Bargain Gaming

Do you ever check out the bargain bin for games? Usually at Christmas I'll check out the bargain titles and older titles and pick up some as stocking stuffers. I was able to pick up 3 games for less than 20 dollars.

Tropico is a Civilization type of sim game where the player plays the part of a tropical dictator that must build up his island and keep the people happy so that he stays in power. While not nearly as deep as the Civilization franchise, the game is interesting and the cartoonish graphics reminded me of the old Theme Hospital game. The game allows for open ended play and mission based.

Stronghold is a real time strategy game (RTS) where the player is a knight sent on various missions. Economy building and castle building are the main activities here. Some of the characters in the game are pretty funny. Overall, the game is a good diversion but nothing extraordinary.

The last game I picked up was Medieval Total War. This was the second in the Total War franchise and while not as pretty as the recent Rome Total War, it is still a very robust game with a lot of aspects to master. This is an excellent pick up for under 10 dollars.

The other thing that makes bargain titles even better is that since they are usually older titles, the hardware requirements are reasonable enough that you can get some extra life out of an older PC. Since my kids inherit my older PC's this is a perfect fit.