Aliens in the Desert

It may seem that maternity leave would be a great time to catch up on lots of video gaming action. And it would be, if it weren’t for the fact that getting ready for a baby to show up takes more time and energy than you’d imagine. It wasn’t until about a week or two ago things finally settled down enough for me to ease my way back onto my comfy couch for more than just a nap.It’s also helped that my unborn child has decided to hang out in the womb for nine extra days (and counting!) Since I’m such a large and ungainly creature at the moment, sprawling on the couch playing games is about the only time I can get comfortable for more than about ten minutes. Doubtless the baby wants to make sure her mommy gets as much gaming time in as possible before her arrival shatters the world.

A further obstacle was I wasn’t sure what I wanted to play. The nine months pregnant female demographic is a tricky one. Its a scientific fact that women in late pregnancy have their patience level reduced about 79%. Furthermore, they are prone to falling asleep randomly and also being awake at 3:30 am, unable to sleep but also unable to adequately tap into their own usually deep problem solving reservoirs. Its also been shown that pregnant women, especially in their third trimester, become clumsy oxen like creatures who have to pee every five minutes.

So in order to cater to this rather specific demographic, the game in question can’t require too much of a learning curve, can’t require too much precision in the twitch or strategy departments, must be able to save at any moment, and must be easy to pick up and put down again. The above taken all together can make it tricky for intensely pregnant women to find a game to play.

At first my gamer guilt was getting to me, pointing out all the games I have left unfinished and have “intended to” come back to. But there were mitigating reasons for not picking any of those ones up again. At least at the moment. And so Shadow of the Colossus (damn water spout level!), Kingdom Hearts 2 (damn Jimminy Cricket!), and Zelda: Twilight Princess (damn falling into lava and dying all the time!) still sit securely on the shelf.

Instead, the two games that have been seeing me through my restlessness and braxton hicks contractions have been Puzzle Quest on the DS and Dark Cloud on the PS2.

Dark Cloud is one of those games I have meant to play for some time, but I have simply never gotten around to it. I’ve had it on my shelf for a few years but something newer and shiner is always distracting me. Turns out its a really fun game, and perfect for my current state of being. The random generated dungeons are great for some fairly mindless hack n slashing while placing the pieces to re-build the little towns offers just enough story and feeling of accomplishment to keep you intrigued. It also has a really neat weapon upgrading system which is fun to play with and requires some bit of strategy and decision making. Despite the fact that the graphics look a bit dated now, the environments are really neat and varied and the creature design is really pretty cool (it’s important to have cool looking monsters!). And importantly, you can always get away to save the game. You know, in case you have to get up and pace the neighborhood to stave off practice contractions or throw down the controller in a panic to call the hospital.

The only unfortunate thing with my relationship with this little gem of a game is that it is about to end. I am about to embark on the very last bit of the game. This is a cause for a bit of anxiety, since my overdue offspring doesn’t seem ready to show up anytime soon and I’m going to have to find yet another game to play.

Of course, I do have Dark Cloud 2 sitting on my shelf…