Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

During our last two podcasts I’ve completely forgotten to mention that I’m playing Oblivion (PS3) and I think I’ve finally figured out why I forget. I do most of my gaming late at night even if I’m tired, and almost every time I play Oblivion I end up falling asleep playing it if I’m doing anything other than combat. Over the weekend I picked it up yet again and started a quest called Paranoia that involved me following a few individuals around for one day each to see if they’re spying on a particularly agitated person.

When I took the quest and stalked the first victim to see if they were part of a big conspiracy, I got that sinking feeling when she walked out of the city, out into a patch of crops and started tilling the soil. And tilling it. And tilling it.

“Oh no.” I thought. “How am I going to stay awake through this?”

I did fall asleep a short while later, saving my game first. The next night I managed stay awake during the rest of her extremely boring and entirely non-conspiratorial daily routine, and when I returned to the quest giver he told me to follow someone else. I immediately opened the game guide and found that the quest giver was basically paranoid for no good reason, and that I didn’t have to follow any of them around during the given time periods. I could just report back the following midnight and fill him in on what I saw, if anything. I was relieved, jumped ahead in time to the meeting time for the next couple of people, and finished out the quest.

Don’t get me wrong, on the very rare occasions I can play Oblivion during the day the game is relaxing and the slow pace is welcome, but watching crops grow during the night is a recipe for a short gaming session. And as for why I forget to mention I’m playing Oblivion in the podcast, I’m guessing because I don’t so much actively play Oblivion as load it up and make my way through its rich world and deep quest list, wandering around with just a bit of progress made at a time. It’s more of a mild diversion, like reading, with similar effects on me when I try it late at night.

What did you play this weekend?

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