Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Alex Algebra is going to PAX Prime!

Hey Algebrites!

I'm pretty stoked because tomorrow, I am heading up to Seattle for PAX Prime!  I will be honest with you - I am feeling super intimidated because I'm really not as big of a nerd as most of the folks that will be there, at least in the same ways.  Obviously, y'all see my blog, I'm into cute things and free stuff, not hardcore, shoot-em-up, crazy video games.  I'm also into off-the-wall tabletop games, mostly indie stuff, like Monsterhearts and Jeepform games, not so much the dungeon-crawling typically associated with this sort of thing.

OH EM GEE!
However, there are several panels on different types of diversity in games (including several LGBTQ panels, yay!), and a giant indie games area, so I think that will all be pretty exciting.  Also, I have secret goals of seeking out all the kawaii sort of things that I can find, as well as dressing as cute as possible each day :D  I need to get my outfits together!!

Do any of you all have PAX survival tips for me?  This is my first PAX!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Hello Kitty Kawaii Town!

Long time, no talk, I know!  As you saw from one of my last posts, my organization successfully fundraised enough money to go on our tour, so I was gone for the majority of the summer.  Yay!

On the road, things get boring when you're driving from city to city, and one thing that helped me pass the time was this amazing Android game called Hello Kitty Kawaii Town.  Obviously, something with the word "kawaii" in the name is going to be right up my alley, right?  But this is, like, beyond your average kawaii.  All of the buildings look like what they sell inside (for example, the sweets shop looks like a piece of adorably kawaii cake), and all of the Sanrio characters wander around the town, talking to you.  There are also these ridiculously cute interactions between Hello Kitty and Charmy Kitty that drive the storyline piece of the game.

It is so cute, I literally want to throw up.  Literally.

Essentially, Hello Kitty and Charmy Kitty have these girl talks where they commiserate over what the town needs, and those items become the main quests of the game.  At any given time, however, there is a list of 10 or so quests to work on.  They all have to do with growing things in your garden, gaining coins from a certain activity (like gardens or shops), or building things in your town.  The rewards are generally either one kawaii ticket (kawaii tickets are premium currency in the game and can help you grow things faster or get special items), coins (the common currency for most items), or XP.  The more XP you get, the more you level up and can access better shops and plants that give more XP and coins.  The shops all regenerate coins after a certain amount of time, which varies depending on the shop.  The shops can also be leveled up, but it's generally not as good of a "deal" as just purchasing another shop of the same kind.

It's not the most exciting game I've ever played, but it's so cute that I can just sit and stare at it and happily revel in the kawaii for several minutes.  You can download the game for Android or iOS at their website, http://hellokitty-kawaiitown.com/en/.

P.S.  If you do get the game, my friend code is ekvkltfv - if you enter it in when you start, we both get ten kawaii tickets!  Woot!