The Perils of a Casual Gamer

It is kind of funny if you think about it.

The wife of an "Esports Shoutcaster", doing a blog about casual, noncompetitive gaming.

I get it. The irony is not lost.

Allow me, however, to explain. I love watching esports. I love hearing, first hand, the ins and outs of the tournaments, I love the set up, the hype, the community (for the most part) surrounding and supporting the game.

When I play however, give me a pace that is a little, well.... more casual. Maybe even just single-player, solo play.

Why? It is a mix. When I play, high-level stress does more harm to me than good. And unfortunately, it's because a few people are jerks.

Dota Underlords

A blog post about Dota Underlords!


Long ago, it was determined I would probably never play Dota 2. Just as sure as we were that I probably would never play HoN.





Now, this caused an unintended consequence. I try to tune in to Breaky's streams and casts, which are primarily Dota 2, and for years had been HoN. Other than understanding the basics of who is winning(ish) and by how much (ish), I didn't understand anything.

I made some progress when we went to TI 7 in 2017 (while I was pregnant, I might add). Breaky explained so much of the game and those that were around us were super awesome in explaining things too, it almost made up for the reputation that sometimes clouds these MOBA games. Not so much as I would actually PLAY, but still. It was a great experience, and I would go again in a heart-beat.

Despite going to and enjoying a TI, I still don't understand Dota 2 the game. I now know some characters and the basic idea of what has to be done to win and I understand the scene so much better. I still go back to my trope of "when Breaky gets loud and starts talking super fast and there are lots of lights and sounds that means a big fight is happening." which, yes makes me seem like the ditsy wife, but it's true!





When Auto Chess came out, Breaky was trying to explain the game and how it came to be. He said he thought I may be interested, based on my love of Hearthstone. At the time, the only way you could play is if you actually owned and downloaded Dota 2, which I wasn't going to do as my computer is dangerously low on space (yay too many games!)

When it was announced that the makers of Auto Chess were creating a mobile version, I decided to give it a whirl. Knowing full well that this game was not from Valve or Dota, I still felt like this was a step in the right direction as far as being able to connect with Breaky on something Dota-ish.


Well, it was a little more than that. I started playing it quite a bit and became pretty decent at it, all things considered. Breaky commented that he hadn't seen me so obsessed with a game since Hearthstone.

.

Once Dota Underlords came out, I definitely downloaded it on mobile and on my PC. I've pretty much been playing every day since. Now I am not at the level of Breaky (Mr. Boss rank person) and I still do have a lot to learn, but I am thoroughly enjoying it.

One of the great things is that it allows me to be so much more involved and understanding of something that Breaky is involved in as well. He's started casting and hosting Underlords tournaments, which if you play, you should totally sign up for. You can follow him on twitter at @breakycpk for updates and tournament information and/or follow and subscribe to his Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/breakycpk



So long blog short, I love the game, and I am so excited to finally be involved in a game that Breaky both enjoys, plays AND casts. AND I can understand what he's talking about when he does cast these professionally. I feel like this is going to be good for our marriage. Right?