Written by Toralar | Edited by Denayed

Welcome to Part Two of “Games That Deserve to be on Noah’s Ark!” I’m Toralar, your host, and today I’m delivering another incredibly fun and engaging list of five games. These are my picks for the games that should be smuggled onto Noah’s watercraft, even at the risk of overloading it and sending everyone flailing into the water. Like Denayed, I’m going to write far too much about five games, despite being given the option to write less. So with all that out of the way, let’s get into it!

Battle Brothers

Out of all the games on this list, this is probably the one that I’ve discovered most recently. I picked it up on a Steam sale in late 2018 and proceeded to become absolutely addicted. Battle Brothers is an extremely difficult tactical strategy game that involves managing a mercenary company in a low-fantasy world loosely based on Germanic myths and folklore. 

Company management is on a world map with towns where you can hire new mercs, buy gear and supplies, and take on contracts. Combat takes place on a hex-based map that’s procedurally generated depending on where your party is on the world map, and it is brutal. I lost my first company to a horde of zombies and wraiths within three in-game weeks. Unsurprisingly, a poorly trained group of peasants equipped with clubs and leather armor flee in terror in that sort of situation.

The mercenary customization is pretty detailed. You improve stats and pick perks as they level up, and buy or loot a huge variety of arms and armor to use. Also, as an added bonus, none of the units have arms and their legs are replaced by little miniature bases. They look like very detailed chess pieces that are often covered in blood.

• Hours clocked: 115 according to Steam (and at least that many offline as well)
• Reason for tears: My second best fighter getting mind controlled by a witch and murdering my best fighter
• Claim to Noah’s Ark: Keeping me occupied for hours building intricate mercenary companies that get instantly massacred

Civilization 6

I’ve been playing Civilization games for over a decade, starting with the third game in the series, and I’ve put hundreds of hours into each one. It’s a familiar and passionate debate between fans about which Civ game is the best one, and I honestly do my best to steer clear of it. Civ 6 is my personal favorite though. The art style is fun and colorful, the district system is strategic and engaging, and I really enjoy pumping tons of CO2 into the atmosphere so that coastal civilizations lose all their best land to flooding.

In my opinion, Civ 6 represents the best of the series, and I’m always struggling to resist taking one more turn instead of going to bed or writing articles for Rally (sorry, Denayed). The different leaders and civilizations really change the way the game is played and there are a lot of different options to try out. Plus, there’s always another city to found, another tech to research, another district to build, and another enemy to nuke off the face of the earth. What’s not to love?

• Hours clocked: 200+ hours on Steam
• Reason for tears: Iron or Horses appear on the tile that I was saving for a sweet Campus district
• Claim to Noah’s Ark: When it released I played until 4 AM even though I had an 8 AM class the next day

League of Legends

The first MOBA I ever played, League has been a constant fixture in my life since 2013. I started out by playing Nocturne extremely badly on Twisted Treeline. I thought my glass cannon lifesteal build was so cool. Then I moved over to Summoner’s Rift and got absolutely demolished by every enemy jungler until I figured out how to actually build Nocturne. I started playing top lane with old Urgot at some point, even though he had one of the ugliest models in the game. Sniping people with his Q spam was just too fun.

I quickly developed an undying hatred for Riven and started playing champions specifically to counter her in lane. Eventually Riot gave players the gift of one ban per person and since then I’ve never played against a single Riven. And my life has improved significantly. Besides that, though, League has been one of my favorite games to play with my brother, and we’ve spent days getting carried in duo queue. Despite how infuriating the game can be at times, the strategy, adrenaline, and fun keep me coming back. Also, please don’t ask how much money I’ve spent on cosmetics.

• Hours clocked: Months of my life, literally
• Reason for tears: My jungler doesn’t gank
• Claim to Noah’s Ark: My most played game ever, probably

Stardew Valley

I can’t write a list of my favorite games and not include Stardew Valley. After all, I’ve put countless hours into farms that I never even played past Year 1! Not to mention, it’s one of the coziest and most enjoyable farming games to ever exist. Who needs Harvest Moon when you have Stardew Valley (Editor’s note: excuse me?). It’s even on the Switch! Which is actually a problem for me, because now I can easily play it in bed too. It’s just such a comfort game for me, and I really enjoy completing the community center and building up my farm.

With the introduction of online and couch co-op, Stardew has only become better. Now my wife and I have our own farm where I do all the fishing and she does all the mining and cave exploration. It’s a great division of labor and an even better way to spend time together as a couple. Another feature that I love about it is the soundtrack. It’s honestly quite good, and it’s incredibly soothing for me too. 

• Hours clocked: Between PC and Switch, who knows? A lot though. 
• Reason for tears: Marnie’s shop is always closed when I need hay
• Claim to Noah’s Ark: Perfect comfort game, plus couch co-op

Legends of Runeterra

I know, I know, I already have a Riot game on here, but Legends of Runeterra is just too good not to mention. It falls somewhere between Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering in terms of complexity, but is much more friendly to free-to-play players. I’ve been playing pretty consistently since it released and have enough in-game currency to buy every card in the game right now. It has a really varied meta, and with a little tinkering it’s honestly pretty easy for a quirky homebrew deck to be competitive. 

That’s one of the main reasons I enjoy it so much. Deckbuilding is one of the best parts, and successfully putting together a viable off meta deck is so, so satisfying. Last season I made it to Gold 1 playing only my original decks! I probably could’ve gotten higher if I had a little more free time too, honestly. Everything about LoR is fantastic . The card art is gorgeous, the effects and visuals are amazing, gameplay is engaging and challenging, and there’s even a really fun single player deckbuilding mode called Path of Champions. And with each game usually taking about 20 minutes, I’m always thinking I can squeeze in just one more.

• Hours clocked: Countless days (and nights)
• Reason for tears: Currently Kai’sa decks. Seriously, they’re the worst
• Claim to Noah’s Ark: The pure joy of making really weird decks that somehow still win every once in a while