Yesterday I did some more reading in Reality is Broken (which I mentioned here), and I was so convinced by McGonigal’s arguments that I decided to dive into some RPGs on my Mac and iOS devices. I’m going to try out World of Warcraft, because it seems like the industry standard, and I also picked up [Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic][kor] for 5$ on the Mac App Store. I’ve always been a big Star Wars fan, and after about an hour of play last night, I can say that I’m very pleased with it. The computer does a lot of the RPG leg work for me, but I feel like it is still giving me a better idea of how these kind of games work. Some people complained on the App Store about it running slow or lagging, but I didn’t have any problems on my MacBook Pro.

The World of Warcraft starter package was a HUGE download, so I wasn’t able to open it up last night. I’ll get to it today. I’m looking forward to it.

For iOS I decided after some research to go with Bastion. It doesn’t have nearly the complexity of a game like Knights of the Old Republic or WoW, but it has stunning visuals, and a great wild west narrator that follows you along. I had to force myself to put it down last night so that I could get some sleep. I definitely prefer this game on the iPad over the iPhone. The hand-painted landscapes look fantastic on the retina screen.

So that’s where I’m at right now. Do any of you have any suggestions on other great video games I should try?

Let the Games Begin: Diving into RPGs

Todd Mack