My Top 3 Games For Travelling

If you’re a student, summer vacation might be here or just around the corner; or maybe you’re taking a well-deserved break from work.

When I’m travelling, I usually have a book and a portable gaming console in my backpack. I think we all can agree that there are moments in our travelling where we have to just… wait. So, what better way to spend that time than with some good games?

Before I begin, here are some of my criteria for what makes a game suitable for travel:

  1. It has to have a quick and easy save function.
  2. Simple to flip up, easy to put down. It must be easily detachable; can’t really start an adventure on one of Telltale’s games, if you know what I mean.
  3. It has to be fun, of course!

My Top 3 Games For Travelling

I used to have my Nintendo 2DS, but now I am fortunate to have my Nintendo Switch, which brings me plenty of different games to play when I am away from home.

This is my top 3 list of games I like to play when I’m travelling:

1: Pokémon (Red, Yellow, Blue)

You probably thought I was going to say Pokémon Go, right? Nah. It’s not the real deal. While I quite like Pokémon Go, that is not what I reach for when I choose to play a game from that universe.

Top 3 Games For Travelling

I always turn to the classics, and they are so nice to play when travelling. Even though it’s easy to get hooked, it is a game that is easily “detachable,” (unless you’re fighting a gym leader, then everything can wait!) where you can play small parts of the game and leave on short notice if needed.

2: Starsceptre

Starsceptre is an excellent action-packed retro shooter where you can play levels without having to worry about losing progress. The levels are fairly short, and it automatically saves after each level. I even wrote a review for it here on Nitchi (even though it has changed quite a bit since then, but for the better, if you ask me!). Excellent if you want something retro, fun and challenging.

Also nice if you’re not in possession of a Switch or another portable console, as Starsceptre is available on your iPhone or iPad.

Top 3 Games For Travelling

3: Stardew Valley

Making this game available on the Nintendo Switch might perhaps be one of the best decisions Chucklefish ever made. If you want something to calm you down after the continual stress involved with travelling, this is the game for you.

Top 3 Games For Travelling

Stardew Valley is a slow-paced, farming game, very relaxing when you need a breather. If you need to save quickly, just go to bed (the save function), but on the cost of cutting the day short.

With the Switch, gaming on the go has never been easier. Let us know if you have any suggestions for other games that are nice for playing on the go!

Happy travelling – see you in a month.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Harry Potter and the Trailer of Secrets – elusive “Hogwarts Mystery” teaser debuts

It goes without saying that when you run as watertight a marketing ship as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment does with their various licenced IPs, from Monolith’s Lord of the Rings-expanding Middle-Earth saga to Rocksteady’s beloved Batman: Arkham trilogy, teasing your next major release without giving too much away should be child’s play.

In fact, our first look at the publisher’s upcoming mobile RPG set in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, stands as the epitome of this enigmatic promotional approach with its details-thin (to say the least) teaser trailer. We’re never willing to be beaten, though, so let’s see what precious secrets we can glean…

Takeaways:

  • We’re promised the opportunity to live our own “Hogwarts story” this year, which entails honing our wizarding spells and skills, attending classes with Hogwarts professors as well as choosing friends and rivals to keep close or distant en route.
  • The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry which we’re introduced to here, however, won’t directly align with that which we’ve seen on the page or big-screen; instead, Hogwarts Mystery takes place in a 1980s incarnation of its titular setting.
  • Luckily the more things change, the more they stay the same. What scarce in-game footage we’re afforded in the one-minute sizzle reel does confirm that Professor McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid and Severus Snape were employed as staff at this dangerous magical institution long before the Boy Who Lived’s arrival.
  • Better yet, before we even reach the mobile RPG’s obvious central locale, Diagon Alley looks set to ease us back into the Wizarding World, with Ollivander’s Wandmarkers presumably serving as the setting for Mystery’s spell-casting tutorial.

Such vague marketing materials as these will hardly dis-spell (see what we did there?) any skepticism among fans, many of whom doubtless wonder whether WB’s newly-formed Harry Potter gaming branch, Portkey Games, and developer Jam City simply want to – allegedly – riff on Pokémon GO’s world-trotting formula for a quick buck.

US-based Potterites will get the rare opportunity to try Jam’s first big-budget production at Universal Studios Orlando’s A Celebration of Harry Potter event on January 26th-28th, while the rest of us can pre-register here ahead of Journey’s full-scale release on mobile devices later this year.

In the meantime, watch the trailer for yourselves below and give us a shout if we’ve missed any crucial details regarding Hogwarts Mystery’s, well, mysterious plotline.

New Pokémon GO trailer teases co-op battles with Legendary Pokémon – Lugia is in, yes!

Legendary Pokémon will begin to soar into the real world soon. The new Pokémon GO trailer offers us a glimpse at the way Trainers will cooperate with one another to discover, battle, and catch elusive and extremely powerful Legendary Pokémon.

Once in the wild, Trainers can search for unique Legendary Eggs at Gym locations around the world. Players can team up with friends and other Trainers to join a ‘Legendary Raid Battle’ to defeat the Legendary Pokémon and earn a chance to catch them.

The battle against the first Legendary Pokémon will require teamwork from millions of Trainers around the world in order to be revealed at Pokémon GO Fest Chicago at Grant Park on July 22nd.

You can see lots of happy people working together (a nice idea) to catch the monsters below:

Pokémon Direct 6/6: Everything announced

Here’s a summary of everything that was announced at the Pokémon Direct today:

  • Pokkén Tournament DX for Switch coming September 22nd – 5 new characters, online battles
  • Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon for Nintendo 3DS – alternative story, new Pokémon! – November 17th
  • Pokémon Gold and Silver coming to 3DS Virtual Console, uses Pokémon Bank – September 22nd

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Did these announcements excite you, or were you expecting a brand new title? Let us know in the comments below!