Looking for good Let's Plays or tutorials that are minimally twitchy
April 21, 2014 4:53 AM Subscribe
I find a good Let's Play to be soothing and engaging. I like Minecraft best, but am willing to consider other games that have a similar vibe. I am interested in finding good videos that are relatively mature and fun. I would also consider good tutorial series. Currently I have been watching stuff put out by Paul Soares Jr, and I like it. I have not enjoyed anything by stampylongnose because it is too frantic and clownish. I have not found my way into Far Lands or Bust, but am willing to give it a try. Basically I like watching someone go about their business and talk about whatever while they do it. Do you have recommendations? Can you say what you like about your recommended titles?
Best answer: Remember Wil Wheaton? He's grown up, grown a beard, got a family. He still acts, sometimes, but he's mainly a writer these days, mainly about games of various kinds.
He also has a video series called "Tabletop" where he invites a couple of personalities to join him and another family member in playing some sort of board game. They're loads of fun.
They're not exactly tutorials, but rather are intended to give you a feel for the game play by letting you watch real people playing the game.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:58 AM on April 21, 2014
He also has a video series called "Tabletop" where he invites a couple of personalities to join him and another family member in playing some sort of board game. They're loads of fun.
They're not exactly tutorials, but rather are intended to give you a feel for the game play by letting you watch real people playing the game.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:58 AM on April 21, 2014
Best answer: For me Sips from Yogscast has both soothing voice that is joy to listen and he has this enthusiasm for the little people in his worlds (though sometimes turns into abusive relationships). Now he is playing Prison Architect, (a riot!) and he has done lots of Minecraft and different sandbox games. His Minecraft series with Sjin are win.
posted by Free word order! at 10:27 AM on April 21, 2014
posted by Free word order! at 10:27 AM on April 21, 2014
Best answer: One of my favorite DAYZ youtubers is AnderZEL. I know he got started by doing MINECRAFT Let's Plays.
posted by humboldt32 at 10:45 AM on April 21, 2014
posted by humboldt32 at 10:45 AM on April 21, 2014
Best answer: MeFi's own ErikaB has a video game blog called No Quarters Required and a series of playthrough videos on YouTube.
Erika does the sort of commentary you'd get if you were playing video games with a good friend. It's really nice.
posted by topoisomerase at 10:54 AM on April 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Erika does the sort of commentary you'd get if you were playing video games with a good friend. It's really nice.
posted by topoisomerase at 10:54 AM on April 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: One of the inspirations of Minecraft, was Dwarf Fortress and Captain Duck does some of the best Let's Plays and tutorial videos for DF. His voice is awesome to listen to and he does a great job of explaining a very complicated game.
posted by ZureaL at 2:22 PM on April 21, 2014
posted by ZureaL at 2:22 PM on April 21, 2014
Best answer: Seconding Scott Manley's Kerbal Space Program stuff, particularly the Interstellar Quest series (Episode 1 here) which is so far some 55 20-minute episodes (don't let that scare you, he doesn't release more than 2 a week and has slowed down a little lately) as he uses a mod-heavy version of KSP in order to work his way up the tech tree of the Interstellar Mod, which ends(?) with a faster-than-light Alcubierre engine.
He sets in place a few rules for his quest: no more than 1 launch/week on the game clock (meaning he has to manage his launches around the interplanetary transfer windows), no restoring from quicksave unless the game glitches, which in turn means no saving Kerbal lives using the restore button.
There have been a couple of twitchy moments, but they are very few and far between, mostly some critical landings or flybys. I find it both engrossing and relaxing, and not a little inspiring.
posted by Sunburnt at 4:09 PM on April 21, 2014
He sets in place a few rules for his quest: no more than 1 launch/week on the game clock (meaning he has to manage his launches around the interplanetary transfer windows), no restoring from quicksave unless the game glitches, which in turn means no saving Kerbal lives using the restore button.
There have been a couple of twitchy moments, but they are very few and far between, mostly some critical landings or flybys. I find it both engrossing and relaxing, and not a little inspiring.
posted by Sunburnt at 4:09 PM on April 21, 2014
Best answer: Northernlion is one of my go-to LPers as of recently. One of the things I really love about his work is that he's got an adult (read: mature adult) sense of humor and usually manages to produce a funny quip once an episode or so.
Another plus: Even when he's experienced at playing a game, he'll still take the time in his commentary to explain gameplay points that might not be obvious to someone new to the game.
posted by mikurski at 11:08 PM on April 21, 2014
Another plus: Even when he's experienced at playing a game, he'll still take the time in his commentary to explain gameplay points that might not be obvious to someone new to the game.
posted by mikurski at 11:08 PM on April 21, 2014
Best answer: Not sure how much of the different series you've watched from Paul Soares and Kurt (the guy behind Far Lands or Bust), but both of them are part of the Mindcrack Minecraft multiplayer server. There's a fairly active community over at the Mindcrack subreddit which follows all the members of the server. Anderzel (suggested by humboldt32) is a member too.
Two of my personal favourites are Zisteau and Etho. Zisteau is mostly known for his giant all-encompassing builds, while Etho is more focused on redstone projects. They're both great.
Also, I just discovered Scott Manley in the last few weeks and I'm pretty hooked, so add my vote to that count.
posted by fortythieves at 10:23 AM on April 22, 2014
Two of my personal favourites are Zisteau and Etho. Zisteau is mostly known for his giant all-encompassing builds, while Etho is more focused on redstone projects. They're both great.
Also, I just discovered Scott Manley in the last few weeks and I'm pretty hooked, so add my vote to that count.
posted by fortythieves at 10:23 AM on April 22, 2014
Best answer: I always think of Knytt Stories for this, specifically the "soothing" aspect -- something about the music and the open design seems to be what you're looking for. Here's a good LP by ProtonJon, who's one of my favorite LPers in general. DeceasedCrab has a lot as well but his style tends to be a bit more polarizing. There are a lot more since it's a customizable game, but these are the first two who spring to mind.
(VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The most popular Knytt Stories LP is for a level called "Don't Eat the Mushroom." This is popular because it's a gimmick level and as far from "minimally twitchy" as you can possibly get without getting into PewDiePie territory. The rest are nothing like that.)
posted by dekathelon at 1:24 PM on April 22, 2014
(VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The most popular Knytt Stories LP is for a level called "Don't Eat the Mushroom." This is popular because it's a gimmick level and as far from "minimally twitchy" as you can possibly get without getting into PewDiePie territory. The rest are nothing like that.)
posted by dekathelon at 1:24 PM on April 22, 2014
Response by poster: Very good answers here. I will work through them. I expect they will all be marked "best" eventually.
posted by JohnLewis at 9:02 AM on May 2, 2014
posted by JohnLewis at 9:02 AM on May 2, 2014
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posted by backseatpilot at 5:11 AM on April 21, 2014