone knows! It's a nice way to play it too with its scribbling and affirmation sounds. I did the normal strategy of drawing just enough lines that I don't let the opponent get a chance to fill boxes. I could only do this so many times of course and I was lucky enough to get many boxes in a row that gave me a significant win.

30 51 worldwide games - mancala

Dear Readers,

I had never heard of this game at all before this collection came along. The beads make a pleasing sound and the hints make it fun to learn. I still don't have much of a feel for it yet. Without the hints I think I'd be very lost between all the holes and piles of beads to keep track of. I'd need a lot of practice before I'd play a real life version of this. I just played one game for now and I won nicely.

29 51 worldwide games - golf

Dear Readers,

Just a nice miniature version of golf. Looks like it's taken inspiration from the NES Golf as well. I haven't played much of it yet but I think it's very nice and easy to get into.

28 51 worldwide games - air hockey

Dear Readers,

I tend to really like air hockey video games and this one's really nice to play! It's got the fun sounds and you can play with controller or touch screen. Just very pleasant. I didn't play at high difficulty but I had fun!

27 51 worldwide games - bowling

Dear Readers,

I didn't play this properly but from the looks of things it seems like it's almost every bit like Wii Sports bowling! In fact, this compilation has tennis, golf, boxing and baseball as well, but in miniature or mechanical toy form. I daresay this collection is better than whatever sequel Wii Sports has on Switch.

26 51 worldwide games - toy boxing

Dear Readers,

This is another cute and fun mechanical game that's very much like the tabletop ones where you have to knock your opponent out of the ring. I played a very brief session and I had a nice time of it. It reminded me of playing those kind of tabletop games as a kid too.

25 51 worldwide games - toy baseball

Dear Readers,

In this game you just have to swing and pitch. It's cute with the players running around the bases by themselves and the little areas where the ball can land. There's a little bit of strategy where you can tilt the analogue stick but it's all very simple and playable. This is nice because baseball is another game that's a bit of a culture shock to me.

24 51 worldwide games - toy tennis

Dear Readers,

Here's another nice mechanical toy aesthetic. It's a very simple and pleasant version of tennis and it seems like it's not as physical or realistic as other tennis games. You can do these powerful shots with the right timing as well. I only played a couple of brief sessions of going to 40 and winning on the easier setting and it's quite nice to jump in and out quickly.

23 51 worldwide games - riichi mahjong

Dear Readers,

I was inspired to try this out after watching a video about it. The thing is, it's a complete culture shock of a game for me. The solitaire type is okay because you're mostly making matches but this is just so strange to me.

What I can say for now is that there is a big learning mode and I only did one of the lessons. I'm seeing a lot of terminology and I'll probably have to repeat the lesson. I'm glad I got to see some bit of what it's like.

22 51 worldwide games - dominoes

Dear Readers,

I have never played a proper game of dominoes before now. I always just stood them up and knocked them over. After playing a single round with this game, with all its automation and suggestion and quality-of-life ideas, I feel like I'm no more knowledgeable about it. I'd have to play more.

21 51 worldwide games - draughts

Dear Readers,

Here we have a solid game of draughts and it feels fine and fast to play. I only played the one game so far and it was on the easiest setting. I'm not that good at draughts but it's one of those games that everyone knows how to play. Personally I don't like that "pick you up for not jumping me" rule. I prefer the way a computer forbids you to make a move until you jump like what happens here. Actually I'd prefer to have neither of those things.

20 51 worldwide games - slot cars

Dear Readers,

It's Scalextric! It captures all the fun of it and all the risk of flying off the corners if you go too fast. There are a few different tracks and a mode where you can play through all of them in a big competition. This is another one with extra screen options but I just have fun with the one screen.

19 51 worldwide games - sliding puzzle

Dear Readers,

Here's a version of a puzzle found in many video game minigames. It seems to pop up in many Konami games and it feels like a variant of Pipe Dream. It's presented here as a mechanical turtle crawling along a path and you have to keep the path going by sliding the tiles around. It's probably based on an old mechanical toy. I didn't get very far but it seems nice enough.

18 51 worldwide games - piano

Dear Readers,

The piano is a nice little distraction in this collection! You can change it to an electronic style as well, which is nice. There's some logo on it and I'm here wondering if it's a Famicom keyboard maybe? I'll have to look it up. It's not a game but it's a nice little thing.

17 51 worldwide games - mahjong solitaire

Dear Readers,

Here's another matching game but in a different style with different rules. I learned how to play this a few years ago when I used some form of Linux(I think it was Ubuntu) and it had a version of this built in.

With this version there are all these puzzle preset levels which is a very nice treat! Quite a bit of replayability here.

Every now and again a person figurine will show up with a curated list of games based on a theme. I like the 1-player game guy.

16 51 worldwide games - war

Dear Readers,

Here's a fun and simple one that comes presented with clashing weapon sounds. All you do is present cards and the one with the higher value wins. Very accessible with fewer rules than some of the other card games.

15 51 worldwide games - pig's tail

Dear Readers,

Here's a fun one with a circular arrangement of cards and pig squealing sounds. I don't have a full grasp of it but it seems fun enough, having to play cards and not end up with too many at the end.

14 51 worldwide games - matching

Dear Readers,

It's concentration! All about matching cards and trying to remember the ones that don't match. It's a very common minigame in other video games. In general I find that the presentation of the game is very important. In Mario 3 I like to skip it if I'm in a hurry, in some other games it can be presented in a very exciting way. In some games you're forced to play it and it can be a slog in that sense. On TV I love the game show Classic Concentration because it's so fun to watch and it's got that rebus puzzle underneath.

This version of concentration has the very nice unlockable of its own Mario cards, different from the other regular Mario themed playing cards I also unlocked. The illustrations look lovely.

The game also refers to the fact you can play it in a solitaire way, but it doesn't have the option of playing it that way as far as I can see. Ah well.

13 51 worldwide games - takoyaki

Dear Readers,

Here's another imaginative scenario where you imagine the cards as this type of food. I don't feel adventurous enough to try this food but the whole scenario of playing cards like this is quite tasty.

12 51 worldwide games - president

This one is fairly complex and has a lot of cards and moves to make, so I'm glad this does a fairly nice job of suggesting what cards I can and can't play. I'm still not fully comfortable with the rules but I had a good time playing it. I kind of like the imaginative scenario of president and dethroning and all that stuff.

11 51 worldwide games - texas hold 'em and mario cards unlocked

Dear Readers,

It was my first time trying this one. I didn't know it was a variant of poker and it seems to be a tidier form of it since it uses fewer cards. It seems nice enough. I don't know if I'll play it much though.

After playing a bunch of these card games and getting on ok at them, I unlocked some Mario themed cards! They look pretty nice!

10 51 worldwide games - sevens

Dear Readers,

This one seems nice and easy enough to understand. 7 is like the midpoint in the ranks and you see all the cards laid out on either side so it seems neat. I only played this once so far so I haven't really done that retaining strategy.

9 51 worldwide games - blackjack

Dear Readers,

It's 21 and it's the casino style with the chips and all. I played this back in the day but didn't do the betting thing. It's normally associated with betting though and that's the case here with casino chips. You play against three others and it's not bad at all. Way shorter than the solitaire card games and that's kind of a relief.

8 51 worldwide games - speed

Dear Readers,

Here's one I remember from the DS original! I had a lot of fun back then playing this with a friend of mine and since you're using reflexes (like with snap) I imagine it's way safer playing this in video game form than with real cards. There must be so many accidents with hands bumping together with the non videogame version!

7 51 worldwide games - spider solitaire

Dear Readers,

This version is really hard! Especially the 4-suit version! It's almost dizzying trying to keep track of all the piles of cards and the suits and everything. It's very easy to get lost. I was just barely able to complete the single and 2-suit versions. I haven't been able to beat the 4-suit version yet. It seems it's very dependent on chance even when you do your best. I still like it but it's very hard.

6 51 worldwide games - klondike solitaire

Dear Readers,

The classic that everyone knows from their own computer! I like how you can double click the cards to get them to move into place. I spent a lot of time playing this, a lot more time than I thought I would.

I like the single card pick. The three card pick makes it more complicated than it needs to be. 

5 51 worldwide games - last card

Dear Readers,

Here's a derivative of Uno or "switch" (on my Switch!) that I played with family, except this is its own version. I played a very short session where I got in about 2 cards before I lost to one of the three computer players, or at least I think it was three. I wonder if I can play against just one other player like in real life? It seems nice but I don't have a fully developed impression of it so far. I'll play again later.

4 51 worldwide games - fishing

Dear Readers,

Nice little miniature fishing game in this! I was trying to play it like the Animal Crossing fishing, but there's also reeling with the analogue stick. You can use buttons or motion controls and I chose the endless mode, which seems to be easy-going and non-competitive. It tells you what fish you caught in the moment but there doesn't seem to be any collection or "bestiary"? At least none I can see so far. That multi Switch set up might be something worth looking at later.

3 51 worldwide classics - ludo

Dear Readers,

I played Ludo as a kid but I had no idea there was an ounce of strategy involved. This version showed me you can knock an opponent back to base by landing on them. Other than that it's a fairly easy-going dice rolling race game. This version is nice and simple too with its little tips and taps, though the white background can be a bit overwhelming.

2 51 worldwide games - hanafuda confuse-a

Dear Readers,

I really dove into the deep end with the hanafuda. I looked at general tips but I ended up not learning the game properly so I just pressed buttons to start with, playing some kind of pair-making, positioning thing with really pretty and tall cards. I played against the computer and eventually lost. I'll come back to this and maybe learn how to play properly. For now, I enjoyed the pretty cards. In general I like the chatty voice-acted figurines introducing the games too.

Next time I play this I'll have to look at the instructions more carefully.

1 51 worldwide games - four in a row and menus

Dear Readers,

I've been itching to try out this lately and I wanted to learn how to play a few of these games too.

I fully recommend downloading the demo because it has a Connect 4 derivative that you can play anywhere with anyone on the same Switch. I've played it in pubs and cafés with friends. It's tidy and pieces will never go missing. I've been playing it for years and it is one of the best freebies. Everybody loves Connect 4 and I never went wrong with it.

I started up the main game after doing all the updates and it took me through a rigmarole of selecting an avatar and connecting to the internet and prompting me to join up for the online service, which is not what I like at all. I was able to get to the curated games menus on the cart eventually. It isn't service dependent for the basic stuff thankfully, only the online play.

I'd like to add that the DS equivalent of this, 42 All-Time Classics, is superb.

436 zelda breath of the wild - almost impossible to see korok puzzle at cora lake

Dear Readers,

I had a bunch of Koroks to find in Cora Lake, south of the Lake Tower, so I went there.

Most of them were easy to find and some were fun to find like the diving ones. There were two in particular that were almost impossible to find. The first was on the west side of the lake in a very narrow passage between cliffs. It was on a ledge and showed up with stasis.

The main one that caused me so much trouble was in the middle of the lake. It didn't snow up with stasis because it was a metal block puzzle. The block showed up with Magnesis but I had no idea where the puzzle was. I eventually found the puzzle on one of the surrounding cliffs. I reached it with cryonis. It was almost impossible to see because it's so murky here, even during good weather in the daytime. It's one of those times when the game really doesn't look good. 

435 zelda breath of the wild - faron grassland korok hunt

Dear Readers,

I stayed in the stable in Faron for a while. There were a bunch of Koroks to find around here.

Many of them were on the road to the horse god's place, or at least on the surrounding cliffs. I did a lot of climbing and pushing of rocks into holes. I made the mistake of bringing a horse as well that got spooked by the rolling rocks. I put it away when I got back to the stable.

I found some more Koroks in the very steep cliffs to the west. One of them was very hard to find because the cliff was so steep and I was looking at top down map. I spent a lot of time looking on high ground but in the end I found it at the very bottom of the cliff behind some blastable rocks.

434 zelda breath of the wild - back out through faron woods for more korok hunting

Dear Readers,

After the waterfall puzzle, I headed west along the main road to collect Korok seeds littered all along the way. I say littered, but they were of course hidden well enough, and I wouldn't be able to find them if I didn't have the online map.

I got attacked by Yiga constantly. At one stage I was attacked by a big Yiga and a regular Yiga at the same time. I'm experienced enough and strong enough to hit them head on without much hassle, thankfully.

Besides them, I encountered red Bokoblins and green Lizalfos and it was lovely to beat them up quickly. I hope to see many more early game difficulty enemies! I'm getting tired of getting tangled with silver enemies that take forever to beat up.

Anyway, one of the puzzles along this road involved metal balls that were chained together. I had to use stasis to keep one in place while getting the other into place.

433 zelda breath of the wild - reattempting the annoying waterfall puzzle at corta lake

Dear Readers,

The metal block went back to its original position after that time I dropped it down the waterfall. I assume it was because of the blood moon? I wasn't sure though.

This time when I made the cryonis ice block emerge from the waterfall, I stood on it myself instead of placing the metal block on it. From there I was able to reach both the metal block and its destination to solve the puzzle. Very glad I can mark it off this time.

432 zelda breath of the wild - beachcombing for koroks at faron sea

Dear Readers,

While I was in the area I decided to continue west along the coast to collect more Korok seeds.

I got attacked by Lizalfos and Octoroks but I was well able to handle them. Most of the Korok puzzles here were metal block and under stone ones. There was the odd diving one which is still one of my favourite types of Korok puzzle.

I'm not sure but I think I can use the Zora attack to deflect Octorok rocks? I might have done that by accident. If that's the case then it's a game changer.

It is nice to walk along the beach looking for seeds. Sometimes it gets murky and I have to use Stasis to make the stones visible.

I finished up on the beach and fetched the Nautelle Wetlands Korok Seed. I spent the night in the tree, watching the blood moon pass by.